Sideways Sammy

Defeat in the League Cup to Aston Villa continues a difficult run for Coventry City. With two empty weekends with which to contemplate the start of the season ahead, finishing this run of games up to the international break on some form of positive note feels imperative if Coventry want to avoid the campaign getting away from them.

The challenge is that an away trip to Nottingham Forest is no easy place to kick-start a campaign at. At the moment, the Sky Blues look too porous defensively and too toothless in attack to compete with Premier League opponents. Whether a couple of day’s between the midweek game against Aston Villa provides enough time to work on that – while Forest have rested this week – seems doubtful but the team will have to hope that something will click here.

Expected Line-Up

Wednesday night provided a few positives that Frank Lampard may want to build upon, even if it was based on a rotated side. The energy and intent provided by Victor Torp and Caleb Yirenkyi in midfield feels like something that could give the team a purpose and presence, while Stephen Mfuni put in a largely impressive debut display at left-back.

Just how to blend that with the more established first-team is something Frank Lampard will have to resolve in this game. For all the positives, Coventry City were rather porous at the back. Aside from Carl Rushworth and Milan van Ewijk (presuming the latter wasn’t missing from Wednesday’s matchday squad through injury) it will be pretty much the same defence as the one that was so open against Aston Villa.

With Gustavo Hamer’s lasting of 90 minutes on Wednesday an indication that he won’t start in this game, that leaves the remaining midfield selection an important one to balance the team. Jack Rudoni (again, assuming he wasn’t missing from the last game through injury) provides the option to add attacking intent, but may not be the wisest for an away game. Meanwhile, for all the complaints about Matt Grimes this season, he is a calm head who could be valuable in allowing Torp and Yirenkyi to push forwards.

Elsewhere, the loss of Aurele Amenda to what looked a pretty nasty injury leaves Coventry City short at the back. That will probably see Bobby Thomas and Ethan Pinnock paired in central defence, but it could be an option to go with a back three with Stephen Mfuni rounding off the back three, allowing him to stay in the team without dropping Jay Dasilva after a pretty solid start to life in the Premier League.

Further forward, Sidiki Cherif was energetic but not particularly impressive against Aston Villa, however, he may keep his place by virtue of Ellis Simms being even less so from the bench. Yann Gboho looked bright but is another who lasted 90 minutes, suggesting he won’t be starting here. It seems that Cherif will be flanked by Ephron Mason-Clark to the left and Loum Tchaouna to the right.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City still had half a hope of making the play-offs four years ago when they took the trip to the City Ground to take on a Nottingham Forest side flying up the table under Steve Cooper as they went on to eventually win promotion at Wembley. Coventry threatened throughout via Viktor Gyokeres, Callum O’Hare and Gustavo Hamer, but lacked the punch to put Forest to the sword.

The home side took the lead mid-way through the first-half when Jake Bidwell got into a tangle trying to deal with a cross, leaving Brennan Johnson with a tap-in. Coventry had some excellent chances to equalise, only for Keinan Davis to play in James Garner to wrap up the win for the home side.

Key Questions

Is Liam Delap One of the Best Centre-Forwards In The Premier League?

This may initially seem like a ridiculous suggestion, given how hard Liam Delap flopped at Chelsea last season, but the forward’s display last weekend against Aston Villa suggested that he has the qualities to turn his career around at Nottingham Forest. After scoring an insouciant long-range strike to put Forest ahead, Delap really gave Villa’s defence the run around on their own patch, muscling his opponents off, making good runs and getting shots off.

With Coventry City lacking confidence defensively, Delap will surely relish the opportunity to build on the confidence last week provided him, especially with an England call-up within the realms of possibility before the end of the year if he can string some form together. Someone who possesses a unique blend of physicality with movement and technique – similar-ish to Viktor Gyokeres – Delap can be impossible to stop if he builds a head of steam.

Where the Sky Blues may be able to limit his opportunities will be in sitting deep to deny him space to run into which he tends to relish. Liam Delap isn’t someone who is particularly pre-possessing aerially, so if Coventry can limit Forest’s attacking threat to crosses, that will stymie Delap – albeit, likely to lead to Chris Wood coming off the bench.

Why Coventry Must Avoid Chasing The Last Shot?

Already this season Frank Lampard has made a change to back three to find greater defensive solidity for the Manchester City game, then changed back to a back four because that seemed to invite too much pressure against Brighton & Hove Albion. After another open defensive display against Aston Villa, the manager could change systems again and the worry is that changing the tactics in the next game to solve the problems from the previous one leads to an unsettling lack of continuity as the sense of a cohesive plan slips away.

In cricket, there is a concept that bad teams reset their fields based on where the last shot was played, which then leaves opportunities in the spaces that have just been vacated. That can also apply to football, if you change your system based on what went wrong in the last game, that can open up new issues that opponents can exploit, all while players are still adapting to the new system.

While there may be a question as to whether the current plan – whatever that is – may be the smartest one. It can be better to stick to any plan than constantly change it at the first sign of things going wrong. There is still an argument that Coventry City have played some of their hardest games already, rather than being a genuinely bad team.

What Is The Right Midfield Balance?

Anyone Coventry City pick in midfield comes with both their benefits and drawbacks. It is the task of Frank Lampard to figure out which of his options have the most complementary attributes that both fit into an overall style of play and mask each other’s weaknesses.

The major positive to come out of Wednesday night’s defeat to Aston Villa was the purpose and energy that Victor Torp and Caleb Yirenkyi offered in a central midfield. The duo showed a real willingness to take control of the game, however, in doing so, they left spaces in behind, which contributed to how easily Villa exposed Coventry’s back-line.

Nonetheless, there is a way to utilise the duo’s energy without leaving the middle of the pitch vacant when they push forward. The solution to that could well be the calmer head that Matt Grimes provides, platforming Torp and Yirenkyi to push forward with less concern over defensive responsibilities.

The downside of bringing Grimes into the base of the midfield is that it risks leaving him caught defending against pace on the counter, but the truth is that Coventry City otherwise lack a natural sitting midfielder. Frank Onyeka is much more comfortable pushing forward in a box-to-box role, while the last time Gustavo Hamer played as a deep midfielder was in the Championship three-and-a-half years ago.