Club Focus - Birmingham - Carr the driving force
Sunday’s defeat to two excellent Fulham goals handed Birmingham their third league defeat in less than a month. As such, Birmingham’s European hopes have effectively been ended and it now seems that they are embroiled in a battle for mid table places with Everton, Fulham, Stoke and Blackburn.
Stephen Carr, who has captained the side for the majority of the season, was at fault for Fulham’s late winner after conceding a rash foul on the edge of the area which allowed England hopeful Bobby Zamora to slot his free-kick past the ever impressive Joe Hart. Manager Alex McLeish was quick to deflect complete blame from Carr: “he's upset, he's very disappointed. But you know he doesn't make many mistakes over the course of a whole season and I'm sure Stevie Carr will want to bounce back next week." Carr has amazed commentators and football enthusiasts this season - having previously retired from the game after leaving Newcastle United, Irishman Carr joined Birmingham City on this day a year ago and has been impressing ever since.
At that point, Birmingham fans were not thinking of having a top half finish in the Premier League but just focussing on gaining immediate promotion back to England’s top tier. Carr has been instrumental in that leap as he has filled the gap at right back after Nicky Hunt returned to Bolton. His wealth of experience led to McLeish awarding him captaincy instead of Lee Carsley, the infrequency of Carsley’s position in the starting eleven being the main reason. Now 33, Carr epitomises much of what Birmingham are perceived to be about.
The diminutive right back focuses much of his attention on the defensive duties that come with the right-back role, with the occasional burst past Sebastian Larsson. As a collective unit, Birmingham are set up to imitate Carr - they are defensively solid and robust and they sporadically venture forward at appropriate times; if there was to be one criticism of Blues this season it would be that they do not attack enough and when they do, there is a distinct lack of threat up front.
Sunday’s formation showcased Birmingham’s attacking problems - Fulham are not a particularly attacking side and prefer to pass the ball around and gradually build an attack. For that reason, a four man midfield would have sufficed as Fulham’s pace of play always allows the opposition defence time to regroup. Instead, McLeish decided to play a five man midfield with James McFadden in an advanced role and left Christian Benítez on the bench. A tactic like that is fine if there are two quick wide men to assist in a counter attack but barring a late attack which resulted in McFadden hitting the bar, Birmingham looked bereft of threat.
The rest of the weekend fixtures showed the divide between Birmingham and those battling around them. Everton scored three times against a strong Manchester United and proved to be a constant threat and Aston Villa had a fifteen minute spell of sustained pressure where their quality up front shone and culminated in a five goal victory. Tottenham also peppered Wigan’s goal with twelve shots on target, scoring three - two of which courtesy of January target Roman Pavlyuchenko. Against Fulham, Birmingham had 7 shots on target and barring an own goal, only really threatened Mark Schwarzer twice in the game. It has been intimated in the Press and by Peter Pannu that Tottenham wanted upwards of £13 million for Pavlyuchenko which considering his lack of match time this season would have been a risky signing but hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in hindsight, Pavlyuchenko is exactly what Birmingham need.
This is not an attempt at blaming Christian Benítez and Cameron Jerome for Birmingham’s attack - they both have their uses for Birmingham but neither has the goal scoring prowess of Pavlyuchenko. It has recently been mentioned that Kevin Phillips has exactly what this duo lack but, his age makes him an option that can only be used occasionally and not over a sustained period of time. The Russian has 18 goals in 45 appearances for Tottenham and watching him play has provided enough evidence to deem him the perfect fit for Birmingham. He has good movement but can also finish which would make him a rare commodity at Birmingham.
The Midlands outfit have only scored 25 times this season, the lowest total in the top half. Birmingham’s current strikers will have to find their goal scoring touch and if they continue to be goal shy, their already threatened top half position will soon slip away and sides like Blackburn who have not been as impressive all round this season will soon be ahead of them. Stephen Carr, the rest of the Birmingham defence, and the fans, deserve to see an attack worthy of the rest of the football played by Birmingham this season.
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