Sideways Sammy

Coventry City managed to turn around a first-half deficit to come away with all three points at Vicarage Road against Watford.

After an early Jake Bidwell chance, it was almost all Hornets pressure as the home side took control of the midfield and moved the Sky Blues back-line all across the pitch with their movement and passing. It may have taken a looping header from a long throw to put Watford ahead, but the goal had clearly been coming.

Coventry City eventually stemmed the flow of pressure towards the end of the first-half and looked to ask questions of their own. They were level by half-time when a neat piece of play around the edge of box sent Josh Eccles through on goal, drawing a clumsy trip from Watford’s Daniel Bachmann, with Haji Wright confidently slamming home the resulting spot-kick.

Little changed about the flow of the game in the second-half as Watford had most of the ball and probed for an opening against a Sky Blues side that struggled to get going in attack. During a rare spell of pressure, Josh Eccles spotted Haji Wright in space on the edge of the penalty area to fire home what proved to be a match-winning effort as the home side ran out of steam in the closing stages.

Overrun In Midfield

Coventry City had 42% possession in this game and conceded 17 shots to a Watford side that have won just twice all year with a manager in the last-chance saloon. It was the Hornets that had most of the pressure in this game, especially during the opening 30 minutes where they threatened to run the Sky Blues ragged. This was largely down to the away side struggling to put pressure on the ball in midfield.

Mark Robins stuck with the team that battered a hapless Rotherham United side in midweek but probably would have regretted that decision from early on in this game. With the wing-backs dropping alongside the back three and Kasey Palmer pushed far forward in the attacking midfield role, it left a midfield pairing of Liam Kelly and Victor Torp to cover far more ground than they looked comfortable with doing.

For Liam Kelly, he simply didn’t have the mobility to plug the gaps in midfield as Watford worked the ball down either flank with the Coventry back-line scrambling to cover. Picking up an early yellow card after a late challenge, Kelly was not capable from then on of accounting for his lack of mobility by being forceful in the tackle, allowing Watford to threaten to run rings around the Sky Blues.

It is becoming apparent that Victor Torp is not currently suited to playing in a midfield two in the manner he’s been asked to since joining the club. While it wasn’t surprising to learn following the game that the Dane was carrying an injury, he is someone who has looked far more comfortable on the edge of the opposing penalty than his own, where his desire to hold onto the ball and commit opponents in tight spaces can invite pressure, rather than cause it. Furthermore, Torp doesn’t comfortable staying disciplined out of possession to hold the team’s shape, allowing teams to play around him.

Nonetheless, iIt wasn’t necessarily the midfield’s fault that Watford were able to get on top and work some pretty dangerous overloads out wide. The front three were high up the pitch but struggled to press and slow the Hornets down in possession – although, when they got it right, that was when the Sky Blues were at their most dangerous – which is a large reason why the defensive players were overwhelmed for periods of the game.

The biggest source of concern over these past two wins is that this change in shape has made Coventry City a touch too passive without the ball, with a key reason being that the midfield has too much ground to cover. The return of Ben Sheaf provides Mark Robins with someone who can begin to plug those gaps, but finding ways to lessen the workload in the centre of the pitch feels a vital tweak for the remainder of the campaign.

A Budding Defensive Trio

Coventry City may have been bent by the pressure they invited for much of this game, but they didn’t buckle. That Watford were only able to score from a set-piece highlights the good job the back three did to contain the opposition in open play. The return of Liam Kitching and the move to place Joel Latibeaudiere in the heart of the back three has come up dividends over the past two games, although, the quality of the opposition has to be factored in.

Joel Latibeaudiere playing in the middle of the back three has seen the former England youth international enjoy his best run of form in a Coventry City. The utility player has had his moments since joining but it is only now that he has looked like a first-choice starting player. It has been Latibeaudiere’s pace and battling qualities that have come to the fore in this central defensive role, being able to provide cover behind the wide centre-backs while also marking opposing centre-forwards looking to prey on his lack of height adeptly.

Latibeaudiere has been able to spread some confidence in Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching to be more forceful in their own defensive responsibilities, knowing they have cover behind them if things go wrong. Nonetheless, there remains the danger of both Thomas and Kitching being isolated and in one-against-one foot-races, as was seen with a meaty foul by Thomas on Watford’s Matheus Martins late on that conceded a free-kick in a dangerous area. There is still work to do on that back-line assessing when and where they can take risks in the challenge.

In this game, it was the defending of the penalty area that was the most positive sign from the defensive trio. The set-up was pretty cautious, with Kitching and Thomas rarely pushing forward from those wide centre-back roles in order to provide an extra man in midfield, but that made it difficult for Watford to convert overloads in wide areas into quality chances in the penalty area. There was almost always bodies in the box to defend the cross or pull-back, with all three centre-backs making key challenges to kill opposing moves off.

There will be tougher challenges to come than at home to a Rotherham United side that know they’re going down and a Watford team lacking a penalty area presence and confidence. While there looks to be a nice balance between Joel Latibeaudiere in the middle, with Liam Kitching and Bobby Thomas flanking him, next week’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup is going to be a big early test of their quality as a trio.

The Season May Rest On Simms & Wright’s Partnership

Given that this 3-4-1-2 shape has caused Coventry City to become a more passive team out of possession, the ability for Ellis Simms and Haji Wright to make things happen between them in attack with relatively little support looks to be decisive during the run-in. It was a promising sign to see Haji Wright to step up with two key goals, in a game where the Sky Blues created just eight shots, but, as with the rest of the performance, there was scope for improvement.

Neither Ellis Simms nor Haji Wright can be accused of a lack of effort in their running and battling work as strikers, however, there remains a lack of aggression in trying to impose themselves. For long spells of this game, Coventry City required the release valve of the strikers chasing balls into channels and holding it up, with both strikers struggling to dominate their opponents in a Watford shirt and also seeing touches get away from them.

What is encouraging about both both players is that they didn’t let themselves get disheartened by losing challenges or heavy touches. Ellis Simms seemed to relish the tussles he got Watford’s Ryan Porteous into as the two spent much of the second-half holding onto the other’s shirt. Meanwhile, Haji Wright made sure he kept running and getting in good areas. He had a good chance early in the second-half via that relentlessness in looking to commit the opposing defence and scored the winner from one of the few decent attacks the team had.

They did enough in this game to edge the team to victory but they still need to work towards a more complete, 90-minute performance as a duo. That understanding of how to link up with one another is still to come, as is that assertiveness to bully opposing defenders in the manner they are physically capable of. What they have shown over these past two games is that they can take chances when they get a sniff of them, Haji Wright and Ellis Simms can blossom as a strike pairing, the results could be lethal.