Match Report: Wrexham 1-1 Blues
A hard-fought draw as a set-piece equaliser cancels out Ollie Rathbone's opener at the Racecourse Ground. Blues remain top and are now 15 unbeaten.
Birmingham City extended their unbeaten run to 15 matches in all competitions after a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Wrexham on Thursday night.
The hosts took the lead through a fine Ollie Rathbone effort before Blues responded through a set-piece. Wrexham came out the better side in the second but were unable to get the better of a stubborn Blues backline.
Davies made one change to the side that beat Exeter City last time out, Lyndon Dykes replacing Luke Harris in the attacking midfield position. Keshi Anderson returned to the squad for the first time since Boxing Day, ousting Alfons Sampsted.
Blues had the first half chance of the game when Ethan Laird stepped forward, cut inside and crossed for Alfie May, the striker’s header taking a nick on its way out for a corner kick. Blues felt they may have won a penalty from the resulting set-piece, Dykes’ header back across goal hitting the outstretched arm of Dan Scarr.
Wrexham took the lead inside ten minutes. Scott Wright gave the ball away to Tom O’Connor who subsequently gave it to Taylor Gardner-Hickman. As the Blues midfielder attempted to re-balance himself, Ollie Palmer went over the back of him, leaving the ball loose for Rathbone, whose Dad Mick played for Blues, to receive, drive forward and curl beyond Allsop.
Blues responded quickly. Gardner-Hickman received a first-time pass from Jay Stansfield and returned the favour with a lovely through ball with the outside of his foot. Stansfield’s effort at goal was deflected wide for a corner which again found Dykes at the back post to head across goal. The ball ended up in the back of the net off somebody, but whether the goal is Dykes’, Laird’s or a Dobson own goal is one for the dubious goal panel.
Chris Davies’ side showed what they were about in the aftermath. Christoph Klarer stepped forward and found Gardner-Hickman, who in turn found May for an effort that was blocked. Dykes received a bouncing ball in the middle of the pitch and half volleyed wide from 30 yards. And Wright turned a quick throw into a chance assisted for May only for the striker to slip on contact.
The hosts remained a danger, however, with Rathbone firing over on the turn in stoppage time.
The second half was a slow burn. Ryan Allsop was forced into an awkward stop from a dipping George Dobson effort and the Blues keeper also had to tip over Ryan Barnett’s right-wing cross and deny James McClean’s near post header from the resulting corner.
Blues had a big opportunity to make it two. Laird stepped inside and sent Anderson in behind down the right only to see his low cross somehow fall between the legs of May.
Wrexham switched up their attack, bringing on Steven Fletcher and Paul Mullin and it made a difference as Blues began to toil in attack. The latter was immediately in the action, crossing for James McClean to scissor kick wide and then having a shot deflected over by Klarer.
Their biggest opportunities came with around ten to play. A free-kick from the left-hand side was headed on target by Fletcher and three Blues bodies were quick to close Max Cleworth as the Wrexham academy graduate looked set to put the rebound in. A corner kick then caused pandemonium and Blues just about escaped.
Wrexham wouldn’t have another shot at goal with Davies’ own changes. The closest they came was actually when Lukas Jutkiewicz headed over his own crossbar. At the other end, Blues struggled to get going with Gardner-Hickman coming closest after a driving run towards goal.
A hard-earned point. Blues remain top.
Lineups
Wrexham
Okonkwo
Cleworth Scarr O’Connor
Barnett Dobson James Rathbone McClean
Lee (Mullin 69) Palmer (Fletcher 69)
Unused: Howard; O’Connell Revan Cannon Marriott
Blues
Allsop
Laird Klarer Davies Cochrane
Leonard Gardner-Hickman
Wright (Anderson 66) Dykes Stansfield (Bielik 86)
May (Jutkiewicz 83)
Unused: BPF; Hanley Harris Yokoyama.
