Tactical Advice For Birmingham City

mcsheffrey

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Managing Birmingham City

I have tried all kinds of tactics and formations, its blatantly obvious the best formation for Birmingham is a single ST formation because of the lack of depth there, so opted for a 4231 and had no success no matter how many times I try the same formation with tweaked tactics.

Media Prediction 19th (Although I believe promotion is achievable)

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I wouldn't say I have a particular vision or philosophy, just simply want to win games I am that bored of losing with this team.

Would very much appreciate advice, if anyone has had success with Birmingham on this update please let me know what tactics worked best for you.

 
I'm having the same issue bud, If i find any good tactics i'll let you know :)
 
I haven't been Birmingham but have you tried at 4-4-1-1 with a attacking midfielder just behind the front man or you could try a 4-2-3-1 with 2 CDM's and maybe play defensive or on the counter,

Hope this helps,

Thanks Matt
 
Well, the primary problem I see from what you've said is that you don't have any idea of how you want to play. That's pretty important. That makes it really hard to analyze where you are seeing problems. Having a set tactical approach gives you something to build toward and tweak as needed. Its not an absolute requirement but it certainly seems to work better.

Are you getting hit with thru balls? Your 2 CMs offer very little protection, so with a high defensive line, I expect you would get exploited that way by some teams. Your AP won't offer anything defensively and the BWM will chase, meaning that while he is contributing defensively, he isn't always in the position to help.

Why so many Team Instructions? Why is the reason behind each one? Don't add them to just to have them - add them so they modify and tweak what you trying to achieve (again, back to the "have a tactical intent"). Some of them don't really connect, either. Like short passing and high tempo. Not that they are mutually exclusive - its just really difficult for average players to do. My guess is that you find a lot of passing sequences fizzle with a silly mistake. That can happen even with a slower tempo, but you up the likelihood when you ask the players to do it as quickly as possible?

Why a static Target Man role up top? That seems a bit contradictory to have a trequarista behind him. The TREQ is gonna moving around and create space, but the TM won't exploit it. He's not gonna run onto any thru balls the TREQ plays. He's gonna wait for crosses, for the most part. But putting in a load of crosses to a single target isn't a high percentage approach.

Also, I would be surprised if you don't have sequences where your defenders pass the ball among themselves. You want them to pass it short and play it out wide, but the wingers are way up the pitch, so they won't be passing options with short passing. The CMs might not be too far away, but again, you've told them to go wide. They take the available short option - another defender.

I always cringe when I read "I've tried everything" statements. It typically means a lot of changes over a short period of time, which is not really effective testing. With tactical familiarity, teams need to get used to a system. So massive changes mean that familiarity needs to build up again. Tweaking a couple of things will change it only a bit, but bit changes or a lot at once can mean it goes back down to zero. And then the new approach won't be as effective as it will be once its familiar.

My suggestion is to go back to the basics. Decide on an approach. Do you want to control the game? Do you want to dominate possession? Or is defensive solidity more appealing? Consider your available talent, but be aware you aren't "trapped" into a particular approach by the talent. Just be aware that if have the worst passing in the league, it will be more difficult to get a possession based approach to work. similarly, a team with low Work Rate, Aggression, and Positioning may struggle with a defensive approach. Once you have picked an approach, pick a formation. Suiting your approach is probably more important than suiting the players ideally. Pick roles that suit what you want to achieve. And try it without any Team Instructions. Add TIs only as needed to tweak after watching a few matches on full, not just highlights.
 
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First of all, may I say it is a pleasure to see a fellow Bluenose on the internet!

I recently took up this challenge again after several failed attempts and finally found some success using the Rowett method; simplicity

You'll need a centre back on loan, Jason McCarthy or Brendon Galloway on loan will do, or Jake Buxton on a permanent basis. It also helps to sign a left back, although I can't recall who it was I got (he was listed for loan in a Prem team)

Set up in a 4141 with Kieftenbeld as the anchorman, Gleeson as a CM S or DLP S and Toral as a CM A. Then retrain Cotterill to MR, leave him on Support with Caddis on FB A. Demarai Gray should be given a WM A for cutting inside, and have Donaldson as a CF S.

Then I set mentality to counter and played with NO TIs. You'd be surprised how effective this can be.

As the above says, you'll want to put highlights on at least Extended for the first 10 games and add TIs as you see fit; remember they only influence your play when you have possession, initially avoid TIs that appear to lend themselves to counter attacking (run at defence, direct passing etc.) as you'll concede possession too much and be screwed.

I sold Demarai Gray in Jan for 5mill, then you can raid the prem for listed talent; Dwight Gayle was particularly effective.

Let your heart beat strong and best of luck
 
Demarai Gray is a beast I played him as a starter and he did well for me. (The rest of the team though..) Bought him up at my new job at Middlesbrough for 7.5m and eventually he sold to Everton for 32.5m
 
Simple changes

I think it could just be simple changes needed - Gleeson to CM - S, so that he's more disciplined and can hold position while Davis chases the ball. I'd also move Donaldson to AF - A, so that he makes more off-ball runs. Glad to join the Blues fan club on here! KRO.
 
