Birmingham 1-0 Norwich City: Ben Lee Canaries tactical take

Ben Lee is a City season ticket holder and author of the NCFC Analysis social media account, who unpicks games with an analytical report highlighting tactical strengths and weaknesses.

This is what Ben made of a final day defeat for David Wagner's side. 

Birmingham Vs Norwich: A Tedious Finale

Score: 1 – 0

Possession (%): 36 – 64

Passes: 278 – 519

Shots: 12 – 5

xG: 1.24 – 0.11

• · Norwich’s build-up patterns.
• · Limiting central progression.
• · Misplaced diagonals.
• · Birmingham’s attacking strategy.

Base Formations:

On the final day of the regular Championship season, David Wagner’s men made the trip to Birmingham, where both sides made one change.

Jacob Sorenson replaced Christian Fassnacht for the visitors, while Juninho Bacuna made way for Jordan James in Gary Rowett’s side, as both teams lined up in 4-2-3-1 base formations.

During Norwich goal-kicks, City created a fluid 4-2-2-2 build-up shape, often with a staggered double pivot, as Sara (17) dropped into the space ahead of McLean (23) while Sainz (7) remained in the last line.

In response, Miyoshi (11) joined Stansfield (28) in the first line of the Blues’ press, while Paik (13) occupied Norwich’s left-sided pivot, Sunjic (34) jumped to mark McLean (23), and the left-back was ready to press Sara (17).

Attempting to force Norwich towards Duffy (24) on City’s right, Miyoshi (11) blocked the passing lane to Gibson (6) by pressing Gunn (28) from the side.

But when Sorenson (19) and Nunez (26) advanced, McLean (23) moved behind the pressing winger to play a bounce pass out to Gibson (6), thus bypassing Miyoshi’s (11) shadow marking.

McLean (23) then advanced behind Sunjic (34) when the Croatian jumped to Gibson (6). With Gibson (6) failing to notice McLean’s (23) run, he played a one-two with Gunn (28) before going long to Sargent (9) in the last line.

Norwich’s number nine won the first contact before Nunez (26) ran onto the second ball. After advancing into the Blues’ penalty area, he had a chance worth 0.04 xG – City’s highest quality chance of the whole game.

Just ten minutes later, Miyoshi (11) prevented a similar deep build-up pattern by staying tight to Gibson (6), leaving Stansfield (28) to press Gunn (28). City’s goalkeeper then played out to the right before Anderson (14) jumped to press Stacey (3).

With Anderson (14) pressing high, Buchanan (3) jumped onto Sara (17) as he dropped to receive out wide. McLean (23) then moved into the space vacated by the Blues’ left-back to receive a one-touch pass from Sara (17).

Advancing over the halfway line, McLean (23) played through to Sargent (9) in the gap between the two centre-backs, before Sanderson (5) recovered to tackle City's centre-forward.

In Norwich’s open-play build-up phases, Birmingham’s press became more passive. As a result, Wagner’s men were free to transition into their usual settled-play structure, where the full-backs advance and the wingers invert.

Deep in City’s half, Gunn (28) would split the centre-backs while McLean (23) or Sorenson (19) occupied the space just in front. In these phases, Birmingham dropped into a 4-4-2 mid-press with Paik (13) moving alongside Stansfield (28).

McLean (23) or Sorenson (19) would then drop between the centre-backs to create City’s 3-diamond-3, while the ball-side full-back frequently dropped to receive from the centre-back.

In such situations on Norwich’s left, Miyoshi (11) tracked City’s left-back, Paik (13) pressed the left centre-back, and Laird (2) stayed tight to Sainz (7). This tight mid-press often forced Gibson (6) long – an approach which saw just two of his nine long balls find a teammate.

With Norwich building on the edge of their half, Birmingham dropped in their narrow 4-4-2 mid-block, while the visitor’s inverted wingers occupied the half-spaces between the host’s defensive and midfield lines, creating a 3-1-3-3 shape.

Birmingham’s right centre-forward tended to press Norwich’s deep-lying midfielder from the side, again forcing City to their right, while the remaining forward dropped to occupy the single pivot. Following a pass to Duffy (24), the forwards switched roles as the Blues shifted to the left.

By remaining compact when pressing on the ball-side, Birmingham frequently rushed Norwich’s wide centre-backs into long balls towards the last line, typically resulting in a turnover. Birmingham used these transitions to attack the spaces vacated by City’s full-backs.

But on many occasions, with McLean (23) in possession between the centre-backs, the Blues stayed back in their narrow 4-4-2. Instead of patiently manipulating the visitor’s mid-block to progress with control, City quickly resorted to long – and often misplaced – diagonal passes.

To quantify this, Kenny McLean attempted fifteen long balls on Saturday, only five of which were accurate. Norwich’s only controlled progression occurred when Sara (17) or Nunez (26) dropped deep, dragging a marker with them, before City accessed the space behind.

On the visitor’s right, for example, Sara (17) dropped deep, dragging Sunjic (34) with him. As Anderson (14) jumped onto Duffy (24), City’s right centre-back found Stacey (3) who, despite being pressed by Buchanan (3), found Sargent (9) in space.

With most Birmingham goal-kicks going long, the host’s only deep build-up phases came in open play, where Norwich transitioned into a 4-1-3-2 structure, aiming to press man-to-man on the ball-side with the centre-backs and full-backs backing up the press.

The Blues often switched sides to isolate Norwich’s far-side full-back in a 2v1. With the winger cutting inside and the full-back overlapping, City’s far-side winger tracked back to prevent an overload.

Another build-up variation saw the hosts target the space behind Norwich’s full-backs. In one instance, when Birmingham played out to their right, Miyoshi (11) dropped deep – dragging McCallum (15) with him – while James (19) advanced into the space behind.

McLean (23) initially followed the Blues’ midfielder before signalling to Gibson (6) to mark him. With Norwich’s back four shifting to the left, Laird (2) hit a long pass out to Anderson (14) on the far side to isolate Stacey (3) in another 2v1.

On occasion, Birmingham remained on the same side rather than switching to access a far-side overload. This time, when Laird (2) received out wide, Miyoshi (11) dragged McCallum (15) away from the touchline to open a passing lane to Paik (13), who had moved out wide.

Laird (2) then played a one-two with Paik (13) – who dragged Gibson (6) out of position – while the right-back overlapped into the space behind.

After their highest pressing phases, Norwich transitioned from their 4-1-3-2 structure to a 4-4-2 mid-block. When Birmingham played back into their own half, this 4-4-2 created a temporary man-to-man situation when McLean (23) and Sorenson (19) pressed the Blues’ double pivot.

This was before McLean (23) dropped back while Sainz (7) moved infield to occupy the host’s right-sided pivot, thereby recreating City’s 4-1-3-2 high press.

On one occasion, however, Birmingham played through Norwich’s press with ease when City’s initial lines of pressure became disconnected. With Sargent (9) pressing the left centre-back, Nunez (26) jumped from James (19) to the right centre-back as he received the ball.

But the Chilean left the Blues’ midfielder free to receive from Bielik (6); with Sorenson (19) too deep to jump into the second line, he was caught between James (19) and Paik (13).

It was a tedious regular-season finale on Saturday which, nonetheless, saw Norwich confirm their play-off semi-final place.

Attention now turns to Leeds, where David Wagner will be hoping to catalyse a return to his side’s highest performance levels ahead of one final push for promotion.