The talking points from Birmingham City’s pre-season friendly win at Shrewsbury Town on Saturday
At the Croud Meadow on Saturday, Birmingham City easily defeated League One rivals and preseason friendly hosts Shrewsbury Town. Jordan James gave Blues the lead in the first half, and Lukas Jutkiewicz added a late goal following some excellent work from Romelle Donovan.
Nearly 1,200 Bluenoses traveled to Shropshire for the afternoon, where they watched 22 players, including recently signed Willum Willumsson and, for the first time, an extended stint for the very skilled Alex Cochrane at left-back. Throughout the afternoon, there were indications that the Blues, under their new manager Chris Davies, have been improving.
The puzzle’s components
This week, the signings number five, six, and seven arrived. Seeing those parts fall into place one after the other will be a rewarding development for Craig Gardner and company, who have been spinning plates behind the scenes lately. The Blues have taken advantage of Europe and could yet visit after Messrs. Hansson, Willumsson, and Klarer, but for the time being, the team’s future appears brighter.
They are obviously not finished yet. After this friendly, we asked Davies how he thought the window had gone thus far, and his appraisal of the situation couldn’t have been more apparent. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that after this week, he has a better notion of what his starting lineup for Reading on August 10 would entail.
“I do believe I have a better idea,” he said to BirminghamLive. “I believed that after our return from Austria, I would have a clearer understanding of the contents of the building. Yes, without a doubt. I’m starting to sense whose team is the strongest right now. I’ve told the players time and time again that I want depth, that is, two players fighting for each spot so that our squad isn’t much better than the others. It maintains strong training standards, which is what I’m attempting to establish here.”
Surefire indicators
You could see patterns of play and plays created from deep that were easy on the eyes and that Davies had obviously introduced this summer, especially in the first half when the majority of the first-choice players were on the field. There was evidence of the Blues’ intention to play quick, direct football this afternoon—against a League One opponent, no less—to overcome resolute opponents.
It was encouraging to see Willumsson, who is undoubtedly of excellent technical ability and who loves to have the ball to his feet, start as the deepest of the front four right away. Of course, these are still very early days. There will be more friendlies in the near future, and this side, which is still developing and needs more work, will need weeks of preparation.
Still, it would be folly to ignore the encouraging early indicators. The new players have been brought in to complement Davies’ strategy, and the current staff is on board with it. Paik Seung-ho and Krystian Bielik are two players whose worldwide stature speaks for themselves. They simply appeared too excellent for their opponents in different parts of the field.
Belt conveyor
There will be more signings, but the newest member of the team observed from the stands as the fresher faces made their debut today along with the Blues staff. When Christoph Klarer was first introduced to the local media prior to the game, they saw a kind person who, to be honest, looked like a nightmare for a center forward.
Klarer faced players like Harry Kane in Germany’s top division last year and has, albeit little, experience with English football and its demands. Dion Sanderson, who played flawlessly, was placed on the left side of the defensive pairing, which is an unusual placement for him, so it will be fascinating to see how he is implemented into this lineup. But Klarer hasn’t arrived at Blues to pad the bench.
“Christopher has the advantage of having prior experience with Southampton. “He returned a man, having gone to play games in Austria and Germany,” Davies remarked. “He is capable. He spent the previous season playing in the Bundesliga; naturally, the team was demoted, but he did spend a few seasons in Bundesliga 2. He is an excellent football player who possesses the kind of character I’m trying to develop here. He is strong in the air and good with the ball.”
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