Sideways Sammy

A poor second-half performance in defeat to at home to Norwich City before the international break has dampened the mood at Coventry City. It is still early days, but the early season optimism has been tempered by a middling start to the campaign and a somewhat underwhelming end to the transfer window. There is still plenty of time to build momentum but the next month or so feels important in setting the tone for the season.

This away trip to a Watford side that have started the campaign well feels an awkward assignment to try and kick things into gear. Improving on recent away performances to pick up a first win on the road, and against a good team, would be a valuable step towards where Coventry City would like to end up this season. The hope is that the international break has provided the clarity and intent that was been in short supply for the Sky Blues last time out.

Expected Line-Up

Ben Sheaf returning to training this week has eased fears that the club captain’s latest set-back was a significant one. After seeing how fragile Sheaf’s fitness status can be following another knock, Mark Robins may well resist the temptation to throw him straight back out into the firing line. With midfield options looking a touch light, losing Sheaf again between now and January would be especially costly.

The other injury concern is Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, who limped off at half-time against Norwich City and has not been spotted in any of the training photographs released this week. The options to come in for him are Ephron Mason-Clark, who is perceived to be not as strong on the right wing despite looking fairly two-footed, and Brandon Thomas-Asante. The latter could well be favoured here, offering direct running in behind which could be valuable on the road.

Otherwise, Mark Robins will pretty much have the same hand to play in this game as he did against Norwich City last time out, unless there are concerns over the condition Joel Latibeaudiere and Haji Wright are in after returning from international duty in the Americas a day or so before this match. It is a situation that the manager has grown accustomed to since the two joined last summer, and he has tended not to worry about any impact of fatigue or jetlag. Provided they haven’t picked up any injuries, both should be expected to start.

The biggest change for this game may well be in tweaking the balance of the midfield slightly in reaction to both that second-half against Norwich City and the two disappointing away performances the team has put in thus far. While the amount of strike options available to Mark Robins are leading towards calls to move to a 4-4-2, the utter rudderlessness of the team when they moved to that shape against Norwich makes it unlikely. Moving Jack Rudoni a few metres deeper to make it a 4-3-3 seems the sensible move, even if the manager has yet to experiment with that yet.

Last Time We Met

It was back in March when Coventry City were hunting down the play-offs, having lost some of their mid-season shine, that they took the trip down to Vicarage Road. Off the back of a 5-0 midweek win over Rotherham United, confidence should have been high, however, the Sky Blues were on the back foot for much of the first-half against a Watford side on a poor run of form.

Watford took a deserved lead mid-way through the first-half, when Ryan Porteous took advantage of a sleeping Coventry City defence to nod in a long throw. The Sky Blues eventually woke up towards the end of the opening 45, with a neat move sending Josh Eccles through on goal to draw a foul from Hornets goalkeeper, Daniel Bachmann, allowing Haji Wright to score from the spot.

The home side remained the stronger team throughout the second-half, but increasingly ran out of steam. The game probably should have petered out into a draw, only for a rare spell of possession from Coventry City to see Josh Eccles pick Haji Wright out on the edge of the penalty area and the American fired hard and low past Bachmann in the opposing goal to eke out the win for the Sky Blues.

The Opposition

The Manager – Tom Cleverley

Yes, Tom Cleverley is a manager now. Yes, that does make you old.

Handed the Watford job on an interim basis towards the back end of last season, Tom Cleverley did enough to keep them safe in a relegation battle they were only really half in. It felt like the former Manchester United and England midfielder was only handed the full-time gig at Vicarage Road due to a lack of interest from a set of owners concentrating on sister club, Udinese, but Cleverley looks to have spent the summer making sense of a messy situation he inherited, drilling Watford into a more harmonious and effective unit than they’ve been in a long while.

Despite losing a couple of key players, in midfielders Ismael Kone and Yaser Asprilla, Tom Cleverley has eked out some quality still remaining in the squad and looks to have been bolstered further by a handful of useful additions in the final days of the transfer window. The Hornets have been neat and tidy in possession, looking to stretch teams out wide with their wing-backs, creating opportunities for their attacking midfielders to wreak havoc in the penalty area. They have maybe been a little too open, but there is a sense of fresh air about the team after years of watching things become stale at Vicarage Road.

Who To Look Out For?

The key part of Watford’s plan this season under Tom Cleverley has been centred around creating space around the penalty area for their two attacking midfielders, Giorgi Chakvetadze and Edo Kayembe. Chakvetadze had caught the eye in the Euros over the summer with his traditionally Georgian socks down dribbling style, the kind of player who gets fans off their seats, it is a surprise that Watford held onto him over the summer. Kayembe, meanwhile, has been steadily dragged forward during his time at Vicarage Road, starting off as a deep-lying ball-player, moving into a box-to-box role and now becoming the kind of forward player who only really gets involved when it comes to shooting.

The two keys for getting Chakvetadze and Kayembe into good positions for Watford is how wide their two wing-backs play and the team’s ability to hold onto possession. Ryan Andrews on the right wing and Yasser Larouci on the left wing have been very important thus far for Watford in generating width, with Andrews in particular impressing with his ability to stretch teams and supply quality with his final ball. The recent addition of Festy Ebosele – who should be well-known among Coventry City fans for the way he once terrorised a clearly injured Fankaty Dabo in an FA Cup tie for Derby County a few years ago – provides another excellent option at wing-back on either flank. Furthermore, Ken Sema and Kwadwo Baah are more attacking wide players that can be introduced from the bench.

In possession, the combination of the ability of Watford’s wide centre-backs, Mattie Pollock and James Morris, to step into midfield and act as a passing outlet, along with the discipline and quality of Tom Dele-Bashiru and a 35-year-old Moussa Sissoko in central midfield provides a nice balance.

The signing of former West Ham United and Juventus centre-back, Angelo Ogbonna, towards the end of the transfer window adds a highly experienced option in defence. Additionally, Tom Cleverley has a couple of wildcards he could let loose in this game from the bench, in the skilful Rocco Vata, who has impressed in the cup games this season and the giant striker Mamadou Doumbia, who are both very young raw talents.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

With Watford looking to flood the middle of the pitch, while having wide options that can stretch the game, the worry from a Coventry City perspective is that this match follows a similar vein to the poor second-half display against Norwich City and some of the disappointing recent away performances in that the midfield is overran and the team ends up chasing shadows trying to plug the gaps. The hope is that the coaching staff have spent time over the international break working on the team’s out of possession shape, which has looked a little too disorganised thus far this season.

A particular concern is that left side, where Haji Wright’s attacking instincts can leave Jake Bidwell exposed at left-back. Playing a flatter midfield three might help provide extra cover on that side, preventing Ryan Andrews or Festy Ebosele building a head of steam at right wing-back for Watford. The worry is that having a midfielder come over to protect that side creates space elsewhere, allowing the Hornets to drag Coventry City over the pitch if they can switch the ball quickly.

As impressive Watford have been in possession and taking chances this season, they are pretty open at the back. That desire to get the wing-backs so high and wide leaves space around the wide centre-backs that can be exploited on the counter. Young left-back, James Morris, has been a makeshift option on the left of the defence and should be one to target, especially given that Francisco Sierralta can struggle in attempting to cover for Morris and Daniel Bachmann in goal is another skittish presence. This is why the pace of Brandon Thomas-Asante on the right wing could prove valuable, in providing the direct running to target that weakness on Watford’s left side.