Kai Wagner has had a whirlwind, unforgettable six weeks since he answered Birmingham City’s SOS.
The German thought he was joining Blues to jostle with Alex Cochrane for the left-back position, but an injury to Cochrane saw Wagner thrown in at the deep end.
Without a game or training session in over a month, it was sink or swim against Coventry City in front of a sold-out St Andrew’s crowd ready to cast judgement.
Six minutes on the clock, Wagner produced a pinpoint cross from the left and Marvin Ducksch volleyed home. A debut assist for the man dubbed the ‘assist king’, plus a victory over the league leaders.
Wagner hasn’t tasted defeat in the seven games that have followed. A positive run of form, helped in no small part by Blues’ new ever-present left-back, has catapulted the club back into the conversation for the play-offs in the Championship.
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“I’m not surprised now I know him but I was to begin with,” Chris Davies says of Wagner’s start to life in Birmingham. “I remember speaking to him before the Coventry match and he hadn’t even trained. ‘Are you ready to go?’ ‘Yes, I’m ready to go’.
“Some players would have needed a couple of weeks and maybe everything looks different from thereon.
“He’s been very good. If you’re a left-back for us, get ready to play because we always keep you going. Alex played God knows how many minutes and now Kai is doing the same.
“Kai Wagner defends well, he’s tenacious, strong and has a lovely left foot for set pieces and crosses. You can see he’s got that bit of grit and determination about him as well, he will dig in and he’s exactly the type of player I like.”
Wagner is a character, too. He has already struck up a bond with compatriot Ducksch, whose form has drastically improved in the eight games Wagner has played, and he isn’t afraid to speak his mind.
The 28-year-old arrived with the reputation of being someone who would hold people to account, be that his teammates or those in leadership positions.
Wagner has barely had time to get his feet under the table but Davies has already seen that side of him.
Kai Wagner of Birmingham City
“I would describe him as a man and what I mean by that is he takes responsibility, he stands up, he’s definitely a vocal presence and it’s not easy to do that when you first come to a club, but I’ve seen enough to suggest he’s a leader type.
“I had a long conversation with one of his ex-coaches who worked with him for many years who spoke so highly of him, his day-to-day work ethic and what he brings on the pitch.
“He was really well thought of in America, hence why he was in the All Star team – the best left-back in the MLS.
“He’s been a really good signing. He’s had so much going on, with three kids and bringing them over from Philadelphia in the middle of January must be a real challenge, he’s handled it really well.”
Back to that left foot… Wagner – who recorded a whopping 46 assists in his MLS career – has been directly involved in four goals in his eight Blues appearances.
In addition to his assist for Ducksch against Coventry, Wagner scored in the FA Cup third round victory at Cambridge and his crosses resulted in goals for Patrick Roberts at Swansea and Ducksch at Oxford.
Wagner is playing the left-back position differently to Cochrane, who was more reserved in open play and often elected to tuck inside instead of supporting the winger in front of him.
Kai Wagner (right) celebrates after scoring his first Birmingham City goal against Cambridge United
“We’ve almost come up with something that’s a bit more suited to him, without straying too far away from where we were,” said Davies, explaining the tactical tweak Blues have made to accommodate Wagner.
“In principle he can do a similar role to Alex in terms of the support left-back and then picking his moments, but you can see he does have a desire to get forward and get crosses in a little bit more than just staying behind and serving the ball.
“Like Alex, he has a lovely left foot and a lot of our progression is on that left side with the quality of passes and Kai has continued that, with set pieces and crossing as stand-out attributes.
“If you give him time or half a yard he wants to whip it in and that’s led to a few goals.”
It is Wagner’s quality in the final third that has given Blues a new dimension. Cochrane averaged 0.9 key passes per game (passes that lead to a chance or a goal), whereas Wagner is averaging 2.4.
You can skew stats in any which way you want but the important ones also read favourably for Wagner: eight games, five wins, zero defeats, three clean sheets and four goal involvements.
Wagner has exceeded expectations and made the left-back position his own.
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