Sideways Sammy

Brought in to take Jake Bidwell’s place at left-back and supply the attacking dynamism that his direct competitor lacked, Jay Dasilva has yet to get going in a Coventry City shirt and has subsequently found himself second-choice. A technically-proficient and quick player, Dasilva has only shown flashes of quality when pushing forward and with concerns over his defensive ability – especially, since the move to a back four – there has been little sign of the attacking benefits he was intended to bring to the position, which has seen Jake Bidwell win back his first-choice status with little debate about that changing any time soon.

The frustration with Jay Dasilva currently is that it is clear that he has something to offer the team but he seems to be playing within himself somewhat. A quick and skilful player, Dasilva possesses the quality to bomb down the line to stretch opponents while also being an accurate enough crosser to pick out team-mates in the box. Dasilva has tendency to play safe in attacking areas, looking to retain possession rather than take on opponents. Defensively, Dasilva’s short stature has become an issue since the team has moved to a back four, which is made worse by poor positioning, allowing opponents to play balls in behind him to stretch the defence and create danger.

At the moment, it is hard to argue in Jay Dasilva’s favour to be first-choice at left-back as he weakens the team defensively and only provides flashes of quality further forward. That would change if Dasilva started showing what he is capable of from an attacking perspective on a more reliable basis, allowing him to provide a notable benefit over playing the more defensively reliable Jake Bidwell in the same position. It is not as if Jay Dasilva lacks the ability to be the attack-minded left-back that it was hoped he would be, but he has yet to rise to the challenge of having competition in his position.