Match Report: Stoke City 1-2 Birmingham City
Jay Stansfield and Juninho Bacuna gave Tony Mowbray a first league win as Birmingham City manager to end Stoke City's unbeaten start under Steven Schumacher.
Birmingham City recorded their first league win under Tony Mowbray and ended Steven Schumacher’s unbeaten start at Stoke City in the process.
The hosts had plenty of the ball but it was the visitors that took the lead through Jay Stansfield and the lead was doubled shortly into the second period thanks to a Juninho Bacuna free-kick. Jordan Thompson scored with 20 left to play but Stoke couldn’t find the equaliser.
Mowbray made two changes from his first league outing with Juninho Bacuna and Jordan James entering the XI in place of Kevin Long and Scott Hogan, who both dropped to the bench. The Krystian Bielik centre-back experiment continued as a result.
Stoke had much of the possession early doors but the closest they came was via a set-piece when Jay Stansfield fluffed his clearance, forcing John Ruddy to punch clear and parry away an effort before Bae Jun-Ho fired into the sidenetting.
Stansfield was far more accurate at the other end moments later. John Ruddy pinged a pass to Cody Drameh on the right and the control was exquisite. He found Koji Miyoshi inside who turned his man and play Stansfield in between the Stoke centre-backs. The forward rode a challenge from Luke McNally before a ruthless strike beyond Daniel Iversen.
Stoke quickly got back into their rhythm but Ryan Mmaee first shot wide with a snapshot effort before beating the offside trap and failing to sufficiently test Ruddy. Siriki Dembele and Andre Vidigal did well to cut in from the left, the former forcing a stop and the other curling just wide. Stansfield couldn’t sort his feet out in time to turn home after Dion Sanderson was denied from 30 yards.
That didn’t matter so much as Blues within five minutes of the second half. Blues moved the ball quickly and Dembele found Bacuna on the left. Hoever fouled the Curaçao man, who put the ball down from 25(ish) yards and put the ball in the top corner.
The same duo linked up again to find Miyoshi who turned and fluffed wide. That was as good as it got with Stoke taking control thereon. Jun-Ho hit the top of the bar with an attempted cross. Wout Burger had a strike deflected out. Tyrese Campbell wasn’t accurate with a dinked effort after breaking beyond the Blues backline. Mmaee headed on target.
The goal finally came. Blues couldn’t keep hold of the ball or clear their lines and a weak cross was left by Drameh only for Thompson to prod home. Game on.
Blues’ front four sprung into action but Stansfield couldn’t turn the ball home. Mmaee volleyed over from close range when a corner was recycled into the area. Burger fired over and youngster Nathan Lowe headed on target.
Stoke huffed and puffed but couldn’t find the big moment. Blues finally got to grips and started passing the ball, managing to hold it up. The game died a death and Blues held on for the points.
Lineups
Stoke
Iversen; Hoever (Gooch 70) McNally (Wilmot 58) Rose Thompson; Baker (Campbell 58) Burger Cundle; Vidigal (Leris 58) Mmaee (Lowe 82) Junho. Unused: Bonham; Pearson Johnson Haksabanovic.
Blues
Ruddy; Drameh Sanderson Bielik Buchanan; James Sunjic (Dozzell 71); Miyoshi Bacuna (Long 75) Dembele (Roberts 66); Stansfield. Unused: Etheridge; Aiwu Gardner Anderson Burke Hogan.
Tactics
Blues have played Steven Schumacher sides three times already this season so we knew what to expect.
It was 4-3-3 turned 2-3-5 in possession. Luke McNally and Michael Rose sat behind Wout Berger (centre), Luke Cundle (right) and Lewis Baker (left). Bae Jun-Ho (right) and Andre Vidigal (left) stayed high and wide with Ki-Jana Hoever and Jordan Thompson making inside, forward runs. Ryan Mmaee led the line.
Their aim was to make forward runs, continue to drive Blues players back and make the most of any failure to track runners or poor communication. They did it well, causing a lot of splits in Blues’ shape and ensuring their opponents expended a lot of energy.
Blues generally sat in a 4-2-3-1 shape. They tried to become 4-1-4-1 but the forward runs from Stoke forced Sunjic and James to be more cautious. Bacuna and Stansfield had the task of closing the centre half while the other sat on Burger, albeit they sometimes ended up covering two and didn’t shut off the angles too well.
