Coventry City match analysis via CoventryLive: Sky Blues writer Andy Turner looks at some of the main talking points from the goalless draw with Millwall.
Coventry City preserved their unbeaten home record under Frank Lampard in a tedious and disappointing match at the CBS Arena, with the Sky Blues finishing 2024 with a single point from a goalless draw against managerless Millwall.
Although the home team dominated the ball, chances were few and far between for both sides in a slow-paced game that saw City dragged sideways and backwards far too frequently in a disastrous first half. Coventry showed a little more zeal after the half, but the visitors – who were watched by their new manager, Alex Neil, who was formally hired today (Monday) – defended well to reduce the threat to their goal.
Sky Blues correspondent Andy Turner discusses City’s second of four games in ten days during the holiday season.
What made Lampard ‘nervous’
Six attempts on goal and one on target from nearly 75% possession did not bode well for the home team in front of another large festive crowd of over 28,000. When asked if the stats were something his players should improve on, the head coach responded: “Well, I think since I’ve been in most games, our XG (expected goals) or opportunity generation – versus Plymouth, West Brom, Hull… Overall, it’s been big. You must understand that not every game is the same, and you will not always have the opportunity to create if a side blocks space and defends well, as Millwall does, and then you must attempt to be clinical with the opportunities that come your way.
“I knew what this game was going to be like, and I was apprehensive about it after the last game because I assumed everyone would say, ‘Oh, we’ll come along and score four more,’ but football doesn’t work that way. They made it difficult for us.
“At halftime, we made a tactical change to get more out on the sides and more numbers on the sides, and you could immediately see more enthusiasm in the game, as well as faster line breaks. So that was nice, and I believe that if you get your goal and are comfortable with it, you will most likely win the game because there was not much threat, and if they open up more, we may be able to score. I am not whining about it today. It’s frustrating that we weren’t able to take one of those chances, but some days are like that.”
Millwall’s obvious game plan
Millwall plainly came to Coventry with a game plan to stifle and frustrate, prepared to leave with a point – a strategy that worked well for caretaker manager David Livermore, who admitted as much in his post-match news conference.
“I thought it was important today that we made sure that we were a little bit more conservative with our press and I thought we nullified them, we made them play passes we wanted them to play,” he told me.
“They had a really excellent chance in the second half when they hit the crossbar, but I can’t recall many clear-cut chances for them. We’d prefer to have had a little more of an attacking threat than we had, but there’s always a turning point in a game where you decide whether to remain with your point or go for it.”
Lampard, meanwhile, was polite in his reaction to the Lions’ evident efforts to slow down the game and keep the Sky Blues at arm’s length, saying: “I don’t want to discredit them; they are extremely excellent at making it difficult to play against. They surrender few goals, which is understandable, and the game frequently stops. But I am not dissatisfied with the performance. I’m unhappy with the outcome.”
City need to find a way
This was a game crying out for Ephron Mason-Clark to make inroads down the left wing and generate openings in a game in which the Sky Blues were severely lacking in opportunities. After scoring four goals and providing four assists in his previous six games, the former Peterborough winger was sorely missed against Millwall and, unfortunately, is set to miss the remaining holiday fixtures – out for a number of “weeks” with a hamstring strain, Lampard revealed after the goalless draw.
To be fair, Jack Rudoni, the youngster charged with filling his boots on that side of the pitch, did an adequate job and was arguably City’s finest player in a dreadful game of football. And with Haji Wright still out injured, despite the fact that he is expected to return to training early in January, Coventry must find a way to function without the pair in the interim. Brandon Thomas-Asante can also play wide on the left if necessary, but based on Sunday’s performance, Rudoni appears to be the most successful option.
Off balance and off-colour
The absence of Mason-Clark and Wright has disrupted the team’s equilibrium, which was exacerbated by Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s off-colour performance in this match. He and Milan van Ewijk, who generally have an entertaining and productive relationship down the right, simply did not cause enough problems for the visitors that day. It was a violent game, and Sakamoto, who has received his fair share of rough treatment since joining the club, just didn’t seem like himself.
It was interesting that Lampard did not take him off, especially given that he had Thomas-Asante on the bench, who eventually replaced Torp in a more central attacking role, and Fabio Tavares, who has previously been deployed out wide on the right to good effect, albeit not in his best position. Raphael Borges Rodrigues was also on the bench, but at 0-0, it’s understandable that the City manager didn’t want to put him on for his debt in such a tough game and risk the boy looking out of his depth.
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