Match report v Birmingham

kirsikka

UTC Legend
----- Points In The Right Direction -----

The last time AFCB faced Birmingham with a caretaker manager in one of the dugouts it finished 8-0 prompting the immortal response from one of the Brum fans ‘If he didn’t want the job he could have just told us’. Woodgate reportedly isn’t in the frame for the role so perhaps a repeat wasn’t on the cards.

He made four changes to the starting line up, Long in for an injured Solanke along with CCV, Smith and Lerma in for Stacey, Mepham and Stanislas.

The ref blew and Bournemouth’s fast passing start was constantly interrupted by niggly fouls from Birmingham as Karanka showed his team are well versed in his tactics. This would continue throughout the game with never even a quiet word from the ref never mind yellows for repeat offenders.

Wilshere was instrumental in a strong opening ten minutes with vision and first time passing helping to find players in space giving them an opportunity to try and create something although the door was slammed shut each time.

Thereafter it switched, with Birmingham the team on the offensive and in control of the ball, trying to prise an opening from somewhere.

It’s at this point I make my twice weekly note that every team will have scouted that we have issues playing it out from left back and so will make extra an effort when we have it there. In my notes this time it’s in all caps as I lost it a bit when we screwed up there again.

We then saw a moment of astatine rarity, Danjuma tracking back and tackling to break down a dangerous attack on the edge of our area. His hard work allowed him to play the ball back to Lewis Cook who was lurking near the byline but he contrived to lose it to an attacker closing him down when a safety first punt would have been the best option.

The Birmingham forward fired in a low cross which Begovic intercepted but it fell to another attacker who shot past the keeper only to find Steve Cook on the line, somehow managing to head it up and over the bar.

A mere minute later the screw continued to be turned as a cross came in and a Brum attacker beat CCV to the ball to knock it backwards where it was met by a brilliant first time volley to rocket the ball at the corner of the goal only to see Begovic pull off a miraculous save. One from the top drawer.

After this spell of concerted pressure the Cherries started to come back into it a bit with the game flowing back and forth between the two sides. However, on 26 minutes Birmingham overlapped down the left and played in a low cross that looked easy for Begovic to deal with only for him to spill it and present Hogan with the simplest of tap ins. It’s the third game running he’s made a serious error although he had some credit in the bank from the excellent save earlier.

When the Cherries did get forward most of their attacking play seemed to end up down the left with Danjuma where it eventually ground to a halt with him ignoring simple passes in order to take men on. With Birmingham often tripling up on him it was the same repeated story of the overlap or inside right run being ignored, him beating the first man only to be crowded out by the second and third.

Woodgate’s face on the touchline was starting to resemble that of a man who had been delivered the wrong takeaway.

Finally something broke for the Cherries though as the ball came to Wilshere in the middle and he ghosted pass a man in a moment that oozed class, leaving the field in front of him unlocked. He picked and played a perfectly weighted ball to Danjuma who, for once, found himself in space with only one man between him and the goal. He wrong footed the defender with a feint and then opened his body the other way which allowed him to curl it into the far corner for a much needed equaliser. 1-1.

Half time came and went with no changes to the personnel but it appears as though Danjuma had been on the receiving end of some strong words about using the players around him rather than trying to dribble through spaghetti junction since he immediately started releasing the ball and we looked so much more dangerous for it.

An early corner saw Long beat his man in the air only to send it inches wide with the keeper stranded. However, all over the pitch there were still moments of sloppiness with Kelly following up one moment of supreme ball control with a ridiculous short pass straight to a Brum player.

The recent mystery around Brooks continued as he still looked subdued and often poor on the ball. In a defensive right back position on the pitch he gave the ball away which could have spelt danger for the Cherries if it wasn’t for a good Kelly interception when Birmingham switched it to the other side.

From that, the ball was played forward to Danjuma who broke down the left and then passed inside to Brooks. For once he played the right ball and to the needed standard, finding the marauding Smith who was in space in the inside right spot of their area. He had time to look up and pick out his man, Wilshere, who he tried to reach with a chipped cross.

Should you ask him, I’m sure Jack will say it was deliberate but the way he stretched almost Inspector Gadget style to reach it with his head and made unusual looking contact only for the ball to loop up and over the keeper and drop into the net makes me think there was an element of fortune to the finish. 2-1.

I’m not sure if he was carrying a knock or if it was tactical but my eyebrows made contact with the ceiling as Wilshere was then hooked off, having looked a class above on the pitch, to be replaced by Billing.

A minute later no longer having his range of passing on the pitch looked a mistake when Kelly stood off a player out wide, giving him the space to get in a cross. In the middle, S Cook and CCV covered their one striker like two central defenders that had never met who were both suffering from hangovers as they left him to roam in acres of space and flick a header home. 2-2.

