Coventry City have it all to do at the Stadium of Light after Regis Le Bris’ gameplan secured Sunderland a 2-1 victory at the CBS Arena in the first leg of the play-offs.
Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda secured the goals to get Sunderland and Regis Le Bris’ Championship play-off campaign underway in the Midlands, despite entering them with a recent run of terrible form to end the season for Sunderland.
Troy Deeney already outlined five reasons why Coventry could go all the way this year, and he also explained that Sunderland are underdogs due to poor recent form heading into the first game but Sunderland are the favourites now with home advantage.
Regis Le Bris was dividing Sunderland fans heading into the semi-finals in poor form. However, that would all be forgotten if the Black Cats win the play-offs, which a number of neutral fans are backing Sunderland to do.
Frank Lampard called for calm and to not look too far ahead of themselves but he is looking to end Coventry’s Wembley curse of recent seasons. He was tactically outdone by Le Bris’ side and the ‘astoundingly good’ Dan Ballard in the first game, though.
EFL expert Ali Maxwell praises Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland gameplan vs Coventry
Le Bris had a plan for Sunderland heading into the game down in Coventry and his side enacted it perfectly after the Sunderland boss promised that a repeat of the 3-0 in March would not happen again.
His decisions from a tactical point of view have been praised by EFL expert Ali Maxwell of the Not The Top 20 podcast, having learnt from the recent fixtures against the Sky Blues.
He said: “The 4-4-2 shape was the right way to go. I think Sunderland — in a weird way — might have benefitted from losing 3-0 at the CBS a few months ago, and finding out what Coventry can do
“In particular, Haji Wright streaking in behind — what they can do with a bit of space to play into. So, they didn’t allow any of that in this game; it was definitely the correct game plan.
“It also takes a few things to happen for the gameplan to look like a genius game plan rather than, let’s say, an unambitious gameplan. I think the narrative is set a little bit by the result.
“Had Sunderland lost 1-0 or drawn 0-0, had Daniel Ballard not been an absolute colossus, had van Ewijk not given the ball away for Sunderland’s winning goal — there might have been some negativity around Sunderland’s approach.
“As it is, we can say that it’s absolutely the right approach. What we saw from Sunderland defensively is what I will remember from this game; particularly Ballard, but it would be wrong to just focus in on him.
“Eventually, they got it right on the break. I actually thought, in the first half, they didn’t have loads of counter-attacking opportunities. And the ones that they did have, they didn’t really execute as you would want.
“I think there was an interesting tactical point that I saw, I think it was probably @louorns on Twitter, just talking about Coventry the way that they format the midfield in their build-up and attacking play.
“With [Matt] Grimes always dropping into the back three and [Jack] Rudoni always forward to play in front of the ball. It’s that, actually, in a game of cat and mouse like this, when one of the teams is clearly playing for counter-attacking opportunities and inviting you in to hit you on the break, it did provide problems for Coventry.
“When they lost it, particularly for that first goal, when Bobby Thomas plays into a trap. Thomas gallops forward, and Sunderland are licking their lips at that point.
“Because they know if they can mark the players in front of him, if they can force him into a risky pass — which is what happened, and if they win the ball back and he’s out of position, then suddenly they’re in big trouble.
“And they didn’t have the midfield bodies to cope with those second balls. So, I thought that was an interesting tactical point which played out in that first goal. But that was it, for me. It was Sunderland setting traps. It was Coventry falling into those traps for both goals.”
Ali Maxwell previews Sunderland vs Coventry City in play-off second leg
Sunderland have endured heartbreak at Wembley before and perhaps many were fearing the worst heading into Friday, but it was a far cry from when Haji Wright scored a hat-trick the last time they met.
Now, they have decisions to make on the gameplan back on Wearside. On the return game, Maxwell added: “From a tactical point of view, this is absolutely fascinating.
“If you are Regis Le Bris getting a tonne of credit, understandably, for his game plan — what do you do with a game state heading back home that you probably didn’t expect?
“Sunderland would’ve expected to go back home needing to win the game, probably. And playing as they would be most comfortable to play in front of their home fans in order to do so. Where you would expect, in front of their own fans, for them to do so.
“And for Coventry to be a little less confident because their away form isn’t so good. Instead, Sunderland have something to defend. So, do you take the same approach? Go for the 4-4-2, deep block, packed out of possession, and hit Coventry on the counter-attack knowing that they are going to be committing men forward.
“It sounds great. And it sounds — in a vacuum — like the right way to go. However, will 49,000 Sunderland fans — absolutely jacked up Sunderland fans going barmy — will they be able to handle the nerves of that gameplan.
“It’s one thing celebrating every block and header and clearance from the away end when you can see why the manager has gone for that. I think it’s a little bit harder when you’re expecting your team to be a little more dominant at home.
“I don’t think this tie is over at all. Clearly, the first goal is going to be absolutely crucial. But I do think, for Le Bris, there is a fascinating tactical decision to make. As with all tactical decisions that managers make in play-off scenarios, it’ll live and die by the result.
“And we will pretty much retrospectively fit our opinion on whether he was right or wrong to do whatever he chooses based on whether they get through to the final.”
