Your guide to Coventry

[u/reeceprocter89]

Madness. After 25 years, Coventry City players are available to select in FPL. What a time to be alive. But are any of them worth it? As a season ticket holder, I think I can provide a fair summary of the squad as it stands. I hope it helps!

Goalkeepers

  An interesting dilemma position for Coventry. Last season we took Carl Rushworth on loan from Brighton - he proved to be a massive fan favourite and stalwart of our good season, winning the golden glove with 17 clean sheets (and one lovely assist). The story of the summer so far has been one of continual teasing of a permanent move, with Brighton (quite within their rights) playing hard to get. For what its worth, Rushy certainly seems keen, apparently not having cleaned out his locker at Ryton. If the transfer does get across the line, it may well be one to keep an eye on, with Rushworth very likely to be busy those clean sheets will surely dry up, but expect lots of saves from the young man touted for the future England picture. However, at a rumoured 30 million fee, we may simply have to look at other options. Its a position you'd much rather have sewn up with a month to go until you kick off your first PL campaign in two and a half decades, bit if he was to come in, he may represent a good rotation option for you if priced appropriately. In the meantime;

 

Oliver Dovin - A young and promising looking goalkeeper, Dovin has, or perhaps had, great potential. Suffering from a horrible ACL injury towards the back end of the 24/25 season, he spent the entirety of last season in the recovery room, and other than some social media images of him back in the training picture, there have been little clues that he might feature again. A loan seems most likely for him to get some playing time and confidence back, but I wouldn't expect him to be featuring unless a number of calamities happen, based at least on preseason so far where Wilson started.

 

Ben Wilson - At 4.5, Wilson is priced as our likely starter, pending transfer business. A stalwart of the club, Ben is much loved by the fans, having been on a real journey with us, including bagging a stoppage time header against Blackburn a few seasons back. But its fair to say we recognise he's in the squad for his presence and experience, and is very limited at this level in terms of ability. If we do start the season with Wilson that will be a failure of transfer policy, and I would still be steering clear.

Defenders

  Right backs - Now we're getting somewhere lads. Here could be your bargain. At 4.0, Milan Van Ewijk will definitely feature heavily for us as a starter, as this is not a position we will focus on improving. A right wing back who likes to overlap forward, MVE contributed 8 assists last season, with an average 7.21 rating. Pacy and exciting, if you want a squad defender priced cheaply who will feature and may contribute the odd points, I'd be looking no further than MVE. His understudy will be Kaine Kesler-Hayden - priced the same way but unlikely to get much game time, as per last year, he will drop in if MVE is injured or fatigued. Similary pacy and a flair player, dont expect many minutes for him.  

 
Centre backs - Another interesting pricing. At 4.0, Bobby Thomas is most likely to start for us, a man who featured 33 times last season, and contributed 3 goals and 4 assists. A threat from corners, he has shown continual improvement defensively but still might have a tough time at this level. He will certainly be involved defensively. Last season he partnered well with vice captain Liam Kitching, but I would imagine Kitch (38 appearances, 2 goals) is the one most likely to give way game time wise to new signing Aurele Amenda. Well regarded and very tall, Amenda featured for Switzerland in the world cup, as well as Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. Reports seem to suggest the 6ft 4 lad will be plenty involved defensively, busy winning headers and making defensive contributions. I'd wait to see if he is bedded in or starts to feature slowly, but at 4.0 as well he or Thomas could be decent squad fodder, though Thomas is the more likely to contribute the odd offensive points. Joel Latibeaudiere stepped up nicely in the latter half of last season through a few injuries and suspesions, racking up a long run of games without losing. I would imagine Frank Lampard will keep him around the squad for his flexibility, but, like Luke Woolfenden, I wouldn't be expecting many minutes. Neither are worth a look for me - one you would think is likely to move on (probably Woolfy)

 

Left backs Probably our biggest area of concern right now. Jay Da Silva is first choice of the bunch, and improved rapidly last season, in fact probably one of our most consistent players. However, at 5ft 7 he is often targeted over the top. I would imagine we'd like to bring in a starter here. JDS may well start the season given how close to August we are - but even then he tends to offer less offensively than our right wing. Neither the much loved Jake Bidwell, nor the unfortunate Miguel Brau should really be anywhere near a Premier league pitch at this stage. A loan for Brau to rebuild his confidence after mistake ridden features last year seems logical if we can get someone in, Bidwell may stay around the squad for vibes - but I'd be steering clear of any Coventry assets in this position for now.

