Positive attacking performance with some cracking goals Nice to see Sarr score and what a hit from Peneranda! Jaamaat very good at right back the rest looked pretty comfortable albeit against a limited attack . Excellent vocal support from the Coventry fans .
4-2-3-1 apparently. If he goes back to 4-4-2/4-2-2-2 Saturday he needs shooting. Some of these players now deserve a chance, too. Some of them should have been playing before now anyway. Time to stop playing favourites Gurncia.
Ok so it was League one team but felt we really needed that. Quiet first 30 mins but looked in control and after the first goal we were pretty much in command. 3 good goals and a morale boosting win Gomes. Had virtually nothing to do and really don’t see why Dahlberg or Bachmann didn’t play. Janmaat. Very good game and possibly MOM. Should really start at Newcastle but Femenia is Spanish so he probably won’t. Folquier. For the first 30 mins he seemed to struggle but grew in to the game and looked pretty decent in the end. Not convinced though Mariappa. Not under much pressure so was fine but still not great on the ball. Probably 4th choice Kabasele. Has a mistake in him but I would still rather him than Cathcart or Dawson. Just gives us a bit of pace at the back. Fine tonight but not that much to do Quina. Gave the ball away a lot first half and looked a little nervous but grew in to the game. Needs to play more Chalobah. Similar to Quina but once he settled he began to look a bit like the player we hope he can be again. I kind of agreed with @NathWFC on Shoutbox though, I’m not sure if injuries haven’t taken their toll. Hope not Pereyra. Played in the middle and was so much more involved. Has so much ability and feel it’s wasted out wide. Had the best chance of the first half. Success. For 20 minutes it was like the same old Isaac, contributed nothing. He then set up the goal for Sarr with an excellent pass and this seemed to give him confidence. All of a sudden he looked a far better player, took people on and actually stayed on his feet. Sarr. Like everybody else it seems having written this, quiet for the first half an hour but took his goal well and this seemed to give him confidence. Started wanting the ball more, and looked pretty good. Welbeck. Looks like a player that has just returned from a long term injury but the 90 mins will help him Peneranda. Now this was what the hype was about. Great touches, control, got others involved and got an excellent goal. Need to see him more often if he’s going to play like that. Dele Bashiru. Should probably have scored but looked neat and tidy. Looks a good prospect but maybe not quite first team yet. All in all a pretty enjoyable game
Who played on what side in terms of the FB’s? Good to hear also about Penaranda. Would love to see him more involved now but I still imagine that’s hard given he didn’t start, and Gracia has his favourites. Likely won’t be seen again until the next round...
Had fun tonight and got my brother in for a £1! The official Twitter account formation was all wrong. It was 4-2-3-1 with Janmaat right and Folquier left-back. Sarr & Success either side of Welbeck with Pereyra #10. Janmaat was brilliant, sent a message to Javi and he really should start on the weekend given this performance and added motivation of playing against Newcastle. Sarr exciting, Mason handled him well for the first 20 and then Sarr got to grips with the pace of the game and began to work. Great run for the goal and good finish from that angle. Second half he was a constant threat, the pace is ridiculous as we know, he runs right to the touchline and then puts it in. Him and GD either side is really going to be a problem for teams. Quina is one heck of a player, obviously some stray passes but football comes so naturally to him. Real, real talent I think. Chalobah was even better. Just further evidence we should play with 3. Chalobah hasn't lost it, intelligence, passing range and composure all still there. MUST start on Saturday for me. A fully warm and game ready Chalobah will be such an asset to this squad. Folquier tidy and showed enough to be a third option full back, he'll have harder days so can't judge fully but very competent. Bit Nyom-y. Pereyra a joy in the middle and finally looked heads and shoulders above opponents like he should, albeit League One Coventry where you'd expect his class and education to show but was still great to see. Has to be a #10 moving forward, far more effective on the half-turn playing between the lines IMO. Welbeck worked really hard, made some good runs, touch was there, Unlucky not to score, did everything but and you could really feel the crowd willing him on to score. Didn't see much of Dele Bashiru but his first touch was virtually an open goal and he missed. Kabasele & Mariappa were fairly solid. They had some dodgy moments and we've seen them before against PL opponents so not much to say there. Penaranda clearly has talent, bags of confidence, good touches and good feet. Not sure how he's not been involved in more matchday squads but he must do in the future it's all there! Apart from the great through ball for Sarr I just can't see Success making it here, fell over so much, can't pass, poor touches, really thought he'd show it all tonight. Worryingly bad, might be a lost cause. Even more worrying is he actually tried today, he ran really hard so it's not even an attitude thing. A nice night overall really, a sign of the future. Sarr, Quina, Chalobah, Penaranda all relatively young. Then you chuck in Joao Pedro & Chucho who if they turn out to be as good as they could be, would leave us a really exciting team and bright future. Could see some of The Pozzo's better work on show tonight.
