SlowerThanPlatt
Well-Known Member
Cov kids can end sorry statistic
Mike Holden
17th August 2015
By now, everybody must be aware of the stat about Coventry not finishing in the top six of any division for 45 years. If you’re not, don’t worry. It’s not likely to be relevant for much longer. Under Tony Mowbray, the Sky Blues already look like certainties to break that sequence in League One this season.
On Saturday, they passed a thorough examination of their cojones at Millwall. At least, that’s what it was meant to be. In reality, it was 20 minutes of rough and tumble before Coventry slipped through the gears and blew the Lions into oblivion with a devastating show of technical brilliance from a forward three all younger than the National Lottery.
Eighteen-year-old Adam Armstrong did the most damage to the scoreline. The Newcastle loanee grabbed the opening-day headlines with both goals in a 2-0 win over Wigan and he followed up with another brace here, the first an exquisite turn and lob from 35 yards. It was a sensational strike that Mowbray later put down to quick thinking, Millwall keeper David Forde having raced out of his goal moments earlier to sweep up Coventry’s first attack.
Forde was given pelters by the New Den faithful and, sure, you could argue his positioning was poor. But that’s rather missing the point. The Republic of Ireland international keeper has probably taken up positions no worse a thousand times before and never been punished. Armstrong’s eye for goal is deadly and his shots throughout this game were away as quick as most observers could process his options.
But the Geordie teenager wasn’t the star of the show. That accolade, on this occasion, belonged – marginally – to Ruben Lameiras. The 20-year-old Portuguese winger, signed from Tottenham in the summer, hugged the right-hand touchline for most of the game, only coming inside when possession was guaranteed, which was an effective tactic in keeping the Lions’ back four stretched.
Once in possession, Lameiras was mesmerising, his wand of a left foot and low centre of gravity enabling him to slalom past the unfortunate Mark Beevers on a couple of lip-pursing occasions. However, when he wasn’t driving diagonally towards the 18-yard box, he was arguably causing more damage, moving horizontally to exchange passes with either Armstrong or James Maddison. Passes that mattered.
Lameiras looks lightweight. He certainty doesn’t appear to be the sort of player you’d trust in an away game at Millwall, and you wonder whether that’s why the sum total of his professional experience before his move to the Ricoh was 11 appearances (seven of them as a substitute) in a three-month loan spell with Swedish club Atvidaberg. Credit must go to Mowbray for looking beyond the obvious and putting his faith in this particular gem.
Indeed, given Mowbray’s track record for bringing the best out of young talent with his well-established brand of instinctive football, one imagines Premier League clubs will be returning his calls much sooner than those from other League One bosses when it comes to enquiries for their brightest academy prospects. There was a late cameo for Norwich youngster Jacob Murphy here, who impressed on loan at Colchester last term, and he might be another one to keep an eye on.
But this wasn’t a case of these kids being toughened up, rather a taster for them of playing their own game in a more edgy environment. In those opening 20 minutes, Millwall were everything Neil Harris wanted them to be – intimidating, aggressive and sometimes a bit naughty – yet there was no counter-aggression from Coventry, no standing up to it. They just steered clear as best they could and bravery came in the form of continually wanting the ball.
It was an approach typified best by Maddison, the primary target for most of the Millwall ‘afters’ – although it’s unclear whether his treatment was premeditated or simply a reaction to the audacity of him turning up sporting an Alice band. Either way, the 18-year-old playmaker did a good impression of someone unperturbed by the attention of Tony Craig & Co, his main concern being where the next pocket of space would be.
Maddison made his breakthrough last season and operates as a classic No.10 in Mowbray’s favoured 4-2-3-1. And he’s the jewel in the crown for the Sky Blue Army because he’s theirs, a Coventry boy developed by the club’s own youth system. He might not have the elite-club education that Armstrong and Lameiras can boast but in no way should he be considered inferior.
In fact, you might argue that Maddison is the one player on whom the cohesion depends most. Without him, Lameiras and Armstrong still function but presumably not as well. Between the three of them, though, the upshot here was a masterclass of interchange football. The decision-making, picking of passes and execution were straight out of the top drawer.
On a par with Armstrong’s opening goal for sheer quality were the assists that carved out Coventry’s second and third goals in a five-minute purple patch midway through that opening period. First Maddison slipped in Lameiras with a ball that turned Beevers inside-out, then Lameiras waited and waited before playing Armstrong clean through at the precise moment when the striker was both onside and on his toes.
In essence, it was like watching a game between two works teams, one where the visiting side saw no shame in bringing along a few ringers. This wasn’t League One football. It was League One defenders chasing the shadows of players with Premier League destinies. Armstrong, Lameiras and Maddison were irresistible.
