Match Report: Wycombe Wanderers 2-3 Blues
A very good performance but a result that ought to have been more comfortable as Blues' learning curve under Chris Davies continues.
Birmingham City picked up their first win of the League One campaign at Wycombe Wanderers.
The hosts took the lead against the run of play when Krystian Bielik put through his own net but Alfie May’s second of the season meant parity at the break.
Blues were dominant and made it count in the second half as Luke Harris and Willum Thor Willumson scored first ever goals for the club before Sam Vokes’ header ensured a nervy finish.
Chris Davies made eight changes for the midweek EFL Cup with Charlton Athletic and four of those players started here. First league starts were given to Christoph Klarer, Luke Harris and Emil Hansson while Keshi Anderson also got the nod. Dion Sanderson was suspended, Willumson and Koji Miyoshi dropped to the bench while Siriki Dembele was absent altogether. Alfons Sampsted and Ayuma Yokoyama were named in a league squad for the first time.
Those changes paid immediate dividends as Blues got on the front foot. Paik Seung-Ho and Ethan Laird linked up with the latter’s cutback fired at goal by Hansson. Bielik inexplicably gave the ball to Richard Kone in the six-yard box with Marc Leonard fortunately on hand to run away with the ball after goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell was rounded. Barely a minute later, Hansson forced another stop after May was denied by a block.
It was all pretty comfortable for Blues with Wycombe coming closest via a floated free-kick that nobody got a touch too and the above Kone incident. It was therefore a surprise when Wycombe took the lead. A clearance from Jack Grimmer missed two Blues bodies and found Kone, who quickly swept the ball wide for Kieran Sadlier. He beat Klarer one v one and Bielik was unable to sort his feet out when defending the cross.
Blues were level by half hour, a switch from Bielik finding Laird, who rose well behind Dan Harvie to chest down and cross. Joe Low was first to the ball but his clearance rebounded against May who pounced quickly to stab home an equaliser.
Wycombe had another rare foray into the Blues half when a set-piece was nodded down for Garath McCleary to fire wide. Grimmer produced a superb goal line clearance to deny Harris after Klarer found the on-loan Fulham man with a ball over the top.
Blues were comfortable in the second half but never created the chances to go with the territory, the game rarely being played at pace with the hosts happy to slow things down and take their time and Blues’ final pass or delivery not being at the right quality. Klarer headed over a set-piece.
Their persistence was rewarded on 68 minutes. A long ball was dealt with well by Blues who made a couple of sharp passes to find Harris in space. He spread the ball to debutant Yokoyama who toyed with fellow sub Jasper Pattenden before beating him and cutting the ball back for Harris to half volley in.
Laird found Willumson for a chance after some sustained pressure but Blues began getting unnecessarily sloppy after, Paik giving the ball to Bakinson who found Sadlier to shank wide and the winger beat Laird to cross for Vokes who couldn’t find the target.
Fortunately, Blues’ quality showed with what proved to be the winner. Another long ball forward was dealt with and Willumson sent May running in behind. The striker fed Miyoshi and while his effort was saved by Nathan Bishop, the keeper could do little to stop a quality half volley into the top corner by Blues’ giant Icelandic international.
That looked to seal the game but Blues again got sloppy with the ball and caused themselves problems. Miyoshi was easily beaten by Sadlier who crossed for Vokes to head home at the back post. Wycombe couldn’t create another big opportunity with Josh Scowen twice blazing over from distance in injury time.
A first league victory, back-to-back away wins in cup then league but work to do.
Lineups
Wycombe: Bishop; Grimmer Low Tafazolli (Pattenden 57) Harvie; Scowen (McCarthy 101); McCleary (Bartolo 84) Butcher (Bakinson 57) Leahy (Vokes 73) Sadlier; Kone (Udoh 57). Unused: Ravizzoli.
Blues: BPF; Laird Klarer Bielik Cochrane; Leonard (Willumson 65 (Sampsted 96)) Paik; Anderson (Yokoyama 65) Harris (Khela 85) Hansson (Miyoshi 57); May. (Jutkiewicz 85) Unused: Allsop.
