Sideways Sammy

Coventry City grabbed a dramatic late winner against Stoke City to secure a fifth win in a row, in a game they contrived to make hard work of.

The Sky Blues started sloppily and could have been behind as Stoke fashioned some excellent chances via Lewis Koumas and Ali Al-Hamadi. From a rare attacking foray, Coventry City took the lead when Victor Torp evaded the marking of the Potters’ defence from a Milan van Ewijk long throw to head in. It was two around ten minutes later, when Tatsuhiro Sakamoto beat the opposing back-line with great skill to set up Torp for a sumptuous finish.

The game’s key turning point threatened to be a ludicrous failure of the referee to spot a clear penalty when Stoke’s goalkeeper, Viktor Johansson, wiped out Ephron Mason-Clark after being unable to meet a high ball in the box. Coventry City certainly failed to build on their two-goal lead in the second-half, with Stoke City throwing the kitchen sink at them by going two up top.

A great moment of skill from Wouter Burger for the away side left Sam Gallagher free from inches out to pull a goal back with 25 minutes remaining. They were level when Gallagher, who was probably marginally offside, met a teasing free-kick delivery from Million Manhoef. Stoke nearly won it with an audacious Burger backheel not long after.

However, a late throw of the dice from Coventry City saw Bobby Thomas left up the pitch and the centre-back produced an incredible moment of composure to cut inside two defenders and fire a left-footed effort past the opposing goalkeeper. It was a winner that the Sky Blues scantly deserved but one that was richly celebrated.

Form Yet To Translate Into Performances

It is quite remarkable that Coventry City have managed to win ten out of their last eleven league games without really having produced an outstanding performance over that period – with maybe one or two exceptions. While it is impressive to be able to win games so consistently while still having a level of improvement to strive for, it is starting to become legitimate to ask when are the performance levels going to match the results.

The Sky Blues were second-best for much of this game, with Stoke City starting the strongest and having a couple of great early chances to take the lead. Both of Coventry’s goals in the first-half were largely against the run of play, and it was only after taking that two-goal lead that they started to settle down. However, a tepid start to the second-half allowed Stoke to get back into the game and claim a share of the points that was the least that they would have deserved.

Just why this team has yet to translate the confidence from winning regularly into performances is a quandary that Frank Lampard may soon be forced to resolve. In this game, the absence of Jack Rudoni was probably a key factor in the sloppiness and lack of aggression in midfield that made the Sky Blues second-best for long spells of the game. The decision to play Josh Eccles as the furthest forward of the midfield three was, quite frankly, baffling, while Victor Torp – despite his two goals – offered little presence alongside Matt Grimes, who is far from the most physical of defensive midfielders.

Furthermore, it still feels as if Frank Lampard hasn’t figured out how to get the best out of the team’s January signing, Matt Grimes. There was a brief spell in this game where he allowed the team to finally settle into a couple of spells of possession by dropping deep alongside the centre-backs and keeping the ball moving with some neat short passing, it wasn’t for long enough to kill the game off. Grimes isn’t allowing the team to control games all on his own, he requires a level of aggression in front of him that he just isn’t getting to be able to dominate. Perhaps things will be different once Ben Sheaf’s fitness levels are trustworthy enough for him to start games alongside Grimes.

Not building on the two-goal lead is what nearly cost Coventry City here, just like last week when they allowed Oxford United back into the game having looked in control in the first-half. With Stoke going to 4-4-2, there should have been the opportunity to make them sweat by knocking the ball around calmly in midfield and then picking off the gaps as the opposition tired. Instead, Coventry were sloppy on the ball, dithered in good attacking positions and presented chances to be caught on the counter.

Stoke City’s first goal embodied everything that was wrong about Coventry City’s second-half display. Brandon Thomas-Asante – who has shown time and again that he is not effective out wide – had a great chance on the counter to open the opposition up, but was caught making his mind up, allowing Stoke to break quickly, leading to panic in the defence that left Sam Gallagher free for a tap-in after some brilliant work by Wouter Burger.

