Cup exit gives Rams important lessons for survival scrap
ROONEY’S MEN NOT SHARP ENOUGH IN FINAL THIRD TO TROUBLE SKY BLUES
A 1-0 defeat by Coventry City saw Derby County fall at the first hurdle in the FA Cup.
It was a disappointing result because a run in the competition would have been welcome, good for momentum and confidence, and possibly benefical financially in these tough times for the club.
Wayne Rooney was keen to progress to the next round, as were the players, and it was a strong 11 that started the third-round tie at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Rooney won the Cup with Manchester United and also watched Everton triumph as a fan.
“I love this competition. I loved going to it as a fan, loved playing in it, and I’ve been fortunate enough to captain Manchester United to win it,” said Rooney before Saturday’s game, adding: “My mentality is to win football games and that doesn’t change whether it is the FA Cup or the Championship.”
There is, of course, a bigger picture to Derby’s season.
They face a crucial and mammoth task of avoiding relegation from the Championship and they are making a real fist of it despite the damaging body-blow of a 21-point deduction this season that has left them bottom and with ground to make up if they are to pull off the greatest of football escapes.
There were lessons from the Coventry clash that can serve Derby well in their battle to beat the drop.
First, they have to be sharper in the final third than they were against the Sky Blues.
Their football took them into areas of real promise, the pacy and powerful Festy Ebosele finding himself in many of them, but decision-making from him and others coupled with a shortage of end product let Derby down too often.
They had 62% possession. “We need to be clinical,” said Rooney. “That’s all we were missing.
“In terms of build-up and getting into the final third it was good. Where we have to improve – we know that – is our final pass and decision-making.”
Rooney was a master at decisionmaking as a player, he usually picked the right pass or type of finish, but it can be the toughest part of attacks because it is that final pass, cross or spotting a team-mate that results in chances and goals.
If Derby can improve in this area it will boost their chances of winning games, although to be fair to them they had scored four goals in their previous two away fixtures.
There was criticism last season that the team lacked an identity. They have an identity this season in style of play.
They are not the biggest side physically, so going long from back to front is not really an option and they look to build up play in their own half and move the ball through the thirds.
A lesson from the first half at Coventry is that they have to move the ball quicker when playing this way because doing so makes it more difficult for the opposition to close down. Too many touches invites opponents to squeeze the time and space.
Build-up play takes bravery and composure on the ball and midfielders Max Bird and Liam Thompson – both young players developing and learning – never shied away from making angles and wanting the ball off the back four.
“Why the players deserve a lot of praise,” said Rooney, “is because they came in in pre-season and I told them how I wanted them to play, which is different to how they played before.
“A lot of young lads have come through the Academy and haven’t played that way before. We have worked on it and stuck to it and the improvement in all of them is massive.”
This did not go unnoticed by Coventry boss Mark Robins, who was pleased with his team and the win.
“Ultimately, we’ve done enough to see out the game,” he said. “They (Derby) have really talented players.
“I can’t get away from the fact that people look at their league position and think they’re not very good – they’ve got some outstanding players, they cause problems, they try and dominate possession, which
they did.”
The third lesson Derby need to take from what was their first defeat in five matches is that there is no reason why it should derail their push to climb out of the bottom three.
This has to be viewed as a one-off game, a cup game that takes nothing away from what they have been doing in the League.
The sole focus now is keeping hold of their Championship status. The odds remain heavily stacked against them doing so but they also remain determined to give it a right go.