Tactics
Maybe this is my untrained eye spotting it, new personnel helping or a slight tweak to the early system, but it appears that we have moved towards more of a 4-3-3 than a 4-2-3-1 with Leonard at the base and being flanked by Paik and Harris.
While a nominal formation may be pointless to discuss in the modern age of fluid systems, one thing that is clear is that when Blues build up, it’s all about five and five, with Blues setting up to have five players in defensive areas and five in more advanced areas as we look to build.
That works in two ways. Either Laird is sat in his normal full-back position, we have the width of the full-backs to use and Leonard sat just in front, with May supported by his two 8’s and the wingers. Or, as tends to happen more often, Laird steps forward, Cochrane steps inside, Paik drops in next to Laird and Blues build with a 3-2 at the back.
Primarily, Blues don’t have one set pattern for getting out of our defensive third, which is important. What we do well is draw the opposition on to open up an option elsewhere. We always have a player on either flank, we almost always have a man advantage in the middle of the pitch, we can switch play, play across the back. It’s all about working the ball into a position where one of those five in a defensive area of the pitch can play forward, and we’re doing that quite well.
Wycombe played into our hands here. They set up in a 4-1-4-1 shape defensively – the back four, Scowen sat in front, his four midfielders ahead of him with Kone up top. It was narrow, designed to cut passing lanes and stay tight so that when they won possession, they could step out quickly.
Where their system fell short was that while Leahy and Butcher went up against Leonard and Paik, Scowen was often tasked with Harris and one other, often Anderson, occasionally May, who dropped in. They effectively went 5v5 defensively.
When Bielik received possession, he was able to step ahead of Kone and draw on the midfield, allowing him to find a forward pass or Cochrane, who could then play forward. When Anderson or May dropped off into space, they were either not followed, closed by a turning midfielder and able to find a pass, or they were closed and space was left in behind. When Harris made a forward run, it was often Grimmer that tracked it, leaving Hansson free out wide. Blues were consistently able to find a way out of any attempted press.
When they did receive possession, they tended to look long for McCleary’s head or Kone and attempted to play on seconds, most attempts dealt with confidently by Blues. Or they would win a free kick and look to make the most of it. Their best out was Sadlier on the left, who tended to take more of a risk than others by staying wide, which worked nicely for the two goals.
While chasing the game late on, Wycombe brought on Vokes and went 4-4-2.
Players
From back to front. Peacock-Farrell had a good game and I love how comfortable he is with both feet. Laird is getting stronger with each game and hopefully that is a sign that he will grow in confidence and start to make his forward runs count for more. Klarer was solid on debut and clearly fancies the fight, albeit he was caught out for the opener in a 1v1 situation. Bielik looks very confident. Cochrane similar – he never looks fazed.
In midfield, Leonard was again quality. Paik looks more at ease with a bit more freedom to get forward rather than sitting as the defensive midfielder – hopefully Blues can add competition Leonard in that holding spot and free Paik up. It was interesting to hear Davies say he likes Harris because he doesn’t stop running and he showed that here. The challenge for Harris isn’t about his work ethic or quality with the ball, but about developing a killer instinct and be more ruthless – the goal may be a sign of things to come.
Anderson was okay. Perhaps not as productive as he was in his previous two outings, but this was a decent effort and he justified his inclusion. Hansson looks a real player and is starting to show his dribbling qualities, not to mention how well he gets towards the back post. May doesn’t tend to be involved too much but he leads by example with his running and his goals are justification for that.
For Wycombe, Sadlier was comfortably the standout. He didn’t get much involvement in the game but effectively registered two assists, the latter a gorgeous outside of the boot cross for Vokes, while he had also turned Laird before and had two other efforts. Kone is a unit up top.
Conclusions
A big victory yet another learning curve.
This was our best start to a game. We got on the front foot from the off, had two early chances and never really stopped dominating from that point. The win was deserved. The three goals came were excellent in different ways.
The system is there. The quality is there. We’re physically adept. We’ve got a core of players that know British football. We’re in a good spot and it’s good to be learning while winning, something we can hopefully continue.
