Ricardo's report v Birmingham

[ricardo 8,034]

There was an Autumnal nip in the air first thing this morning but by lunch time things had warmed up enough for my lunchtime pint to become an enjoyable quaff in the sun[B]. Indeed it was pleasantly warm on the stroll up to the ground but as I took my seat dark clouds were rolling in from the north west. Once again Farke had given Alex Neil''s Tombola machine a spin and there were five changes from the debacle at the Den.It was nice to see Tim Klose back in the middle, he was prominent early on with a headed clearance and then played a leading part in City''s opener when in the fifth minute a corner wasn''t cleared properly. When the ball came back in he found space on the left of the six yard box and hooked the ball across goal for Oliviera to slide home from a yard out. It was a great start and City looked well worth it for a few minutes until the visitors shook off their early lethargy and began to take advantage of some loose play by the home team.Birmingham began to dominate possession as City backed of but in truth, despite a low cross from the right that beat everybody, there was very little to worry Angus Gunn. City looked sharper on the break and the most likely to score and nearly did when first Murphy galloped clear and tested Stockdale with a hard low effort and then Tetty found Oliviera with a lovely ball into the box only for the big mans shot to miss the far upright by no more than a coat of paint. At the other end, apart from a handful of corners the City rearguard maintained a stranglehold with just one headed chance flying well over.Another goal might have settled things down but the game got edgy thanks to some uncompromising Brum tackles and Mr Hooper had to flash the yellow five times in the remainder of the half, four of them for the visitors. About ten minutes before the break it began tipping it down and the game became exceedingly scrappy. Frankly it was a relief whistle went and to describe the majority of the half as a load of vapid bilge would be putting an unwarranted gloss upon proceedings.The rain became stair rods during the break [st]but strangely eased up nicely as the second half commenced. Thankfully there was a bit more pace and intent and when a period of Birmingham pressure had been beaten back a couple of sweeping breaks involving Maddison, Murphy and Ollie almost brought a second goal. First Maddison dithered too long and Murphy lost control in the area then Oliie swept forward, wrong footed a defender and sent a curling shot inches beyond the far upright. The big man was constantly pulled and bundled over by the Brum defenders but received very little protection from Simon Hooper.I cannot report that the game was a great spectacle but at least the defence seemed to hold most of the cards and Brum''s only shot on target came from a free kick late on. Wildshut came on for Vrancic with twenty minutes left and had a couple of mazey runs only to run out of room or find nobody to pass to. It became very obvious as the game moved into the last quarter that City''s only forays forward would be breaks as everyone got behind the ball and Birmingham''s ariel threat was nullified by Klose and Zimmerman.In a final flourish Oliviera almost got Murphy in, only for his toe poke to roll agonisingly across the goal and wide. Some may have been biting their fingers as the three minutes added ticked down but the visitors high balls into the box were invariably met by a City head and Mr Hoopers final blast was met with as much joy as relief.Ollie and Tim Klose my picks today with barely a fag paper between those good performances. It was certainly an improvement at the back but all round we still don''t look any better than a mid table outfit to me. Time for things to change and I continue to live in hope.[Y]

[Lessingham Canary 108]

Good accurate report as always Ricardo  would add that Josh was excellent today, and a contender for MOTM in my opinion.

[ROBFLECK 134]

Thanks Ricardo, for me Klose as MOM...important factor in the goal and in the defending

[Rich T The Biscuit 676]

There were a few that could have got MOM, Maddison was superb and is really showing what a player he is.

Today for me I thought Trybull deserved it, his first appearance, has had a tough career with injuries and showed us today what a solid player he is and how important he will be for us.

Other than one misplaced place, he didn''t put a foot wrong, kept us ticking along and on that showing he''ll keep Reed out.

[GJP 79]

Maddison was nowhere near superb. He was average at best. Arguably our worst player today.

[ZLF 335]

Completely agree it was not a great spectacle.

However it was real progress - T&T in central midfield and a calm collected klose made a huge difference at the back

Maddison was fluent with the ball and Murphy was close to my motm too. Vrancic played some excellent through balls.

