Coventry City put on a horror show in defeat to Preston North End at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Behind after the first attack of the match, with the Sky Blues failing to defend a short corner routine to allow Emil Riis Jakobsen to head home, it never get better from that point. They were two down in the 20th minute when Jay Dasilva was caught dallying on the ball in his own penalty area, before a hapless Bobby Thomas own goal rendered it game over just before half-time.
The second-half was an exercise in futility from Coventry City as they laboured towards something vaguely resembling a response. Freddie Woodman in the Preston North End goal simply was not troubled as the home side failed to find a flow on the ball in what was a non-contest where the away side were content to sit on their lead and not target the more dramatic scoreline that may have been possible.
Individual Errors Compound A Poor Start
Everything that could go wrong in the first-half did for Coventry City. From conceding from the very first attack of the game, conceding a hapless second twenty minutes afterward, losing another key player to injury, seeing their best chance cleared off the line and then rounding the half off with an own goal that killed the game off as a contest, the Sky Blues could say they were unfortunate, but it was all their own making.
There were jitters from the off and an aggressive Preston North End side smelled blood. Conceding a corner after some loose play in midfield within the first minute, the entire team were caught out by a short routine to fall behind instantly. It took too long to settle down and impose themselves on the game, by which time, they were two down and then conceded a third as they left themselves open chasing a goal. It was a nervous performance but one made worse by individual errors and poor decision-making.
Mark Robins understandably named the same back-line that kept a rare clean sheet against Stoke City last weekend, but they quickly proved they were not the right personnel for this opposition. Preston North End were physical, aggressive and used the ball quickly. The back-line was second-best in far too many contests and that was made worse by poor communication, leading to players constantly challenging for the same ball or failing to cover obvious gaps for Preston to take advantage of.
From Ben Wilson failing to command his area for the first goal, Luis Binks being too easily beaten in the build-up for the second, Jay Dasilva dallying on the ball to directly cause that goal, then being undone by a pretty simple ball from midfield in behind that left Binks stretched and unable to cover quickly enough, with Bobby Thomas conceding a somewhat unfortunate own goal after trying to make up ground. A poor defensive display was made worse by bad decision-making.
Affairs weren’t aided by what was a poor showing in front of the back-line from Josh Eccles and Joel Latibeaudiere. The duo offered neither protection via their positioning or force in the challenge nor quality on the ball to allow the team to settle into the game. Latibeaudiere looked confused as to where he should be, rarely available for a pass and constantly chasing the ball when out of possession. Eccles tried hard but was overworked as a result of Latibeaudiere’s shortcomings. It allowed Preston North End to run rings around Coventry City, constantly able to pick out team-mates in space while the Sky Blues chased their tails.
It was a poor first-half showing, but it didn’t need to have been an unsalvageable situation. There was a lot of time after the opening goal to settle into the game and begin to ask questions via a front-line that showed for a brief period that they could cause Preston North End problems. However, the second and third goals were quite simply gifts to the opposition and rendered the second-half a non-contest.
Sometimes in football, players have to recognise they are not playing well and enter damage limitation mode until the momentum levels out. Here, Coventry City failed to show those survival instincts and foundered.
A Lame Attempt to Turn It Around
As unlikely as it was to turn the game around from three goals down, the second-half performance from Coventry City was pretty disconcerting as they failed to do anything to cause Preston North End problems. Mark Robins switched to a back three, with Joel Latibeaudiere dropping into a centre-back position, Haji Wright pushed up alongside Ellis Simms in attack, with Callum O’Hare and Kasey Palmer playing advanced of Josh Eccles in midfield.
There were moments when this new set-up threatened to get the team going, with the wide centre-backs, Bobby Thomas and Luis Binks, becoming the free men in possession to push up the pitch and get attacks going quickly. However, the team constantly ran into the issue that no-one was moving into positions to receive the ball further forward and attacks broke down pretty quickly.
The front pairing of Ellis Simms and Haji Wright did a poor job of providing the team an outlet up top in the second-half. With Ellis Simms occupying the role of competing physically with the opposing centre-backs, Haji Wright should have taken it upon himself to float into the channels and make runs to stretch Preston North End’s back-line. Instead, he stayed close to Simms, making it easy for his opponents to keep Coventry City’s strikers marked and out of the game.
As for the midfield and wing-backs, they demonstrated just why Mark Robins has moved away from a back three by being far too static when the team were in possession. The team spent much of the second-half looking for options, only to recognise they were none and end up punting the ball away in the vain hope of something happening. Callum O’Hare and Kasey Palmer rarely showed for the ball as they looked to push up the pitch, which also left the wing-backs isolated when they occasionally received possession in promising areas.
To be three goals down with 45 minutes left to play presented an unusual situation for Coventry City that was hard for anyone to look good in. However, this was a time for players to show some pride and quality in their performance, yet there wasn’t really any of that on show. In the end, the Sky Blues were fortunate that Preston North End didn’t quite go after them as they did in the first-half, it could have been a blood bath.
Gaping Holes Only Widen
With Tatsuhiro Sakamoto the latest key player to go down with an injury, Mark Robins’ options have only become more limited. For all the criticisms of the team in this article, it has to be noted that with Ben Sheaf and Jamie Allen out, plus Victor Torp incapable of having played 90 minutes here, the manager was forced into selection decisions that he wouldn’t have had to make in an ideal world.
The midfield selected to start this game bore the brunt of the current injury situation. Joel Latibeaudiere showed here why he has not played much football in midfield in his career, while Josh Eccles is simply not of the calibre to make up an entire midfield on his own. The manager looked to address that in the second-half by dropping Latibeaudiere into his more natural central defensive position, but the switch to a back three caused problems of its own.
The injury to Tatsuhiro Sakamoto makes it even more difficult for Mark Robins to play what has been the team’s most successful formation this season, 4-2-3-1. The team’s only natural winger, it leaves Haji Wright, Kasey Palmer, the rookie Fabio Tavares and a left-back, Jay Dasilva, to cover the wide positions. Any further injuries, with Palmer having known fitness issues, Wright only just back from a knock himself and the manager will have to be creative to select a competitive team.
While it is unfortunate to see several key players to be absent at once, three injuries really isn’t that much yet it has left Coventry City in close to crisis mode. The club have taken the deliberate decision not to rely on short-term signings as they once did and being unable to add depth in January is the price they have paid. The hope is that the long-term benefit is that the team will eventually be filled with quality, impactful players but, right now, things have become stretched to breaking point/
Sideways Sammy 