Sideways Sammy

Close to joining the club in January, with a deal scuppered by Bristol City’s inability to source a replacement left-back, it’s fair to say that Jay Dasilva is a player that Mark Robins has been planning around for quite a while. A quick left-back with strong technique on the ball, Dasilva is the kind of attack-minded wing-back that the manager has tended to desire having on either side of the pitch, but wasn’t quite able to harness last season. Having more players who can contribute in attacking areas looks to be a key desire heading into the new campaign and Dasilva looks to be the first step in that process.

Yet another former Chelsea academy player arriving at Coventry City, Jay Dasilva has an excellent technical grounding as a footballer and should be able to provide the team with another attacking dimension from left wing-back. A quick player whose strongest attributes are his ability to beat opponents in one-against-one situations and create chances, if the team can pick out Dasilva quickly, he’ll stretch opposing defences and be able to get the ball into the penalty area quickly, Dasilva can be surprisingly forceful in the challenge, but he hasn’t been signed for his defending, which is the weak area of his game – with his relatively short stature occasionally an issue.

Jay Dasilva has clearly been signed to be Coventry City’s first-choice left-wing-back, which may seem very harsh on Jake Bidwell, but signals the direction that Mark Robins wants to take this team. A younger, more attack-minded player on the left side is part of a plan to be more proactive in games during this coming season and have a greater versatility of attacking threat, beyond the brilliance of Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer. There is a risk that the move could leave the team far more open in defence and prone to leaking costly goals, but the reward with adding different kinds of attacking players to the squad, such as Jay Dasilva, is that they will make Coventry City are tougher team for opponents to contain, which was probably the key missing ingredient last year.