Still plenty to work on across the piece, especially getting bodies in the box while wildschut and Murphy waited having gotten into great positions.

If we can continue to improve there remains time to get more than midtable. But we will have to improve.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="GJP"]Maddison was nowhere near superb. He was average at best. Arguably our worst player today.[/quote]Largely out-muscled in the first half but better second IMO.

[Fuzzar 1,861]

Thanks Ricardo. Great to keep a clean sheet after the last couple of games.

[Rich T The Biscuit 676]

Isn''t it amazing how differently people see players, Maddison is technically the best player we have and today showed his class.

There was a period in the second half where he was controlling the game with his little movements, give and go''s and positional sense, he always wants the ball.

[city4eva 242]

MOM for me was josh as he was having to do his own job and cover for the always absent stiepermann

[hogesar 10,765]

Maddison had an OK game but lost count of the amount of times he lost the ball, often through being outmuscled.

If Wes had lost the ball half the amount of times Maddison did I dread to think what some of the posts on here would be.

In Maddisons defence he never went hiding and constantly asked for the ball, even if he did lose it almost straight away afterwards.

Anyway, defensively we cant complain as Brum didnt create a clear opportunity and they do have some good players.

Josh was a massive threat on the counter, Brum were scared of him.

Oliviera also played well and worked extremely hard. Only negative against him is trying a couple shots from impossible angles when we''d just worked so hard to gwt the ball of them and had a chance to keep the ball a bit and relieve pressure.

[daly 551]

Agreed thought Josh covered every blade off grass and some of his touches were superb

Defence the Jury''s still out

Against a better side result might have been different

[Duncan Edwards 2,424]

It is strange how people interpret the game but different people see different aspects and they remain ingrained. One guy could make one mistake and it''s all some folk will remember while others will recall numerous blocks or runs or dangerous crosses etc.

Couple of things caught my eye today; Oliveira is always dangerous. A goal and some great efforts that whistled past the post. However, he received a few snappy glances and I just wonder if he''s a bit of a solitary figure amongst the group. Probably just frustration with what might seem like greed but that single mindedness gets him goals.

The other was Josh. Got stuck in, showed pace, determination and no shortage of skill. Should have had at least one goal and maybe three. However, he looked like a seasoned pro today rather than a kid in the first team. Plenty of strength and an up and down willingness that perhaps he''s been criticised for lacking before. I thought he had a great game.

As an aside, I know much will be made of the selection and bare results show that we won with a clean sheet. My feeling before the game was that we selected the defence that we did because Farke had all week to work with them while the other guys had been away. Klose made a huge difference and whatever his reasons the defenders were resolute and committed, Angus not making a meaningful save as far as

I can recall.

[Hairy Canary 754]

Always my favourite thread of the week. Thanks Ricardo.

As a Maddison fan I thought he had an indifferent game today and got muscled out of a it a number of times. Trybull had an excellent game as did Murphy who has improved his defensive side such a lot this season. Kloser was my man of the match, winning so many balls in the air and providing real leadership. We have missed that so much.

Fingers crossed for him and Handley as a partnership.

[ricardo 8,034]

Agree with that Duncan. Oliviera was a real handful today and Birmingham could only stopping by resorting to fouls. Josh, yes a much more rounded player this season. Madders is a great player in the making with the kind of vision that very few are blessed with. He is an obvious target for the bully boys but I have no doubt that his future lies at the highest level.Defensively much better all round. The game is so much easier when you have a solid foundation to play from. After six games I am encouraged but still not entirely convinced.

[kick it off 2,062]

Not quite sure where the Maddison love is coming from for today''s performance - I really like him as a player and think he has a bright future, but he wasn''t great today - certainly nowhere near MOTM contention in my book. That''s not to say he was poor, he wasn''t, but I thought it was pretty average from him today, he''s certainly capable of better displays.

The one knock on Josh at the moment is his decision making. He''s constantly taking shots from silly angles and ignoring better options. Did it several times today and has been over recent weeks too. Oliviera was becoming notably frustrated with him as the game went on. Don''t know if it''s something to do with trying to outscore his brother''s total from last season and prove his worth that way or something, but seems to me that something is in his head at the moment which is encouraging him to put the blinkers on when he''s in the final third and he has tunnel vision for shooting only. It will come with time and experience I''m sure, but there is a time to shoot and there is a time to lift your head up and pick someone out and he needs to improve on working out which is which. If he can improve his decision making, he will terrify most defences in the league.

