Sideways Sammy

Coventry City recorded a first league win over Preston North End in 17 years with a dominant display at the CBS Arena that was only put in jeopardy by a late opposition goal.

The Sky Blues started strongly, having their first chance within seconds of the kick-off, but were almost behind when Preston North End were able to exploit their offside trap for an early chance of their own. Coventry gradually seized control of the game and had a string of chances, leading to Jack Rudoni heading in an Ephron Mason-Clark cross to take the lead. It was two soon after, with Bobby Thomas heading a corner-kick through a crowd of bodies, leading to a Freddie Woodman fumble in the opposing goal.

Preston North End made three half-time substitutions as they looked to force a route back into the game, but Coventry City again wrestled control of the game. There were several great opportunities to make it three, only for Preston North End to threaten to level proceedings late on, pulling one back after Will Keane was left free in the penalty area for a tap-in and then with Emil Riis having a couple of chances that, on another day, he might have taken better.

Aside from that, it was near total control from Coventry City.

Grimes Starts To Get City Ticking

This was exactly the kind of game that Matt Grimes was signed to make a difference in and the midfielder delivered his most influential performance for Coventry City. Against a Preston North End side that were looking to sit in a compact defensive shape and break on the counter, Grimes provided the control and penetration in possession to take the sting out of the opposition and unpick their defensive lock.

The first-half performance embodied exactly the kind of football that Frank Lampard has wanted Coventry City to play, with Matt Grimes the key figure in making it happen. Dominating possession but able to work the ball quickly into the forwards to create chances, Grimes’ ability to drop alongside the centre-backs when the team was in possession to play the passes to get the team on the front foot was integral to an excellent display in the opening 45 minutes.

Strangely, it was an early cross-field pass from Matt Grimes that didn’t quite find Milan van Ewijk that underlined the difference the midfielder is capable of making. The concern with signing Grimes had been that he was accustomed to playing in a possession-heavy style and might be too safe with the ball, while he has shown he can reliably keep play ticking over, he has demonstrated that he has those bigger, riskier passes in his locker to open the game up.

Cut back to the Millwall home game back in December, where Coventry City dominated possession but, between Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles, lacked anyone in midfield with the vision and bravery to open up a set, well-organised defence. With Matt Grimes in the team, the Sky Blues were quick to turn defence into attack, without losing any control of proceedings. It was notable just how rarely in this game Coventry got stuck passing the ball slowly in front of the opposition’s penalty area, as they had been against Millwall nearly two months ago, before Grimes’ arrival.

Matt Grimes’ ability to drop in as an extra outlet at the base of the team empowered others to get forward with more abandon. Josh Eccles was freed to push forward and play some excellent passes to keep the team on the front foot, while the likes of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Jack Rudoni and Ephron Mason-Clark were empowered to push forward and make quick decisions in attack, rather than worry about retaining possession. That attacking freedom is what contributed to the spell of pressure that led to the opening goal, and then the corner-kick that led to the second.

Encouragingly, with Preston North End starting the second-half brightly, Matt Grimes was the calm head that allowed Coventry City to settle down and regain control of proceedings. On another day, the Sky Blues would have made it three and it would have been game over. While it threatened to be nervy after Preston pulled one back, Grimes was part of a side that largely took the sting out of a buoyed opponent in the closing stages.

After showing some nice touches without really influencing proceedings in his first few appearances for the club, this was the kind of display from Matt Grimes that demonstrated the impact he is capable of making. It adds to the tantalising sense that, even on their best run of the season, Coventry City have further gears to find.

Rudoni’s Stature Grows

Here’s a fun fact about Jack Rudoni, his teams’ highest ever league finish in his professional career is 18th – including two relegations. It could well be one of those weird quirks, like Gareth Bale taking 24 games before being part of a winning team for Tottenham Hotspur, that doesn’t really mean much. Nonetheless, it leaves a lingering question of what does that say and affect about someone who is the best player for bad teams.

