When Mark Robins decided to play Rotherham United with a three-man defense and wing-backs, some Coventry City supporters expressed concern. However, as he modified and realigned his team to suit the configuration, the Sky Blues captain had a few surprises up his sleeve. Josh Eccles, a midfielder, was used on the right instead of Milan van Ewijk, the team’s first-choice wing-back.
When the Dutch under-21 international joined the Championship club in the summer, there was a lot of enthusiasm. He made an instant impression on the team by being both dependable and speedy. But the well-liked player has been lacking lately, which is what led to the alteration on Tuesday night.
When asked about his choice after the 5-0 victory over the Millers and if Van Ewijk was just in need of a break, Robins responded, “I think there are a couple of things there.” We need more from that standpoint, in my opinion. Since Milan isn’t used to playing two games a week, I believe he has been struggling lately.
“He’s got to get used to that and Milan will be fine. He’s just got to find his feet. And sometimes when you’re playing you just can’t take on any more information because you’re full. So you just have to decompress a little bit and then you can start again. He still looks out on his feet but I thought he did all right when he went on.”
Going on to replace Eccles just shy of the hour with the points securely in the bag and, no doubt, with half an eye on saving the starter’s legs for Saturday’s trip to Watford, Van Ewijk went agonisingly close to extending the evening’s scoreline with what looked like a relatively simple header at the far post.
Robins said, “He could have scored a goal.” “Matty Godden hit a fantastic ball that would have been in the back of the net if he had just face planted it, but instead he attempted to flick it. He said something about his contact lenses being skew-whiff. Although his run to get there was excellent, he should have scored. The next time, make a score!
In fairness to Van Ewijk, he set up the final goal in stoppage time for Fabio Tavares with a driving run and excellent diagonal pass into the area, which the striker coolly tapped in across the goalkeeper.
At Watford, should Robins continue to play at wing-back alongside Eccles? Comment with your thoughts here.
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