Sideways Sammy

The only midfielder signed in the wake of Gustavo Hamer’s departure, it was always going to be a big ask for a then-teenager to replace one of the division’s most decisive players. There have been encouraging moments from Yasin Ayari, but he hasn’t quite done anything yet to suggest that he can be the midfield playmaker to carry this team forward. Ayari is a young player still learning how to cope with the pace and physicality of Championship football and requires patience if he is going to make his loan spell at Coventry City a success, it hasn’t helped that transfer business and injuries have placed him in a position of greater prominence than he appears to be ready for.

A smart, technical midfielder, Yasin Ayari hasn’t quite found a role for himself in the starting XI. While the team has looked to move toward a possession-heavier style that would suit Ayari, there’s still a tendency towards the quicker, direct approach that worked last season that requires the playmakers to play quick, incisive passes in tight areas that he doesn’t quite look capable of pulling off. Ayari has often looked rushed on the ball, either getting pushed off it by opponents or failing to pull off potentially dangerous through balls. There have been moments of promise nonetheless, where Ayari has been able to drop a shoulder to get away from a defender and find that moment of quality to link midfield and attack that isn’t in abundant supply at Coventry City at the moment in time, however, it hasn’t been often enough to make him the decisive player that the team needs him to be. That he has been deployed in an advanced position that isn’t his natural role, due to his lack of physicality, probably hasn’t helped.

The hope for Yasin Ayari is that potential returns for Callum O’Hare and Kasey Palmer over the next month or so will allow him to become one of a number of creative players rather than pretty much the only one. It is not a question of talent with Ayari but of how long it will take him to adapt to Championship football. This loan probably came a little too soon for the midfielder, but there are signs that he may be able to grow into the role expected of him if he is afforded patience and a better environment to succeed.