There’s no doubt about it now, Jack Rudoni is one of the best players for a good team – one, you’d hope, would finish much higher than 18th this season – and he is starting to play like he knows it. While Rudoni had been chipping in with goals and assists over the first half of the season, he now has a stature and a belief about him that can dominate his opposite numbers on the pitch. His performance here was yet another in a series of commanding displays at the CBS Arena.

Jack Rudoni is capable of mixing in moments of physicality with technical skill that is making it hard for opponents to contain him. There is an intensity to his game right now, giving defenders little room to breathe as he gets in their faces with his energy and physical presence and is increasingly confident in his ability to leave them in the dust with his skill on the ball. If Matt Grimes was the one knocking on the door for Coventry City, Rudoni was the one who broke it open.

It’s not just that he scored the opening goal with a well-taken header from Ephron Mason-Clark’s cross but the manner in which Jack Rudoni led the team’s press that made him so influential. The game should have been wrapped up late on, when Rudoni forced Preston North End into coughing the ball up in their own penalty area, only for the opposition to throw bodies on the line to keep it at 2-0, which was a moment that embodied Rudoni’s display more than his goal. A relentless, physical pest who can also play.

There is still room for Jack Rudoni to get better. That his goal was his first in 15 games highlights that his finishing is his most obvious area for improvement. Furthermore, for all the assists he has got this season, that ability to slide team-mates in with quick, decisive through balls is still not quite there. If Rudoni can add that further refinement to his game, he could soon become an absolute monster of a footballer.

The Tyranny Of Choice

Frank Lampard may well be reflecting on the one mistake he made during this game, bringing Jamie Paterson on as a second-half substitute. There had been a lot of build-up for Paterson’s debut in the media and among Coventry City fans, the harsh truth for the hometown lad was that he was simply not up to speed both physically and tactically, which threatened to provide Preston North End with a route back into the game.

It is an area where the manager will have to be careful in the weeks going forward, with Paterson’s signing adding to an increasing wealth of options among the Coventry City ranks, now that Ben Sheaf is back fit and Haji Wright soon will be too. Frank Lampard got the big decision heading into this game right, of breaking up what had been a successful but unconvincing back three set-up to give the team the attacking bodies to control and open up a dogged Preston North End outfit, but in giving into sentimentality to hand Jamie Paterson his debut, it showed how small details can potentially have big impacts on football matches.

How the impending return of Haji Wright is managed could well decide how this season goes for Coventry City. In theory, adding one of the division’s best forwards to the mix could well be the difference between being in the fringes of the top six and sitting comfortably inside it once the season is over. However, there is a risk that Wright’s return disrupts the balance of the team and the confidence of some of its key individuals – Ephron Mason-Clark and Ellis Simms.

For Haji Wright to return to the starting line-up, one of Ephron Mason-Clark and Ellis Simms is going to have to either be dropped or played slightly out of position. Both have benefitted in Wright’s absence from having a run of starts to build confidence and impact games. Mason-Clark’s form since being entrusted with his preferred left wing spot has been the most notable of the two, but Simms really looks to be settling into a groove as someone who can dominate opposing centre-backs.

Haji Wright is someone that Frank Lampard has yet to work with and is a player who takes some figuring out to get a tune out of, which could lead to the sort of unstructured moments that Jamie Paterson’s introduction in this game led to. At a time where the return to fitness of Ben Sheaf will force some re-jigging in midfield, the danger is that what has been a pretty settled squad of late – even if the starting formation has changed a fair bit – is about to become less so at a crucial juncture of the season.

It’s the definition of ‘a nice problem to have’ as the upside of it is that Coventry City are about to have an incredibly strong bench and the ability to rotate the team to manage any congested runs of fixtures. If Frank Lampard can get the balance right in integrating the likes of Ben Sheaf, Haji Wright and Jamie Paterson into the mix, the Sky Blues have the ability to get even better than they have been during a run of eight wins out of nine league games.