Sideways Sammy

Coventry City fell to a limp 1-0 defeat at home to Norwich City to head into the first international break on a bum note.

In a fairly even first-half, the Sky Blues had the best chances, with Ellis Simms sent clean through on goal by Jake Bidwell, only to screw an effort wide. Jack Rudoni probably should have fired the home side into the lead early in the second-half, only to completely miss the ball and with it, see the momentum of the game swing decidedly in Norwich City’s favour.

With Jack Stacey handed the freedom of the left side of Coventry City’s defence, a scrambling back-line were only able to get a deflection on a Borja Sainz effort that went past a helpless Oliver Dovin in the home goal. It may have been the away side’s only shot on target, but they proceeded to comfortably see out the win, controlling possession with ease against a rudderless Sky Blues outfit who were left to chase their shadows for much of the remainder of the game.

Chances Change Games

Few would argue that Norwich City weren’t deserved winners in this game, however, they scored from their only shot on target and after Coventry City had failed to take at least two very good chances earlier – first, from Ellis Simms when clean through in the first-half, then an air shot from Jack Rudoni in an excellent position almost straight from the second-half kick-off. The Sky Blues’ response to that one Norwich shot on target felt telling, but it would have been a completely different game had the home side been able to take the lead.

The first-half was largely a positive performance from Coventry City, in retrospect. Both teams were clearly seeking superiority in possession but it was the Sky Blues who looked the more dangerous when on the ball. With Josh Eccles and Victor Torp winning the ball well in midfield, not only were Norwich City unable to work chances but Coventry were able to get the ball quickly into Haji Wright and Ellis Simms, which is clearly where the team’s biggest threat is.

The longer spells in possession were less threatening, with Norwich City doubling up on the key outlet of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto on the right side of Coventry City’s attack, slowing the play down when the Sky Blues were able to work it into key areas. Nonetheless, Coventry were able to control possession without looking as prone to counter-attacks as they have been since the final month of last season, with the full-back on the opposing side of the pitch to where play was developing tending to drop in alongside the central defenders to provide cover. With the quality of Luis Binks and Joel Latibeaudiere on the ball from centre-back, this team looks more comfortable with long spells of possession.

Most impressively, Coventry City were able to play their way around a pretty aggressive Norwich City press in the first-half. Sticking their front three players on the edge of the penalty area to cut passing lanes from goal-kicks, Oliver Dovin’s calmness and accuracy in goal in possession allowed the Sky Blues to quickly work the ball to the full-backs, who were left as the spare men by Norwich, to evade pressure with ease. Dovin’s biggest strength thus far has been his distribution, not in making huge attack-starting long-range passes, but those shorter balls that draw opponents towards him and create space elsewhere.

While there is still an issue with how this Coventry City side is looking to work those long spells of possession into chances and goals, it wasn’t as if they were bereft of opportunities to take the lead in this game. Just how Norwich City would have reacted to fall behind can only be speculated upon, but if it was anything like how the Sky Blues did, this would have ended as a rather comfortable home win.

Goals Change Games

It was the reaction to Norwich City taking the lead that was the most concerning element to the performance in this game. What proceeded Borja Sainz’s early second-half effort was over 40 minutes of complete headlessness that neither players nor manager can absolve themselves of the blame for.

Norwich City made half-time changes to become even more aggressive in their pressing, which quickly disrupted Coventry City’s build-up play. Adding an extra man to their pressing system meant that the full-backs were no longer that free outlet for the Sky Blues in building from the back and they were quickly hemmed in, unable to get out of the trench they were dug into.

The goal itself came from Norwich working the ball down their left side, to draw attention away from their right-back, Jack Stacey, who was high and advanced on the other wing. Once the ball came to Stacey, Jake Bidwell was too slow to come across and the defence were left scrambling. The goal may have taken a deflection on the way in but it was a really well-worked move that Coventry City had no answer to.

That was apparent soon after as Jack Stacey continued to be the spare man out wide for the away side. Mark Robins in his post-match comments specifically mentioned that his players had stopped tracking runners and it was almost laughable how much time and space Stacey continually had on the ball. Had that first goal not gone in, Norwich would surely have found another way to score via that outlet.

Moreover, Coventry City looked ragged for much of the rest of the game for reasons that looked larger than the tactical tweak made by the opposition. Perhaps it’s simply early season tiredness – with Victor Torp most notably losing all ability to snap into the challenge he had showed earlier on in the game – but there was a sense of directionlessness to the second-half performance, like the players didn’t know what they were meant to do.

Norwich City were able to zip the ball around the CBS Arena pitch under little pressure, with no-one in sky blue sure of who they were meant to close down. When the home side were able to get on the ball, they were trying too hard to force things to happen, allowing possession to slip away and Norwich to quickly re-assert their control of the game. Given that the majority of this set of players has been together since the start of last season, the lack of a sense of familiarity was baffling.

A team chasing the game has to be able to find a way to take charge and force the opposition onto the backfoot. After falling behind, Coventry City lost any modicum of control to their performance and it was easy for Norwich City to see out their one-goal lead, with only Ephron Mason-Clark coming close to troubling the final result.

Changes Change Games

The additional quality that Mark Robins has on the bench this season looks to be more of a curse than a blessing for the manager at this early stage. Coventry City ended up chasing the game without their two top goalscorers from last season on the pitch, nor probably their best passer of the ball either. The sentiment currently is changes for the sake of making changes rather than how they are intended to change the game.

The options available to the manager have become a little weaker this week, with Kasey Palmer sold on transfer deadline day and Ben Sheaf picking up another injury. That crucially robbed Mark Robins here of chance creators to utilise from the bench, which was the key issue. Instead, attacking players were put on the pitch but only Ephron Mason-Clark looked there to create chances for said attacking players.

The loss of Kasey Palmer means that it’s a call for Mark Robins between like-for-like changes or going with two up top. He went for the latter for a period of this game, with Ephron Mason-Clark and Jack Rudoni instructed to move to the left and right wings, respectively, so that Haji Wright and Norman Bassette could be paired up front. It was the wrong call given the circumstances of the game, with Norwich City comfortably controlling possession and the loss of that extra man in midfield only made it easier for the Canaries to zip the ball around the pitch.

Moreover, neither Wright nor Bassette imposed themselves on the opposing centre-backs, meaning that Coventry City weren’t able to put the away side under pressure by playing quickly into their centre-forwards. That then meant that when Mark Robins had to make a change to correct that poor decision, Haji Wright, a key game-changer, was the one sacrificed and the Sky Blues offered little threat throughout the remainder of the game.

In 38 minutes on the pitch, Norman Bassette had four touches of the ball. This isn’t a knock on the player himself but it underlined the inability of the changes that Mark Robins had here to change the flow of the game and put Coventry City on the front foot. The manager simply has to learn how to make better use of his bench, otherwise, it won’t matter how many millions of pounds of players are on it.