With the result still very much in the balance, both teams continued to probe for another opening and a Cherries breakaway looked extremely promising until Brooks overhit the final pass, leaving Danjuma scurrying out wide instead of through on goal. With two men to beat before he could get a cross in, he slipped it between them and tried to follow only to be taken out to prevent him reaching the ball, giving Bournemouth a free kick wide left halfway between the area and byline.

The Dutchman stepped up to take it himself and fizzed in a ball that looked like an attempt to curl it in to the far post but seemed destined to miss until the last moment when Billing leapt and flicked the ball back and into the net on the volley. 3-2.

As the game started to wind down Woodgate swapped out wingers for fullbacks in an effort to shore things up and, perhaps, an indication of how he will approach things pragmatically for his likely short reign. It was enough as the Cherries saw the game out for three vital points.
 
Last edited:
----- Conclusions -----

- We were desperate for a win to turn the form around and so no complaints there, even if it was a bit of a scrappy one.

- The change we saw between the halves in Danjuma speaks of a well spotted issue that was dealt with in a way a player responded to so that’s a positive from the coaching staff. At the same time, the Wilshere sub seemed an odd one even if Billing did get the winner.

- Begovic has hit a bit of a sticky patch. There was still a great save out there but we can’t afford to gift goals every game so hopefully he’s got it out of his system now.

- We can’t build a team around Wilshere as he’s only here until the end of the season but when he shows his quality he’s so far above this level we really should be looking to maximise it in every way for the next 18 league games.

- There's always a palpable sense of excitement when things change at a club. A kind of electricity in the air creating a special atmosphere so it was a shame the fans couldn’t be there today to help generate it. Football with no fans is like that 80s doctor’s panacea of flat Lucozade. You consume it cos you believe it will help and whilst you can get the taste it just isn’t right.


----- Player Ratings -----

Begovic – 5
Did make a great save but gifting goals is too costly to allow him a pass on it again.

A Smith – 5
Actually a pretty average performance worthy of a six but I knocked one off because of a moment in the 72nd minute.

We all know Smith goes down easily and theatrically and buys cheap free kicks in most games. Like it or loathe it that’s part of the modern game. However, running into the area and flinging yourself to the ground when there wasn’t anything even close to contact then making an appeal for a penalty is a whole different thing and pretty disgraceful. If he’s heading in that direction I’d rather we play Stacey.

Carter-Vickers – 6
It wasn’t all great as the lack of communication with his partner for the second was very poor but it also wasn’t terrible and had moments when he looked strong and assured.

S Cook – 6
One genuinely brilliant clearance off the line but also has the millstone of that second goal against him. Week after week I call him out as needing to act as the leader for the defence and here’s another example when he should have made sure the man was covered.

Kelly – 5
Ignore by Danjuma in the first half so didn’t look as good going forward in this match allied to some sloppy defending and poor passing. However, I’d still rather we stick with him for longer rather than going back to the chop and change which hasn’t been a success for us.

L Cook – 6
One brilliant bursting dribble and a few decent passes but didn’t really impose himself on the game.

Lerma – 6
Better than many of his performances of late.

Wilshere (off on 67) – 8 and MotM
An assist, a goal, some great passing and vision and, most pleasingly, some bite to his game as well when performing defensive work. Did drift out of the game at times but there was enough there in the moments he was involved to be pretty excited. Please don’t let the sub have been due to an injury!

Brooks (off on 85) – 5
It wasn’t his worst recent performance but he was clearly the weak link in the attacking efforts. Shouldn’t be starting the next game.

Long – 6
Worked hard with not much coming his way. Looked rusty but a little unlucky with the header and another shot that hit the joint of post and crossbar.

Danjuma (off on 90) - 7
First half Dan was frustrating. Second half Dan was fantastic.

--- Subs ---

Billing (on from 67) – 7
Scored the winner and almost set Brooks up for another.

Stacey (on from 85) and Rico (on from 90)
Too short a time.


Overall Grade: C+
Of late I’ve been desperately searching for positives in many games and so have perhaps erred on the generous side with some marks. This time out they’re harsher when you consider we got the win but let’s not forget it was a scrambled one that could have gone either way against a team fighting against relegation.

It was mostly a sea of mediocrity out there surrounding one sparkling diamond. I noticed Wilshere had a bandage on one hand so please don’t let him be hiding the first signs of greyscale as it must be about the only thing left for him to suffer from. If we can keep him fit then, based on today, he could be the fulcrum upon which our season pivots.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, pretty fair report and scores. I don't know whether it is because Brooks and Kelly are both ex- Championship and resent being back there but they've both been crepe for some time now. And it's amazing that having spent 30m? on left sided defenders we've ended up with Steve Cook there.
 
haven’t seen it close up but didn’t billing go to tap in with his right foot and miss, inadvertently diverting the ball into the net off his left shin?

hysterical
 
The result was the important thing. First half Danjuma was so frustrating, especially when he kills the pace and dances in front of the defender allowing them to regroup.