We had had 83% of the ball in the first half yesterday and conceded one shot, the McCleary effort from a free-kick punted forward to their centre-back. By around 75 minutes, I checked out the stats on Fotmob to see we had had 79% of the ball and conceded three shots, only one of which came from inside of our area. It’s absolute dominance.
What do we need to learn?
One, cutting out silly decisions early doors. We’ve given up chances early in each game so far through our own errors and need to nip that in the bud. While we have the quality, coming from behind each week is a challenge we don’t need. We should rightly begin playing early doors but we also have to earn that right and if it means challenging our forwards players to get hold of the ball with their back to goal, so be it.
Two, we are going to have games where we’re taking four of every five touches in the game and it will feel a little easy. We have to stay switched on defensively and concentrate in possession. We can’t be letting their striker have ten yards of space to turn and find a winger. We can’t be giving the ball away cheaply because we’ve switched off at 3-1 up. Games turn quickly and we have to be on it for the 90.
Substitutions are important to that and some are suggesting we are short on the bench. I think most League One sides would be grateful to have any of the first-team players on our books, but I understand the sentiment. So what else do we need?
We're settled in goal and at full-back. We will likely try for a fourth centre-back. Buchanan has played there but playing LCB would mean playing the role Bielik is playing, which is unlikely to suit him, while I don’t believe Sampsted has played centre-back in senior football. A left-footer would be nice but it’s not essential given the shape we play. It would be interesting to know how Davies feels about Klarer and Sanderson playing the Bielik role as far as what the profile of that fourth centre-back should be. I know there is talk of bringing in a left-back but that depends on the nature of Buchanan’s injury – if he’s out for a couple of months, we should have enough available to cover that with Laird, Sampsted and Khela, who has covered right and left-back in pre-season and cup matches. If he’s out for six and unlikely to be fully fit this season, then it’s a different conversation.
In midfield, the move towards more of a 4-3-3 essentially means we have Leonard, Paik, Chang, Roberts, Harris, Khela and Willumson as central midfield options. Chang is on a long road to recovery meaning we only have two true options for the deepest midfield role in Leonard and Paik, and given Paik seems to enjoy being more advanced, competition for Leonard would be ideal. Otherwise, we look pretty set.
Could we do with a winger? Maybe. There are noises that Donovan is off. Hall probably departs on loan. Dembele is rumoured to be off. It leaves us with Miyoshi, Anderson, Hansson and Yokoyama. Does Willumson play wide if required? If we keep Hall or Donovan, do we let one of them loose. Can Roberts play inside right? Or Harris? One to keep an eye on, I suspect. I guess if the right option comes along, we won’t turn it down.
And another striker is an obvious one. The system relies on the high press and May leads the line brilliantly. His record of availability has been superb but Davies keeps talking about 60 games and he’s right to do so, given our ambition. He can’t start 60 games – few can – while playing at the same level, so support is required. Do we need two? I’m of the opinion it’s a nice to have, rather than a must. And let’s remember, if we finish up with May, Jutkiewicz and one other between now and January, we can always sign another in January if it’s proven that we need that fourth option.
The one thing that did surprise me, thinking about it the other day, was how British the core is. For all the players we’ve signed this summer, the centre of the pitch contains Peacock-Farrell or Allsop, Bielik and / or Sanderson, Leonard, Harris, Roberts and then May or Jutkiewicz. Klarer has played his football abroad but grew up at Southampton while Paik has had six months in England. That leaves Willumson, who at 6”5 and being Icelandic shouldn’t feel out of place physically, as the sole complete newbie. That stands us in good stead.
It’s Leyton Orient away next, followed by Wigan and Exeter in the league. As I’ve said previously, we need to be mindful that this all takes time. One clear link for these first five is that all five were in League One last season, have the same managers in charge that started last season and did better than the pre-season expectation, so these definitely aren’t easy games while we are growing into our skin and we have to remember that. If we come out of this run unbeaten, even if it’s three wins and two draws, we’ve done well as a start.
KRO.
Superb as ever, Ryan, I think the team will grow. I'm a little impatient with those who think we'll steamroller every game. It's a tough league with knowledgeable teams and managers. Every win is valuable.