EXCLUSIVE: Three new Birmingham City line-ups for Chris Davies after summer transfers

Despite having barely completed four transactions, Birmingham City’s starting lineups for Chris Davies shout Championship, not League One.

Ryan Allsop and Bailey Peacock-Farrell were recruited to the Blues’ goalkeeping roster, and League One’s 2023–24 Golden Boot winner Alfie May was brought in at the opposite end of the field.The addition of Emil Hansson offers Blues an additional wing option.The only player the Blues have lost thus far is John Ruddy, who turned down a new contract at Newcastle United in favor of a lucrative one in the Premier League.

This implies that Krystian Bielik, Koji Miyoshi, and South Korea international Paik Seung-ho—who will soon return to his teammates for preseason after receiving an extended leave of absence due to military service—are still available for selection by Davies.

The Blues will continue to bolster a roster that is devoid of depth in central defense, unsure in midfield, and in desperate need of offensive overhaul. However, they already have a number of intriguing lineups.

If we go with the 4-2-3-1 system that all three managers felt was the best for Blues in the previous campaign and that matches the setup of Davies’ former team, Tottenham Hotspur, then Blues have a number of possibilities.

Preseason play will determine who the Blues play in the live battle for the top place. For the past three seasons, Allsop has been a top pick in the Championship; nevertheless, Peacock-Farrell has experience and a better ceiling given his prior employers.

In defence, Lee Buchanan is a lock for left back, and Ethan Laird is uncontested at right back right now. As the only recognized center back for the team, Dion Sanderson starts by default, and Bielik is now the best option to play beside him. At the end of the previous season, they developed a strong working relationship that helped the Blues keep three clean sheets in their final four games.

The midfield position for the team is currently uncertain. In League One, picture Jordan James and Paik working together. James, 19, is being courted by Premier League teams and Atalanta, so it is inevitable that he will depart. Paik must also make a choice.

“I’m a symbol of exactly that, and that’s my message to the players around that,” adds Davies. “I could very easily be a manager in the Championship right now—who knows, even higher—but I’ve made the decision to join a team that is gaining momentum.

“My responsibility is to clearly explain to them the project’s goals and vision so they can understand that, yes, we are in League One, but we are also moving toward a destination, and you want to be a part of that.” To those gamers who may be weighing their current situation against their desired future state, that is precisely the message I will be conveying to them.

James and Paik have a variety of players in front of them. For League One defenses, having Miyoshi, Juninho Bacuna, and a committed Siriki Dembele behind May would be terrifying. But Bacuna appears to be headed in that direction, and Hansson will undoubtedly enter and exhibit the ambition we saw in Dembele during the previous season. The Blues’ offensive arsenal wouldn’t exactly be weakened by sacking Tyler Roberts, George Hall, Keshi Anderson, Romelle Donovan, and Lukas Jutkiewicz.

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