With a third of the season complete, Blues find themselves in 16th place and eight points above the relegation zone, and eight points from the play-off places.
Blues have won just four times this campaign, the most recent the 1-0 away success at Ashton Gate on Saturday. (This result is not included in any of the stats below).
We failed to register a single victory throughout November. We’ve also had the joint-third fewest shots on target so far this campaign, firing in just 44 efforts on goal in their opening 15 outings. Although manager Aitor Karanka has asked fans to be patient, it would be fair to say that some supporters are beginning to get fed up of the Spaniards constant tinkering, and many believe that the former Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough boss should stick to one system in order to get the best out of his squad.
Formations
The Blues lost just one of their opening five Championship games, and proved incredibly tough to beat. Karanka largely deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation during this period, although he briefly toyed with a more traditional 4-4-2 during their 1-1 draw with Rotherham at St Andrews on September 26th.
Following a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, he opted for a flat 3-5-2 in a bid to nullify their opponents. He then briefly returned to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, a decision which duly paid off as he watched his side edge past Huddersfield courtesy of a last-gasp Lukas Jutkiewicz strike.
This system was subsequently ditched following a shock home defeat to struggling Wycombe Wanderers, and was replaced by a more expansive 3-5-2. Unfortunately, it resulted in the club’s heaviest defeat of the campaign to Bournemouth. The former Premier League side were chalked up as one of the ante-post favourites in the pre-season football betting markets and were always expected to leave the West Midlands with three points, however, the manner of the 3-1 defeat was extremely disappointing. A brief return to 4-2-3-1 was quickly followed by a first outing for a more attack-minded 3-4-3 formation.
With six different systems having been used across 16 Championship matches so far, many of the players are unsurprisingly struggling to make an impact. Karanka may be a naturally defensive-minded coach. However, he was also renowned for his stubbornness during his previous spells in the second tier, and would often rigidly stick to his system regardless of the results. This time around, he has largely struggled to find his preferred set-up, and appears unable to settle on a chosen system.
Players Used
Captain Harlee Dean is the only player in the Birmingham squad to have started every single match this season and the defender is one of just five players who have clocked up over 1000 Championship minutes so far. Although Maxime Colin, George Friend and Ivan Sanchez have been regulars in the side, many others have found themselves in and out of the XI during the opening 15 fixtures.
Even Jutkiewicz, who netted the 100th goal of his career at Kenilworth Road on November 24th has started just ten games, and his partnership with Scott Hogan, which flourished last season, hasn’t been helped by the continual changes. The pair have started as a front two on just three occasions so far this year, and many fans would like to see the potent duo given time to recapture the form which saw them bag a combined total of 22 goals last season.
Scott Hogan & Lukas Jutkiewicz @BCFC record when starting together:
5?? games
3?? wins
2?? drawsHogan
4?? goals ????????
1?? assist ??Jutkiewicz
3?? goals ??????
1?? assist ??#HogJutkSplit the Goals between them ????#BCFC #KRO ??? pic.twitter.com/ILGoee30VS— Goodbrand Stats (@StatsChristian) February 22, 2020
Although the board are likely to give Karanka plenty of time to turn things around, the 47-year old surely must reduce his unnecessary meddling in order to prevent the side from becoming embroiled in a relegation scrap. We have a decent squad, who are perfectly capable of pushing for a top-half finish, but the constant chopping and changing isn’t helping the team to fulfill their potential and a little more consistency is undoubtedly required during the second half of the campaign.
Hopefully the win on Saturday will help.
Karanka’s tinkering is obvious to all and highlights his uncertainty in which system to use. Has he finally got the message after the Bristol City win-let’s hope so.My own articles lately have been quite scathing about AK but I feel very justified. No club in my opinion who have a fair number of decent players will prosper towards a top six spot under him. Some managers return to the Championship and succeed whereas Karanka,who is likeable, cannot see that this division has changed,meaning that players have to be physically strong and very athletic with speed. Clayton,San Jose and Friend are too seasoned to make a Championship promotion challenge. Ren unfortunately for us fans is woefully short on football know how and Karanka is mightily fortunate that Ren chose him for a wild idea of promotion.
Karanka is making problems by chopping and changing .. No one gets chance to gel with other players .. That instinct of knowing where another player is going to be? He should know his best team and stick with it and play to our strengths rather than pander to other teams …. Be nice for our strikers to get the ball facing goal instead of back to goal… Karanka needs time but I’m not as warm to him as when he was appointed.
Karanka has made a basic decision which is affecting the team badly. He does not have the personnel to play the system that he wants play. I know Juke has his failings but going into this season he probably remains to be our most important player and as a result you have to set the team up to suit him until such time that you have a player that can play in either a 5-1-3-1 which preferred earlier in the season and more latterly a 4-2-3-1. Neither Juke or Hogan are capable of playing the role required. Undoubtedly, even having some dross over the last 10 years this is the worst Blues team offensively that we have had to suffer watching. ( By the way I have been watching Blues for 55 years).Secondly the team are not moving up the pitch as an organised unit and as a result we are never able to sustain possession for long spells in the opposing half. This has resulted in the opposition having long periods in and around our box hence the increased likelihood of conceding penalties and defenders making stupid mistakes. I believe we have to play 442 until such time as you signed 1 or 2 strikers. I do not believe Karanka will play this system on principle. Gary Rowett and Monk knew how to set up a team properly. When so many players are under performing you have to question that that the team is not set up and coached properly. It maybe now that we have got to the point where Karanka has lost or is close to losing the dressing room but I believe the have been trying so far. It appears too many people that a biggest problem currently is our defence but I think its our offence. Our best form of defence will be to spend much more time in the opposition half.
As a loyal bluenose for over 65years l have experienced so many ups and downs with this club but today believe the problems start with the owners whoever they are ? They do not have the passion or understanding of football.The manager has not been given any finance to build a team so we have free transfer old injury prone discarded players and today need younger ambushes players and have sympathy for any manager appointed however AK makes too many changes plays no forward formations goals win games instead we try to defend make too many individual mistakes and loose matches .He must go he has lost the dressing room.The current outlook is Relegation time to act now to stop the rot or accept the consequences and risk backlash
from fans who have jab enough
KRO
Desperate for change now BCFC supporter