With Coventry offering very little going forward, it was little surprise when Stoke City levelled the scores. It may say something about the mentality of this team that they are able to find goals when they need them, but this was a winning performance that was very close to being a losing one. As brilliant as Bobby Thomas’ late winner was, the concern is that if results begin to drop off, this side might not be able to do much about getting back into form unless they raise their performance levels from where they are currently.

The Offside Trap Exposed Yet Again

Stoke City had clearly done their homework on Coventry City heading into this game, targeting what is clearly this team’s biggest weakness under Frank Lampard, its high defensive line. The Potters got in behind the Sky Blues time and again throughout the 90 minutes, while they were caught offside often, it was that ability to exploit the home side’s organisation and concentration in its defensive line that led to both of their goals and further chances on top of that.

Stoke played with their wingers very high up the pitch in order to stretch Coventry City at the back, which meant they could quickly get in behind whenever they were on the attack. Stoke City had two early chances, via Lewis Koumas and Ali Al-Hamadi, where they able to use their pace in wide areas to break that offside trap. The latter of those chances probably should have been flagged by the linesman, but that is the risk when a team tries to impose a high defensive line. Worryingly, for the latter, the Coventry back-line was far too interested in appealing for the offside than trying to prevent the chance it led to.

The aim of deploying such a high defensive line is that it allows the team to press and squeeze the opposition, cutting off those balls in behind at source. However, Coventry City’s disarray in midfield have Stoke City far too much time and space to pick holes in that back four. The seeming intention behind instructing Josh Eccles to stay up the pitch, just behind Ellis Simms, when out of possession was for him to be the player leading the press, but he failed to impose himself and gave Stoke a pretty easy time to play through Coventry.

Where the Sky Blues were often saved was in Milan van Ewijk’s ability to use his pace to cover the back-line when the offside trap was beaten. The Dutchman was in inspired form in this game, dominating his opposing winger defensively and showing some real moments of quality going forward. Him picking up an injury could really be a devastating blow for Coventry City’s play-off hopes.

If Milan van Ewijk is out for an extended period, the option is either to change approach at the back – which would compromise the team’s attacking effectiveness – or to switch formation. There are many reasons why Joel Latibeaudiere is a sub-optimal solution at right-back but the key one is that he lacks anywhere near the pace to cover the back-line as effectively as Van Ewijk does. Perhaps a tactical re-jig could resolve some of the team’s other issues further forward.

Dasilva Stands Up To The Challenge

When Jay Dasilva was announced as part of the starting line-up in this game, the reaction of most Coventry City fans was that it was a ludicrous decision that would leave the team exposed at left-back. Here, he was put under the microscope by a Stoke City side that largely targeted his side of the pitch with their attacks and responded to the challenge ably.

The reason why Jay Dasilva came into the team was because Jake Bidwell had been a source of opposition joy over the previous two games – in particular, against Oxford United. It’s clear that this team lacks an optimal solution at left-back, but Dasilva showed here that he might just be capable of making the position his own between now and the end of the season.

Tested under numerous high balls, Jay Dasilva showed that he was switch on enough to prevent Stoke City finding too much joy in that area. While he didn’t win any aerial challenges – because, well, look at the size of him – his positioning and control under pressure was such that he was able to cut attacks off and prevent the opposition from getting on top of him. On a side of the pitch where he was afforded little protection by Ephron Mason-Clark staying up so high out of possession, Dasilva stood up to the task presented to him.

That said, it is worth pointing out that Stoke City’s best chance early on came from getting in behind him, while it was Dasilva who conceded the free-kick for the away side’s leveller and he possibly should have been the player tracking Sam Gallagher for his first goal. It highlights that he is far from the perfect option at left-back, the debate for the time being, however, is whether he can be solid enough not to be an active area of weakness for opponents to target.

As ever with Jay Dasilva, the question is whether he can maintain this level of concentration in his defensive duties over a series of games. He has, at least, earned the chance to demonstrate that over the next few matches.