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Thoughts from a Coventry fan - a really nice read

S

skyfarer

Radek Cerny
I tend to be a bit self-critical as a fan in focusing on what I think our players should improve on, rather than their good points. So here's a view from a Coventry fan at the game that I found really enjoyable to read, being so complimentary to us :)

Some quotes:

What caught us most by surprise however was just how better they were than Arsenal. The obvious comparison we all made beforehand was between these two north London clubs, and even during the game we had a go at undermining Spurs’ dominance by reference the 6-1 pounding we’d taken at the Emirates. It got a few laughs, but that was little more than pantomime – and we knew it.

Against Arsenal, we were poor while they were clinical. The pace of the game was frantic too, and players like Walcott and Chamberlain showed they’re very much superior to anything we’re used to. But as a team, the gulf wasn’t quite so obvious. Yes, they scored six, but the goals came through our own lack of self-belief. As with most teams at that level, they took advantage and made us look silly. But it took them 45 minutes to really assert themselves and the final scoreline was wholly avoidable.

Things were much different on Saturday. Spurs hit us like a freight train from the kick-off. We made a sequence of three passes just twice in the opening 7 or 8 minutes, and our touch showed every sign of a team that was desperately struggling to come to terms with the speed of game with which Tottenham were enforcing.

Of course there was an element of illusion about it, so even when our players were given time on the ball, they were so entranced by Tottenham’s speed, there was often panic when in reality, no panic was there.

....

What was even more crucial was being up against a team on top of its game rather than an Arsenal side who were making plenty of mistakes, but were gifted goals. All I took from that match was how completely avoidable the hammering was.

This saw us approach an extremely tough test, and exposed us to a range of in-game scenarios against some of the best around. Sure, Spurs slowed the pace down a little in the second half, but their shape and concentration remained the same. We gradually grew more and more into things and still needed to be fully attentive just to ensure it didn’t go beyond 3-0.
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Our pressing game as a team is starting to gain rhythm, and to last throughout the entire match. We're not quite lethally slicing teams apart yet - for that, I think we need to circulate the ball much faster and more imaginatively in attack (Holtby will help) - but we are beginning to press with the sort of grim, determined organization that'll allow us to exert control in midfield, create and exploit mistakes, and get those all-important 1-0s, 2-0s etc.

The test will come against the better teams in this league who also press very well and have the sort of technical quality to pass around us when under pressure. I'm really excited for the Man Utd game :p
 
skyfarer said:
I tend to be a bit self-critical as a fan in focusing on what I think our players should improve on, rather than their good points. So here's a view from a Coventry fan at the game that I found really enjoyable to read, being so complimentary to us :)

Some quotes:



Our pressing game as a team is starting to gain rhythm, and to last throughout the entire match. We're not quite lethally slicing teams apart yet - for that, I think we need to circulate the ball much faster and more imaginatively in attack (Holtby will help) - but we are beginning to press with the sort of grim, determined organization that'll allow us to exert control in midfield, create and exploit mistakes, and get those all-important 1-0s, 2-0s etc.

The test will come against the better teams in this league who also press very well and have the sort of technical quality to pass around us when under pressure. I'm really excited for the Man Utd game :p
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Agreed.

It was our pressing of the ball and how quickly we won it back in good areas that was most noticeable about Saturday's performance - first half, at least. It was very impressive.

But, as you say, it might not be quite so effective against a technically superior team. And the longer it takes us to win the ball back when we're pressing at such a high tempo, the quicker our players will tire.

The Utd game will, indeed, be the litmus test as to how much of AVB's philosophy the players have taken on board and honed.
 
Weve already passed a test by beating them this season. We will never comfortably beat them, any win will be hard fought. What I do think with AVB is that we wont fear anyone.
 
we are begining to see the benefit of AVB's coaching, we are much more of a team unit and working for each other. We used to be a team of individuals which made us look good when it all worked but we are a much more structured team and will be more consistent.
 
