After a somewhat underwhelming and nervy start to the season last weekend, Blues look to build on an improved performance in the League Cup and Davies will hope his side can build on that today as he moves towards finding his preferred starting XI.
After a less than convincing first 20 minutes in both the Reading and Charlton fixtures, Davies will have been hoping that his side were the quickest out of the blocks and Davies got just that.
Blues looked more comfortable in possessions and we played through Wycombe comfortably on occasion. Certainly a contrast to the Reading game, albeit Wycombe’s press wasn’t as high or aggressive.
Wycombe didn’t roll over, they looked a threat on the break and at set pieces. Blues were almost the architect of our own downfall on one occasion where two errors from Klarer and Bielik (that would’ve made the ‘Football Gaffe’ Christmas Videos and DVDs of old) were scrambled away.
Going forward we looked much crisper and direct than we have done at these early stages of the season, albeit never really showing a clinical edge.
Blues were commiting bodies forward which ultimately lead to Wycombe’s opener, a long ball counter attack where Klarer was beaten by Sadlier and Bielik converts it into his own net, I can’t help but feel Klarer and possibly Bielik will be disappointed in that.
A delightful diagonal from Krystain Bielik was plucked out of the sky by Ethan Laid who controlled it brilliantly on his chest mid-jump, drove to the byline and pulled it back into an area which will panic any league one defensive partnership this season, albeit the goal was a little more luck than anything else. Wycombe failed to clear and amongst the chaos, Alfie May pounced to pull Blues level. Harris was denied late on in the second half from opening his Blues account, but Harris in particular looked a lot more assured in today’s performance.
Blues continued to dominate in the second half, and May probably should’ve done better after being put through by Keshi Anderson early on in the second half, but managed to run the ball out of play.
Yokoyama took no time in introducing himself, showing a clean set of heels to run onto a wonderful ball from Luke Harris. A neat step over by-passed the full back and the cut back was just as delightful, into the path of Luke Harris who tucked away Blues’ second.
Yokoyama was involved again, hassling to win back the ball to restart Blues’ attack, from inside his own half Willumson played a 30 yard pass through to Alfie May, when couldn’t quite find an angle to beat the keeper, offloading to Miyoshi who’s deflected effort was saved by the feet of the keeper and fell to Willumson on the edge of the area who riffled home Blues’ third.
Wycombe pulled one back, with Miyoshi beaten far to easily, Laird failing to get back to cut out the cross and Sam Vokes’ physicality beating Alex Cochrane at the far post who headed back across goal to pull one back.
However their grandstand finished was denied by a very stop start injury time and Blues controlled the final minutes to secure all three points.
Two final things to mention:
When Jutkiewicz came on, we looked a different team. That’s not to say he’s a terrible footballer, however, if we are to persist with this style of play for what will likely be 60 games this season, we need at least another striker in of a similar profile to Alfie May, a high press, high energy poacher, because without him leading the line, we look a very different side.
The Bielik and Klarer partnership may take a little time to develop and despite a few errors today, I’m sure that these two will go on to become our first choice partnership as the season develops.
Not the glittering scoreline we may have hoped for, however our performance was excellent and although it’s not the finished product, it’s clear that this season the squad looks happy to dominate the ball and we are well stocked with good technical footballers all over the pitch. Onto the next one!
Ratings
Starting XI
Bailey Peacock-Farrell: 6
Peacock-Farrell had very little to do for the bast majority of today's game, however he did well to help recover from a nervous 60 seconds where Blues almost gave Wycombe the lead. He couldn't do a lot about their opener but he did make a tremendous save late on in the first half, although it was offside and wouldn't have counted. However he did see a lot of the ball in possession and although he may be a better traditional goalkeeper, Ryan Allsop is far more assured in possession.
Ethan Laird: 7
Looked a lot more settled today. Again an abundance of energy up and down the right flank, getting himself into some good positions. His touch to bring down a long diagonal for our opener was wonderful and he played a ball into the classic 'coridoor of uncertainty' leading to May bringing us level. Defensively he was caught out on a few occasions, however that is to be expected from the role he has played in the first few games of the season.
Krystian Bielik: 7
Similar to Klarer, apart from an early scare, Bielik look solid once again, carried the ball into midfielder magnificently. Dealt with their threats well, often opting for safety rather than over doing it, something I'd expect to see from a captain at such a pivotal point in the game.
Christoph Klarer: 6
May need some time to settle next to Krystian, and apart from an early scare he did look confident on the ball and made some good press splitting passes into midfield. He may feel he could've done better to prevent Sadlier pulling the ball back for their opener.
Alex Cochrane: 7
Another decent performance. Although he didn't directly impact the game, his link up.play with both Hansson and Yokoyama was good and he was solid defensively. We've had an abundance of weak left backs over recent years, so it's refreshing to have such bought in such an excellent addition in Alex.
Marc Leonard: 7
Pulled strings all game. Dropped deep to receive from the centre halves and looked to create opportunities in the final third. He didn't shirk his defensive duties either winning a fair few individual duels and prevented Wycombe from catching us on the counter.
Paik Seung-Ho: 6
Not quite the free role we saw from him against Charlton. Kept the ball ticking over nicely although didn't see a lot of him in the first half and didn't have much on an impact on the game but did what was needed.
Keshi Anderson: 6
Didn't match his performance against Reading and Charlton. He did well in tight areas to keep the attacks flowing and when picking up showed the kind of directness we have come to expect from him. Seemed to have a slightly free role drifting inside and linking up across that front line. Certainly not a poor performance, he just didn't have much of an impact.
Luke Harris: 7
Even without the goal and ball to Yokoyama this was best performance so far and was unfortunately denied opening his Blues account by good defending by Wycombe. Found pockets of space and tried to influence proceedings, albeit with mixed results. Played a wonderful sweeping pass out to Yokoyama and followed it up with a late arrival to slide home Blues' second.
Emil Hansson: 6
Held his width to stretch the pitch and looked to threaten the full back. Although the cut back onto his right is predictable, he did continue to find success coming back inside. He did enough to stretch Wycombe and found some success downt the right side but never really did enough to threaten.
Alfie May: 7 - Man of the Match
Does what all good strikers do, they're in the right place at the right time. Alfie worked hard to press the Wycombe back line and made a nuisance of himself, but yet again, I'm sure he'll be disappointed with the service he received. He was put through by Anderson early on in the second half and should've done much better. Continued to press high right up until he was replaced on the 84th minute. He's the perfect front man for this system.
Subs
Koji Miyoshi: 6
Very little impact onto he game on this right hand side when he first game on, pretty consistent with Blues ability to utilise the wingers today. However as the game progressed he grew into the role and his impact grew, most noticeably forcing a save from Wycombe's keeper which fell to Willumson to slot in our third.
Willum Þór Willumsson: 7
Drifted around the pitch finding pockets of space and played a few nice touches. Played through Alfie May then found himself in the perfect position on the edge of the box to riffle home Blues' third and secure all three points. This should help kick start his Blues career.
Ayumu Yokoyama: 7
Showed fantastic pace to reach Luke Harris' sweeping through ball, skinned the full back and played a wonderful cut back low driven cross for Luke Harris to slide on to, giving Blues the lead. Worked hard out of possession which helped win the ball back, just prior to Blues' third.