Great to see a few more Blues fans on here. I started playing 451. Gleeson as DLP(d) in DM with Kieftenbeld/Davis and Toral in front of him as BWM(s) and AP(a). Worked well and I finished 8th in the first season.

After selling Gray I switched to a narrow diamond 442. That was very effective in the championship. DLP(d), 2 b2b midfielders and then AP(a) behind the strikers. Make sure you invest the money you make from Gray effectively. I would recommend a CB, ST, and possibly LB if Hancox hasn't developed. Loan Brock-Madsen for experience and he can be a really effective striker. He got 20+ goals in the season I got promoted.

Spend a lot of time looking at players out of contract at the end of the season. You can get some real bargains. I am currently in 2019 and I have signed Bakary Kone (cb) first season and he was great for the championship. Since gaining promotion I have signed Samper, Austin, Zelalem, Rooney, Wilson, Baines, Peruzzi amongst others.
 
hiya yeah I,m havin same probs but I AINT DOING AS BAD AS B6 ***** !!! KROSOTV
 
My Birmingham City first season promotion

Hi all,

At first; my apologies for my eventually bad English. Some time ago i've started a Birmingham Career and yesterday we've been promoted after Playoffs to the Premier League while the objective was to stay in the Championship. Philosphy: I'm Dutch, so, even while i'm playing against relegation, i wanted to play on possession :).

Players who leaved the club: David Davis (1,4m to Derby), Mitch Hancox (Loan to Millwall), Jonathan Spector (to Preston), Koby Arthur (Loan to Yoavil).
Players who joined: Jack Dyche (talent, 43k), Matty Taylor (300k), Dwight Tiendalli (Free), Nicolai Boilesen (Loan/2m after season), Harrison Reed (Loan).

First matches were bad; 5 lost games in a row. After 15 matches my team kept winning and from there, after 7 wins in a row, a comfortable mid table position, the board give me the chance to change my season objectives. I've decided not to do this. My transferbudget wasn't getting much higher and i was happy with the team i had.

Mid-season transferwindow
Players who leaved: Jon Toral (great player but too much injuries), Maikel Kieftenbelt (2,3m to Feyenoord) and Brock-Madsen (325k to Aab). Yes, Kieftenbelt. And a better transferbudget.
Players who joined: Adam Maher (1,8m from PSV) and Jorge Meré (Loan/3m after season), Joao Carlos Texeira (Loan from Liverpool).

My best players this season: Viv Solomon Otabor (A)(7,40 - Talent of the Season Championship), Reece Oxford (A) (7,10), Donaldson (28 goals), Boilesen (7,10) Harisson Reed(7,00).

Birmingham does have some great talents. Viv and Reece played almost every match for me. Give them some simple personal tasks like reaching the backline and cross from there or just play as an ordinary ball-winner. Other players like Boilesen and Mere were some options i had to buy. Because of Nicolai's contract-fight with Ajax (I knew this
 
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Birmingham 2

Just a few singings from my new season in Premier League: Hirving Lozano :wub: (2,5m) Woodrow (Fulham 7,5m), Ayala (Middlesbrough)/Cathcart (Watford, still doubting about this 2 and both 5m), Holgate (1,4m) and Garrat (400k)

Hoping to have provided you with sufficient information. 8-| ^^)
 
I would recommend selling Dimmy Gray, you'd probably get about 5-7m for him... Then use that money to buy another CB or loan in a player, I bought Macheda, Hutchinson and loaned in Dijibodji from Chelsea, managed to get promotion with them in my first season. Maghoma is also a really good winger and you should definitely utilise him. KRO
 
I played a counter attacking 4-4-2 with Diego Fabrini (?) playing as DLF(s). He didn't score a lot of goals, but was creative and played in Donaldson a lot! We won the league with a game to spare. Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep up the good work in the PL and the post take-over board made it clear they wanted rid of me. I saw in the new year and fell on my sword. I've started a couple of new saves but keep wanting to start another City adventure. Guess what I'm doing tonight!
 
Well I did what I said I'd do and started another save. Initial tactics had a 4-2-3-1 structured at home and a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide fluid away. Results were okay until Fabrini got injured and then I had to rethink things. I've settled back to a 4-1-4-1 with a HB allowing my fullbacks to bomb forward and things are looking okay. In early November I'm sitting in 12th place but it's a real tight table and a win here or a loss there means a rise or loss of several positions. Fabrini was injured for 3-4 months on his return game (as a sub) so I'll be sticking with this make-do tactic for a while. I'm trying something a little unusual (for me) in this save and I'm focussing on youth. I've got scouts sifting through the U18s, u21s and the Euro U19s for talent. I've signed a number of likely lads on low wages and nil transfer fees to see what I can make of them. Time will tell.
 
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