Aitor Karanka is back and this time with Birmingham City. After an ultimately unsuccessful tenure at Nottingham Forest and gaining promotion with Middlesbrough five years ago, Karanka has decided yet again to take his next project in the Championship. Many bemoaned Birmingham’s lack of identity under Pep Clotet last season as they stumbled to a 20th place finish, only two points above the drop zone. Karanka is a manager that has a defined style and will imprint it very quickly on the squad, which is shown by the early season form and performances.
Karanka’s team has picked up five points this season in an unbeaten start, winning one and drawing two. In this time, Birmingham have only conceded one goal, which was a late penalty against Rotherham in their 1-1 draw. In the other two games, Karanka’s new look side picked up clean sheets against Brentford and Swansea, who finished third and sixth respectively last season. The early signs are promising, and this data analysis will analyse what Karanka is changing and still must change further to take this team to the next level.
Karanka’s defensive system
Throughout his time in management Karanka has opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation with an emphasis on narrow defensive solidity and utilising counterattacks to hurt the opposition. In their first two games against Brentford and Swansea, Karanka’s men had 38% and 36% possession respectively. This highlights his intent on sitting off the opposition to maintain a rigid defensive base, which is why he is renowned as an extremely effective defensive coach. A lot of Karanakas philosophies originate from his time working at Real Madrid when he was assistant manager under arguably the greatest defensive manager ever, José Mourinho. When he gained promotion to the Premier League with Middlesbrough in 2016, his team had the best defensive record in the league as they only conceded 31 goals in 46 games. So, how has he started to imprint this philosophy on his Birmingham side after only three games?
There have been limited changes for Birmingham so far and when Karanka has used the 4-2-3-1 formation, the side has had a core group of players. Karanka’s preferred line-up from the evidence we have gathered so far can be seen below.
The new acquisition of experienced goalkeeper Neil Etheridge means he will probably take the number one spot with an unchanged back four of Maxime Colin, Harlee Dean, George Friend, and Kristian Pedersen starting the first three games so far. Karanka is intent on playing two defensive midfielders as they hold extreme importance in his style of play. So far, Adam Clayton and Ivan Sunjic have played as the double pivot in front of the back four and have been extremely impressive. The three attacking midfielders in front of the double pivot are Ivan Sanchez and Jérémie Bela who flank the experienced Jon Toral, who plays in the number 10 role. In terms of the striker position, it is a tight tussle between Scott Hogan and Jutkiewicz, with both playing a key part in Birmingham’s survival the last term. Karanka has even experimented with a 4-4-2, which he tried in Saturday’s disappointing draw at home to Rotherham.
Maintaining the shape
A key part of Birmingham’s defensive solidity under Karanka so far has been the lack of pressing from their forward players to maintain their rigid shape. Through a closer analysis of their performance against Brentford, when they were completely dominated in terms of possession, we can see the effectiveness of their shape in action. The first example can be seen below in a passage of play that was common throughout the course of the game.
