What Alfons Sampstead did for Birmingham City against Southampton has got many fans saying similar things | OneFootball

An accomplished performance by right-back Alfons Sampstead for Birmingham City against Southampton has got Blues fans talking.

An accomplished performance by Icelandic right-back Alfons Sampstead for Birmingham City against Southampton has got Blues fans talking, and they're all saying the same thing.

It wasn't quite the result they'll have been hoping for, but a 1-1 draw at St Andrew's against Southampton was a reasonable way for Birmingham City to round off a record-breaking 2025.

A Phil Neumann goal four minutes into the second half gave them a deserved lead, only for it to be cancelled out by a controversial equaliser scored by Cameron Archer.

But this was a strong performance by Birmingham, even though the result extended their winless run in the Championship to six games, leaving them in 15th place in the Championship table. And in particular, an accomplished performance by right-back Alfons Sampstead was one of the bigger talking points among Blues fans after the match.

This was only Sampstead's fourth League appearance in a Birmingham shirt this season, and it was his first start, and there was an element of surprise at the strength of performance from a player who's been unable to tie down a regular place in the team since he first joined the club from FC Twente in August 2024.

Alfons Sampstead praised for composed performance against Southampton

On the social media platform X, Birmingham City fans were united in their praise for Sampstead, and chief among his cheerleaders was the club reporter for Birmingham Live, Alex Dicken:

Many Blues fans are questioning why he hasn't been starting more regularly, when he can turn in a performance like this:

Others, meanwhile, were appreciative of the tactical tweaks made which allowed Sampstead to flourish as a conventional full-back:

But while supporters were appreciative of Sampstead's performance, it remains the case that this draw marked Birmingham's sixth consecutive game without a win in the Championship, meaning that under-fire manager Chris Davies is far from out of the woods yet:

Sampstead's performance offers a clue as to how Birmingham can resolve their clean sheets issue

Alfons Sampstead's strong performance against Southampton was all the more surprising because this is a player who's been able to hold down a first-team place since he joined Birmingham City more than a year ago.

Sampstead arrived on loan from the Dutch club FC Twente in August 2024, and his position as a squad player seemed confirmed by the fact that he made only 17 appearances for them in their League One-winning team but was still made a permanent signing last summer.

A reshuffle from manager Chris Davies gave Sampstead his opportunity. Previously this season, he'd made just three appearances from the bench for them in the Championship, accumulating just 54 minutes of game time.

But 32 of those 54 minutes came in their previous match against Derby, when he replaced Eiran Cashin at left-back and put in a strong enough performance to warrant a reshuffle from Chris Davies for this match, with Tomoki Iwata moving from right-back to a defensive midfield position to accommodate him.

It remains the case that Birmingham have had defensive issues this season. They've now gone ten consecutive games without keeping a clean sheet, and if the team's league position is to improve over the second half of the season, that is something that is going to have to change.

And it also remains the case that two draws from two consecutive home matches won't have done much to strengthen Chris Davies' position as their manager. Birmingham City have been heavily dependent on strong home form this season, and two points from six won't have left him much more secure.

But the decision to put Sampstead into the first eleven was a tactical tweak that worked, and it would be far from surprising to see the Icelandic defender as a more active contributor to the second half of their season than he was to the first.