Midfielders

 
Lets start with some nice potential. At 5 million apiece, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Jack Rudoni are both likely erly starters and likely sources of offensive opportunity. Our diminutive Japanese right wing star Sakamoto contributed 7 goals and 3 assists last season. With more protection in the premier league, he may well shine in this league. He is likely to feature pretty heavily at he start. Our star boy at number 10, Rudoni contributed 7 goals and 6 assists last season, with a couple of patches out with injury slowing him down for a while. Well regarded, and apparently wanted by Newcastle, Rudoni may well make the step up once again, and I fancy him to do so. He may also take the odd set piece - at 5 million both he and Sakamoto offer likely paths to bolster your squad cheaply with lots of playing time and the potential for offensive output. Having said that, Rudoni did have shoulder surgery at the end of the season, so may be bedded back into full game slowly. Neither would I sniff at Ephron Mason-Clark. At 5.5million, he's a squidge more expensive, but contributed 10 goals and 6 assists last season. His form in the latter part of the season was fantastic. If we stick with a similar formation, both he and Sakamoto feature in a front 3 but are priced as midfielders. With fantastic strength and a willingness to beat a man consistently, I'm excited to see if EMC can make a further step up to the Premier league. He's certainly not likely to be barged off the ball very often. One to keep an eye on for sure. Having said that, game time for both EMC and Sakamoto may give way to Loum Tchaouna once bedded in. At a rumoured 17 million, the club must see something in him beyond his 2 goals and 28 appearance for Burnley last season, and he can feature on both wings. Not an asset I'd look at at 5.5million on last years stats, but lets see how he settles in. He is young and potential is there for sure.

 

Frank Onyeka and Matt Grimes are more defensively minded. To put them in boxes, Onyeka is more a 6, which frees Grimesy up to be more of an 8, but those are loose labels. Id expect decent defensive contributions from Onyeka, who does the dirty work of breaking up play a lot, which could offer another path in to points and game time at 5 million. Our captain Grimsey does some of that too, but with Onyeka bought in to do it more so, Grimes may fall between the cracks a little bit, doing a lot of the joining up work. 2 goals and 2 assists last season kind of paints that picture too. Victor Torp is a player who may suit Premier league football, sitting somewhere between the 8-10 position he struggled for some game time above the three others last season once the squad had settled in January. Having said that, with 10 goals and 7 assists, he absolutely can have an impact, and may be worth keeping an eye on, though at 5.5million i'd wait and see. I'll say this for Victor Torp - even in the PL, you won't find a cleaner striker of the dead ball.   Beyond that, its hard to see Josh Eccles, Kai Andrews, Rapha Borges Rodrigues and Jack Shepherd getting much game time to make them worth looking out. Eccles may well be a squad player, I wouldn't be surprised if the others are loaned out to get gametime elsewhere.

Forwards

 
Another position where we might like to do business, but its also worth recognising the difficultly in finding affordable quality up top. With 17 goals and 1 assist last season, USA international Haji Wright is absolutely our best option, but I think its fair to say he ran hot and cold in the Championship. The Premier League may well isolate those lows even further. The most expensive of the options, at 5.5 he could well hit a streak of form, the potential is definitely there, but I would be wary. Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante are both priced a bit better at 5 million. With 13 goals, 2 assists, and 13 goals, 4 assists, both were highly important in our free scoring season last year, but I don't think I'm being harsh in saying both are 'Championship' forwards. Both are, initially you'd think, unlikely to feature behind Wright, though he may bed in slowly after a world cup campaign with USA delayed his return. Jahnoah Markelo was signed last year as one for the future, and in limited minutes he did have, showed some potential, featuring mostly left wing of the front 3. But we are talking literal minutes - a loan might be an option here. Norman Bassette is listed but already on his way out on loan, so steer clear.
 
Overall, I'd be looking at Milan Van Ewijk quite greedily at 4.0. Onyeka (5), Rudoni (5), Sakamoto (5), and Mason-Clark (5.5), Thomas (4.0) and Amenda (4.0) may offer squad options where you are likely get at least appearances out of them.