Sideways Sammy

Coventry City were left frustrated on the opening day of the new campaign, after letting and excellent chance to beat recently-relegated local rivals, Leicester City, pass them by.

The Foxes may have been on top in the first-half, but there was little sign of a breakthrough after a resolute Sky Blues defensive display, with Bobby Thomas and Ben Wilson making key contributions. The balance of play shifted in the second-half, with Ellis Simms sent clear through on goal just after the break, only to miss. However, Coventry City were soon ahead, with Kyle McFadzean heading home a Gustavo Hamer corner.

The next goal looked likely to be a Sky Blue one, only for Matt Godden to miss some excellent chances with time and space in the penalty area. That meant that Leicester City could demonstrate some of their quality, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall producing two quality finishes with little time to do so in the penalty area to completely change the narrative of the football match.

A Game Of Finishing

There had been a worry before this game that Leicester City would simply outclass the Sky Blues, that was not the case in a game where the two teams equaled each other and Coventry City ended up with the better chances to win it. Between one glorious opening for Ellis Simms and three for Matt Godden, this could have a famous and comfortable derby victory, with those opportunities spurned, that provided the Foxes’ Kieran Dewsbury-Hall the opportunity to turn the game on its head with two peerless finishes.

If Leicester City were to have won this game in the comfortable fashion they may have expected to, it would have been in the first-half, when they were just about the better team. The danger looked to be in Harry Winks and Kieran Dewsbury-Hall getting time on the ball to pick out the pacey Stephy Mavididi out wide to exploit the space between Josh Eccles and Bobby Thomas on the right of the Coventry City defence. With better decision-making from Mavididi on a couple of occasions in the opening 45 minutes, Leicester might have taken the lead, but the Sky Blues defence did well enough to recover and force their opponents to slow down when in promising positions.

For their part, Coventry City looked disjointed when on the ball in the first-half but that quickly changed in the second. It was possibly helped by Leicester City switching to a back three, which seemed to take away an option in midfield for them and also cause some confusion in their back-line, but the Sky Blues were more purposeful and direct in their attacking play and that changed the balance of play. Where Coventry had been respectful and ponderous earlier on, they were more aggressive and direct, which put the scarers on the home side.

Ellis Simms had the first big chance, slashing early at a through-ball from Gustavo Hamer when he had more time than he realised. That was made up for by Simms winning a corner soon after that led to Kyle McFadzean’s opening goal, which put the spotlight on Matt Godden’s later chances to win the game for Coventry City.

Sent clear through on goal on two occasions with time to pick his spot, those misses for Godden will be particularly frustrating for him now that he has the opportunity to step out of Viktor Gyokeres’ shadow in attack this season and move the dial towards the set-up being geared closer to his strengths. It may have been a decent performance overall from Godden, with his running and strength in the channels pretty useful in aiding Ellis Simms and Kasey Palmer, but he is meant to be a ‘fox in the box’ and to miss two chances in a row like that poses the question of just what role he might play this season. The third chance was tougher, but to elect to shoot, rather than pick out a teammate in space in that situation demands putting the ball in the back of the net.

At 1-0 up, there was little sign of danger from Leicester City, who looked to have been knocked off their rhythm and were short on ideas. Even after equalising via Dewsbury-Hall, it was Coventry City who looked likelier to score, however that same man had far less time and space than Godden or Simms for his next chance, yet sunk it coolly into the back of the net to win the game for his side. That was the difference between the two teams, which was especially frustrating given that the gulf should have been far greater and it was the Sky Blues who ended up looking the likelier team to win the game.

Too Many Substitutions, Too Early?

At 1-0 up, Coventry City looked well into their rhythm, six minutes after a triple substitution, they had lost their lead and were behind ten minutes later. Perhaps it’s a little too easy to draw the correlation between the goals and the changes, but in a game of tight margins, small drops off in intensity can make all the difference.

The big loss of the triple change of Milan van Ewijk, Liam Kelly and Haji Wright on for Josh Eccles, Gustavo Hamer and Ellis Simms was that of Hamer. After a quiet first-half, Hamer quickly found an influence in the second by stepping up the intensity of his play, harrying his opponents and picking out some passes of immense quality. Once Hamer came off, Coventry City lost a presence in the middle of the pitch which allowed Leicester City’s Kieran Dewsbury-Hall to get into the game in dangerous areas.

Individually, Milan van Ewijk and Haji Wright made decent contributions. Van Ewijk looks a very technically accomplished footballer and showed some good touches and intent down the right side, but was caught out slightly in the build up to Leicester City’s winning goal. Wright looks an awkward customer for defenders to deal with due to his size and touch, in a similar fashion to Viktor Gyokeres, and could have won the game with a kinder bounce of the ball after his very first shot in a Coventry City shirt.

Meanwhile, Liam Kelly also had his moments after coming on but it was the impact of having three new players on the pitch searching for an impact at a crucial phase of the game that provided that slight drop-off that was enough to open the window for Leicester City. With Mark Robins commenting after the match that Gustavo Hamer’s substitution was injury-enforced and that there was an understandable desire to give minutes to the team’s two biggest summer signings, it was far from a howler from the Sky Blues manager but probably a decision he would have made differently had he the opportunity to do so again.

The New Coventry City: A Lot Like The Old One?

There has been a lot of talk heading into this new season, plenty of it coming from myself, that Coventry City were set to completely overhaul their style of play this year in order to adapt to the loss of Viktor Gyokerrs, as well as maybe to get towards something Mark Robins would ideally want to play. While there were signs of a more possession-orientated approach for short periods of this game, the Sky Blues were at their best playing the kind of counter-attacking play that they deployed for most of last season and that could remain the case this year.

The caveats are that Coventry City were up against a team that were looking to dominate the ball themselves, so it was probably unrealistic to expect the Sky Blues to hoard possession at the King Power Stadium. Additionally, not having Milan van Ewijk available to start at right wing-back, robbed the team of the pace out wide on each flank in order to threaten with extended periods of possession.

There were attempts to build from the back in this game, but that often ended up with Ben Wilson being forced to clear the ball under pressure. In Joel Latibeaudiere, Bobby Thomas and Ben Sheaf, the Sky Blues have players who can play around the press of the opposition, but it’s going to take time to build the confidence and fluency to dominate possession and create chances, especially away from home.

When Coventry City went more direct in the second-half, they were at their most dangerous. While Viktor Gyokeres is gone, there is an argument that he could be replaced between the efforts of Kasey Palmer, Ellis Simms, Matt Godden and, especially, Haji Wright. Gustavo Hamer being able to feed the ball with quality early into the front three was a big factor in the second-half, but the work-rate and physicality that Gyokeres provided last season is there between those four attacking players maybe there is less of a need to completely change the formula for the Sky Blues, just evolve it slightly.

Furthermore, the pre-season conversation has undoubtedly been changed by the signing of Haji Wright. Not only does the level of investment suggest that the target this year is a top six finish, rather than the rebuild that had been expected, but he is a more direct replacement for Viktor Gyokeres than it had been expected that Coventry City could find. While no two players are ever facsimiles, it has to be noted that the American’s touch, strength and mobility is at least Gyokeres-esque.