Swans v Birmingham | Vital Football

Swans v Birmingham

keith margam

Vital Football Legend
Next up are the Blues of Birmingham. They sit in 8th place in the table on 7 points. Here are the four league games they’ve played this season:

3/8 Brentford 0 - Birmingham 1
Possession 76% - 24%
Brentford manager Thomas Frank:
"That was quite frustrating. We outplayed them and outbattled them, created four major chances and they did nothing. We had 13 shots, they had one and our keeper hardly touched the ball.
I hate losing home games, but for me that was one of the best first-half performances in a long time.
The second half was the disappointing part. We needed to play much quicker, get forward and behind them and we just didn't do that."

10/8 Birmingham 1 - B City 1
Possession 46% - 53%
Bristol City manager Lee Johnson:
"The quality of our chances was very, very good and better than theirs and on another day we could have scored two or three.
After being a goal down undeservedly it's a good point to take and it gives us something to build on with some strong performances from new players.
For their goal, we started defending the move poorly and then when the ball hangs up at the far post almost every defender in the division is going in the back of the net with it."

17/8 N Forest 3 - Birmingham 0
Possession 47% - 53%
Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi:
"This was our best performance yet. But I hope there is better to come in the future.
We have to find our killer instinct in the box, to score one or two more goals. But it was a good performance.
We had a good dynamic in attack and controlled the game.
Our keeper did not have to do a lot so, for me, it was the perfect game."

20/8 Birmingham 2 - Barnsley 0
Possession 36% - 64%
Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel:
"We are very disappointed, because we played a good away game. Birmingham had few chances, and although we didn't create many chances, we could have won the game.
Like the last two games, we have played OK, and it's hard for our young team to play here, it's a difficult game, and I'm very frustrated.
For 70 minutes we played well, and played better in the second half than Birmingham. The goal changed the match, and we need to learn so much from this, go on and try to win games.
We became nervous after the first goal, lost our structure, and it's difficult to turn that around."
 
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Looks like Birmingham are having to be very clinical and lucky so far and that tends to not last for long. We really need to start games quicker and dominate, we might be allowed that as Birmingham are happy to sit deep and counter. Then again it's wise to press us high and force mistakes.
 
From a Birmingham perspective:
Manager Pep Clotet on the new strike partnership of Alvaro Gimenez and Lukas Jutkiewicz after both scored in last Tuesday nights home game against Barnsley -
"They both did very well. I was pleased because Alvaro only came a week and a half ago and it's still early and it takes a lot of time to learn about the Club and the team, so it's very promising.
But it's a new game on Sunday and they start from scratch and we need to do it again.
We know it's a very difficult game. Swansea were only relegated from the Premier League two seasons ago, so they have that Premier League experience. For me it is very special because I worked there for many years and I still have a lot of friends there. It's a place that I love and a club that I love. They are a team that plays with a lot of confidence, so it is going to be tough. But we need to make sure that we understand the game and we play to our strengths and try to take as much as we can from there. And afterwards I will wish them all the best.
Swansea are a team that feel very comfortable at home because they have this culture with the way they play. All the fans buy into it and it gives them extra confidence. It's very important that we try to threaten that comfort as much as possible. We need to be a threat going forward and give them a game. We are in a position that we back ourselves to go there and learn from the games that we've played away this season and see the things we need to improve on to be competitive."

From a Swansea perspective:
Head Coach Steve Cooper's comments ahead of the game -
"We haven’t played brilliantly in the first half of the two home games, and that’s credit to the opposition. We have to be better and overcome that. That’s definitely a challenge for us. I would like to keep more clean sheets, there’s no doubt about that. Birmingham are going to offer certain threats so we want to be good at particular things in games. It’s just that mentality of striving to be better than where we’re at. Birmingham have had a good start in terms of points. It’s going to be very different to QPR in terms of how they play. We’ve got to be a team that can adapt to different situations. They will play a different formation and style. They’re a real threat off set-pieces."
 
Swansea are again set to be without Nathan Dyer and Aldo Kalulu for Sunday’s Championship clash with Birmingham.
The wingers were injured in the victory over Preston last weekend, and were forced to sit out the midweek win over QPR.
Dyer suffered a hamstring problem, while Kalulu has been nursing an ankle issue.

Steve Cooper confirmed they look likely to miss out on the lunchtime kick off in front of the Sky Sports’ cameras.
“We are pretty much the same squad. We have an afternoon session today, so I have not had the full medical report yet but I would be surprised if there was any new news. So it looks like the same squad to pick from.
Aldo and Nathan have been doing some strong rehab work while we were down in London so I’ll find out soon how they are doing.
Aldo had a kick on the ankle, it was quite a nasty challenge from behind. He played on for a bit but he was struggling with it.”
Tom Carroll is back in the mix. He started a game for the first time on Monday which is good, and he is closer to selection although I am not sure if he is ready to play in terms of minutes on Sunday.”
 
Winger Jefferson Montero is ineligible to play against his parent club. Maxime Colin (hamstring) will have a late fitness test but could be available after missing the Barnsley game. Jake Clarke-Salter, Kerim Mrabti and Cheick Keita have all returned to training but may need additional time to regain match fitness. Jacques Maghoma (calf) is likely to be back in contention in the near future. Jonathan Grounds (calf) and Maikel Kieftenbeld (knee) remain out.
 
A beautiful sunny day in Swansea just got better!

Swansea 3 - Birmingham 0
Naughton (63')
Celina (68')
Bastón (75' pen)

Possession: 74% - 26%
Shots: 12 - 4
On Target: 6 - 0
Corners: 5 - 1
Fouls: 8 - 13
Yellow Cards: 1 - 5
Attendance: 17,277
Ref: Andy Woolmer 5/10
 
Steve Cooper:
“I think that's our best performance over 90 minutes.
The focus on top of the game plan was to start well and play at our level for 90 minutes and I felt we did that.
I know we came in 0-0 at half-time, but I was happy with how we were playing. I just felt we needed to be more prepared to take risks at the top of the pitch and fortunately the players did that.
We've got a good return in points and we're pleased, but what's more important is we know why we're getting points - with our style of play both on and off the ball and having the ability to dig deep and show resilience."

Pep Clotet:
"We had really good organisation in the first half and started well in the second half.
But when the first goal goes in, that's where we need even more organisation to make sure a second doesn't go in.
We should have been able to create more problems for the opposition defence as we were stronger than we were against Barnsley on Tuesday.
We maybe lacked a little pace today to cause problems, but you have to understand setbacks like this occur with a new squad that's still gelling.
That type of organisation only comes by playing more and more games."
 
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1 Leeds Pl 5 W4 D1 L0 F10 A2 GD8 Pts 13
2 Swans Pl 5 W4 D1 L0 F11 A4 GD7 Pts 13
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3 Charlton Pl 5 W3 D2 L0 F9 A5 GD4 Pts 11