Tactics
Blues lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1 shape. On the right, Laird tucked in slightly with Wright holding the width. On the left, Cochrane would get higher with Stansfield more infield. Leonard sat at the base with Gardner-Hickman having freedom to pull out to the left and open up space.
The image below shows this. Davies (in possession) has carried the ball forward. Laird is beginning to step inside with Wright out wide on the right-hand touchline. Gardner-Hickman has pulled deeper on the left to show for the ball with Cochrane ahead of him, taking Barnett away.
Gardner-Hickman being wider on the left in general possession also pulled the Wrexham midfield across so that when he received the ball, he could step back inside and open out to the other side where there was potential for an overload. In the image below, the entire back five are about to occupied by Blues’ front five with Dobson ready to close and Rathbone narrow having been keeping an eye on Dykes. This leaves Laird free to step onto the ball from his inside right-back position with Wright occupying McClean.
Laird is able to step forward into space and because the Wrexham midfield are now reacting and trying to cover the space, Laird is able to turn inside of Rathbone and deliver. Meanwhile, O’Connor has had to pull across to defend the near post, which leaves Blues 4v3 in the box and May is free to head the cross towards goal. This is the kind of position Blues hoped to gain on the night.
As shown in the images above, Wrexham were largely 3-5-2 with Lee slightly off Palmer. It meant the midfield three working hard to cover ground across the pitch in an attempt to stop Gardner-Hickman and Laird picking up the ball in wide areas while also attempting to cut off space in the centre of the pitch and not wanting to leave their WB’s 1v1.
Wrexham’s general game plan was to try and press high, but from more a mid-block position. It meant allowing Allsop to have the ball but trying to close off other options quickly. Palmer was responsible for Klarer with Lee sitting on Leonard. Rathbone and Dobson were then responsible for closing Laird and Davies to hurry them in possession with the back five then aggressive and sharp in closing their respective men.
This is where the decision to pull Gardner-Hickman out towards the left worked for Blues because it allowed Davies and Klarer a little bit more time in possession with the midfield not wanting to pull themselves too far apart from each other while the wing-back and wide centre-back were occupied with men.
However, what Wrexham’s press did do was force Blues to go longer, a situation they are naturally more comfortable in. They had one or two troubles, namely because the front five pressing higher meant that Lyndon Dykes was often free between those pressing and those not pressing. Also, James McClean did have some difficulties defending the ball over the top of him and tended to just do enough. However, the longer the game went on, the more individual duels they won and the higher up the pitch they were able to keep the ball.
As for with the ball, Wrexham were fairly uncompromising. Play from the back would often be to set up the opportunity to go long with Barnett always a willing option out wide on the right and Palmer or Lee tending to pull out wide to the left behind Laird to pull Klarer out. Rathbone or Dobson would then make a forward run into the gap that was left, which pulled a Blues midfielder out of position. That would then open space in the centre of the pitch, or create a potential imbalance in the box from a wide delivery.
From goal kicks, they tended to look for Palmer up against Laird. Or later on, they would put the ball on top of Davies and look for seconds in the middle of the pitch as they got on top of the game and began winning more duels.
The image below shows how they managed to get an edge here. Wright had a dual role out of possession which saw him closing O’Connor then needing to get back onto McClean, while Laird and Klarer would be occupied by Palmer and Lee from a longer kick. In the following two images, you can see the space that opens up once Blues have been dragged across, provided Wrexham can shift the ball quickly enough or get a little bit of fortune with the bounce.
Late in the game, Blues made a tactical change in terms of position. Bielik replaces Stansfield and dropped into the middle of midfield. Gardner-Hickman moved from central midfield to left-wing.
For all the concerns about us trying to hold on, this was the situation in injury time:
It wasn’t a lack of attempt to attack. Just a lack of quality with the ball and an inability to win enough duels to keep it up there.
The goals
Ollie Rathbone 1-0
Wright receives and is a little too quick to play forward as McClean gets back in. He gives it straight to O’Connor who controls then tries to find Palmer, also doing so a little too quickly with Gardner-Hickman quick to read it.
