Videos, a clear mantra and ‘a little bit of chaos’: Birmingham City through the eyes of Chris Davies
Birmingham City have reached the halfway point in their assault on League One and they are on course for a resounding victory. Fifty-three points from 23 matches has Blues two points clear at the top, with multiple games-in-hand on the two teams directly below them.
With Exeter City on home turf on Saturday and an away double-header on the horizon against promotion rivals Wrexham and Huddersfield, Blues’ chance to pull clear has arrived. They are still in two cup competitions and their record reads 24 wins from 33 matches – yet, in an ominous warning to their rivals, Chris Davies insists his team hasn’t peaked yet.
“I think we’re still a little way off,” he told BirminghamLive. “There’s always areas we can improve. I think we’ve developed quite a clear style without, in my eyes, feeling too predictable in the sense that we get into a good team position on the pitch and we’ve got good structure and I think the players all understand their roles within that, but I think we’ve got a good variation in our attack.
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“I want to make sure that we’re not just making 10 yard passes all the time so it’s easy for the opposition, that we are looking to hurt them and attack their back-line – make runs in behind, cause chaos with crosses, counter-pressing.
“A little bit of chaos. We’ve had good balance with controlled, structured possession and going forward. I think that balance can still grow and we can improve our quality of how we execute that.
“Defensively I like the look of us. We look solid, we press well, we’ve got a real appetite to press. Every opposition manager I speak to after the game comments about how hard the team works pressing wise.”
One area Davies has earmarked for improvement is attacking set pieces. Blues have only scored five set piece goals in League One – only four teams have registered fewer – but their impressive defensive record provides balance to that statistic. Blues have only conceded six goals from set pieces, a record bettered by just five teams.
Blues’ winner at Swindon Town in midweek arrived via an 89th minute corner straight from the training ground. Another late goal, the 12th time Blues have scored in or after the 79th minute in a game this season.
“What’s been nice in the last few weeks is we’ve had a steeliness about us, we’ve had a bit of an edge,” adds Davies. “It’s been scrappy at times and we’ve stood up to those challenges well.
“I think that’s testament to the players themselves and the spirit they have created. The atmosphere is good. I never want them to feel like we’re in a social club and it’s all very nice and friendly all the time, because it’s not like that and we should be pushing each other – they do, but they also seem to like each other.
“I’ve been so happy with the return of 24 wins from 33 games but I definitely think there is scope to improve in some areas.”
The unbeaten run now stands at 13 games and has been extended with more rotation than Davies had initially planned. Injuries have given players opportunities to play, but several have been deployed out of position. Right-back Alfons Sampsted has earned Davies’ praise for playing two games at centre-back to give Christoph Klarer and Ben Davies the chance to rest after the gruelling festive period.
The machine is so well oiled at this point that players are comfortably slotting into different cogs within the system.
“I do a lot of video work with the players when we can’t coach and they have to sit in meeting rooms probably longer than they would want to,” Davies explained. “I review every game we play in quite a detailed way so hopefully that gives them a chance to get insights.
“I coach the team together in those meetings so they can see what’s required. Good footballers can adapt anyway but they listen. You can sit in meetings and switch off and not listen, but it tells me that when I’m saying things and somebody is coming into the team and doing the job that they are listening to the instructions.
“Alfons is a great example. Taylor Gardner-Hickman is another great example, he’s played so many different positions and he does every one exactly how I’m asking him to do it.”
Good squad players are essential to a team vying for promotion, even more so when it's fighting on more than one front. This is the reason why Davies transformed Blues’ squad during the summer transfer window. He got rid of players he didn’t want and filled the club with good people.
Reciting a message he regularly gives to his players, Davies said: “Attitude is everything. It’s all about attitude, you’ve got ability and you’re professional footballers and you’ve been brought here because of that, but you’re not going to achieve anything unless you have the right attitude.”
He concluded: “There’s not one player that I look at and think they’ve fallen short in that area and that’s why I believe we’ve been successful to this point with the caveat that we have achieved nothing yet.”
