Coventry City match analysis from CoventryLive: Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner looks at some of the main talking points from New Year’s Day.
This was a classic game of two halves, with Coventry City struggling in the first 45 minutes as many players appeared fatigued and off their game, unable to make the simplest of passes.
Another example of the Sky Blues failing to perform the basics correctly was Bobby Thomas’ attempted ball to Milan Van Ewijk out for a throw-in, and Josh Eccles’ diagonal pass that went straight to the full-back for the goal, to mention a few. They weren’t the only ones, as the visitors looked bad throughout the first half.
Defending under the spotlight again.
Cardiff’s opening goal and numerous promising first-half efforts were defended poorly at times, as the Sky Blues remained their own worst enemy at the back. They started the game easily enough, having the majority of the ball until Eccles gave it away, and the home side responded quickly and scored, with City pulled all over the place, including Thomas, who had to run out wide and was quickly replaced by Callum O’Dowda, who fired in the cross. Jack Rudoni was on the wrong side of Cian Ashford’s header back across goal, and Ben Sheaf was unable to block Alex Robertson, who finished over the line. However, the overall organisation of the back four was shaky, as Cardiff often beat the offside trap, breaking at speed from balls over the top that City failed to read.
Lampard remains quiet on transfers.
The main worry, as Lampard later stated, was that on a day when his players were technically inept and made infuriatingly errant passes, they failed to compete on the physical side of the game to compensate for those inadequacies. It has been previously stated that the current crop of young players has a propensity to be mentally weak at times, with a distinct absence of leaders and one or two older, more experienced heads to lead by example when things do not go as planned. Although the head coach has been discreet about the club’s objectives in the transfer window, he will undoubtedly know by now exactly what he needs in terms of the types of fresh players and talents to help turn the side becoming more consistent contenders because they are currently confronting mid-table mediocrity in the face, at best.
Of course, the January window is now open, and when asked if anything is in the works, Lampard replied, “No, not as we speak now.” When asked if he expected anything to happen before Saturday’s trip to Norwich, he replied, “No.”
Another area of worry that has to be addressed is the difficulty of breaking down teams and, having done so, seizing the opportunities that arise. Lampard said when he initially arrived at the club that we would hear him talk a lot about XG (expected goals), as he inherited a team that should score at least two goals every match. However, if the goals are not being reached, the modern-day data barometer is almost meaningless.
Yes, they scored four goals against Plymouth, who are a terrible away team, but they were unable to break down a tight and organised Millwall side that put men behind the ball and defended for a draw, and they also failed to beat Cardiff despite dominating for the last 40-odd minutes of the game with their extra man advantage. Overall, City made 17 attempts on the Bluebirds’ goal, seven of which were on target, but only managed to score once. It’s worth noting that Cardiff custodian Jak Alnwick made six saves, but three were quite ordinary.
Dovin is increasing in confidence.
Oliver Dovin’s return to goal has resulted in a boost in confidence in a position that has been an issue for the Sky Blues all season. And the Swede certainly earned credit for a stunning second-half save that prevented Ollie Tanner from scoring following a Joel Latibeaudiere error. He was also forced to rush out of his area to react to a Thomas slip in the first half, and he was undoubtedly fortunate that Ashford remained on his feet. A more experienced player might have gone down and gotten sent off for a last-man foul. But, aside from hesitating before making his decision to go out to meet the player, the custodian managed to force him wide and thereby denying a goal. It’s a positive step forward to have two clean sheets and only one goal conceded in three games. However, only consistency over time will determine whether it is good enough for the rest of the season.
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