Birmingham City midfielder Ivan Sunjjc has said he feels he is now playing his role for Blues now he is playing as a holding midfielder.
Sunjic has come back into the side after spending last season out on loan at Hertha Berlin in the German Bundesliga.
After previously playing further up the pitch for previous managers, he is now happy playing further back, and feels that the team has made an ‘amazing start’.
“In our first five games you can see the patterns of play and how we want to play,” Sunjic explained to Birmingham Live.
“We are solid at the back and can kill teams on transition. In previous seasons we didn’t have any clear game-plan, what to do exactly. That’s the biggest difference this season.
“Now we play with fast wingers who are good on the ball in transition. We just need to be solid at the back and I think we are.
“Before we started, if someone said to us that we would play five games unbeaten, three wins and two draws, we would have taken it. It’s an amazing start. We just need to build on that. It doesn’t mean anything yet. It’s a long season.”
Sunjic happy to be holding again
Sunjic said that he is happy that he is finally being played in his role after being played out of position under former managers Lee Bowyer and Aitor Karanka, and feels the team are seeing the benefits in his defensive midfield partnership with Krystian Bielik.
“Before, under Karanka, I didn’t play my role,” he said. “When Lee came, and under Karanka, I played like a number eight – that is not my role. I have never been that type of player. If the manager puts me there, like they did, I will do my best – but I didn’t feel comfortable.
“This is my role, number six, defensive midfielder – I know my role now. If you remember with Karanka we played 4-3-3 and I was like number eight, high. It’s not my role. The main difference now is that I am playing my role.
“Me and Krys, two sitting midfielders, that’s it. We have tricky players up front, and if we can win the ball and pass it to them, then they will create problems for the opposition.”