How to Beat… Coventry City

Featured this week is Mark Robins’ Coventry City, one of English football’s sleeping giants.

Running out 4–1 victors over table-topping Wycombe Wanderers, Coventry City really did show why they are being touted as promotion candidates.

The Sky Blues lined up with a virtually full-strength side with a couple of exceptions in attack.

1.Marosi — GK

4. Rose — CB

5. McFadezean — CB

15. Hyam — CB

23. Dabo — RWB

20. Walsh — CM

6. Kelly — CM

31. McCallum — LWB

25. Westbrooke — CM

26. Shipley — CF/AM

24. Godden — CF

Formation/Shape

· 3–5–2 that can turn into a 5–4–1 when defending

· Emphasis on playing out from the back and pushing the full backs as high as possible. Full backs are encouraged to get up to the halfway line when the GK takes a goal kick.

· The centre backs and centre midfielders are encouraged to get on the ball as quickly as possible, all look comfortable in possession. When on the ball, they work their way up the pitch. Either full back often has a lot of space as they look to saturate one side of the pitch and then quickly move the ball to the other side, often with a long diagonal pass. Any of the centre midfielders have the ability to do this.

· The two up top, Shipley and Godden, are always on the move. Shipley is the one that tends to drop deep or out wide to get on the ball. Godden is always looking to run off the shoulders of the opposition defence either through the middle, or more commonly, into the channels.

Strengths

· Both full backs have excellent energy and pace. They can get up and down the pitch with ease and offer a huge threat in the final third with their directness and crossing ability. You can see why McCallum has been linked with Liverpool and that Dabo was previously at Chelsea. Both excellent young talents and very dangerous.

· The three central midfielders are good on the ball, have great movement and rotate effectively.

· Shipley is the main threat. A constant thorn in the opposition’s side. Whilst being very left footed, his movement and ability on the ball makes him very dangerous. An excellent flick led to an assist for Godden’s third goal of the game.

· Despite scoring his first goal in 3 months, it looks as though he is back to his old self. Excellent movement, non-stop running and clinical finishing led to him bagging a hattrick.

· Did well to limit the opposition to a small number of set pieces.

Weaknesses

· The centre backs struggled in the air versus the strength of Akinfenwa. This showed when he equalised, easily brushing off one of them to slot past Marosi. Though they did well to win the second ball most of the time, limiting the impact.

· The three centre backs would be susceptible to real pace in an opposition attack. Although, they do have the option of going to a 4 and utilising the pace of the full backs.

· Overall, the team could struggle against a much more physical outfit. While good on the ball, they aren’t the most physical of sides. This could be a weakness that other sides could exploit.

How to Beat

A team with a high physical presence could get some joy against this Coventry side.

You must be wary of their full backs, try to pin them back if possible.

The centre backs are the teams weakness, pace could really trouble them. Set pieces could also be an area of success.

Good luck beating Coventry City, folks.

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