Watford boss makes ‘curve ball’ admission by Coventry City’s Mark Robins
Coventry City opposition view from CoventryLive as Watford boss Tom Cleverley admits he was left scratching his head when he saw the teamsheet
Tom Cleverley admitted that he was thrown a “bit of a curve ball” by opposite number Mark Robins when Coventry City’s team was announced an hour before kick-off.
Naming three centre-halves – Joel Latibeaudiere, Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching – the Watford boss assumed the Sky Blues were going to match up his own side’s formation with a wing-backs system. But when the game got underway, it was clear that City were sticking with their usual back four, with Latibeaudiere deployed at right-back and Milan van Ewijk pushed forward to fill in for the injured Tatsuhiro Sakamoto on the right wing.
The tactic proved extremely effective as City took an early lead through Ellis Simms and created several more chances as they took the game to the home side who were struggling to contain them.
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“Coventry actually handed us a bit of a curve ball with their team selection,” revealed the 35-year-old rookie boss, speaking after the 1-1 draw. “We thought it could be a three (at the back) pre-match and it sort of knocked us the way we prepared it was like for like.
“I hold my hands up. It’s the first time I have really come up against a team selection where we thought it was something else to what it presented itself as. Normally teams have such stability in this league. We prepare our team to be consistent and so efficient in one system that it’s hard for the opposition to stop us that way.”
He added: “We thought Van Ewijk and Dasilva would be wing-backs with the three centre-halves there, and it was a surprise that he was playing higher and Latibeaudiere at right-back. It’s something that normally, from two o’clock to 2.55 my job is pretty calm on a Saturday afternoon but I was flying around trying to work out what they were doing and trying to see if there’s any history of them doing this, and Mason-Clark playing as a striker, things like that.
“I actually like the game of chess that you play. But yeah, they threw us a little bit of a curve ball and it took a while to adjust to that. But listen, that’s no excuse. There was a little bit of uncertainty and it’s the first time we have had it with an opposition team selection. Second half we played with the handbrake off, nothing to lose and controlled the ball and stuck to the game plan.”
