Derby County had their trials and tribulations last season and that has carried over into this season. These things still plague them.
The Rams were hoping that a return to domestic football after the recent international break would allow them build on their 15th place in the table.
Yesterday’s game gave Wayne Rooney’s just that opportunity as they made the relatively short journey to Birmingham City.
The first half saw Derby County dominate in terms of possession and passing but Lee Bowyer’s Birmingham side were more of a threat in front of goal.
It was from one of their seven first-half shots that Scott Hogan (31′) opened the scoring for the Blues who went in at the break 1-0 up.
Derby County upped their game in the second half and fashioned more chances and shots on goal whilst maintaining their higher rate of possession.
However, it was Birmingham City who picked off Rooney’s side when Jérémie Bela (88′) put the home side 2-0 up. That was how it stayed as the Blues took all three points.
Here are three Derby County players whose performance against Birmingham City let Wayne Rooney down.
Sam Baldock – WhoScored rating 5.86
Veteran centre-forward Baldock was another Ram whose performance against Birmingham City left a lot to be desired.
Like Sibley, he completed with impressive accuracy (93%) but had a similar low-volume passing game with just 14 attempted passes.
As an attacking threat, he had one blocked shot and won just one attacking header.
Again, like his fellow strike partner, Baldock will want to consider this a game to put behind him.
Max Bird – WhoScored rating 5.77
20-year-old Bird was a Rams youngster who didn’t have the most effective of games in the 2-0 loss at St Andrew’s.
As part of Derby’s midfield unit, Bird passed at a decent volume (54 attempts) and completed 47 passes. However, none of these passes led to chances for his teammates.
Despite seeing a lot (6.4%) of the ball, Bird was another Derby County player who could not make their dominance of the ball work in their favour.
Louie Sibley – WhoScored rating 5.68
Sibley is one of the up-and-coming youngsters at Pride Park – fans are expecting a lot of him. However, they didn’t get that last night at St Andrew’s.
Whilst he was highly accurate (92%) with his passing, he only attempted 12 passes in the game. It was a game that he wasn’t involved in that much, seeing little (1.8%) of the ball.
It was a performance that he will want to forget in a game where Derby controlled a lot of the ball but failed to do much with it.
Data used was derived from the Birmingham City vs Derby County match profile on WhoScored’s website.
