Coventry City fell to a third defeat in a row without scoring as they were defeated 2-0 at home to West Bromwich Albion.
The Sky Blues started the game tentatively but grew into the contest as they settled into their new 3-4-2-1 shape. However, some moments of promise were put paid to when Ben Wilson spilled a long range effort from West Bromwich Albion’s Nathaniel Chalobah, with Grady Diangana one of two players waiting to snaffle in the rebound.
Just after half-time, Haji Wright did well to read a loose ball to get in behind the Baggies back-line but spurned a gilt-edged chance to level the scores. That meant that a seemingly offside Brandon Thomas-Asante could wrap up the points for the Baggies after being played in behind and firing with aplomb into the top corner.
Did The Change In Formation Work?
Mark Robins deviated from a 3-4-1-2 system from the start of a game for the first time since the start of pre-season. A shift to a familiar 3-4-2-1 set-up saw Jamie Allen and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto deployed just behind Haji Wright up front as the manager searched for a way to link up midfield and attack in a manner that hadn’t really been happening for much of the campaign. The results of the change were mixed.
It took some time for the team to get into their rhythm in their new system. West Bromwich Albion were on top for much of the first ten minutes, with Coventry City barely able to get a touch of the ball. When they did, they were forced into hurried clearances against an intense initial opposition press. However, as the first half wore on, the Sky Blues found their groove in possession and began to control the contest.
Having extra bodies around the middle third of the pitch provided the team with options on the ball to keep possession flowing. Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles in central midfield really benefited from having both Jamie Allen and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto immediately available to them in possession to play short passes to keep attacks going and progress the ball to the edge of the penalty area. In addition, the change in formation allowed Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Milan van Ewijk to double up on West Bromwich Albion in advanced areas on the right to allow them to get into dangerous positions to pick a final ball.
What didn’t change with the different formation was the lack of clarity in how to progress the ball into goal-scoring positions. For all the neat approach play, a lack of decisiveness when it came to playing the final ball or taking on a shot allowed West Bromwich Albion to settle into their defensive shape. That promising right-sided combination of Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was especially guilty of pausing when in dangerous areas, allowing opportunities to create pass them by.
This team seems to lack a clear picture of how it’s going to score. That became more apparent as the game wore on and Coventry City became more desperate to grab a goal. The team continued to work the ball to the edge of the box but the final ball constantly felt rushed and hopeful towards players that were well-marked by the opposition. Whether that’s down to a lack of familiarity as a set of players or a lack of clear instructions from the coaching staff, there is a lack of conviction in the team’s attacking play. This means that a lot has to go right in order for them to score, while very little can go wrong at the other end for the opposition to do so.
Lack Of Match-Winners Hurts
Following on from the last point, in the absence of a coherent plan to create and score goals, Coventry City are really missing individuals who can take on the mantle of winning games on their own. There wasn’t too much wrong with how the Sky Blues approached this game, with some spells of really neat, intricate build-up play, but they tied themselves in knots due to a lack of a decisive taking player willing to take risks in the final third.
Haji Wright comes under the spotlight in this game for allowing a couple of key chances to pass him by. The United States international had moments of promise, showing good anticipation leading to an excellent chance early in the second half, but wasn’t a constant presence throughout the game. Part of that is down to a lack of confidence and also the quality of service behind him, but Wright was brought into the club at considerable cost, which comes with the expectation of either being dominant or clinical as a centre-forward.
Similarly, Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto were tentative when in promising areas in this game, while it was only really Ben Sheaf in midfield who looked to be willing to attempt to force things in the final third, and that only looked to be reluctantly. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have players who can keep possession ticking over, but the lack of risk-takers was a key reason why Coventry City were so slow and indecisive when they got the ball around the West Bromwich Albion penalty area in this game.
The contrast between much of Coventry City’s attacking play and how West Bromwich Albion pounced on a couple of errors for the game’s opening goal highlighted what this team is missing right now. When Ben Sheaf gave the ball away sloppily in his own half, West Brom was very quick to work the ball into a shooting position and take on the chance to test the goalkeeper. When Ben Wilson spilled the initial effort, there were two players chasing him down to take the opportunity to fire into an empty net. It was an opportunity that simply wouldn’t have happened at the other end of the pitch due to a fear from Sky Blues players of taking risks.
Luck Is A Factor
As deflating as the past three games have been, Coventry City have had 50 shots compared to 33 from the opposition, averaged nearly two-thirds of possession, and have ended up with a total of zero goals from an Expected Goals of nearly four. While some of that comes down to poor finishing and brittle defending, it is fair to say that the Sky Blues have gotten less than they have deserved in recent matches.
This was a pretty unlucky defeat for Coventry City, with a decent penalty shout turned down at 0-0, Ben Wilson making his first goalkeeping error of the season, leading to the opening goal, Haji Wright missing a big chance early in the second-half, and West Bromwich Albion’s second goal probably being offside. Football is a game of fine margins, and it can often be decided by moments of luck in either team’s favour.
These past three games could all have been very different had Coventry City got their noses in front. This team is controlling possession and creating chances. Getting that one goal to go ahead would go a long way in settling things down in terms of confidence and meaning that players don’t have to force things as games wear on. It may be frustrating after three defeats without scoring, but this team is doing a lot of things right that should balance out if they continue to play in this manner and tweak just a few things.
That said, there is more that Coventry City could be doing to ensure that luck goes their way. A key issue in this game was a lack of decisiveness in their attacking play, which meant that despite dominating much of the proceedings, the team could only point to that one big chance for Haji Wright as a clear-cut opportunity they really should have scored. This is creating issues at the other end of the pitch.
Not taking advantage of being on top meant that Ben Wilson’s mistake for the opening goal was a terminal blow for the Sky Blues’ hopes in this game. That also left the defense having to push up the pitch for the rest of the contest, leaving Kyle McFadzean exposed against the pace that West Bromwich Albion had on the break. It was McFadzean being slow to push up into the defensive line that created the space for the ball to go to Brandon Thomas-Asante, who got clean through on goal for the killer second goal. Something similar happened not long after.
Coventry City haven’t played like a team that should have lost their last three matches without scoring. While these games have highlighted some key issues in terms of attacking and defensive play, this team isn’t far away from getting results and even looking pretty good while doing so.
Sideways Sammy 