- 4 hours ago
Coventry City are back in the Premier League a few years after they were worrying about their very existence. And while this is an incredible story off the pitch, what Frank Lampard has done on it has made them one of the most exciting and inventive teams in English football. Adam Clery looks at their season to show the many ways he's made them a force again.
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00:00Right, hello everybody, welcome to the Adam McCleary Football Channel and this moment, right here, this is when you realise
00:07that Coventry City were going to go up and it was all down to the incredible work of Frank Lampard.
00:15And when I say you realise, I don't mean like weird tactics nerds on the internet, I think this is
00:21the moment back in February where the fans, the players, the club as a whole genuinely started to believe it.
00:29So it is a seminal moment in the history of one of this country's most famous clubs and today I'm
00:36going to show you how they got from here, playoff heartbreak last season, to the Premier League itself.
00:43And also, why they might do pretty okay once they're in it.
00:51Now your reminder, of course, that ACFC is proudly brought to you by our investment pals at Trading212, hence Teddy
01:00and Ketty are here, so we'll hear more from that and a bit quite proud of that one.
01:03Actually, but to start, right, the thing you need to realise about Coventry City's playing style and tactical identity is
01:12that they don't have one.
01:15They are not the Championship's highest possession side, far from it in fact, so they don't dominate the game and
01:21keep teams pinned back.
01:23But neither are they the most aggressive side off the ball.
01:27They rank sort of really average for passes per defensive action, they've scored half as many goals as Ipswich from
01:34high turnovers, so they're not this monstrous, high-pressing team either.
01:38In fact, and this is sort of the most used starting XI this season, just in case you want a
01:43quick look at that, every single metric we would use to measure a team's style of play makes them look
01:51unremarkable.
01:53Sequences of 10 or more passes, so like slick, neat, interconnected moves that retain the ball for you, they are
02:015th in the division, just above Leicester.
02:03Direct speed, so how quickly do you move the ball from one end of the pitch to the other in
02:09as few passes as possible?
02:11They're only 8th in the division, they move that thing as purposefully as Watford do.
02:17And build-up attacks, so manufacturing chances against a settled defence by moving the ball around to try and crack
02:24them open, they are 3rd, which is pretty good, but they've done 50 less of them, 50, than Middlesbrough have.
02:31And yet, they have got the most shots in the division, they have the most shots on target, the highest
02:36XG by about a million miles, and 20 more goals than the next nearest team.
02:43So the stats would tell you that they're not doing anything specifically, but just by using your eyes, you can
02:49see that they are clearly doing something, and doing it very well.
02:53And what is particularly mad to me, right, is all the stuff the stats say they don't do very often,
02:59or even do very well, if you go and you use your eyes, you can find outstanding examples of them
03:05literally doing this season.
03:07They are not a direct team, but this is maybe one of the best direct goals you have seen in
03:12years.
03:13The vision of the first pass here, the execution of the cross, that doesn't just happen, that is practised, and
03:20it is executed.
03:21So many players are on the same page for this move, it looks like it's their thing.
03:26And they're not a patient passing side either, but this is an excellent, patient, intelligent passing move.
03:32This is the sort of goal you score when this is what you're trying to do every single game.
03:37That is genuinely a bit like watching Enzo Mareska's Leicester, if you remember Enzo Mareska's Leicester.
03:43And they don't usually press aggressively or frequently, but here, they beat Wrexham the other week by hounding the ball
03:49back high up the pitch, and then immediately playing into the space.
03:53Like, that is the goal of an aggressive, high-pressing side.
03:57So, what the hell?
04:00And the easiest way to explain it right here is that Coventry sort of, like, most used starting XI for
04:06you this season.
04:07It is almost always a simple 4-2-3-1, although I think Lampard's used, like, a back three three
04:15or four times a season.
04:16But where possible, it's usually this shape and usually these players.
04:19And I'd say maybe Hadji Wright is the player that most other fans will be familiar with.
04:25He's come in, he's the starting centre-forward, he's done really well for them, like, 17 or 18 league goals.
04:30But it is the sheer variety in his play and in the chances that get created for him that sort
04:37of sums this team up.
04:38He can run in behind to exploit small gaps and get shots away.
04:42He physically bullies defenders to win headers from crosses.
04:45He can poach by just being calm and well-positioned.
04:49And in this, as we said, the most important moment of their season, he just bursts in behind during a
04:57period of the game where Coventry were getting absolutely dominated by, at the time, their nearest championship rivals.
05:05He just can be whatever it is this team needs him to be.
05:10And that is pretty much how you explain Coventry.
05:13And you can find similar examples throughout pretty much this entire team, like Milan van Iwijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto on
05:21the right-hand side have both been incredible for them for the same reason.
05:26Like, the former has been as good as a deep-composed, very defensive full-back.
05:30Like, his stats are incredible for tackles, interceptions, blocks, recoveries, all the really hard work.
05:37But guess who that was? Bombing down the right-hand side to get the ball and put that cross in
05:43for their very direct goal.
05:45Eight assists this season and one of the division's leading defenders for chance creation and creativity.
05:51He has been, just like Haji Wright, whatever they needed him to be.
05:56And Sakamoto, likewise, plays as both a direct get-it-out-of-your-feet-and-cross-the-bloody-thing winger
06:02and a sort of visionary, floating creative force nearer the middle of the pitch.
06:07Again, whatever they need in whatever game they're playing.
