Sideways Sammy

Jake Bidwell

Appearances: 38, Minutes Played: 2,695, Goals: 1, Assists: 2

It was apparent from last January that the club were happy to allow Jake Bidwell to move on, but the left-back has been able to cling onto a starting position and remain a steady performer for the side. Starting the previous campaign as second-choice behind Jay Dasilva at left wing-back, the combination of Dasilva struggling to find form and the switch to a back four saw Bidwell preferred in the position for his consistency and defensive solidity. It’s hard to identify many, if any, performances where Bidwell has struggled and looked a weakness for the team, but there remains the sense that he is someone the team needs to evolve beyond in order to progress.

The biggest cause for doubt over Jake Bidwell’s place in the side is his attacking contributions. While he can whip in some decent crosses, it’s his inability to beat opponents for skill or pace that means he struggles to get involved in the build-up play. When the team are on the attack, Bidwell likes to make runs off the ball to try and stretch opponents but can end up in offside positions as a result, leaving the team prone to the counter-attack. That Bidwell has often been sacrificed when the team are chasing games underlines Mark Robins’ reservations over relying on Bidwell at left-back. While his steadiness and consistency are to be valued, with Jay Dasilva on a long-term contract, Jake Bidwell may well be sacrificed if the club feels there is improvement to be made in the transfer market in the left-back position.

Luis Binks

Appearances: 23, Minutes Played: 1,940 Goals: 0, Assists: 1

The combination of arriving relatively late in pre-season and the permanent signing of Liam Kitching at the end of the summer window relegated Luis Binks to a back-up role at centre-back, left-sided centre-back, specifically. The Bologna loanee was never really given the opportunity to get going in a Coventry City shirt, so it’s hard to fully assess his overall level of quality. Binks has had a handful of decent performances, where his passing ability from centre-back has looked like it could be useful, but has also struggled on several occasions with the physicality of the Championship. The latter issue is probably the key debate surrounding Luis Binks, has he struggled with physical opponents because of a lack of experience or because he’s not equipped to be a regular starter at this level of football?

That Luis Binks seemed to look better in his final appearances of the campaign hint that he may have learned from his earlier experiences. The issue is that those games came when with the pressure was somewhat off, which isn’t exactly compelling evidence to suggest that it’s worth making the investment in signing Binks permanently. Furthermore, if there is a left-footed centre-back worth being patient with, it’s probably the one, in Liam Kitching, that the club already has on the books. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Binks become a regular starter, and perhaps even an asset, at another Championship club over the coming season, the issue for him at Coventry City was that he was only ever really signed as cover.

Jay Dasilva

Appearances: 42, Minutes Played: 2,882, Goals: 0, Assists: 5

Having usurped the place of a regular starter in a side that made the play-off final last year, Jay Dasilva came into the team with a level of pressure to justify his place. Dasilva started the campaign solidly enough, but he struggled to make enough of an impact to suggest that he was a clear improvement on his competition in the position. The move to a back four was unfavourable to Dasilva, as the combination of his lack of height and poor positional sense off-the-ball has been exposed pretty consistently whenever he’s been used at left-back, rather than wing-back. There have been flickers of quality from Dasilva, but he really will have to nail down the defensive side of his game to be a regular starter for the coming season.

With five assists to his name this campaign, it highlights that Jay Dasilva is capable of contributing in attack. A curious style of full-back, Dasilva likes to get involved in the build-up by making short passes with his team-mates, rather than looking to bomb on towards the byline. While Dasilva can whip in accurate, dangerous crosses, his attacking contribution largely surrounds his ability to keep possession cycling – more akin to a holding midfield player. That can be valuable in sustaining pressure, as shown in performances against Manchester United and Leicester City over the second half of the campaign, however, with the team tending to be at their best on the counter, that has put the focus on Dasilva’s defensive issues and lack of directness on the ball. There are reason to believe Dasilva could improve next season, but that may have to go hand-in-hand with a tweak to the team’s style of play.

Liam Kitching

Appearances: 32, Minutes Played: 2,838, Goals: 1, Assists: 1

The club made a huge effort last summer to bring Liam Kitching in from Barnsley but he ended the campaign looking pretty hapless after a series of error-strewn performances. Just a few months ago, however, the effort to sign Kitching looked justified, with the centre-back seeming to project an air of cool authority at the back with his ability to sweep up behind Bobby Thomas and carry the ball out of defence. Getting caught for pace by Josh Sargent to pick up a red card against Norwich City in February really seemed to knock Kitching’s confidence and he has looked rather error-prone ever since.