He took his goal well but every man and his dog knew he was going to cut in as he did. My 16 year old who plays in the Allied Counties Youth League would have been ripped to shreds by his manager for allowing that. Ultimately, I don’t care, we won.
 
Thanks for the report. As usual I ended up not watching a game when we win, so good to get your views. Hopefully we’ve stopped the rot and have got a Nice 5 point gap to calm the nerves.
 
haven’t seen it close up but didn’t billing go to tap in with his right foot and miss, inadvertently diverting the ball into the net off his left shin?

hysterical

You could be right. It looked a little strange but I gave him the benefit of the doubt that it was some sort of outside of the book back flick and so pretty skillful. One to watch back later for a better view.
 
You could be right. It looked a little strange but I gave him the benefit of the doubt that it was some sort of outside of the book back flick and so pretty skillful. One to watch back later for a better view.
Watched the Danjuma interview on COWS - spoke very well and seemed pretty happy and relaxed so that’s good .
 
Most important thing today was the result .
Performance wise it was pretty dire, masked by the fact we won.
We were for a lot of the game outplayed by Birmingham at home.

Kelly needs aggression in his game, that second goal the gap between cook and vickers was huge.

We seem to play 3 in the middle but the ease to get through them, we do need a proper defensive midfielder to play so hopefully Pearson gets some game time soon
 
It was all about the result, the performance overall was sub-standard as it has been. There was more effort from certain players but the first 35 mins was atrocious. The last 15 weren't great either but I could see some effort from the players to scrap the win even if it meant route 1 which you have to do in this situation.
 
Good report.

Performance wasn't much different to recent ones. It many ways it felt like the same approach to Sheff Wed. Only diff being Wilshere was sharper and CCV was good on the ball.

I think we have to start giving some credit to oppo midfields. Generally I thought we were much better than them, but we can't expect our 2 or three to stop everything. We seem to count these against more harshly.

Other than the one slip, I don't think Lewis did much wrong. Some good balls to Danjuma and link up with Wilshere.
 
Although we looked shaky at the back if you look their 2 goals - 1 was mistake from Begovic right into the path of Hogan and the other was clearly offside. Hogan did nothing else the whole game.
 
Hi all,

For once the result is good, although the xGs still aren't good reading. Neither Danjuma's nor Wilshere's chance were particularly likely to go in (although Danjuma looks to be better than the average striker). However, we wouldn't expect Bego to drop one at the striker's feet, so a draw may have been a fairer result. Still let's take the luck and 5 points clear of 7th is good.

Brum.JPG

I suspect that we self-fuel criticism and that some players become the automatic scapegoats. Kelly's tackle for the second goal was good, and he hasn't committed a costly howler yet. The board would have gone into utter meltdown if he'd have slipped (I'm being generous) in the same manner as Lewis Cook did.
 
The result was the important thing. First half Danjuma was so frustrating, especially when he kills the pace and dances in front of the defender allowing them to regroup.

He took his goal well but every man and his dog knew he was going to cut in as he did. My 16 year old who plays in the Allied Counties Youth League would have been ripped to shreds by his manager for allowing that. Ultimately, I don’t care, we won.

Same could always be said about Marc Pugh, but every defender from League Two to the Premier League still fell for the chop numerous times.

It's because the fake is so affective, 1 in 4 times they do go wide and stick in a left foot cross, so the defenders instinctively can't just ignore the drop of the shoulder, even though they and everyone in the ground knows that he really should protect against them cutting inside.
 
Same could always be said about Marc Pugh, but every defender from League Two to the Premier League still fell for the chop numerous times.

It's because the fake is so affective, 1 in 4 times they do go wide and stick in a left foot cross, so the defenders instinctively can't just ignore the drop of the shoulder, even though they and everyone in the ground knows that he really should protect against them cutting inside.
I agree .
We know with danjuma at times he is frustrating but the moment he isn’t he creates a good chance for himself or others . Like Pugh , you never knew when he would deliver the cross
 
Thanks, pretty fair report and scores. I don't know whether it is because Brooks and Kelly are both ex- Championship and resent being back there but they've both been crepe for some time now. And it's amazing that having spent 30m? on left sided defenders we've ended up with Steve Cook there.

Chronic loss of confidence in both of them. David Brooks has come back from a long injury and is high profile so is often being doubled up on.

Lloyd Kelly has had a stop-start season jumping from left-sided centre back pairing, left side of a back three, left-back, left-wing back, it cannot be good for building any sort of momentum, continuity or partnerships.

Both players have quality, they'll rediscover their form.
 
Chronic loss of confidence in both of them. David Brooks has come back from a long injury and is high profile so is often being doubled up on.

Lloyd Kelly has had a stop-start season jumping from left-sided centre back pairing, left side of a back three, left-back, left-wing back, it cannot be good for building any sort of momentum, continuity or partnerships.

Both players have quality, they'll rediscover their form.
Yes
 

;