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“He is different to most number tens you will find in the game really,” Chris Davies reflects after watching Willum Willumsson’s third outing for Birmingham City against Walsall.
It was probably Willumsson’s least eye-catching display of the three, but Walsall’s defenders always had to be wary. His long, powerful frame will keep opposition defences honest even when Willumsson isn’t at his best.
He was on the fringes of the game at the Poundland Bescot Stadium in truth. The Iceland international struggled to find space against a well-drilled Walsall team set up to transition, and there were a few loose touches.
There were moments of quality, too. He latched on to a through ball from Siriki Dembele midway through the second half and toyed with his marker before flashing a pass in the direction of the arriving Jordan James. James couldn’t connect but Willumsson’s idea and execution was spot on.
He doesn’t always want the ball to feet. He is happy to make runs beyond the striker and even into the channels. One intelligent run down the left caught Walsall off guard in the first half, and a slightly more elevated pass would have presented Alfie May with a goal scoring chance.
Davies has number tens who will come to feet and play in front of the opposition. Everything about Willumsson is more direct.
The Blues manager added: “To be 6ft 3ins and playing that position is quite unusual. He looks like a centre-back or a target man but he’s very technical, very intelligent and he finds space well. He uses the ball well.
“He’s different but he’s adapted very well to what we want to do. He has a really good football brain, so I didn’t think it would take him long to understand what we’re doing. I’ve been really happy with him.
“All the players that have come in have got the right character and that’s the first thing I ask about a new player – ‘What’s their character like? What type of person are they?’ – and he fits into that nicely.”
It now looks as though Willumsson will start the season playing behind May, who scored the only goal of the game against Walsall. May is a striker who loves to roam and Willumsson is more than happy to occupy the number nine position when he does.
Davies said: “I want the nine to be free to overload midfield sometimes, and to stretch and make movements in behind, to be unpredictable and not just stand between the goalposts and wait for the ball. Alfie is excellent when he does drop deep and link the game.”
And Willumsson, who scored 15 goals in 58 Eredivisie games for former employers Go Ahead Eagles, will no doubt benefit from the spaces May vacates.