Liam Kitching’s style of play at centre-back, making risky covering challenges and carrying the ball out of defence, seems to rely heavily on confidence. Finding a way to restore that confidence over the summer looks to be the key to unlocking the positive elements in balancing the defence that Liam Kitching can bring to the side. Just how realistic that is will depend on both the coaching staff and the player himself, but Kitching has shown he has the ability to be a good defender at this level and there’s no reason to run out of patience with him yet.

Joel Latibeaudiere

Appearances: 48, Minutes Played: 3,709, Goals: 3, Assists: 2

Played at centre-back, right-back and in midfield, Joel Latibeaudiere has been a jack of all trades, master of none for Coventry City in his first year at the club. Having initially caught the eye with his calmness on the ball and ability to thunder into challenges, finding a position on the pitch where Latibeaudiere can focus solely on doing those things and not leaving his lack of height and poor off-the-ball positioning exposed has been the difficult, especially, when there are more reliable specialists available ahead of him in each role. Unless something dramatic happens over pre-season, it is hard to see a scenario, other than an injury crisis, where Latibeaudiere is a regular first-choice player over the coming season.

Joel Latibeaudiere’s best role is probably as part of a back three, where his pace, strength in the challenge, and reasonable level of ball-playing ability can come to the fore, with team-mates to cover his shortcomings. However, Latibeaudiere has yet to show the level of quality to justify changing the team’s tactics in order to accommodate him. It can’t help that the constant moving of positions makes it difficult for Latibeaudiere to learn what is required of him, which helps explain why he is susceptible to being caught out of position in each of the roles he’s played. The suspicion is that Latibeaudiere fills so many roles because he isn’t an ideal option in any, rather than being genuinely versatile.

Kyle McFadzean

Appearances: 15, Minutes Played: 1,426, Goals: 1, Assists: 0

It was always going to be a matter of when Kyle McFadzean would have to be moved out of the team and that time came last November, following a series of goals cost by the veteran centre-back’s lack of pace. While there may have been value in keeping McFadzean around the squad as cover over the back end of the campaign, utilising him in a back four felt too high of a risk to really consider while switching to a back three in order to play him felt like too big of a sacrifice to make to the team’s attacking play. Despite the team continuing to leak goals over the second half of the campaign, Mark Robins will not have regretted the decision to allow Kyle McFadzean to slip out via the back door.

Bobby Thomas

Appearances: 49, Minutes Played: 4,595, Goals: 2, Assists: 1

There have been some notable peaks and troughs in Bobby Thomas’ performance levels during his first season with the club. When he’s been good, Thomas has been a dominant, mobile presence at centre-back who can time challenges well and even surge forward to join attacks. When he’s been poor, Thomas has been too easily beaten, mistimed tackles and misplaced passes straight to the opposition. Largely, Bobby Thomas has been closer to the good version of himself than the bad one, but a tendency to lose concentration once every few games is a trait he needs to iron out of his game.

With all eyes on improving a leaky defence heading into the coming season, Bobby Thomas is as under pressure as any other member of the back-line over keeping his place in the side. The amount of football Thomas played last season may well have played a role in some of the mistakes he made, both out of fatigue and a lack of competition for his place. While Thomas could grow into an asset for this team if he can produce his best form more consistently, he hasn’t yet reached that level and it is only sensible for the club to find cover in case he is unable to do so.

Milan van Ewijk

Appearances: 49, Minutes Played: 3,994, Goals: 2, Assists: 5

Someone who has already made himself popular among the Coventry City fan-base, largely for his performances but also for his role as a lead post-match cheerleader has helped endear him further, Milan van Ewijk has been one of the most impactful new signings the club made last summer. Van Ewijk’s pace has been his stand-out quality, both in terms of driving forward and being able to cover the back-line, but he backs that up with really strong technique to control the ball in tight areas and timing in the challenge. Nonetheless, there is an underlying sense with Milan van Ewijk that he’s playing within himself at times and could be a truly devastating player if he can unlock the extra gear to his game that it’s apparent he has.

Milan van Ewijk’s best football for Coventry City thus far has come since the shift to a back four. While he’s an attack-minded full-back, having a player ahead of him to link up with has made Van Ewijk a more dangerous player, removing a level of responsibility of having to create opportunities on his own. With such pace and technical skill, there is a slight frustration that Van Ewijk can be a little hesitant in either putting crossing into the box or attacking the byline, the former issue seems to be down to Van Ewijk not quite backing his technique when it comes to crosses, which can see him slow attacks down at times. That looks to be the biggest area of improvement for a player who has been one of this season’s key successes.