Gardner-Hickman is off-balance given he’s stretching to control the forward pass and Palmer is quick to put him under pressure. Is it enough for a foul? I think if you’re Blues, you’re saying yes. I think if you’re Wrexham, you’re probably aggrieved at a soft foul.
In any case, the referee hasn’t blown and Rathbone wins the duel with Gardner-Hickman. While Rathbone plays, Klarer and Davies both have their hands in the air.
And Davies still has his hands up at this point.
So by the time he’s switched back on and reacted to the situation, Rathbone is already pulling his right foot back to shoot.
When your parents and Sunday League coaches tell you to play to the whistle as a kid, this is why.
Also, I’m no goalkeeper coach but Allsop certainly leaves a lot of the goal to aim at. I got the impression he was in a position to play and reacted to the situation that unfolded like everybody else.
I’m not blaming Davies or Allsop per se – the issue arises because we lost the ball not once but twice. But neither covers themselves in glory in reacting to the situation.
Lyndon Dykes / Ethan Laird 1-1
Firstly, the move to create the corner is fantastic.
Davies starts just further back from here:
And ends here:
From there, Stansfield has pulled Cleworth with him and is able to play first-time then spin his marker, leading to the shot at goal. It’s where the patient build-up really pays off and it’s frustrating that we don’t make more of these situations.
You can see at the corner that Wrexham are very much man-marking. We have Scarr v Dykes; Cleworth v Klarer; O’Connor v Davies; Lee v May; Dobson v Laird. The only free men are James just the other side of the penalty spot in case his team wins the first header and Palmer, right in front of his goalkeeper.
Klarer, Dykes and Davies initially make runs towards the near post or centre of the goal. However, Dykes starts then pulls to the back post. The run of Klarer, meanwhile, means that Cleworth ends up cutting off the path of Scarr, who also immediately manages to lose Dykes all on his own.
And Dykes is able to head back across goal where there is utter chaos inside the six-yard box
Who scored? I’ve watched four different angles on multiple occasions and I’m still nonethewiser. I think, Laird may nod the ball against the back of Dobson, but I can’t confirm that.
Players
From the back then. Klarer and Davies, absolute monsters. Dealt with everything. Won more than their fair share of duels. Absolutely superb.
Cochrane, steady as ever. Barnett rarely got involved in the game which tells you all you need to know about how switched on he was. And Laird may have scored but more importantly, did some superb work in getting Blues forward down the right-hand side.
Wright worked hard but he has a tendency to lose the ball cheaply, which doesn’t help the team given the style we play. However, I will put some of that down to rustiness given the lack of starts. Dykes was excellent. Gave us some physicality in the middle of the park, won plenty of seconds and was strong in both boxes from set-pieces. Stansfield didn’t really get involved but he also doesn’t look 100% fit at the moment, not to mention the general lack of balance in our attacking play down the left meaning he doesn’t tend to get as free as he would like. And I want to give Alfie May all the love for the sheer work he put into the game – he really does set the tone in attack because he’s a pest and its infectious.
The midfield. As I said post-Exeter, it’s difficult to judge Leonard and Gardner-Hickman because you immediately think of them replacing Iwata and Paik and we have to understand they aren’t the same players.
I thought Leonard did alright. He tracked his runners, generally did good work with the ball and didn’t shy away from things. He was a little sloppy at points but it was probably more noticeable because 1) Wrexham were quick to pounce on any mistakes and 2) there’s a sense that Iwata never does that (even though he does give the ball away).
Gardner-Hickman. I’ll try and keep it short.
I’m a big fan. I thought he played well against Wrexham, I thought he played well against Exeter City. His versatility has been noted – he seems to play as a right-back stepping infield as well as a left-winger holding the touchline. He’s tenacious, drives forward, takes on tactical instruction with ease and his long-range passing is as good as anything we have in the squad. And when you see passes like the one he played for Stansfield leading to the equaliser, you see him shine.