From there, it felt fairly man to man. Miyoshi and Dembele were covering the forward runs of Hoever and Thompson. Drameh and Buchanan were up the backside of Jun-Ho and Vidigal. James and Sunjic tried to take on Cundle and Baker. This occasionally changed but Blues were being pulled apart when Stoke played quick, allowing for space to be exploited down the sides of the centre-backs or in behind them, depending on when Sanderson and Bielik stepped out to challenge.
Blues’ defence broke down in a couple of ways. When McNally got the better of his marker, he would step forward and drag Dembele towards him. With Buchanan or Sunjic following their men so far until they could pass them off, Stoke would then have a 2v1 down the right and Sunjic/Buchanan would often find himself caught between challenging and marking the space. It meant Bielik would be pulled out at times.
Down the left, Baker made as many forward runs as Hoever into the channel, with Miyoshi tending to follow the run. It left Sanderson stepping out onto Hoever who occupied the space nearby and the ball would be spun in behind him, or out to Vidigal with Drameh covering inside.
Blues didn’t have too many opportunities to build from the back. The expectation was that Drameh would step up higher, Buchanan inside, Bielik central and Dembele wide down the left. However, the player maps show Drameh and Buchanan out wide on both flanks and it told the story of players who were often wide when they took possession, owing to them needing to win possession back and play forward. We didn’t utilise them as much as we did against Swansea. It also spoke to the quality of Stoke that when we did win possession, we weren’t as quick to open up in the 3-2-4-1 (ish) shape and tended to stick more to the 4-2-3-1.
It meant that Miyoshi and Dembele tended to dovetail between staying wide and coming inside, waiting for support from the two. Both wanted to get on the half turn and skip away from their men and become a narrow(ish) front four in transition. In general possession, the player on the opposite flank would look to the touchline in order to receive a long diagonal and open the space for the midfield to get on the ball. Dembele and Bacuna started dovetailing on the left, particularly early in the second half, while Miyoshi regularly came inside and dragged Burger towards him, opening the space for Stansfield to isolate a centre-back and Bacuna and Dembele to move inside.
Stoke made a triple change shortly after Blues’ second and it sparked a change in their shape. The full-backs/wing-backs starting holding the width the front three now narrower, causing problems for Bielik and Sanderson as the centre-backs. It put more pressure on the centre of the pitch for Blues and opened the space for the wide men to deliver into more bodies inside the area.
The final change for Blues saw Long come on in the centre of a back five with Bielik moving to left-centre-back. Tyler Roberts moved to the left-wing in a 5-4-1 shape.
Players
Juninho Bacuna. Like most, I wondered whether he just needed an early substitution, then he pulls out brilliance to win the free-kick and score it. I thought Miyoshi was our best player in the first half, rarely giving the ball away and picking up intelligent positions. Stansfield and Dembele were indifferent with the effect they had with the ball but always bright and occupying the defence.
Bielik looked comfortable at centre-back. It was interesting listening to Mowbray speak about how bringing him out of midfield helped him see more of the picture and play away from the chaos. He had one moment with the offside trap first half but was otherwise fine. Sanderson was solid alongside him, particularly defending the area, and Long steadied us on arrival.
For Stoke, I liked Wout Burger again. Learning to do but he looks a real player. McNally has some defensive deficiencies but was confident with the ball. Hoever had a tough day defensively. Jun-Ho was bright first half and there’s another level to Mmaee if he can find it – he occupies defenders well.
Conclusions
This was all about the result.
We had a game plan that worked well enough for us to take the lead. We showed confidence in moving the ball forward and got away with some dicey moments.
At 2-0, we reverted to type. Defend the box. Manage the game by staying organised. It’s what we’ve done for the last decade and Mowbray is more than aware of it.
It’s why he is here. We have to manage games better. We have to make better decisions with the ball. We have to get ourselves up the pitch with the ball rather than aimlessly punting it 50 yards away. A bit of composure and control to keep the opposition away.
That will come.
My main takeaway from Mowbray’s interviews to date is that while he is open to picking up on where players need to improve and their personalities, he’s willing to put the time and effort into coaching them, guiding them and not just writing them off as incapable. We will see changes in these players as the season goes on, even if they do revert occasionally under different types of pressure.
He's also very much looking for what players can do rather than what they can't, which should take us forward. Bielik is one example but the way he has spoken about Miyoshi, Bacuna and Dembele suggests he has a handle on what they are good at, while improving them at what they have struggled with.
It’s two draws and two wins since Rooney departed. We’ve scored two late goals to earn results under Mowbray and did brilliantly to hold on yesterday. The more Mowbray talks, the more you sense he understands his players and what makes them tick. We can all rightly feel positive.
There is a lot of work to do, but the start could scarcely have been better.