Sideways Sammy

Coventry City won their first home league game of the season, beating Middlesbrough 3-0 in encouraging fashion.

The Sky Blues set out to calmly pass the ball out from the back in the first-half and were largely successful in doing so. This saw them generate most of the best opportunities in the opening 45 minutes and they were rewarded with the lead after Matt Godden turned in a deflected Josh Eccles shot.

Middlesbrough had two excellent chances to equalise in the second-half, first through Morgan Rogers, after an excellent mazy run, and then through Sammy Silvera, who blazed a tap-in over the bar. That allowed Coventry City to extend their lead when Haji Wright turned in a rebound from a corner. It was then three on the stroke of 90, when an excellent break involving Wright and Ben Sheaf set Matt Godden up for a cross that was turned into the Boro net by Darragh Lenihan.

Slick Passing City Set The Trap

There had been little sign of much of a change in style from Coventry City last week as they found success on the counter-attack against Leicester City. This time out, there were clearer signs of the patterns of play that Mark Robins is looking to establish with his team this season. Most notably, this involves a shorter passing style from the back.

In what was an approach that was certain to set some nerves jangling in the CBS Arena stands, the Sky Blues played very deliberately out from defence, which left little room for error. However, it wasn’t possession for the sake of it, it was a clear attempt to draw Middlesbrough up the pitch in order to create space behind that line of the press in which to create opportunities.

New central defensive signings, Joel Latibeaudiere and Bobby Thomas both look very comfortable in possession, which provided their colleagues at the back with outlets to pick out if they ever found themselves under pressure. Furthermore, the two new defenders did a good job at making recovery challenges when Middlesbrough managed to stretch Coventry City at the back. That latter quality will be important over the course of the campaign if the Sky Blues want to execute this kind of passing style further up the pitch.

That wasn’t the intent in this game. Instead, the goal was to tempt Middlesbrough into committing bodies forward in the press and effectively manufacture counter-attacking scenarios by playing around the pressure effectively. Key to making those quick transitions work in this game were the two wing-backs, Milan van Ewijk and Jay Dasilva, who were there to carry the ball between the Coventry City half and the opponent’s final third with pace. This was particularly effective in the first-half when the duo were fresh, with both wing-backs heavily involved in the move leading up to the opening goal, as the Sky Blues executed their plan to perfection.

Even with the lead, Coventry City kept up this style when it would have been easier to sit back and go longer to avoid danger. While this led to Middlesbrough’s best chance of the game in the second-half, it was an indication that this team is going to stick to this approach as it looks to forge a new identity this season.

Sheaf & Eccles Step Up

Barely twelves hours after the departure of Gustavo Hamer was confirmed by the club, Coventry City took their first step towards replacing him in the side. With money burning a hole in Mark Robins’ pocket ahead of the final weeks of the summer transfer window, it was a timely moment for Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles to step up and demonstrate what they can offer in a post-Hamer midfield.

For Ben Sheaf, this is his moment to step up as both a leader and star player for this team. As important as he is already, it has been as one of a number of contributors rather than standing out in his own right. In this game, he showed that he is someone of the quality to run the midfield area at Championship level, as he buzzed around the pitch making key tackles, playing risky passes and orchestrating the team around him.

Josh Eccles, meanwhile, chose the right time to put in a stand-out performance in a box-to-box midfield role. As someone taking up the spot likely to be taken up by Gustavo Hamer’s direct replacement, Eccles showed that his energy and quality can tie this City side together quite nicely. While the energy with Eccles hadn’t been in doubt, he looked more assured and confident in his passing ability than normal, taking risks to keep attacks flowing when he had previously looked to play safe in Sky Blues shirt.

If Sheaf and Eccles can replace the energy and quality on the ball that Gustavo Hamer provided this team, it could well leave Kasey Palmer in greater danger of losing his place in the side to a new signing. The creativity and goal threat that Hamer provided will need to be accounted for, and a lot of the onus is going to fall on the spot behind the strikers. While Palmer has shown some good touches over the first few games, his decision-making and ability to play telling passes remains hit and miss. The longer that remains the case, the more likely Mark Robins will turn to someone else to make more telling contributions in Palmer’s position.

As encouraging a midfield display as it was from Coventry City in the wake of Gustavo Hamer’s departure, that sprinkling of gold dust the midfielder provided could well be what the team will end up missing most.

Room For Improvement

This was the second league game of the season following a big squad turnover and with the club still clearly set to do further business in the transfer market. While there were some encouraging elements on display from Coventry City, it was no surprise that it was far from a complete and convincing performance.

With the opening goal owing a lot to a deflection that saw the ball fall to Matt Godden, the second coming from a set-piece and the third a cross that was turned in by an opposing defender, there were elements of fortune to each of Coventry City’s goals. While the final result largely reflected the balance of play, the aim for the team as it gels over the coming weeks and months will be to create clearer-cut opportunities than much of what they generated in this game.

Furthermore, there was an element of fortune to how the Sky Blues kept the clean sheet, with Middlesbrough spurning at least two opportunities in the second-half that on another day they would have taken. First, Morgan Rogers went on a brilliant run and couldn’t quite sort his feet out to finish. Later, Jay Dasilva, Joel Latibeaudiere and Kyle McFadzean got into a complete mess trying to play the ball out from the back, which left Sammy Silvera with a tap-in that he ballooned over the bar.

With both of those chances having been when Coventry City were just a goal up, they would have completely changed the game. Instead, it allowed the Sky Blues to revert to a counter-attacking approach once Haji Wright came onto the pitch, and to eventually grab the two goals that made the victory comfortable.

Ideally, Mark Robins would have wanted to maintain a more consistent, dominant approach throughout the game. That was not possible given the level of fitness and familiarity of this team. That should come and this performance should be a taken as a positive sign of the direction of where this team is looking to head this season.