City 1 West Brom 4
West Brom cruised past Leicester in the Carling Cup with similar ease to that shown last season, when they were one of only two teams of real substance in the Championship (the other being Newcastle). The final score line was a little harsh on City, but if Sven wanted an early indication of the task he has, tonight was a good place to start.
As often happens in the Carling Cup, the line ups were more than a little unusual. West Brom, apparently, changed all 11 players (I say "apparently" as match programmes had sold out more than 20 minutes before kick off – come on City, at least try to run the business side like you know what you are doing). Whereas for City, the loan players did not play and the opportunity was taken to try out a few "fringe" players in a tough competitive test.
This meant Logan in goal, a return to Berner and Nielson at full backs. The very experimental pairing of Vitor and Morrison at centre back, a midfield of Gallagher, Moussa, King, Abe and Dyer, with Steve Howard alone up front.
The basic pattern of the match was dismally familiar from the Sousa "era", and here is the match report in one paragraph: City open brightly, passing well but not creating any outstanding chances; City let in a soft goal; City rally round well enough to pull one back; City give away a suicidal gift of a goal; City keep passing, keep their heads up, but never look like scoring again whilst the opposition score with a surprisingly high proportion of their attacks…..
One cannot, of course, blame Sven for this. Indeed, I am pretty sure tonight will have helped make his mind up about some of the hotch potch of new and old players inherited from his predecessors.
As for the longer version of the report: for the first 20 minutes, the Abe/King/Moussa midfield looked fluid, City dominated possession between the boxes and created a couple of shooting opportunities, but they were sent either wide or tamely into the 'keeper's arms. West Brom did not appear to be out of second gear.
After 21 minutes, Barnes, who had an outstanding game, ghosted far too easily past Berner, put over an excellent cross which caused confusion in the City defence. The ball dropped to Cox who had the simple task of lifting the ball over Logan to score – cue the first of four impressive renditions of the 23rd Psalm from the considerable number of travelling West Brom fans.
City kept their heads up, and kept passing. Whilst chances were created, they were all capable of being missed – and missed they were. West Brom played and acted as if they thought they had already won, mostly sitting back but then breaking with ease via one of their speedy wingers. Half time came and went, and nothing much changed. Then the unlikely happened – City equalised. Gallagher chased well down the right wing, and his cross-shot was a good one, good enough to entice Shorey to divert the ball into his own goal.
For 10 minutes, we had a genuinely competitive match on our hands. City continued to pass well, helped particularly by Wellens, who replaced Dyer just after the equaliser. West Brom seemed unable to up their game. Then … well, who would be a goalkeeper? Many mistakes were made on the pitch on the night, but the only one anyone will remember will be Logan's: jumping, unchallenged, to catch a gentle, tame long ball and simply dropping it for Tchoyito to roll it into the empty net. It was, by any standards, a complete howler. It also (as I say, "who would be a goalkeeper") completely changed the course of the match.
City kept trying to play – bringing on Fryatt and going 4-4-2 (although why King was the one chosen to be replaced was not clear). They continued to look tidy in midfield. But it is a sad comment on the state of the club at present that West Brom scoring two more seemed to be pretty much what many City fans expected.
Both goals were also sadly familiar in their execution. The third was an unmarked header from a corner, by centre back Reid.
The fourth was another gift from a City player. Lamey had replaced Nielson, who left covered in blood after a nasty accidental clash of heads. Lamey has lacked confidence each time I have seen him play. He initially did well to chase back and tackle to prevent a West Brom breakaway following a City attack, but then dawdled and scooped the ball directly to Cox, who duly scored with a very good shot.
Comparing West Brom's performance and Leicester's is revealing. When they kicked briefly into gear, the Baggies attacked with great pace, had outstanding wingers who moved into space and crossed with purpose. They also had a central defence that only once looked ill at ease on set pieces (and that was due to a fumble by 'keeper Myhill).
By contrast, as for most of this season, City were largely able to get the ball into the opposition penalty box in one of only two ways: either via a set piece, which will be cleared by the opposing centre backs (I am sure someone will correct my patchy memory, but how many have we scored this season from corners? Any?). Or, after a long and impressive flurry of passes in midfield, one of Gallagher/Dyer/King/Moussa puts their head down and runs at the defence, briefly finding enough space for a half-chance.
Re-reading the above, I realise I feel I ought to end on a few positives, to restore a little balance. Here goes:
– Vitor played OK. The jury is out on his abilities as a centre back, but he has some presence when on the ball, exemplified by a 40 yard run with the ball through the West Brom defence in the first half.
– Of all the Sousa-signings, Moussa looks the most consistent.
– I suspect Abe is a classy player. The language barrier is – understandably – not helping him to gel with the team yet (Chris Powell at one time calling the Japanese translator to the touch line to convey an instruction during a break for an injury).
– Wellens and King are both becoming very good players indeed.
– Logan made two or three decent saves after his howler.
– In the past few matches, it is just about possible that Hobbs and Davies could form a reliable centre back pairing – we desperately need one!
Welcome back to the East Midlands, Mister Ericsson.
City: Logan, Neilson (Lamey 70), Morrison, Miguel Vitor, Berner, Abe, King (Fryatt 67), Dyer (Wellens 54), Gallagher, Howard, Moussa.
Subs Not Used: Weale, Teixeira, Kennedy, Hobbs.
West Brom: Myhill, Pablo, Cech (Shorey 46), Meite (Mantom 80), Zuiverloon, Reid, Tchoyi, Dorrans, Cox, Barnes, Bednar (Miller 85).
Subs Not Used: Carson, Mattock, Tamas, Jara.
Booked: Meite.
Goals: Cox 21, Tchoyi 62, Reid 79, Cox 90.
Attendance: 16,957
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation