After starting reasonably impressively at Coventry City, Jonathan Panzo has struggled to build on that and eventually seen his performance levels dip. As someone who had barely played regular first-team football prior to his time with the Sky Blues, it is Panzo’s relative inexperience that appears to be his biggest issue. That rawness in his game has been amplified in recent months by the loss of Kyle McFadzean as a steering presence in defence, as well as being forced to stay in the side as a result of the shortage of numbers at the back.
A quick and tall left-footed centre-back, on paper, there is a lot to like about Jonathan Panzo. With an enthusiastic approach to winning the ball back and carrying it out of defence, Panzo made himself very eye-catching upon arrival at Coventry City. Over the course of nearly 30 games, however, that exuberant style has been one of Panzo’s key flaws, seeing him unnecessarily risk leaving space behind him. Moreover, Panzo struggles to utilise his physical stature in defensive battles and seems to struggle in his positioning too, making him a little too easy at times to be bested by opposing forwards.
Entering the final months of his loan deal – with it being likely that he would be available for a permanent stay – the question with Jonathan Panzo is whether he has shown enough promise to overcome some pretty notable flaws in his game. At the moment, there are only a handful of performances – most of which came when everyone around Panzo was on top form back in October – to counter-act having been a weak area in the back three for much of the campaign. With the availability of Luke McNally and Kyle McFadzean in central defence, there might not be many more opportunities for Panzo to show what he is capable of at Coventry City.
Sideways Sammy 