Sideways Sammy

Saturday’s performance against Watford was a step in the right direction but a picking up a point after being in a winning position maintains Coventry City’s frosty start to the season. The prospect of four home games out of the next five, theoretically provides the Sky Blues with the opportunity to defrost and build momentum. Starting with this cup tie against Premier League big-hitters, Tottenham Hotspur, this is a chance for this Coventry side to demonstrate just what it’s capable of.

The pressure is all on Tottenham Hotspur here, both as favourites and the pressure that their manager, Ange Postecoglou, has created for himself in promising that he will win a trophy this season. For Coventry City, any kind of defeat here would be quickly forgotten about with a couple of wins in the next few league games. Nonetheless, beating one of the country’s biggest teams would create memories that league wins just cannot stack up against.

Expected Line-Up

This game probably comes too early to make it worth risking either Ben Sheaf or Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, who have both only just returned to training from injury. In the case of the former, the onus is on making sure the club’s captain is in the best possible position to stay fit for the months ahead. In addition, Joel Latibeaudiere is a doubt after limping off with a knock last time out against Watford.

The potential unavailability of Joel Latibeaudiere potentially robs Mark Robins of a valuable tactical option for this game, in playing Milan van Ewijk further forward in the hybrid right wing/right wing-back role he played last time out against Watford. Josh Eccles is a potential option at either right back or on the right wing if the manager wants to tighten up that side of the pitch to provide numbers at the back. Otherwise, either Ephron Mason-Clark or Brandon Thomas-Asante are going to have to play more disciplined roles than normal on the right side to keep the team’s defensive shape.

Elsewhere, it is a choice between picking the strongest available team to take on a Premier League heavyweight or rotating players for a midweek cup game. The decision in goal, between Oliver Dovin and Ben Wilson, will demonstrate just where Mark Robins is leaning. The manager showed in the bigger cup games last season that he will look to play his strongest team, however, neither of the games against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United were in midweek, which might swing Robins towards rotating out at least one or two.

While there is limited scope for changes in defence and midfield, Haji Wright and Ellis Simms are probably the strongest candidates for a rest. Simms, who has started every league game and only once completed 90 minutes is the likelier to be put on the bench. Wright, after missing out on the starting line-up last time out could be set to start.

Last Time We Met

It was back in Mark Robins’ brief first spell in charge of the club that Coventry City last took on Tottenham Hotspur in an FA Cup Third Round tie in 2013. The Sky Blues had been on a good run in League One around the Christmas period, albeit were missing the influential, David McGoldrick in attack, whose loan spell had just ended. Even with McGoldrick, it would have been a tough ask to trouble a Spurs side enjoying Gareth Bale at the peak of his powers, which made for a routine win at White Hart Lane for the home side.

Two headed goals from set-pieces from Clint Dempsey and a poacher’s effort from aforementioned Bale did little to underline the complete gulf in quality between the two sides. Coventry City were unable to even come close to laying a glove on Tottenham, as you’d expect from a League One side taking on a top six Premier League outfit. That gap should be much narrower this time out.

The Opposition

The Manager – Ange Postecoglou

The well-travelled Australian made a big impact upon arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season, getting Spurs playing some eye-catching, attacking football and, moreover, being a breath of fresh air with his down-to-earth, personable demeanour, in contrast the more self-absorbed, toxic personalities of predecessors Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. However, a poor end to the previous campaign has bled into the start of this new one, putting Ange Postecoglou under pressure to add some substance to the style he gets his teams playing.

Postecoglou loves to get his teams dominating possession, making the pitch wide and overwhelming opponents with runners from midfield. This season has seen Tottenham continue to control games but struggle to kill teams off, leaving themselves prone at the other end to counter-attacks and set-pieces. The Australian could well be looking to this game to restore some confidence, which may well involve picking close to his strongest team possible.

Who To Look Out For?

It marks a strong contrast to the reason why I started this blog, when most Coventry City fans barely knew any opposition players and were judging League One & Two teams on reputation alone, to be attempting to tell you why the likes of recognised international stars James Maddison, Son Heung-min and Micky van de Ven are good at football. Nonetheless, there are still a few things to watch out for in this Tottenham Hotspur line up for this game.

Spurs will be looking to get the forward area of the team to click in this game, should they go strong here. Key summer signing, Dominic Solanke, has yet to get going at centre-forward and could probably do with the run-out. With Son Heung-min the team’s star player on the left of the attack, there’s a chance here for either Brennan Johnson or Wilson Odobert to nail down the vacant spot on the right.

The other key thing Tottenham Hotspur may be looking to get out of this game is figuring out their best midfield trio. With Yves Bissouma injured, a trio of James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur proved to be too lightweight last time out against Arsenal. While Coventry City is a challenge of a lower order, this could be an opportunity for the promising Pape Matar Sarr to stake a claim to add more physicality to Spurs’ midfield.

The defence is probably the area that Ange Postecoglou may look to experiment with the most. The Australian tends to rotate his goalkeeper for the cup competitions, so second-choice, Fraser Forster looks set for a rare start. Elsewhere, it’s a call between Djed Spence and Archie Gray at right-back to hand the key Pedro Porro a night off, with Gray possibly set to be preferred due to his ability to help maintain possession as a natural midfielder. Romania international, Radu Dragusin, could be tested at centre-back in this game, either to rest the crucial Micky van de Ven or to assess whether he can partner the Dutchman and tighten things up at the back.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

On the one hand, this could be a great time to play Tottenham Hotspur given their fragility after a slow start to the campaign. On the other, they are a much stronger team than Coventry City and will be feeling the need to produce a performance to ease the pressure on them. As well as the Sky Blues have shown over the past year that they can compete against good Premier League sides, if Spurs pick a strong team and are motivated, they should win this with a degree of comfort.

The specific concern for Coventry City in this game is that Tottenham Hotspur love to dominate possession and this team hasn’t really shown yet that they can cope with long spells without the ball. Between a midfield that lacks a much of an off-the-ball presence to it in the absence of Ben Sheaf and a defence that has a habit of cracking under pressure, the worry is that this game could be over before the Sky Blues have the chance to get going.

If Coventry can hold firm, there should be the belief that this team can cause problems for Tottenham on the counter-attack. With the pace of Haji Wright on the left, one out of Ephron Mason-Clark or Brandon Thomas-Asante on the right, plus Milan van Ewijk from right-back, the Sky Blues should be able to turn defence into attack quickly here. Spurs potentially resting the freakishly quick Micky van de Ven at centre-back would also help Coventry’s efforts on the break.

While Tottenham Hotspur are heavy favourites here, the gulf is not so extreme that Coventry City are complete outsiders. This is a team that showed just five months ago that it can take one of the country’s best teams all the way. If that fear factor of taking on a heavyweight can be avoided, there is a viable route to victory for the Sky Blues.