Chris Davies Defends Luis Vazquez After Missed Chance

Chris Davies refuses to blink. Not over a meme. Not over one miss.

Luis Vazquez’s late sitter at Derby, the kind that makes compilations and careers on social media, has been clipped, replayed and ridiculed all week. Birmingham City still won 2-1, but the Argentine’s moment in front of goal has already been filed alongside the infamous howlers – Roger Davies, Ronny Rosenthal and the rest.

Inside the club, though, the tone is very different.

‘A freak’ and a forward under the microscope

To his manager, it was exactly that: a freak.

“He could do that 100 times and score 100 goals,” Chris Davies told BBC Radio WM, brushing away the hysteria with a single line. No dressing-up. No long explanation. Just a clear message that the miss will not define his striker.

Davies went straight to Vazquez after the final whistle at Pride Park. No cooling-off period, no delayed chat in the analysis room. He wanted to look him in the eye.

“He’s a tough cookie. He’s shown no signs of fragility,” the Blues boss said, convinced the player’s character will outlast a viral clip.

The response from the dressing room has backed that up. When Vazquez found the net with a well-taken finish in training this week, the reaction was instant. A loud cheer from the squad, a deliberate show of support for a teammate who has had his confidence publicly tested before he has even started a league game for the club.

Vazquez is still waiting for that first Championship goal in Birmingham colours. All his appearances so far have come from the bench. That chance at Derby would have finally broken his duck, given him a clean, simple headline instead of a mocking montage.

Davies knows how much that matters.

“He’s so desperate to score,” he said. “And we so want him to score. As soon as that first one goes in, it will all be forgotten about.”

One finish. One moment. That is all it will take to flip the narrative.

Strong on the road, questions at home

While the Vazquez miss has dominated the online chatter, Davies’ focus is already on a different problem: winning at St Andrew’s.

Birmingham host Middlesbrough on Saturday with an away record that quietly underlines their progress. Seven points from four trips – Sheffield United, Wrexham, Norwich City and Derby County – is a solid haul, especially with Norwich providing their only defeat so far.

The contrast with home form is stark. Three games, three draws. Bristol City 2-2. Southampton 1-1. Wolves 2-2. Entertaining, open, but not yet ruthless enough to turn performances into wins in front of their own supporters.

Davies, though, is not in the mood to complain about the bigger picture. The opening block of fixtures has been sold to him repeatedly as one of the toughest in the division, and his side have come through it standing tall.

“We’ve got the same amount of points as we did this time last season, but we’re a better team,” he said, summing up the early weeks with quiet conviction rather than noise.

He sees more threat. More structure. More cohesion.

“We’re more of an attacking threat, but we also look a bit more solid and more of a team,” he added. “There’s still room for improvement in a few areas, but we can’t say we’re not pleased with the start we’ve made, given the challenge we had.”

Built on a love of defending

For all the talk of attacking evolution, Davies keeps circling back to something more old‑fashioned: defending with pride.

“Our love of defending is clear to see. It’s as good as scoring a goal,” he said, a line that reveals as much about his footballing values as any tactical diagram.

In an era obsessed with systems and shapes, he cuts through the jargon.

“That takes you a long way. So much gets talked about systems but you can’t get away from commitment.”

Commitment to the press. Commitment in the box. Commitment to each other when a teammate’s mistake becomes a meme.

That is where Vazquez comes back into the story. A side that prides itself on togetherness cannot afford to let one player be left behind by a moment that lasted a second but has been replayed a thousand times.

On Saturday, St Andrew’s will look for its first league win of the season. Middlesbrough will test that love of defending. Birmingham’s new attacking intent will be measured again.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, a substitute striker might finally get the chance to turn a punchline into a breakthrough.