Foundation for success is in place once again insists Troy
TROY Deeney says Birmingham City had no option but to become more tactically conservative as their bright start to the season was undermined by defensive frailties.
The 33-year-old, who captained and scored in Blues’ 2-1 victory over Swansea City at the weekend, says the team is back on the right track after conceding 12 goals in five games.
However, Blues have shipped only two in the last three with Lee Bowyer adopting a more pragmatic approach to secure four points from their last two games.
But Deeney wants Saturday’s performance to be replicated in every match – as Blues ended nearly a ten-hour goal drought and also limited the Swans.
“That’s parked now, once you’ve done that, that’s the standard now and I’ve got to keep going and kick on,” Deeney said.
“If I keep getting myself goal-scoring opportunities like I did today then that’s my bread and butter – a twotouch finish on the edge of the box, that’s what I like to do.
“But it’s about the bigger picture isn’t it? From a fans’ perspective it’s always about getting goals into the team but if we got more goals in the team we are leaking a bit defensively.
“We were losing poor goals so anyone who’s been in the game knows you’ve got to shut up shop first and build from a solid foundation – we’ve done that.
“There’s been a couple of weeks of work, in terms of being hard to beat, compact. Getting back to what we’re really about - being really ugly and dogged.
“That’s the way we are. We’re not going to have 60-70% possession. And, yeah finally, some goals going in. Taking our chances at the right moment.
“We were unlucky against West Brom. Ivan’s [Sunjic] shot that hits the bar, if that goes in, we’re nicking a 1-0 and everyone’s saying ‘That’s a great week’ because we’d have got seven points in a week.
“It’s fine margins in football. Huddersfield was crap, we all know that. But they’re on a good run of form, so what do you want to do? Go and take them on? It’s not going to work.
“We didn’t take Swansea on, we were smart. We were pragmatic and we got chances. On another day we could have had five or six. I can’t remember them having a shot other than the goal.
“We had five or six opportunities where – if we were smarter, myself included – we could have been three or four up. We go to Middlesbrough next week, then home again on Tuesday, Wednesday.”
Blues visit The Riverside on Saturday and will be back at St Andrew’s on Tuesday, November 2 – where they will face Nigel Pearson’s Robins.
“If we continue to do that …. we had, what was it? 16,000 here [against Swansea]? If we get that up to 19,00020,000 we’ll get more bums on seats because people want to be entertained. Hopefully that [Swansea] was entertaining for everybody.
“I don’t think we sold out but you can understand that, because of the results and the way we have been playing has been poor recently.
“But hopefully that gives fans the message that we need your for Bristol City, we need to make this a fortress.
“But the onus is on us to deliver performances to bring fans back in, so it works both ways.”
Former Blues starlet Demarai Gray has backed Jude Bellingham to make a sensational return to England with a “big six” club.
Bellingham quickly rose to fame at St Andrew’s after making his debut at the age of 16 in 2019, earning a move
to German side Borussia Dortmund the following summer.
The midfielder has only become better since then, regularly putting in eye-catching performances in the Bundesliga and Champions League, and this past weekend scored a magnificent solo goal against Arminia Bielefeld. Despite his youth, Bellingham has not looked out of place on the international stage either and played a role in England’s Euro 2020 run.
It should come as no surprise then that several clubs are eyeing up a move for the 18-year-old, with Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man United all linked. Gray, who is now impressing for Everton, believes Bellingham will return to England sooner rather than later, just as his former Dortmund team-mate Jadon Sancho did this year by joining United.
Gray said. “He’s going to play for top teams. He’s still so young, it’s scary to see how he will develop.
“He’s been with the England team and he’s improving. I’m pretty sure he’ll be back in England soon.”