Birmingham City have found a partnership they have waited more than 10 years for

Are Paik Seung-ho (right) and Tomoki Iwata (left) Blues' best midfield pairing since their Premier League days?
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Birmingham City have been blessed with some midfield workhorses down the years. Messrs Kieftenbeld, Gleeson, Davis and Sunjic all served a purpose in Blues teams that weren’t always easy on the eye.

The club is striving to be better on and off the field now, and new manager Chris Davies is interested in a completely different type of midfielder. Speaking to the Coaches’ Voice before he pitched up in Birmingham, Davies said: “I'm particularly interested in central midfielders because it’s the position I played and it’s the most complex position, both in terms of body orientation and decision-making. You have to learn to deal with pressure from everywhere, and to connect the game from back to front. I find that fascinating to coach.”

Judging by the criteria Davies has set out, mobility, game intelligence and technique are fundamental skills. It has been a while since Blues had two players who tick all three boxes but Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata certainly do.

In fact, has a Blues team outside the Premier League ever boasted such quality in the engine room? That could be a debate worth having.

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Paik and Iwata, both 27, have changed our expectations of a Birmingham City midfield in 180 minutes of football. The accuracy of their passing – 88 percent completion for Paik and 89 for Iwata – is something Blues fans haven’t been able to take for granted previously. Those who’ve watched Cheikh Ndoye beam the ball into the Main Stand under very little pressure can appreciate technicians like Paik and Iwata.

Both are well-built and mobile. The way Iwata shrugged off two Rotherham players before advancing into their defensive third in possession midway through the second half on Saturday was simplistic yet sensational.

Perhaps their greatest skill, and the one which demonstrates their intelligence, is that neither is fixed to a position. You would expect Iwata to take on more defensive duties, with Paik given more freedom, but they share the workload and fill the spaces smartly.

It has been Iwata who has grabbed the headlines in the last two games with two well-struck goals and Paik has quietly protected Blues’ centre-backs. The fact Iwata has scored two in two games for Blues after one in 32 league matches for Celtic suggests he is playing beneath himself.

Paik, too, didn’t have to commit to a season in League One. He has harmed his chances of call-ups to the South Korea side in doing so.

But they both clearly believe in the bigger picture and that is next season, when Blues expect to be in the Championship and challenging. Their midfield, which also includes the talented youngster Marc Leonard, won’t require any surgery as it’s already stronger than almost everything the second tier has to offer.

The pairing of Paik and Iwata is better than anything Blues have had in at least a decade, maybe more. You might even have to rewind to Blues’ Premier League days to top it.

What is the best midfield pairing you can recall at Blues? Let us know in the comments HERE