Mike Holden
17th August 2015
By now, everybody must be aware of the stat about Coventry not finishing in the top six of any division for 45 years. If you’re not, don’t worry. It’s not likely to be relevant for much longer. Under Tony Mowbray, the Sky Blues already look like certainties to break that sequence in League One this season.
On Saturday, they passed a thorough examination of their cojones at Millwall. At least, that’s what it was meant to be. In reality, it was 20 minutes of rough and tumble before Coventry slipped through the gears and blew the Lions into oblivion with a devastating show of technical brilliance from a forward three all younger than the National Lottery.
Eighteen-year-old Adam Armstrong did the most damage to the scoreline. The Newcastle loanee grabbed the opening-day headlines with both goals in a 2-0 win over Wigan and he followed up with another brace here, the first an exquisite turn and lob from 35 yards. It was a sensational strike that Mowbray later put down to quick thinking, Millwall keeper David Forde having raced out of his goal moments earlier to sweep up Coventry’s first attack.
Forde was given pelters by the New Den faithful and, sure, you could argue his positioning was poor. But that’s rather missing the point. The Republic of Ireland international keeper has probably taken up positions no worse a thousand times before and never been punished. Armstrong’s eye for goal is deadly and his shots throughout this game were away as quick as most observers could process his options.
But the Geordie teenager wasn’t the star of the show. That accolade, on this occasion, belonged – marginally – to Ruben Lameiras. The 20-year-old Portuguese winger, signed from Tottenham in the summer, hugged the right-hand touchline for most of the game, only coming inside when possession was guaranteed, which was an effective tactic in keeping the Lions’ back four stretched.
Once in possession, Lameiras was mesmerising, his wand of a left foot and low centre of gravity enabling him to slalom past the unfortunate Mark Beevers on a couple of lip-pursing occasions. However, when he wasn’t driving diagonally towards the 18-yard box, he was arguably causing more damage, moving horizontally to exchange passes with either Armstrong or James Maddison. Passes that mattered.
Lameiras looks lightweight. He certainty doesn’t appear to be the sort of player you’d trust in an away game at Millwall, and you wonder whether that’s why the sum total of his professional experience before his move to the Ricoh was 11 appearances (seven of them as a substitute) in a three-month loan spell with Swedish club Atvidaberg. Credit must go to Mowbray for looking beyond the obvious and putting his faith in this particular gem.
Indeed, given Mowbray’s track record for bringing the best out of young talent with his well-established brand of instinctive football, one imagines Premier League clubs will be returning his calls much sooner than those from other League One bosses when it comes to enquiries for their brightest academy prospects. There was a late cameo for Norwich youngster Jacob Murphy here, who impressed on loan at Colchester last term, and he might be another one to keep an eye on.
But this wasn’t a case of these kids being toughened up, rather a taster for them of playing their own game in a more edgy environment. In those opening 20 minutes, Millwall were everything Neil Harris wanted them to be – intimidating, aggressive and sometimes a bit naughty – yet there was no counter-aggression from Coventry, no standing up to it. They just steered clear as best they could and bravery came in the form of continually wanting the ball.
It was an approach typified best by Maddison, the primary target for most of the Millwall ‘afters’ – although it’s unclear whether his treatment was premeditated or simply a reaction to the audacity of him turning up sporting an Alice band. Either way, the 18-year-old playmaker did a good impression of someone unperturbed by the attention of Tony Craig & Co, his main concern being where the next pocket of space would be.
Maddison made his breakthrough last season and operates as a classic No.10 in Mowbray’s favoured 4-2-3-1. And he’s the jewel in the crown for the Sky Blue Army because he’s theirs, a Coventry boy developed by the club’s own youth system. He might not have the elite-club education that Armstrong and Lameiras can boast but in no way should he be considered inferior.
In fact, you might argue that Maddison is the one player on whom the cohesion depends most. Without him, Lameiras and Armstrong still function but presumably not as well. Between the three of them, though, the upshot here was a masterclass of interchange football. The decision-making, picking of passes and execution were straight out of the top drawer.
On a par with Armstrong’s opening goal for sheer quality were the assists that carved out Coventry’s second and third goals in a five-minute purple patch midway through that opening period. First Maddison slipped in Lameiras with a ball that turned Beevers inside-out, then Lameiras waited and waited before playing Armstrong clean through at the precise moment when the striker was both onside and on his toes.
In essence, it was like watching a game between two works teams, one where the visiting side saw no shame in bringing along a few ringers. This wasn’t League One football. It was League One defenders chasing the shadows of players with Premier League destinies. Armstrong, Lameiras and Maddison were irresistible.
