The club’s first piece of summer transfer business last year, Michael Rose seamlessly slotted into an integral role in the side. A composed presence at the back both with and without the ball, Rose helped the team move towards the possession-based, defensively-secure style of football from defence that saw us win the League One title last year.
Like Dominic Hyam, Rose isn’t a player who obviously stood out last year, it took about fifteen to twenty games to figure out why Rose is so good and how. It’s the reliability of performance, the lack of errors, the comfort on the ball that have become the hallmarks of Michael Rose’s game in this Coventry City side. Probably our best centre-back in terms of their ability on the ball, Rose initially looked to hit long, raking diagonal passes that weren’t always on but has since improved his use of the ball to become the player that others tend to turn to in order to move the ball out of defence.
Michael Rose is one of those players in our squad where there are few concerns over their ability to adapt to the Championship. He has proven himself more than capable at League One level and he might have ended up at that level this season anyway as a result of a bigger team taking an interest in him. Still, there have been a few occasions where he has looked exposed one-on-one against quick players, which will be a bigger issue at a higher-level. However, he seems to be a player capable of adapting his game based on the size of the challenge put in front of him.
Sideways Sammy 