Date: 23rd July 2019 at 1:03pm
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Birmingham City are going through a strange time as a football club.

They inexplicably sacked Garry Monk before the start of the new season and appointed Pep Clotet as a caretaker manager for the rest of the season.

On top of this they’ve just lost their best player in Che Adams after he scored 22 goals in the last campaign.

They’re going through huge changes, and apparently, their system is going to change as well.

Indeed, Alan Nixon reported that the new manager wants to stray away from the 4-4-2 which was used by Garry Monk last season and move towards a 4-3-3 formation.

This would, of course, have huge implications on how the team play, but it may also take away what made the Blues successful last season.

Indeed, last term they managed their best league finish since 2016, despite having a points deduction halfway through the campaign.

This success was mainly driven by the fantastic understanding between the frontmen at the club. Lukas Jutkiewicz and Adams both provided numerous assists for each other.

Of course, Adams is no longer at the club meaning that the striker won’t have his favourite partner to link up with next season, but the Blues could still utilise a 4-4-2 effectively with a big man and little man combination.

One of Che Adams’ main attributes is his pace, and that can easily be replaced by Isaac Vassell.

Vassell is lightning quick as he can run the 100m in less than 11 seconds, and with Jutkiewicz often looking to win headers and flick the ball on he could be his perfect partner.

The English forward won 12.4 aerial duels per game last season so he would benefit from having such a quick strike partner, but if Birmingham switch to a 4-3-3, that system wouldn’t be as effective as he wouldn’t have a partner making runs in behind through the middle.

 

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