Sideways Sammy

Frank Lampard picked up his first win as Coventry City manager with what proved to be a comfortable win at The Den against Millwall.

In a slow, sloppy first-half, Millwall nearly struck first blood when they appeared to have scored directly from a corner-kick, however, it was ruled out for an infringement on Coventry City goalkeeper, Brad Collins. It was pretty much the only effort on goal of note from either side during the opening 45 minutes.

The second-half saw the Sky Blues shift up a gear or two in stormy conditions. Ephron Mason-Clark missed a golden opportunity from point-blank range shortly before he grabbed the game’s winning goal, flicking in a Jack Rudoni cross from the right side to put the away side ahead.

Aside from a late rally from Millwall, Coventry City looked well in control of the remainder of proceedings and were the more likely side to grab the next goal. Jack Rudoni, Norman Bassette and Brandon Thomas-Asante all had opportunities to kill the game off that they didn’t quite take. In the end, it was a comfortable one-goal win, the first by such a margin in the league for the Sky Blues this season.

When One Goal Leads To A Win

This was the first time this season that Coventry City won a league game without having to score three goals. Crucially, it was a first clean sheet in six games, having conceded twice in each of the past five matches. It may seem overly simplistic to point out, but it is much easier to pick up points when you only need to score once.

This was far from a classic performance, likely influenced by the stormy conditions, but it was a game won by both an aversion to errors from Coventry City and their efforts to control possession. It led to a tepid first-half where neither side posed much threat to the other’s goal but which provided the platform for the Sky Blues to build towards a spell of pressure after the break that eventually led to Ephron Mason-Clark’s winning goal.

The key change to the starting line-up for this game was bringing Joel Latibeaudiere in at left centre-back. It is an indictment on both Luis Binks and Liam Kitching that it has reached a point where the team’s best left-sided centre-back seems to be neither of those two left-footers, but Latibeaudiere provided a combination of calm and aggression in defence that has often been absent with either of the aforementioned lefties in the starting line-up. In what is in avoiding the temptation to make big, risky challenges or spray long passes forward that Latibeaudiere distinguished himself here, providing a platform for the team ahead to build upon.

Coventry City’s success in this game stemmed largely from their calmness in possession. While there were some loose passes, particularly in the first-half, that threatened to undermine the attempts to keep the ball, the Sky Blues took the sting out of Millwall by playing almost deliberately slowly to wear them down and limit the opposition’s opportunities to threaten.

While in the first-half, this patient approach was perhaps overly so, allowing good opportunities to get in behind a makeshift opposing back-line to pass the team by, Coventry City found that balance between keeping the ball and threatening with it during a spell of 10-15 minutes leading to Ephron Mason-Clark’s winning goal. Jack Rudoni embodied that step up in intent, becoming much more willing to carry the ball and get it into the box than he had been earlier, when he’d been guilty of playing a little too safe.

An area where this performance has to be improved upon is in the decision-making when there were opportunities to counter later on. Coventry City really should have put this game to bed with Millwall stretching themselves in a vain attempt to salvage a result. Most notably, Jack Rudoni perplexingly went for a shot from a narrow angle with two team-mates waiting for a tap-in, while Norman Bassette and Brandon Thomas-Asante also snatched at half-chances instead of trying to set someone up for a better chance.

There is such great pace in this team that the Sky Blues really should be relishing opportunities to kill games off against a stretched opponent. Perhaps it is due to that lack of experience this season of being ahead late on but developing that killer instinct could well be the difference between this result being a one-off or turning into a run.

Mason-Clark Benefits From Lampard’s Tweaks

While two games might be too early to assess the changes that Frank Lampard is looking to make at Coventry City, Ephron Mason-Clark’s form highlights what is most notably different about this team compared to prior to the new head coach. It is not that Mason-Clark has scored two in two games but the reason why he is starting to get chances on goal that is notable.

Both Ephron Mason-Clark’s goals have come from him being released behind the opposition defence and in a central position, which hadn’t been where he’d been operating prior to Frank Lampard’s arrival. Mason-Clark has been granted that freedom to play narrowly and centrally, at times operating as a second centre-forward, due to Jack Rudoni having seemingly been instructed to help occupy the wide areas.

The left-footed Jack Rudoni has tended to float out to the left over the past couple of games, but his delivery for Mason-Clark’s winning goal came from the midfielder moving out to the right wing so that he could curl a teasing inswinging for the forward. That understanding between Rudoni and Mason-Clark has been the key area of promise for Coventry City over the past two games, making the team a little more unpredictable when drawn into spells of possession.

Freeing Ephron Mason-Clark from playing solely in wide areas has demonstrated there is more to his game than carrying the ball and trying to cut inside. While Mason-Clark has occasionally looked promising with those runs down the left wing, it has often been pretty straightforward for teams to double up on him and force him down blind alleys. Both of his goals have come as a result of his work off the ball, rather than on it.

The hope is that Ephron Mason-Clark can build on the confidence this scoring form will have provided him. In what had been a fairly frustrating display from him up until his goal, Mason-Clark looked more driven and effective with the remainder of the time he had on the pitch. He wasn’t just more of a threat in carrying the ball but was also diligent in his defensive efforts to help relieve pressure on the team. It was surprising that he was taken off.

The Troublesome Centre-Forward Position

From what looked to be a position of strength over the summer, Coventry City are now mid-way through the season without a clear idea as to whom the starting centre-forward should be. Ellis Simms has had a frustrating, stop-start campaign, while Haji Wright is injured and has mostly played out wide, Norman Bassette is clearly a raw entity, and Brandon Thomas-Asante is probably only useful in the position under specific circumstances.

Frank Lampard opted to start Ellis Simms here but took him off shortly before the game’s only goal. While he put in a decent shift, competing with the opposing centre-backs and trying to link play, he was starved of the kind of service he could look to thrive upon. Often chasing hopeful, wind-assisted, balls into the channels, Simms rarely got into areas from which he could threaten the goal. 16 touches and no shots summed up a frustrating shift for him.

Norman Bassette, meanwhile, came on with the game soon to become almost perfectly suited for his qualities. Able to unsettle the opposition’s rhythm with his relentless chasing down, the Belgian aided the team’s efforts to relieve pressure later on. However, Bassette also lacked the skill and composure to take advantage of some opportunities on goal and nearly cost the team dearly with a hare-brained decision to track all the way back into his own penalty area and came close to firstly nearly giving a penalty away and then cleared the ball straight to the opposition. It really is effort over quality, or even thinking, with Bassette right now.

If Bassette’s work-rate could be combined with Ellis Simms’ penalty area presence, Coventry City would have the perfect centre-forward. Instead, they currently have two options that are short of the complete set of qualities the team needs up front right now. Being able to get goals from midfield and set-pieces has eased the pressure on finding form at centre-forward but, just like around this time last year, having someone in the position step up and command the role of main man will help transform the team from mediocrity into consistent winning form.