Coventry City finding life difficult in the Top Flight 

Newly promoted Premier League side Coventry City was the talking point last season as they defied all expectations and ended the season, top of the league, securing Premier League promotion automatically. Head-coach Frank Lampard was lavished with massive appreciation from all quarters for helping them achieve this incredible feat as the Sky Blues marked a Premier League return after a 25-year hiatus. 

A few months later, Coventry City is now sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table with four losses in four games, having conceded the most goals and also having been knocked out of the League Cup by Aston Villa this midweek. They are starting to realise just how rough the going is in the best league in the world. 

The Sky Blues have played four league games and two League Cup ties this season with the results mentioned below – 

Arsenal 3-0 Coventry (Premier League)

Plymouth 2-4 Coventry (League Cup second round)

Coventry 0-1 Hull City (Premier League) 

Manchester City 1-0 Coventry (Premier League) 

Coventry 0-5 Brighton and Hove Albion (Premier League) 

Coventry 1-3 Aston Villa (League Cup third round) 

If we look at the above fixtures, two of their first three fixtures in the league were difficult away games to Arsenal and Man City who are the top two teams in the league. However, if we compare to fellow promoted team Hull City, they too had a difficult start having to play Manchester United and Chelsea but they produced superb results in both games and are currently unbeaten in the league with two wins and two draws. If we look at Coventry’s home fixtures in the league now, they played Hull and Brighton and could have gotten a few points from those two games but they narrowly lost to the Tigers and were decimated by the Seagulls having to play with 10-men after Taiwo Awoniyi was sent off early in the second half. In the midweek, they were also beaten at home by Aston Villa, exiting the League Cup in the third round as well. 

There’s a reasonable argument that Coventry is also suffering from personnel absence due to injuries to key players, especially their star forward Haji Wright who was their top scorer in the Championship last season. With few others injured and Ellis Simms also doubtful for the Sky Blues in the fixture against Nottingham Forest, Frank Lampard must already be mulling over the team selection. 

It’s not just been all negative, there have been positives as well. Coventry players are dominant in the air and they have also created decent chances as well. Against Man City they defended stoically and could have come away with a point if not for a great save from Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, they are not as strong in the ground duels and they need to finish their chances. 

Frank Lampard was also well supported in the transfer window as they brought in a number of players to help them in Premier League survival. Of course, settling in a new team takes time but some do hit the ground running. Unfortunately for Coventry, none of them have found their feet in the Premier League yet. 

While it’s not all doom and gloom yet as it’s only been four games and some teams can make a slow start to the season and improve as it goes on, Lampard needs to find solutions and adapt to the demands of the top flight. For the teams in the lower half of the table, physicality is a very important aspect and Coventry players need to impose themselves on every area of the pitch, get into duels and tackles, make ball recoveries and help their defensive unit. They also need to make better decisions in the final third because against top defences, they might only get a few chances to score and they will have to convert those if they want to win games. 

It’s a long season yet and if Coventry can grab a few points in their next few matches, it will inject a huge shot of confidence in them. However, for now competing in the Premier League seems incredibly challenging for them. They are yet to put any points on the board after four games and with a trip to the City Ground this weekend, they could have to wait for their first points after the international break.