Birmingham City have seen form under Wayne Rooney drop off. But there’s also a handful of players whose individual form has declined.
It seems like an age ago that Birmingham City beat neighbours West Brom, in what proved to be John Eustace’s final game in charge, to find themselves in 6th place of the Championship table.
An international break followed and Eustace was brutally axed, replaced by Rooney who’s so far taken just one point from his opening five games in charge.
Blues now sit in 18th place of the Championship table and Rooney has come under fire, with a must-win game at home to bottom club Sheffield Wednesday this weekend.
Dembele ‘lost his way’ at Birmingham City
Birmingham City signed a number of new players in the summer. But after the opening games of the season, it looked like Siriki Dembele was a standout signing.
He impressed under Eustace but has since lost his form under Rooney; and according to journalist Brian Dick, has ‘lost his way’ under the new Blues boss.
Former Derby County man Krystian Bielik is another who’s struggled since Rooney’s arrival and neither him nor Dembele were in the XI that faced Sunderland last time out.
And speaking to Birmingham Live ahead of this weekend, Rooney was asked what both players need to do to get back into the starting side, to which the Blues boss said:
“Player better, it’s as simple as that. Dembs started the first three games, alongside Krystian. I know Krystian very well and he is better than what he performed. I’ve told him that. He knows that.
“It’s the same with Dembele. I’ve seen Dembele play a lot of times and he is a lot better than what he performed in those three games. You can’t come into the team because you’ve got a reputation or because you’ve played games and done well (before), you have to perform well. That was the reason they got left out the team.”
Is it as simple as that?
It’s easy for Rooney to say that Dembele and Bielik need to play better to get back in the side.
But, for Dembele in particular, there’s a responsibility on Rooney as the manager to play a system that suits him.
Dembele is one, if not the best attacking player in this Birmingham City side, and he was performing earlier in the season under Eustace.
So something’s changed that’s taken Dembele’s form away and it is perhaps, quite clearly, the change in manager and subsequent change in system.
Blues were putting points on the board before and Dembele was scoring goals. But now it seems like there’s an even heavier reliance on Jay Stansfield, whereas before there were players across the frontline, Dembele being one, who could score and create.
Whilst Dembele’s form has certainly dwindled under Rooney, the Blues boss needs to take some kind of responsibility for the Dembele’s decline, and find a way that better suits the 27-year-old, who on his day is a standout Championship player.
Birmingham City vs Sheffield Wednesday kicks off at 3pm tomorrow.