Birmingham City to make five more changes to squad ahead of ‘must win’ game against Watford
Alex Dicken looks at the changes Mark Venus could make to Birmingham City’s squad ahead of the game against Watford.
The match between Birmingham City and Watford falls into the must-see category. The Blues must beat the Hornets at St Andrews to avoid the relegation zone in the final international break of the season. Watford have won just one of their last 12 games and sacked Valerian Ismael after last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Watford.
Tom Cleverley has been appointed interim Watford manager and oversaw the Blues’ defeat to Middlesbrough on Tuesday. Cleverley has seen the Blues screaming and, although Watford’s team themselves are in poor form, the thought of facing St Andrews is not enough to make him shiver in his football boots.
The lack of an attacking threat against Boro has been particularly difficult, but what is the solution? Most people think it’s time for the Blues to move on from 34-year-old Lukas Jutkiewicz, and I tend to agree. However, the Blues are still battling relegation and Jutkiewicz offers them a better chance of getting out of this predicament than other bright options.
The Blues need to play a percentage game, and Jutkiewicz gives the offense a focus that no one else can match. The arrival of Jutkiewicz will allow Jay Stansfield to return to his desired position behind the striker.
The players who started against Boro lacked pace in attack. Caretaker manager Marc Venus has deployed George Hall and Juninho Bacuna on either side of Stansfield in a 4-2-3-1 formation to allow the Blues to fill Watford with players of more caliber than Jutkiewicz. may be placed.
A strong midfield base is also needed. Pike Seung-ho is the only linebacker that stands out at the moment, so maybe it’s time for Jordan James to return alongside him.
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