xB | Expected Birmingham

Football data, Blues bias. Player analysis, squad strategy and Championship trends - every Weds and Sun on Substack.

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

John Murtough starts at Birmingham on Monday.

At United, Mainoo came through on his watch. Antony arrived for £82m.

He inherits a style nobody wrote down and a squad already at a 25-man limit.

Where should he start?

🔗https://t.co/2Xji5TlfMN

#BCFC

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

1/10

Blues lost 1-0 at Cardiff yesterday. The piece below went out before kick-off and the match made its point for it.

Birmingham have got much better at going quick and direct.

What they can't yet do is control a game through the middle when it calls for it.

🧵

#BCFC

[Joueurs Béninois 🇧🇯 @JoueursBJ]

🚨🚨YAMIROU OUOROU 🇧🇯 (20 ans) est DOUBLE PASSEUR DÉCISIF avec l’Ac Horsens 🇩🇰en championnat aujourd’hui 😌🎯🎯

Ses chiffres en club cette saison :

— 15 matchs
— 3 buts
— 3 passes décisives

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

Blues should do this.

Jude, Gray, Redmond, Butland, Harding, Mitch Hancox etc.

#BCFC

[AZ @AZAlkmaar]

👀 Heb jij ze al gespot?

🏘️ Onze campagne 'Opgeleid in Noord-Holland' is zichtbaar in het straatbeeld. Een ode aan de regio waar talenten zich ontwikkelen, dromen najagen en doorgroeien naar AZ 1.

👉 Lees hier meer: https://t.co/Kbf0dY39BX

#AZAlkmaar #NoordHolland #TheFutureIsOurs

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

After Kodai Sano, Diop was the second player I wrote about. Then on loan at Cercle Brugge.

I thought Blues might have a chance of signing him....

Gone back to Monaco and is thriving 🔥.

https://t.co/aBrHSSrHcH

[Ligue 1 English @Ligue1_ENG]

46' Subbed on
74' Goal ⚽️

Edan Diop comes off the bench to equalize for Monaco! 🇲🇨🔥

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

When I first started writing about football/data last year, Ghedjemis was in Serie B with Frosinone.

Now they're in 6th in Serie A and Ghedjemis went to the World Cup for Algeria.

There's talent everywhere.

https://t.co/o0MGLUEg38

[Lega Serie A @SerieA_EN]

Ghedjemis is the Panini Player of the Match for #AtalantaFrosinone 🏆

[DAZN België @DAZN_BENL]

☄️ | Anas Haj Mohamed, man in vorm bij Beerschot, trapt deze bal prachtig binnen. 🐀⚡️

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

No idea how to watch the this game, but Michut and Yegoian are playing against each other in Fortuna Sittard vs Excelsior.

2 players I think could improve Blues. Michut is out of contract in the summer. ex-Sunderland, PSG and French u20s player. Seems a bit of a "maverick"

[Korea Football News @KORFootballNews]

FC Seoul have secured their first K League 1 crown in a decade, breaking the nine-year duopoly of the two Hyundai powerhouses.

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

10/10

January is Murtough's first window.

The scorecard points to a central player who receives in front of the box and plays the ball into it.

Blues are at the 25-man limit, so exits come first.

Full piece:
https://t.co/2Xji5TlNCl

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

1/10

Blues lost 1-0 at Cardiff yesterday. The piece below went out before kick-off and the match made its point for it.

Birmingham have got much better at going quick and direct.

What they can't yet do is control a game through the middle when it calls for it.

🧵

#BCFC

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

9/10

The academy is where his record is strongest. Mainoo went from nine-year-old to first-team starter on his watch.

Blues' first team trains at EPIC and the academy at Kings Norton. With Mike Rigg gone, the link between the two needs an owner.

[Irish Independent @Independent_ie]

Shamrock Rovers secure sixth League title in seven years

https://t.co/JL02yCMtGy

[xB | Expected Birmingham @ExpectedBham]

Mustapha Isah is another player that's having a great start to the season.

22. Striker. RAAL La Louvière.

[DAZN België @DAZN_BENL]

⚡️ | Een prachtige soloactie van Mustapha Isah bezorgt RAAL La Louvière de drie punten. 🔥🤪