Tactician likes to spring surprises
THERE were inevitable accusations at the weekend that Coventry City’s players had half an eye on their big date at Wembley after falling short in their last realistic chance to stay in the play-offs race.
Whether that was the case or not, the fact is that the league campaign takes a back seat this week as the Sky Blues give their full attention to competing against a Manchester United side experiencing a bit of turmoil.
Mounting injuries and hints of unrest on social media aside, not to mention the huge pressure on manager Erik ten Hag to avoid humiliation at the hands of a Championship club, Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final will require an almighty effort from Mark Robins’ men, first and foremost just to stay in the game, let alone produce something spectacular.
City are determined not to go there just to make up the numbers, but how exactly does a second tier club with a fraction of the budget and limited squad size go about pulling off the shock result of the weekend, if not the entire season.
One thing’s for sure: they’ll have the will of most of the nation. Neutrals love an underdog and many football fans love to hate Man United, but a wave of one-off support on the day will not alone get the job done. So what will it take to beat a top end Premier League club?
The answer is, arguably, a top coach who can come up with a master plan to overcome the odds. That man, of course, is Adi Viveash who, along with Robins, is tasked with providing the players with the tactical detail to not only cope with what United throw at them, but also give it back.
They have come up with hugely effective game plans in the past, not least against Leeds United at Elland Road earlier in the season and, more recently, against Wolves in the quarter-final when, on both occasions, the element of surprise
worked to excellent effect as City caught out the opposition with players deployed out of position.
Against Leeds, Jay Dasilva was played as a winger and Joel Latieaudiere added to the midfield in a defensive looking selection that left Daniel Farke scratching his head.
At Molineux, Wanderers’ keeper went down feigning injury to allow a pause in the game so manager Gary O’neil could call in his outfield players and readjust. He thought Coventry would be playing a back three with wing-backs when he got the teamsheet, only to discover upon kick-off that they were playing with Milan van Ewijk as a right winger in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
It will certainly be interesting to see if Coventry spring any more surprises this weekend in terms of players deployed in different positions.
But even if Robins and Viveash come up with the most brilliant of game plans, at the end of the day, they’ll be reliant on every player playing the game of their lives, to go that extra yard and have the confidence to tackle head-on the biggest test of their careers to date.
All we want as fans is a performance of which to be proud; and whatever comes after that will be a bonus. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, this developing squad can make more Sky Blues history.