by bigmick » Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:22 am
We could start by sitting up the video room at Melwood and watching a Birmingham or a Villa match, preferably Birmingham. Why? because IMHO they would be top of the "outperforming your potential" league, Villa would be second and probably Fulham third. We'd be bottom by a mile IMHO, and it wouldn't do us any harm to see how the other half live, and how they manage it.
I watched Birminham today beat Blackburn, it was their fifth win on the bounce in the Premiership and took them three points clear of us. They've got a decent keeper who's on loan from Man City. They've got two good young centre halves with something to prove. Roger Johnson who I like a lot they got off of Cardiff City for 5 million quid, and Scott Dann they got for 4 mill off Coventry. Both these lads are English centre halves, they attack corners and free kicks all day long, and as a result they have a solidity about them. Birmingham have played a match more than us, and have conceded four goals less in the premiership. Full backs are Steven Carr who was free, and Liam Ridgewell who is actually a centre half but can't get in past the other two, they paid 2 million quid for him. As a defensive unit they are solid, they graft, they tackle, they cover, they attack it, they head it, they get their bodies in the way and the keeper doesn't feck it up. In short they defend properly.
In midfield, they've got an interesting balance. From central midfield, Lee Bowyer has scored five times in the league for them this season. He does box to box all day, scraps and bites and gets his foot in. They picked him up from West Ham on a free. Alongside him, they've got Barry Ferguson who does the holding and giving job. He's been a good player in his time, but these days relies on his experience to fill the holes. He doesn't score much, and is essentially a paupers Xabi Alonso. They got him off Rangers for 1.2 million quid. Down the left they've got James McFadden who I must confess I think they overpaid for off Everton at 5 million quid. That said, he's been injured this season and has a couple of league goals from 8 appearances. On the right of midfield they've got Sebastian Larrson who they bought off Arsenal for 1 million. He's a tidy footballer who is a decent dead ball taker. This season he's scored three times in fifteen matches. All in all in midfield they have wide midfielders not wingers who play quite compact. They work for each other and Feguson sits. They've got a good balance in the middle, and there's goals there from Bowyer.
Up top they've got cameron Jerome who they bought off Cardiff City for 4 million quid. He's big and raw, and has three goals from ten matches. He works the channels hard and has a bit of pace about him as well as being quite physical. They've also got Christien Benitez who they signed off Santos Lugana for 6 million quid. He's the trickster, and has 2 golas in the league so far.
I make it that the whole team cost 28.2 million quid. While Benitez is setting up the chairs for the players, he could do a lot worse than put one out for himself as well. He should watch how they defend set-pieces properly, how they work for the right to play. He should see the effort which goes into their performces, the collective desire and the overriding team ethic. He could consider the balance that is inherent throughout the team, enabling them to punch massively over and above their weight as a bunch of players. He could look at the smiles on the faces of the players, the belief they have in each other, the collective spirit. My suspicion is that they don't have scientists in the back room team telling the manager who to pick and who not to, they have a bloke who speaks with the players and asks them how they are feeling.
We'll finish above Birmingham because I suspect beyond these elven players they haven't got much else. We'll also finish above them because we are far better than we are currently showing. We will only need to get ourselves into mid table in the "playing above yourself" league to finish well ahead of them. That we are currently behind them though is a massive filip for them, and an absolute disgrace as far as we are concerned. Tactical genius? Don't make me laugh.
"se e in una bottigla ed e bianco, e latte".