Former Coventry City striker Dele Adebola thinks his former club look every bit a Championship side but just need to “get the balance right” to ensure they pick up more points to stay in the division.
The 45-year-old was at St Andrew’s on Friday night to watch the Sky Blues slug out a goalless draw with another of his old clubs, Birmingham City – the first time he’s seen Mark Robins’s men in action in the flesh since last season’s FA Cup tie and replay against Blues.
“I actually thought they played really well in bits,” said Adebola, who scored 31 goals in 163 league appearances for City between 2003-08, having previously bagged the same amount in 129 at Birmingham.
“Through the middle, the range of passing and movement was fantastic and you can see what they have integrated into the style of play from last season, because I thought last season Coventry should have probably beaten Blues in that Cup game back then.
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“They look just as strong, if not probably more cultured now. They look a lot better but just haven’t got the balance right, defensively.
“I don’t want to pick him out but Dabo, who I believe has been injured, he flies forward as if he is playing 3-5-2 and Blues kept getting in behind down that side. That could be down to lack of fitness or just tactically not used to playing in a back four.
“There were mistakes all over the place. People weren’t getting close enough out wide to stop crosses and in the midfield I think was the biggest problem, just closing down. It was more the defensive side than offensively.”
He added: “There was great movement from Tyler Walker up front and the range of passes for him to get in behind.
“He must have got in behind four or five times and I have not seen that for a while because Blues’ defence sit so deeply and really limit the amount of chances that other teams get.
“But he kept getting in and he probably just needed a bit more confidence to put one or two of those chances away, so going forward I thought it looked great.
“I was really impressed by Callum O’Hare who was all over the place, looked sharp, was first to the ball and driving forward.”
For all City’s forward thinking endeavour, however, Adebola, thinks they need a few more ideas up their sleeve.
“The other thing I noticed was it seemed like Coventry ran out of ideas,” he said.
“So they started really brightly with some great passing for the first 20/25 minutes of each half and then they seemed pretty stuck on.
(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
“There’s a certain way that they play and that’s it. But to break teams down you have to mix it up a little bit and there didn’t seem to be a plan B.
“It sounds like I am being critical but what I saw was mainly good.
“There was a lot of really good stuff but there are just a couple of things they are going to have to tweak to be more competitive in this league, not competitive in the Championship because they are competitive now, but to be able to pick up more points, I would say.”
He added: “I have seen bits of them on TV and they seem pretty productive going forward but, on the other hand, when Blues did get on top there were probably too many mistakes.”
So from what he saw on Friday night does he think there are enough positives to suggest the Sky Blues have got enough about them to stay up?
“Yes,” he said.
“The obvious strength for them is in midfield. The games are coming thick and fast this month and if Mark Robins has got players in there who can slot in and there’s not much difference in quality when you have got your back-ups coming in then they are going to create chances.
“I think that was the first time they played 4-4-2 and I think they’re probably going to have to play a little bit more defensively in certain games, or sections of games, just to stop the amount of goals they are conceding.”
He added: “I’m reluctant to criticise too much. I was going to mention Dabo again. It wasn’t his fault because he normally plays in a 3-5-2.
(Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)
“Going forward he’s brilliant, gets beyond his winger and put in a brilliant cross in the second half but the point I’m trying to make is if he’s going to get forward like that they need some more cover.
“If there’s not another full-back who’s a little more solid or a defensive midfielder who can drop in between the two centre-halves to give a little bit more counter attack cover then they are going to keep conceding.
“I don’t want to sound negative because on the whole I think it’s positive.
“They play fantastic football, are great going forward but just to summarise, they need to sort things out defensively. But they do look like a Championship side, just minus a couple of tweaks.”
