BRUM IS BLUE!

Blues beat ten man Leyton Orient last night to go 9 points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. Goals from Gardner-Hickman and Ethan Laird were the difference but it was a game in which, no matter how much Blues dominated, they struggled to score. It could have been four or five I felt, sat watching shots bounce of the bar or post.

Despite a fair start from the visitors, Jamie Currie was deemed to have recklessly taken out Iwata and was shown a red within 12 minutes. Blues did look the better team up to this point and I certainly hoped we’d push on and hammer Orient but fair play to them after, but they weren’t going to roll over. They took off their top scorer and strengthened at the back making them quite difficult to breakdown, but break them down we did (Only after knocking on the door a few times first).

Blues managed 27 shots throughout the game in comparison to Leyton Orient’s 3 shots, although none of these were on target. Having taken off their talismanic striker though it was inevitable, just as having 27 shots but scoring only two was inevitable without our own golden boy Jay Stansfield. There was more than one or two instances where the blokes I sit with, and myself included, said; “Stansfield would have scored that.”

One thing that does seem to stand out is that last seasons Golden Boot winner Alfie May seems to be lacking a bit of confidence in front of goal perhaps. I don’t know if it’s the lack of game time, the style of play Blues are looking for or even if he’s a bit frustrated but I thought last night we’d see him on the scoreboard so was a little surprised not to. There was at least two instances where I felt he should have been a bit more selfish with the ball. One instance where he seemed to be free, with just one defender in front of him, to run onto goal and potentially score comes to mind definitely. Instead he seemed to pause, slow down and look for the pass.

I accept this is definitely something Davies wants Blues to do, the sheer number of passes in the final third proves this, but it can also be significantly frustrating, overcomplicating things unnecessarily. There was also a couple of instances in the box as well whereby he passed when I think he should have shot. It’s hard to complain about him because he is clearly a great player and charismatic to boot, I just don’t want to think that Blues have taken his shine away. I suggested we needed to switch the style to suit Alfie and we didn’t do that but I think May should not just have the confidence but have the free reign to be able to play as suits him when needed.

Negatives aside, Blues would have in the past definitely squandered that game. It shows how much of a tight ship Davies has made us. They remained composed, calm and didn’t rush around trying to capitalize on the one man advantage which could have seen us suffer on the counter. Instead Blues kept possession, 78% of it, played the ball from side to side and ran Orient down. In the past Blues would have no doubt been caught on the counter or even just failed to bread them down and come away with a share of the spoils.

Anyway despite the frustration Blues did what they needed to do and Ethan Laird has been a massive boost to Blues this season. I do think Blues will struggle if he too takes a knock or if fatigue really hits in, especially as we have a big game at the weekend as we look to put 11 points between us and Wycombe. Either way, we’re on our way!