Sideways Sammy

Coventry City edged out Oxford United in what became a breathless second-half of football at the Kassam Stadium.

The Sky Blues were ahead early when Jack Rudoni met a peach of a Tatsuhiro Sakamoto cross to put the away side ahead, albeit at the cost of what could be a nasty injury to his shoulder. While they were unable to press further in the first-half for more goals, they looked to have contained an energetic Oxford United side.

The home side rallied in the second-half and targeting Coventry City with balls in behind Jake Bidwell at left-back. Ole Romeny levelled the scores after the break after the pacey Przemyslaw Placheta ran free down the left side of the Sky Blues’ defence. Ephron Mason-Clark put Coventry back ahead soon after, out-jumping the opposing goalkeeper to a loose ball in the box, but Oxford were quickly back level after Elliot Moore scored from a corner-kick that had come about after that defensive line had been breached down the left yet again.

The Sky Blues looked to have benefitted from a stroke of fortune, with the referee giving the rarest of penalty calls – for pushing at a set-piece – only for Ellis Simms to fire low and with little venom to allow Jamie Cumming to save in the opposing goal. Fortunately, that counted for little in the final result, with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto firing in a Jake Bidwell cross to grab a set of three points that should have been secured much earlier in the contest.

The Quest For Control

At 1-0 up early in the first-half against a side that had scored just once in six games, Coventry City should have been able to see this match out with ease. Instead, they stepped off the gas and gradually allowed an Oxford United side, roused by a sense of injustice over several refereeing decisions, to overcome their goal-shyness and put the direction of the final result in jeopardy.

While both of Oxford’s goals came in the second-half, it was that easing of threat from Coventry City that began in the first-half that encouraged them onto the front foot. At 1-0 up, the Sky Blues seemed to sit back in the hope of killing the game off on the counter. That contributed to an increasingly end-to-end affair that gave the home side a chance of claiming a result.

Just how much of that was down to a natural reaction to being ahead early in an away game, versus what the team might have been instructed to do, only Frank Lampard and the players would be able to say definitively. For Coventry City, it is yet another away game where they have been able to stamp their mark and dominate proceedings. While it’s a positive to pick up points under those circumstances, if the home performances are anything to go by, this is not how Lampard wants the team to play.

It felt indicative of the performance that Matt Grimes, the player signed to dictate games for Coventry City was nowhere near as influential here as he had been last time out against Preston North End. Still able to rack up a 90% pass completion rate and just about the most touches of any player on the pitch, Grimes looked more hurried and prone to playing long than his usual composed self.

The introduction of Ben Sheaf just before half-time as Jack Rudoni’s injury replacement signalled that Frank Lampard wanted the team to keep the ball better than they had been for much of the first-half. There were a couple of spells where Sheaf helped Coventry City do that, but it wasn’t enough to kill off Oxford United’s threat, contributing to that breathless spell of 20 minutes, involving four goals and a missed penalty.

It is a tough thing to do to go away from home and be able to dictate a full 90 minutes, but Coventry City have yet to show they can do anything close to that yet under Frank Lampard – save for maybe the win over Swansea City in January. While it’s impressive to win with scope to improve, the concern is that if this side cannot enact control at this stage of the season, how much tougher it could be when the pressure increases over the next couple of months.

The Glass Jaw

The main weakness of this Coventry City side under Frank Lampard is most certainly comes from teams able to get in behind from wide areas. Oxford United’s first came from a ball over the top into the pacey Przemyslaw Placheta, their second may have come from a set-piece but that was after Oliver Dovin had made a great save after that defensive line had been sprung yet again. In the wake of those recent bruising defeats to Leeds United and Ipswich Town where similar defensive issues were exploited, getting that defensive line right looks a key priority.

