Preston 0-1 Blues

The XI

Three changes. Kristian Bielik and Tahith Chong make first league starts with Maxime Colin also returning. Josh Williams drops to the bench. Alfie Chang and Gary Gardner miss out entirely. Lukas Jutkiewicz returns to the squad with Tate Campbell missing out.

The game

A very lively opening. Colin and Chong failed to move the ball properly and it led to Riis escaping but Ruddy saved. Bacuna then gave away a cheap foul and Lindsay headed over the free-kick. At the other end, Sanderson put over at the back post then a Colin delivery was miskicked by Hogan and not enough power was put on Graham's shot. 

Blues scored on 16. It was patient build up with Preston failing to engage. Bacuna found Graham who turned onto his left and whipped a cross to the back post, finding Colin who got away from Brady. 

Not much happened for the rest of the half. An injury to Bacuna gave Eustace a chance to give out some tactical instructions to his defence and midfield who were being caught out in 2 v 2 situations. Deeney also pleaded for calmness after a ball went out of play. 

Preston were far engaging in the second half and ought to have had a free-kick/penalty when Sanderson pulled the shirt of Parrott. A let off. Bacuna shot wide after Bielik sent him away before Parrott had a goal disallowed for a foul on Bielik. Soft. Hogan read a back pass but couldn't get enough power on his header. Brady forced a decent stop from Ruddy before McCann fires over. Trusty gave the ball away and Riis hit the side netting. Browne couldn't quite get onto the end of a low ball across goal.

That was just the first 18 minutes of the half. Preston engaged more and Blues' tired legs were struggling to move the ball sufficiently, being caught in silly areas. 

Substitutions and game management helped stem the flow. The next effort of note was Parrott firing wide from 20 yards on 79. Hall ought to made the game safe on 93 but slipped before Lindsay headed over a set-piece late on. 

Tactics

This was 3-1-4-2 v 3-1-4-2, the kind of 3-5-2 setups that can make a game more enjoyable. Midfielders for both sides wanted to make the opposition track them back rather than sitting tight and denying them. It led to an open encounter with Bacuna and Chong up against McCann and Browne. 

There was a slight difference. In Colin and Graham, Blues lacked WB's capable of driving beyond their marker so it was Chong, Hogan and Bacuna doing the running into the channels, opening the space in the centre for the trio and Deeney to play. That gave Graham and Colin time to get forward into space and play 1 v 1 for the cross. For Preston, Potts and Brady were willing runners and it was the strikers pulling into the wide areas with the midfield being central. 

Width was key to Blues' play. It was often the first ball. Blues would play across the back then when Parrott and Riis engaged the centre-backs, Bielik would be free and able to play out to the other side, usually to Sanderson or Colin. Then there would be a movement into the channel and Deeney, Hogan or Chong/Bacuna would show in the hole to make use of the space. Bielik would tend to be free with Browne and McCann's attentions being elsewhere unless communication allowed them leave their men and engage. 

For Preston, they had two general patterns of play to get out. The first was via Cunningham, who they would work the ball to. Usually, this was mean Chong pressing but with Parrott and Brady dropping off and being followed by Sanderson and Colin, Riis could move into the channel and drag Roberts out. The other was via Whiteman thanks to similarly patient play to what Blues showed to get Bielik on the ball at other end. If Deeney/Hogan left him, it up to Bielik to read the situation and close down but Whiteman is a classy operator. He tended to favour the pass down the line to Potts up against Graham, a non-contest in terms of speed but it never quite happened. Alternatively, Whiteman would find the pass inside, Sanderson would be drawn out and Roberts/Trusty would find themselves 2 v 2 v Riis and one other with Bielik out of possession. 

Preston also showed bravery with the centre backs. In the first half, Cunningham and Storey were quick to make forward runs when the opportunity presented itself which Blues didn't cope with, Deeney and Hogan seemingly asked not to track all the way back. I believe it was the role Bacuna and Chong to stop this happening but that opened up space in the middle. 

Second half, it was noticeable that Brady started coming inside and taking Colin with him and Cunningham would provide the width. This, along with a high engagement in terms of pressing, actually stopped Blues having an easy outlet with Colin inside and nobody on the right. Blues started giving the ball away easily which led to the chances noted above. Everything started being played central and it suited Preston. 

A couple of changes with 20 to go changed things for both sides. Evans replaced Browne, Parrott dropped in as a 10 and McCann alongside Whiteman (all three were replaced in a triple substitution shortly after but the formation remained the same). Jutkiewicz replaced Deeney and Hall for Bielik with James, another substitute, now at the base of midfield. Jutkiewicz started dropping in to create a box midfield with Hogan then Hannibal doing the running. 


Players

Credit where credit is due, Marc Roberts stood up and won his aerial battles. Sanderson, who admittedly was fortunate on a couple of occasions, and Trusty were excellent on the cover and showed their power. Deeney and Roberts were excellent defending set-pieces. Chong and Bielik provided a lot in possession. 

Whiteman was the standout for Preston. Always in control of what he was doing and where found space. Thought Lindsay was solid in the air. 

Anything else?

Ryan Lowe was sent off after the final whistle for his words with the referee. I get it. The Sanderson one happens all the time but the disallowed goal was very soft. 

Blues finished the game with Jordan James, George Hall, Hannibal Mejbri and Jobe Bellingham complimenting Lukas Jutkiewicz in the front five. Teenage central. Probably summed at the end when a cross into the box saw Bellingham defending Lindsay at the back post. 

The players went to celebrate with fans at the end of the game and the players, including Bacuna and Sanderson, pushed John Eustace to the front. It said plenty about the feeling towards him and the fans responded. After a tough start, this felt different. 

Conclusions

This showed the difference experience makes. With Bielik and Chong in midfield and Colin and Graham out wide, it always felt like we were comfortable in possession, that the players knew their surroundings, knew where the next pass was, knew the accuracy and speed of the pass would be better. Even the positioning and understanding of where to take possession to help a team mate out. There was far less panic about our play. 

That's not to be down on the kids and I think they showed late on they have a role to play. James admittedly gave away a couple of cheap free kicks but he, Hall, Bellingham and Hannibal showed bravery in committing to challenges and not giving up the ghost. With so much experience on the pitch beforehand, I think it set the standard for the youngsters to come on match. They've needed help and now they've got it so when they come back into the side, they shouldn't be left alone. 

We can't get too excited about the game. We have to remember that this was Bielik's first game in a good while. Chong hasn't had much game time. Longelo and Hannibal are highly rated but also kids with no professional experience - they will be learning on the job along with the rest of the youngsters. We still have a small squad and there will be times again this season where we look young and raw & have to wise up. 

However, it showed what can happen when we've got a full squad out and hopefully we can see that more often this season.