[hogesar 10,765]

All i know KIO is Oliveira has no right to be frustrated at other players shooting from difficult angles!

[kick it off 2,062]

[quote user="hogesar"]All i know KIO is Oliveira has no right to be frustrated at other players shooting from difficult angles![/quote]

I won''t disagree with that hogesar! That''s perfectly fair comment.

[hogesar 10,765]

You are right regarding decision making, pretty standard for young wingers and Redmond is only recently starting to get it right more often than not and he has played much more football than Josh!

I can see why Josh does go for goal sometimes, he put some brilliant low balls in and players didnt really gamble. After a couple of those I think he''d already made his decision to shoot the next time.

Regardless, his ability to drift past players and run with the ball made us a major threat on the counter

[Van wink 2,994]

Josh is a joy to watch, he does just glide past players and made a few lovely little flicks today, great skill.

[king canary 8,757]

Josh is showing the benefit of a long run in the first team- he''s clearly confident and he knows how to beat a man.

Klose was MOTM for me, not just for his individual performance but the fact his presence and leadership seemed to help elevate the other defenders too. Pleasing to see that kind of leadership in the back line after long last.

[Herman 11,136]

No mentions of Stiepermann. I assume by that, and the result, he just got on with his job?!

[ricardo 8,034]

An average performance from him Herman. A couple of decent runs forward but his main contribution was his height at the back.

[city4eva 242]

[quote user="Herman"]No mentions of Stiepermann. I assume by that, and the result, he just got on with his job?![/quote]

I mentioned him. He was never in position meaning josh played at left back and left wing for most of the game. Stiepermann was constantly being told by Pinto ( an excellent Captain). And Farke to get back into position but it made no difference. klose also spent time covering for him

[Herman 11,136]

You did and I apologise. In fairness to him, from what I can find out, he is normally a midfielder, so it will probably take a few games to adjust. Good to hear Pinto stepping up to captaincy. Should be a very good move from Farke.

[westcoastcanary 173]

With the greater emphasis yesterday on defensive solidity (a welcome adjustment as far as I''m concerned), is it really surprising that both Oliveira and Murphy often felt obliged to shoot rather than pass? On the majority of those occasions there was a marked shortage of support. In fact I can only recall one occasion when Josh missed an obvious pass, and then it was Oliveira available, not a midfield runner.

[Guest]

Ricardo

I listened to the game and Greg Downs was at great pains to emphasise that City were the dominant side and wondered why we didn''t up the tempo?

He felt we ought to have pushed for a second against a team that perhaps were lucky to still have ten men on the pitch and so many, because of their yellow cards, were vulnerable to being attacked.

He mentioned Wildschut making a great break and not even Oliveira busting a gut to get into the box and meet the cross.

Michael Bailey on the Pink Un also wondered why we seemed more interested in keeping a 1-0 lead, and in the last few minutes happy just to clear.

Do you think this signals a touch of indecision on DF''s behalf. Its like he''s drawn 15 at pontoon.

[Guest]

By the way, thanks for the usual, unbiased, say what you see report.

[Badger 2,745]

Thanks Ricardo - good report as ever, although I seem to have enjoyed the game more than most!

[ZLF 335]

The whole defensive philosophy changed, it was notjust the introduction of the 3Ts, Timm, Tettey & Trybull.

Impressively we won 30 tackles yesterday (out of 42 attempts). That compares to a 3rd worst 72 in the previous 5 games (115). 30 is more than any team in one game so far this season

What makes it even more remarkable is who made those tackles, with 21 won by Vrancic (8) Murphy (7) & Maddison (6). Steipermann was next best with The 3Ts winning 4 (Tettey with 2) of the 6 they tried.

The is the type of front to be defending that we need - keep that with committing a few more men forward as we break with pace (too often murphy and wildschutt were waiting for a bod, any body, to cross to in the box) and things can quickly improve further.