It hasn’t been a great start to life at Coventry City for Jake Bidwell. Brought in as an experienced performer at Championship level, Bidwell appears to have struggled to get up to speed with the way that the team plays. It is especially surprising given that he has played in a similar left wing-back role at Swansea City for much of the past few seasons, but it goes to show that the process of players fitting in at a new club isn’t always seamless, regardless of how much sense their signing can appear to make at the outset.
It has been hard to identify at this stage of his Coventry City career just what Jake Bidwell provides at left wing-back. He appears to be an awkward combination of both timid to get forward and not particularly strong defensively, Bidwell hasn’t provided the assurance that it would be hoped for in a player with over 300 Championship appearances. The only glimmers of encouragement from Bidwell have been a few decent moments when pushing forward and putting crosses into the box, but those have been too few and far between to build a case for him to be the first-choice left wing-back for this team.
Contracted for another two seasons after this one, the hope with Jake Bidwell is that he will get better once he becomes more accustomed to his surroundings at Coventry City. It is somewhat strange that a player of Bidwell’s age and experience has had what are, hopefully, teething issues when moving to a new club. Perhaps, the presence of a talented youngster, in Ian Maatsen, in his position hasn’t helped Bidwell get the run in the team he requires, but more was expected upon his arrival in January. Jake Bidwell really needs to put in at least a few strong performances before the end of the campaign to make a case for him to be next season’s starting left wing-back, otherwise, he could continue to be second-choice behind a potential new summer arrival in his position.
Sideways Sammy 