Wriggly said:
Weve already passed a test by beating them this season. We will never comfortably beat them, any win will be hard fought. What I do think with AVB is that we wont fear anyone.
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In recent years we've had several games against United at home where I've thought we looked the better team. Even though we beat them away this season I didn't think we looked the better team, we were lucky and at times completely outplayed. I thought we fell apart a bit defensively at times. That was the first game against a big team under AVB if I remember correctly and United do that to teams so I wasn't surprised or concerned.

A properly good performance against United at home where we look the better team and defend properly as a unit throughout most of the game would be a great fudging sign.
 
Am I the only one that hasn't really noticed that much pressing (particularly at home)

Perhaps I've not been watching properly
 
Quite honestly I don't get Manure, so I won't ever use them as a litmus test.

- We have outplayed them several years going back to MJ and still lost
- Generally they get results that are above what they deserve in terms of style/dominance/possession (they have been papering over cracks for quite a while, just with Rooney/RVP/Hernandez they have a lot of firepower)

But to the original poster, no doubt we play more of a system than in the past, hopefully people will realize it will still go wrong every now and then, but it's improving.
 
southstand1882 said:
Am I the only one that hasn't really noticed that much pressing (particularly at home)

Perhaps I've not been watching properly
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Up until the Swansea game i would have agreed - but since then i have noticed it, dunno whether thats because it has been stepped up a notch or if i weren't as tinkled as usual . . .

Have noticed it away pretty much all season though tbf - although, agian, more so in recent weeks
 
Wriggly said:
Weve already passed a test by beating them this season. We will never comfortably beat them, any win will be hard fought. What I do think with AVB is that we wont fear anyone.
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True, we beat Utd at OT. But it was like the Alamo in the second half. Under siege. We held out by parking the bus.

But the team has moved on since then. The players have taken on board much of AVB's philosophy - if not anything like all of it yet. We are dominating possession in pretty much every game.

But many of our recent performances have been against weaker opposition who are easily forced into losing possession. That's why the Utd game will be a proper litmus test. Can we press them effectively and then keep possession ourselves? Or is our pressing game not yet sufficiently honed to force a technically gifted team into conceding possession quickly enough? If it isn't, then we will burn out long before the end of the game and, if we have anything to hold on to by that point, we will have to produce more backs to the wall heroics.
 
billyiddo said:
Up until the Swansea game i would have agreed - but since then i have noticed it, dunno whether thats because it has been stepped up a notch or if i weren't as tinkled as usual . . .

Have noticed it away pretty much all season though tbf - although, agian, more so in recent weeks
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Agreed.

It is really striking now just how aggressively we press the ball and how quickly we win it back.
 
We're improving game by game in many areas. A one off match against another top side can't be used as a gauge, but our consistency against the lesser teams can.
 
Jordinho said:
We're improving game by game in many areas. A one off match against another top side can't be used as a gauge, but our consistency against the lesser teams can.
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Of course a one off match against a top side can be used as a gauge.

Consistency against weaker teams is one gauge. A dominant performance against a top team would be another gauge altogether. You can learn equally from both.
 
jimmyb said:
Of course a one off match against a top side can be used as a gauge.

Consistency against weaker teams is one gauge. A dominant performance against a top team would be another gauge altogether. You can learn equally from both.
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One game does not really tell us much of use about the team compared to 4 months ago. Anything can happen.
 
Jordinho said:
One game does not really tell us much of use about the team compared to 4 months ago. Anything can happen.
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One result wouldn't tell us anything about how far down the road to fully integrating AVB's ideas the team is.

But the manner of that result could tell us a lot.
 
jimmyb said:
Of course a one off match against a top side can be used as a gauge.

Consistency against weaker teams is one gauge. A dominant performance against a top team would be another gauge altogether. You can learn equally from both.
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I disagree.

Sometimes strange results happen. If we go and beat united 3-0 at home does it mean we are a better team then them? Or if they come and beat us 6-0 does it means we are an extremely poor team?


With only one game the relevance is far less then a consistent set of performances.


In one game there is the chance of something exceptional happening, however in a set of performances you can see a far greater picture.
 
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