Birmingham City are back on the road again this weekend with a trip to Sheffield United
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies
Chris Davies admits Birmingham City have room to improve in transition – and it could be the key to unlocking their potential on the road.
Blues have suffered seven defeats from their 11 Championship away days in stark contrast to their home record, which is one of the best in the second tier.
A trip to Sheffield United is next up for Blues and Davies is looking to mastermind a third victory away from St Andrew’s.
Davies is adamant a change in style won’t bring about better results, but he does acknowledge the need to be tactically flexible.
Five of the top seven in the Championship away league table are teams that average under 50 per cent possession.
“Being good in transition when the opposition opens a little bit is something we can improve,” says Davies. “Sometimes they’re not open because we’re pressing so quickly that we get the ball back and we’ve got it again.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about this week, using those moments better – the transition moments.
“When we’re at home, teams sit back and we have a lot of the ball and we can turn that possession into something meaningful. Away from home we struggle to really create too much with that possession and if anything they are counter-attacking us and playing like the away team.
“What I want us to do is be a really good team. To be a really good team you shouldn’t be rigid in everything you do, you’ve got to win games of football, so I’m always searching for what I think is best.
“Little tweaks here and there. You should never come away too far from what you’re good at and an identity – and I say that loosely in the sense that it gives structure and clarity, which is important, but I think you need adaptability and flexibility to be a really good team.
“It’s my job tactically to give that to the team and work with them on that.
“That is what I’ve been focused on doing this week and hopefully, as time goes on, we will be better in those transition moments.”
Davies has kept faith with the same front four in Blues’ last four away games but changes could be in the offing.
Marvin Ducksch’s form has dipped away from St Andrew’s and Blues could use more mobility up top to bring Davies’ plan to life.
Davies continued: “I need to look into what players are suited to which games. We’ve got a lot of technical players across the board. We’ve got a very technical team.
“There are some teams that are really big and physical and we’re not that. We miss that a little bit at times, definitely within games and situations, so that is something we have to look at.
“But picking players suited to games is ultimately what we’re going to need to do to be more effective. That’s my decision-making.
“These next five games, because of the amount of games, it will be hard to go with the same team for the whole lot so hopefully we can do that.”
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