Sideways Sammy

Brought in last summer to be the attacking improvement at left-back it was felt would elevate the team, that Jay Dasilva still arguably isn’t first-choice in his position highlights that Coventry City have yet to feel the benefits of his addition to the squad. Dasilva has had his moments in a Sky Blue shirt, looking composed on the ball in both defensive and attacking areas of the pitch and supplying accurate crosses into the penalty area. The issue seems to be both concentration and consistency, which is something a defender of Dasilva’s short stature can ill-afford.

In an ideal world, Jay Dasilva would be Coventry City’s first-choice left-back. Comfortable receiving the ball in any area of the pitch and intelligent in linking up with his team-mates, Dasilva keeps attacks going, which tends to be why he is favoured in games or situations where the team is dominating possession. Someone who rarely beats opponents for pace or skill, Dasilva could do with being less reticent to produce crosses, especially as he tends to be pretty accurate when he does so. The bigger problem is that when the team is under pressure, Dasilva is a weak link in the back-line for opponents to target. It’s not just that Dasilva is short but that he seems to lack the concentration to stay in position, making it easy for teams to drop the ball in behind him and turn the rest of the defence around. After 50 games with the club, it is starting to look a flaw that Jay Dasilva is unable to rectify.

With Jake Bidwell having not had a particularly great season thus far, Jay Dasilva needs to take the opportunity between now and either the January transfer window or the summer, to make the left-back position his own. Although he is only in the second year of a four-year contract, Dasilva could quickly find himself entirely out of favour if he doesn’t make himself a viable candidate for a regular place in the starting XI. The frustration with Jay Dasilva is that he doesn’t lack talent, it’s that it hasn’t been harnessed properly – a failing maybe not just of the player but the way the team has been set up.