It was a particularly tough afternoon for Jake Bidwell, who was left one-on-one against Oxford’s Placheta and clearly tired in that battle as the game wore on. For someone billed as a sturdy defensive player, here, his positioning and lack of pace was exposed on multiple occasions. From a first-half chance for the opposition where, somehow, Kitching was forced out wide to cover how narrowly Bidwell as tucked in, to the constant joy Oxford found dropping balls in behind him during the second-half, the left-back struggled.

Jake Bidwell wasn’t helped by just how far up the pitch Ephron Mason-Clark was allowed to stay when the team were out of possession. While it allowed Coventry City to threaten on the break, it was asking a lot of Bidwell to cover an entire side of the pitch defensively. Whether that was down to Mason-Clark’s attacking instincts or how Frank Lampard wanted the team to set up is unclear. It is probably an area that needs to be addressed in the weeks going forward.

The issue isn’t so much that Coventry City left their Ephron Mason-Clark so high up the pitch, but that wasn’t backed up with pressing Oxford United with aggression or someone else tucking in out wide from midfield to prevent the overload. It underlines a sense that the Sky Blues can be a touch naïve tactically under Frank Lampard, wanting to play on the front foot but doing little to address gaps in defence that open up as games wear on.

Part of the defensive plan right now clearly looks to be based on Oliver Dovin making interventions when teams get in behind. Whether that’s in making big saves or coming off his line early to deal with danger, the Swede being able to do those kind of things is a big reason why the defensive record has improved. However, the concern is that when teams keep on getting behind during matches, that gives them the belief to keep targeting that as a route into games.

There has to be a level of wariness about teams putting in the work and changing how they set up in order to target what is risking being the glass jaw of this Coventry City side. If Frank Lampard and his coaching staff can be proactive and start working on ways to counteract that, it will allow this team to see out results in more comfortable fashion than they were able to here.

Goals From Multiple Sources

Coventry City may not yet have a player in double figures for goals but with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto scoring here, they now have eight players on at least four league goals. That is a group of players that comprises three strikers, two wingers, two central midfielders and a centre-back. In contrast to that run to the play-off final two seasons ago, this isn’t a team that is overly reliant on one or two players to win games for them.

That was crucial here, in a match where the team’s form attacking player, Jack Rudoni, was forced off injured just before half-time, with the result still in the balance. Bringing Ben Sheaf on as Rudoni’s replacement didn’t, on paper, look like it would contribute to the team being more of an attacking threat, but that empowered the wingers to stay high up the pitch and, ultimately, win the game for the Sky Blues.

It meant that Ellis Simms missing a penalty at 2-2 wasn’t really the blow for the team that it could have been. Simms’ improved form of late hasn’t been centred around him scoring goals but being that bruising figure at centre-forward who creates space for others to threaten. Whether it was in occupying the centre-backs to allow Jack Rudoni to head in the opening goal, or acting as the out-ball when the team dropped in at 1-0 up, Simms did exactly the job required of him here.

Simms’ form lays down the gauntlet if Haji Wright wants to get back in the team in his preferred position of centre-forward. The American had flashes on his return from injury but he is a different style of striker from his team-mate, someone who wants to take defenders on and run in behind. The worry with bringing Wright on with the game so tight was that he would lose possession in taking those risks to score, fortunately, the points had largely been won by the time he got some all-important minutes late-on here.

What Haji Wright will benefit from is the key difference that has been seen under Frank Lampard, that ability to load the penalty area with bodies when the team gets forward. It means someone always has a chance of getting a shot off when the delivery comes in. The winning goal is a classic example of Lampard-ball in action, with Jake Bidwell probably not quite putting in the cross he wanted to, only for it not to matter due to Tatsuhiro Sakamoto timing his run off his wing to meet the delivery. Wright is definitely someone who will relish the extra bodies in the box to provide him room to get shots off.

For all the concern over how much control this team is able to exert and the gaps that can open up at the back, it isn’t a coincidence that they are scoring goals more reliably. Players are being empowered to take gamble on making runs into the penalty area, to put crosses in early. That’s why Coventry City aren’t reliant on individuals to win them matches, the responsibility for scoring really is a team effort right now.