The big January transfer window conundrum facing new Coventry City boss
Coventry City match analysis from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner looks at some of the big talking points from Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat at Turf Moor
Coventry City came up short in a pretty dire game at Burnley – the side with the meanest defence in the division by a long way, having only conceded six league goals all season.
No surprise then that the Sky Blues didn’t score at Turf Moor, although Ephron Mason-Clark was denied a goal of the season contender by a marginal off-side decision that might well have earned City a point to extend Rhys Carr’s unbeaten interim run.
Two poorly defended goals, however, saw the Clarets prosper and Coventry return home empty-handed as uncertainty remains around the temporary boss’s own position and the man yet to be unveiled to take the club forward. Here we look at some of the big talking points and things learned from Tuesday night’s 2-0 Championship defeat.
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Game plan out the window
City’s game plan was pretty clear, to set up defensively to keep things tight and attempt to get to half-time without conceding. And to be fair to the players, they threw themselves to block and clear most things that came their way in a largely backs to the wall first half. However, for all of Burnley’s possession, which reached 70 percent midway through the opening 45, the home side only managed five attempts with not a single shot on target. So far so good, or dull, depending on your perspective of the game, which was an awful half of football.
Pity then that City were cut open all too easily just two minutes into the restart by a four-pass move that started and ended with the unmarked Sarmiento who was given the freedom of the box to hit his finish.
Flag denies goal of season contender
The Sky Blues made more of a fist of things after that, with a change in formation helping Sakamoto come to life in his more natural wide position while Ephron Mason-Clark provided more of a threat on the left when he was one of three changes around the hour mark. And had the winger’s acrobatic overhead kick not been ruled out for a marginal off-side as the pair combined with almost ten minutes to go, City might, just might have got a draw. Disappointingly, however, the ball was up the other end a minute later when CJ Egan-Riley chipped Brad Collins and watched as at least three white City shirts failed to deal with the ball as it dropped in over the line.
Questions were once again asked by many fans about the goalkeeper’s part in the second goal. To be fair to Collins, he was exposed by poor marking for the first. But it was his positioning at his near post and inability to back pedal quickly enough that drew criticism from some quarters for the second goal. The No.1 spot has been an issue all season, with City now on their third keeper of the campaign – Collins having got back in initially due to injuries to Ben Wilson and Oliver Dovin. It will certainly be an early conundrum for the new head coach to sort out, along with tightening up the defence and the goals against column, and one wonders whether the January window might be a priority to get an experienced loan man in goal.
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