06:11But for me, Jeff, and indeed for me, Clive, as well, it's all built around this man in the middle
06:18of the pitch.
06:18Matt Grimes, who I personally think IMHO should have been championship player of the season.
06:26His numbers from this season show you that he's had the most touches of the ball of any player in
06:31the entire division.
06:32Which, keep in mind, they're not a high-possession team, remember?
06:36So that's not just going to come as sort of standard.
06:39That tells you everything you need to know about how purposeful and impactful what he does is.
06:46What he is... No, that's right. What he does is.
06:48He is always showing for the ball. He is always trying to progress it forward.
06:52He has the most passes in the division as well.
06:55Almost the most chances created for a centre mid.
06:59And still top percentage for a number of defensive contributions.
07:04He is the very definition of Mr. Everything for Coventry City.
07:09Like, this is the exact same player putting in a blockbuster tackle to stop a promising attack
07:14as it is swinging in this cross for a pretty decent chance himself.
07:20You know the expression, get you a man who can do everything?
07:24Frank Lampard did. He's got a man who does everything.
07:27And when you build a team around a player like that,
07:30you do all of a sudden become a team that can be incredibly adaptable.
07:35Because he does let them be patient on the ball to cycle possession across the pitch to find a gap.
07:40But he also lets them be incredibly transitional.
07:44Like, he's the sort of centre midfielder who can just play you a ball into space to set you away.
07:48But then still go smashing in to break up a counter-attack if you lose it.
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09:49And that's, like, the secret to Coventry's success.
09:52Like, the entire squad is made up of players who maybe don't, like, excel at one specific thing,
09:58but have so many different strings to their bow.
10:00Frank Lampard can set them up on a game-to-game basis in a way that will really, really suit
10:07them.
10:07And that is where Lampard deserves an enormous amount of credit for what has happened to you this season.
10:13Because identifying that game-to-game is one thing, but being able to coach that level of flexibility into a
10:18squad
10:19and even adapt it mid-game is something I don't think an awful lot of managers would have been able
10:26to do.
10:27And it's the reason why we started the video with this exact moment.
10:30Because, like I said before, they are getting dominated in this game.
10:35Middlesbrough have caught them in the league.
10:37Coventry are on the worst run of form they had all season.
10:40And this, just look at it here, this is how the second half goes.
10:44Borough absolutely battered them.
10:46Coventry seemingly cannot outplay them.
10:49They cannot get the ball down.
10:50They cannot work it to the third.
10:52The plan they had going into this game is not working.
10:55So what they do in this moment is they adapt.
10:59They start to sit really deep.
11:00They start to invite Middlesbrough as far up the pitch as they can.
11:03And then they just smash it long up the middle.
11:07They wind up just going route one because that was the only thing they could conceivably do.
11:13And Hadji Wright in that moment just becomes this quick, strong, battling centre-forward
11:18who gets in behind and finishes the chance.
11:21And you cannot understate what a big moment that was
11:24because Coventry had not won in three games leading up to it.
11:28It was a genuine wobble.
11:30Middlesbrough were flying.
11:31And yet, they found a way to win a game they didn't play well in
11:36and then went on to win 10 of the next 14.
11:40And now, they've won the league by about, like, 12 points.
11:43They've gone and been promoted by, currently, 22.
11:46They could have stopped playing football right after they beat Stoke in February
11:52and still be in the playoffs right now.
11:55And that is why, incidentally, I think next season, back in the Premier League,
11:59might not automatically be terribly painful for them.
12:05Because what you see in moments like this
12:07is a manager who clearly has no pride and no ego over his style of play.
12:13If Frank Lampard was obsessed with presenting a philosophy
12:16or something that makes him look good,
12:18they would have just tried to play out from the back here.
12:21But that is not what he does.
12:23He always sets them up in a way that he feels will maximise performance.
12:28And the thing is, when you look at the Premier League table right now,
12:30and yes, Newcastle United fan about to use Sunderland as a shining example,
12:35please strap in.
12:37The main thing Reggie Labrie has done this season
12:39has moved his team immediately away from the lightweight,
12:43transitional, ball-carrying side they were in the championship.
12:47They lost Joe Bellingham last summer,
12:50who was so central to that up-and-down style of play,
12:52and instead of just replacing him,
12:54they went and instead built a squad
12:57who they felt could compete physically in the Premier League.
13:01The club spent the money they got from moving into the Premier League
13:03rather than just holding on to it in case they got relegated.
13:07The manager was not precious about how his team was going to play football.
13:11They just maximised their chances of staying in the division,
13:14and boy howdy have they stayed in the division.
13:18And I would say, honestly, right now,
13:21Coventry already have the bones of a team
13:23that could physically compete in the Premier League,
13:26and of course a manager who will have no problem
13:29with changing the style of play to fit that.
13:32They would just have to go and buy well to add to it,
13:36which, that's on them.
13:38So yes, for everyone who's been asking
13:40how in the hell have Coventry been so good this season,
13:43that is how in the hell they have been so good.
13:48Now before we go, a few quick points of order.
13:50As usual, thank you to Trading212, our investment pals.
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14:12And finally, I'm going to keep banging this drum.
14:15I've got like three weeks now
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14:48That's the end of the video.
14:50Please subscribe to the channel.
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14:56And I'll see you soon.
14:58Going to get Archie to do one this week, I think.
15:01You've missed him.
15:02Right, okay, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye.
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