Sorry, Coventry, but the lions’ share of possession doesn’t always lead to victory
One month on, a certain Sky Blue fanbase seems incapable of accepting their playoff semi-final loss, but the numbers don’t always tell the whole story.
In the aftermath of Chelsea’s 2007 Carling Cup final victory over Arsenal in Cardiff — a game in which current Coventry boss Frank Lampard played, a mass brawl erupted and Blues skipper John Terry was KO’d for the cause — Jose Mourinho offered up a post-match analysis that summed up his myopic approach to football in the mid-2000s.
Eighteen years on, and although it wasn’t a victory that yielded any silverware, you could’ve forgiven Régis Le Bris for describing Sunderland’s thrilling playoff semi-final triumph over the Sky Blues in similar fashion. Still, the classy Frenchman instead opted to salute the efforts of his players rather than aiming any digs in the direction of Lampard and his men.
However, as we adjust to our newly-acquired status as a Premier League side, the Sky Blues and their associates have seemed incapable of accepting their loss — to the point where it should give Sunderland even more impetus to mount a survival bid next season, lest we cross paths with them again soon.
The great debate between Jack Rudoni and Jobe has been the dominant talking point of recent weeks, and it recently reached a new level as BBC Coventry and Warwickshire’s official Twitter account speculated on exactly how much Rudoni would be worth, following Jobe’s big-money switch to Borussia Dortmund.
On Saturday, it was the turn of former Black Cat Don Hutchison to pipe up, claiming that they ‘battered us at home and away’ and that it was a ‘travesty’ that they hadn’t won.
Come on, Don. Give the Lads their due, at least.
We made our luck by not panicking after conceding, and subsequently, with Dan Ballard’s incredible late winner, did we not? Was Anthony Patterson forced to dive left, right, and centre to keep us in the tie? I don’t think so, as fuzzy as my memory of the two games may be.
Yes, we enjoyed a stroke of good fortune thanks to Milan van Ewijk’s error at the CBS Arena, but you’ve still got to take advantage of any opportunities, and Eliezer Mayenda did just that when he was presented with a chance to give us a crucial lead.
The harsh reality is that football matches aren’t decided via graphs, and victories are often not gained through heat maps, field tilt, and the like.
They’re a statto’s delight and they do play a part in the analysis of a game, but as we saw at the Stadium of Light, the outcomes of playoff ties are often about who can summon up the energy to make that run, block that shot (Jobe on Haji Wright in the first leg, anyone?) or in Ballard’s case, defy the laws of physics to connect with Enzo Le Fée’s pinpoint corner.
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Their fans’ inability to let the game go and their fixation on the Rudoni/Jobe comparisons aside, Coventry are a good team whom I’d back to mount another challenge for the Championship’s top six next season.
Lampard’s done an excellent job since replacing Mark Robins but the reserves of fortitude into which Sunderland were able to tap would’ve doubtless been familiar to him, as the Chelsea sides in which he played often exhibited similar qualities under the likes of Claudio Ranieri, Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo during their unlikely run to 2011/2012 Champions League glory.
During the two gripping legs, both sides enjoyed good passages of play. We had good chances and moments where we could’ve cashed in, as did they.
They responded well to falling behind at home, and we did the same — albeit in last-gasp fashion — during the dying embers at the Stadium of Light. It was Championship knockout football at its most testing: a challenge for both the body and the min,d and ultimately, it was our turn to celebrate when all was said and done.