Routine win you can see why the majority of these aren't going to be 1st team regulars. Brilliant one moment, very poor the next
I don't normally post about 1st XI matches but here are a couple of observations. For the majority of the first half the team looked exactly like it was.. a cobbled together side of fringe players, new players and players who hadn't played either together or at all in a competitive match for some time. It was a struggle for them against a side with some confidence and a cohesive pattern of play with a very vocal following urging them on. Nobody was awful but neither were they excellent. Every one had at least one dodgy moment, most had quite a few - yet they were still head and shoulders above Coventry. Sarr made an absolutely gorgeous run on 42 minutes when he ghosted along the back line as if floating on air, staying onside all the time, and accelerating off and on as he anticipated a through ball from either Kabasele or Mariappa (can't remember who) which never came. If that's a part of his game the defence and midfield had better get wise to it. Top quality off the ball play. Foulquier worried me early on but as the game ticked by it became apparent he's a player who will stand up to players and not try to win cheap free-kicks to get out of a troublesome situation. By not bombing forward he gave the back line a more cohesive feel and was generally neat & tidy with the ball once he got a few hacked clearances out of his system in the first 15 minutes. He's not exciting but could be part of a tight defensive unit. Plenty to be encouraged by but also plenty to be frustrated with. We don't have bad players, just miserably inconsistent ones.
Really enjoyed that tonight. Good turn out and great to see so many Cov fans too. Noisy bunch and vocal. Can't really add much to some excellent analysis before as it's just about spot on. Sarr looks a handful, took his goal well and Janmatt has GOT to start at Newcastle. Tbh all of them (bar Success who was pretty poor bar a stunning through ball) could easily stake a place in the first team. Would Gray be able to work with Pendz? What a goal though from him. When did we last see him? FA Cup 3rd Round. He needs a first team place. Chalobah was decent too tonight and wotked his heart off. Gomes was solid enough but hardly had the ball. Mapps still has the odd mistake in him, but he is better than Kiko. Would I play the same 11 at Newcastle? Yes. Will Gracia? No. But he needs to use tonight as a stepping stone, surely some of these players have shown they can cut it. Welbeck looked neat and tidy on the ball and I am pleased he got a full run out, same with Sarr. In the third round at last. I think we could really havve a shot at this for a change. Good confidence builder and let's hope a sign of things to come.
And to be fair to Foulquier, he's someone making his debut for us, playing on the other side to what he normally does to boot. Reckon he can become a regular
Just happy to have got a win at last really, I don't care what competition it is. Should improve the mood around the place a little bit
I think Foulquier is able to play in either wing-back position, perhaps even better on the right. Should be seriously considered for PL games.
It's a nice feeling to wake up the day after a game and have won. League One side or not! I'd almost forgotten how that felt.
Agree with above other than Chalobah who I thought was very poor. I saw him at Chelsea at end of last season and he was great but last night he bottled challenges, wasted passes and I thought ambled around.
Foulquier, Quina, Janmaat and Welbeck should all start on Saturday. Impressive from all of them. Pass for Sarr aside, Success was laughably bad. I sat with two Cov fans who were astonished at how bad he was, they couldn't believe we paid so much for him.
This. Even more annoying than the narrow formation, if it were possible, is Gracia’s unjustifiable loyalty to a group of 11 first team players.
From those who went or watched, who do you think has earned a right to come straight into Saturday's starting 11? Obviously there is consideration of the level of our opposition (sorry - No offence intended @John's Useless - I like Cov and will always be grateful for you winning the 87 cup final after Spurs had destroyed our dreams in the Plumley Semi). Also, not every first team incumbent automatically deserves to be dropped. From the reports above, it looks like it would be good to see the following: Definite starters: Janmaat Sarr Gomes (jokes) Should definitely be in consideration: Quina Foulquier Welbeck (possibly not fit yet so still from bench - plus IMO Gray did enough on Sat to deserve to keep his place) Penaranda (on the bench) Chalobah (Doucoure needs benching/dropping IMO) Kabasele Pereyra - (seemingly did well, but we've seen enough bad games from him in the league to make me not really keen on him coming straight back in for Cleverley) Any other thoughts? If we get to Saturday and it's much the same 11 as vs Spammers, but perhaps with Pererya coming back in as fit and maybe Sarr for Hughes, I think we know that Javi has not learned anything.
This is the best news of the night for me. Having heard that Success got two assists, I was worried that he was going to flatter everyone to deceive. I'm now reassured that my hatred of him is still justified and I will continue to hound him out of our club, as I did with Amrabat, Ighalo, Jurado, Nyom and Paredes before him.
The only question about Holebas is our dependence on his mediocre set plays. I would say that Doucoure needs to be rested/dropped. He has been playing like he's injured. Perhaps Chalobah is a safer starter than Quima, though I'd be happy to see either of them start alongside Capoue.
I definitely want to see Janmaat and Sarr, as you say Moog. I'd probably add Quina to that list, dependent on the formation. I really do think he's a great player in the making, and the more we play him, the quicker he'll develop. He's already just about good enough to be starting IMO. Welbeck doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders yet so I'm fine with him on the bench. Gray is our most potent goal threat but as we know is a little limited sometimes in other parts of his play. Happy for him to start for now but in the long run Welbeck will probably be the starter. I wouldn't mind Kabasele coming in but every time we give him a chance, he plays well but ends up doing something catastrophic. I don't think Chalobah should come in for Doucoure just yet, but it's something to keep an eye on. And I would like to see Penaranda involved more, even if it is just as an impact player from the bench.
I like Gray starting away from home, as he used to under the snake. He's fairly quick and operates best when he has space to run into which more often the case away from the Vic. He should definitely start ahead of Welbeck for now. Also I'd like to see Janmaat ahead of Femenia but doubt the Spaniard will drop The Spaniard. I'd leave Doucs and Cleverley in the 11 but bring Quina on after 60.
