Talking points after Birmingham City recorded another away win against Oxford United
Birmingham City midfielder Jhon Solis celebrates victory over Oxford United
Birmingham City continued their rejuvenation with a 2-0 victory over Oxford United to keep pace with the Championship’s play-off dreamers.
Myles Peart-Harris (OG) and Marvin Ducksch’s fifth goal in six matches handed Blues their second away victory in succession.
Chris Davies isn’t counting his blessings just yet, despite his team extending their unbeaten run to six matches, but Blues have come out of their disastrous December to enjoy a very productive January.
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Here are our talking points post-Oxford…
Solis showed what Blues have been missing
By Davies’ own admission, Blues have been overpowered in some of their away games and Jhon Solis was signed to provide some physicality in midfield.
The Colombian’s performance at the Kassam Stadium was everything Davies hoped it would be.
Solis was strong in and out of possession, landed on loose balls and refused to be beaten on the rare transitions Oxford threatened.
It was only right that Solis ended his full debut with fist-pumps in front of the away end.
Davies commented: “You know they’re going to be strong in there. When we press teams often go direct, naturally, and the second ball becomes very important. I thought Jhon would give us that physical presence but he gave us a lot more than that.
“He defended well but I thought he showed calmness, personality to get on the ball in tight situations, made sensible decisions to circulate the ball forward. I thought his performance was very strong.”
On this evidence, the 11 appearances that would make Solis a permanent addition cannot come soon enough because he appears to be perfect for English football.
And he helped Paik
Solis’s involvement afforded Paik some freedom and he played well away from home. How many times have we said that this season?
Neither Tommy Doyle nor Paik are the combative number six that has been required, so both of them have been forced to play within themselves at times in a bid to create the right balance.
Paik looked like the best version of himself next to Solis.
On the midfield balance, Davies said: “Paik was strong. He is a player that has been strong for me throughout. We play with two sixes and a 10, we’re not playing with a six and two eights, so it’s important that those sixes work well together and complement each other.
“Last season (Tomoki) Iwata and Paik were ever-present but Iwata has gone to right-back and Tommy has come in alongside Paik.
“They are all going to be important because different situations require different things. That’s the key. We’re building our squad now so we’ve got players suited to different situations within games.
“Tommy is an exceptional football player, he can dictate a game and get on the ball. I thought you saw with Jhon today that he gave us that bit of strength in there that we needed.”
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies hugs midfielder Jhon Solis
Ducksch is making his presence felt
The talent of Marvin Ducksch has never been in question but the buy-in and improvement over the last month has been there for all to see.
January has brought five goals and an assist for Ducksch who is now hot-on-the-heels of Jay Stansfield in the race to be Blues’ top scorer.
The eight-goal German is thriving in his preferred position off the front and produced an unerring finish to settle the game at Oxford.
We must not overlook the delightful first-time pass that put Stansfield through on goal earlier in the match too.
Ducksch is finally playing with consistency.
The quality of Blues’ bench told
Blues’ transfer business has given Davies great depth to choose from. His bench at Oxford included a 24-year-old midfielder with 50 Premier League appearances under his belt, a Nigeria international, a couple of big money strikers and a winger who has five La Liga goals to his name this season.
Blues’ depth in attack is the most exciting thing. If Stansfield doesn’t get you, Ducksch or August Priske surely will. If Demarai Gray and Patrick Roberts are having off-days, Carlos Vicente and Ibrahim Osman can take over.
The introduction of Vicente made a difference against Oxford. Six minutes into his debut Vicente back-heeled the ball into the path of Ducksch for the all-important second goal.
Davies now has all the tools he could possibly need for an assault on the Championship’s top-six.
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