If there’s a weakness to his game, I think it’s his ability to play short and sharp under pressure with his back to goal. I’m not sure it’s a technical thing because his technique is excellent. I think it’s more of a balance and maturity thing, which is little surprise given 1) he’s taller and leaner than his midfield team-mates and 2) his next league start will be his 50th. He may have just turned 23 but he’s still a baby in terms of senior football experience. And given how often he has played out wide at various clubs, very few of those starts will have been in the centre of midfield. It means he does get caught out at times.
I want to praise Gardner-Hickman because I think he does so many things well that you have to acknowledge that he’s playing well. At the same time, he’s a different type of midfielder to those that have helped provide us with such control of the ball in the middle of the park and our build-up and I get the impression that while the ex-Baggies youth is more than capable of performing a central midfield role for us, his time in a Blues shirt is likely to spent in areas where he can come onto the ball with play ahead of him rather than behind under pressure.
As for Wrexham, I thought Ollie Palmer gave as good as he’s got against Klarer and it was genuinely enjoyable to watch them compete. Rathbone and Dobson – who my brother hilariously compared to Timon from Lion King due to his haircut – were full of beans and didn’t stop all night. And I love seeing Max Cleworth and Ryan Barnett, who both made their names playing National League football, stepping up to this level.
Conclusions
That was tough.
The longer the game went on, the more we found ourselves penned in and had to suffer. We had to bring on Krystian Bielik and Lukas Jutkiewicz to see the game out.
But I finished that game feeling more confident than ever that we are winning the league.
I find people look at the money but less the reality, both fans of the club and neutrals.
We built a squad almost from scratch in one summer with a new manager and a new recruitment team. We’ve all seen these things go horribly wrong. We’ve been there ourselves. And when you recruit so much in one summer, you’re bound to fall short somewhere.
The fact that the only thing we really fell short on what adding speed and directness in attack tells you how much we got right. (Some may argue depth in central midfield but honestly, Leonard and Gardner-Hickman would walk into every, or almost every, other League One side. The only fault of theirs is that they aren’t, as it stands, top-10, possibly top-six Championship footballers.) And sure, it hurts us on nights like Thursday, or away at Stockport where we aren’t able to exert the same level of control and are facing an opposition right on top of their game.
But we got something more important correct. Character. Culture. People may think we’ve ridden our luck on a couple of occasions but we’ve earned that luck because our attitude is always spot on. This group turns up whatever the weather and puts what they have got into the game, almost never shying away from the battle, even if they don’t always necessarily win them.
And that starts with the manager. Chris Davies is a man that is clearly comfortable in his own skin. He’s very ambitious, very confident in his own ability and his work ethic is fantastic. The standards are so high because the man in charge of these players holds himself to such a high standard. And I’m such a big fan of how he is willing to drop his ego for the benefit of the team. If we have to go long or if we have to make a defensive substitution to get a result, he does it.
I think Davies and his team have been humbled a little bit by how tough League One is but they’ve responded the right way, learning what they need to earn victory, dropping their egos and getting the job done however that comes.
A point at Wrexham shouldn’t be sniffed at in the grand scheme of things and if we get another point or three at Huddersfield Town next Tuesday, that means we’ve taken four and / or six points off two of the sides looking to keep pace with us with Wycombe Wanderers to play at home and having already played Stockport County twice. Terrific work.
Speaking of Huddersfield Town on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see what kind of side we field. They also played a 3-5-2 with their wing-back outlet being from the left rather than the right. I’m assuming we line up the same, particularly given Davies said he was managing Bielik owing to not being fully fit yet.
The only change I would anticipate would be the return of Tomoki Iwata if fit. It would be just lovely if he is. And if he isn’t, well, we’ve got a midfield pairing that are as good as anything in the division, even it does mean tweaking things slightly. Good job we’ve got a pragmatic manager ready for every situation.
KRO.
Nice one, Ryan. Great analysis as ever. The unbeaten run continues. KRO!