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Why Chris Davies bawled at Yokoyama as 11 Birmingham City mishaps highlighted
Birmingham City dropped points for the second time in succession in League One after Northampton Town struck deep into stoppage time on Saturday.
Mitch Pinnock fired home to cancel out Jay Stansfield’s goal which had Blues on course for a sixth straight home league win. Blues’ second successive 1-1 draw means they have now surrendered top spot to in-form Wycombe Wanderers.
The season is only 13 games old, however, and Blues are on course to make an immediate return to the Championship. But they will have two weeks to stew on a draw which manager Chris Davies admitted ‘felt like a loss’ before they play Shrewsbury after the international break.
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READ: Ethan Laird explains why Blues ‘won’t get mad’ after draw which ‘felt like a loss’
READ: Blues player ratings after Jay Stansfield goal cancelled out by Northampton
Here are our talking points from Birmingham City 1 Northampton Town 1…
Blues can’t keep giving away goals
How many of the 12 goals Blues have conceded in League One this season have been avoidable and/or of their own making? The number might be 11.
Reading scored after Blues conceded possession cheaply in midfield. Wycombe’s first goal was an own goal by Krystian Bielik that should have been cleared. Leyton Orient scored after Bailey Peacock-Farrell gave it to them inside his own box. Wigan’s goal was a Peacock-Farrell goalkeeping error. Wrexham’s came courtesy of a weak punch by Peacock-Farrell and a poorly defended corner. Peacock-Farrell’s mishap playing out and another shoddily defended flag-kick put Peterborough two-nil up. Blues allowed a Charlton long throw-in to bounce inside the box. Christoph Klarer flicked on Lincoln’s long throw for Bailey Cadamarteri. The wall split for Lee Gregory’s free-kick to creep in for Mansfield.
And Dion Sanderson failed to deal with a long punt from Northampton’s goalkeeper before Tomoki Iwata passed the loose ball straight to Pinnock. Of the 12 Blues have shipped in the league, Sam Vokes’ consolation for Wycombe might be the only one that wasn’t gift-wrapped.
While it is undoubtedly a negative to be giving away such goals, it does make you wonder how good this team will look at League One level when/if Davies irons out the mistakes.
Rinse and repeat – Blues need solutions
Northampton will say they tried to stay in the game and wait for their opportunity. Basically, they rode their luck. Blues should have been out of sight by the time Pinnock scored.
The game-plan was seemingly to defend deep with five-at-the-back and a narrow midfield and hope that something might fall their way. It isn’t new to Blues, this is what they are encountering on a weekly basis.
“I anticipated that,” said Davies. “They will think they have done what they wanted to do but we should have finished them off before that. It wasn’t a case that they were super well organised or anything, we had lots of chances and moments that we could have scored and taken the game from them. We can expect more of that. It’s something we have to find the answer to.”
The fact of the matter is that Blues have to find ways to break through the low blocks in front of them, whether it’s through intricate passing, a moment of individual brilliance – which more than a few players in this squad are capable of – or by attempting more shots from outside the box.
The finishing does need improving
The statistics read 25 shots and three on target. While it didn’t feel like Blues were hammering on Northampton’s door, they were dominant and did create enough chances to extend their lead before Pinnock scored.
Alfie May fluffed an early chance after an excellent left-wing cross from Paik Seung-ho. Willum Willumsson should have hit the target after killing a ball inside the box with an exquisite first touch. Klarer and Bielik might have scored in the second half and substitute Luke Harris hit the post.
There were opportunities that weren’t taken. That has been a theme in several games this season, hence the tight scorelines, and needs addressing otherwise Blues risk being pegged back again.
Yokoyama got lucky – and Davies let him know about it
We are all excited by Japanese winger Ayumu Yokoyama’s potential and there is plenty of clamour for Davies to use him more often. But inside the Blues camp the 21-year-old is viewed as a work-in-progress and he demonstrated why shortly after coming on against Northampton.
Yokoyama wasn’t alert when Cobblers full-back Will Hondermarck bombed beyond him to get a shot away that needed to be cleared off the line by Bielik when the score was 1-0.
Davies left his technical area to bawl at Yokoyama for neglecting his defensive duties. Davies was more constructive in his post-match press conference, saying: “Sometimes when you are so dominant in a game and you attack so much you just have to concentrate because the opposition can surprise you with an attack out of nowhere.
“He’s learning. He’s obviously got a lot of talent going forward and he’s adapted well, to be fair to him at a young age coming to England, but yeah he didn’t see or anticipate the run there and it could have been costly.”
