In an interesting interview, Frank Lampard talks about Coventry’s first Premier League win by using Wayne Rooney as an example.
Frank Lampard used his old England teammate Wayne Rooney to explain how Coventry has quickly had to adjust to the Premier League after their 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. The Sky Blues got their first league win since moving up, with Jay Dasilva scoring the only goal in the 57th minute.
Late in the game, Coventry was under pressure. Centre-back Bobby Thomas made an amazing save on the line, and then Forest striker Igor Jesus had a goal ruled out by VAR for a foul. Lampard was really happy with the win and gave one of the most honest interviews you’ll hear from a Premier League manager after a game.
Talking to Sky Sports, Lampard shared how many Coventry players are new to Premier League football, especially after their heavy 5-0 loss to Brighton last week. “We have a lot of players playing in the Premier League for the first time,” he said. “You can’t expect them all to be like Wayne Rooney, those superstars who just own it. They’ve worked hard to get here, and we’re trying to bring that out of them. When they play like they did today, you can see that. Some are still getting fit and adjusting.”
He added, “We’ve faced some challenges in the first four games, but this win gives us confidence. We can’t get too excited though, there’s still a lot to do, and every point in this league is a battle. But the team showed today that they can handle it and there’s a plan to keep going.”
Lampard also praised how hard the players fought. “It’s a tough place to play, and after losing our first four games, it’s easy to feel down and wonder when the next goal or win will come. Football is about fighting, working hard, and staying organized. Luck happens, like with VAR—I think it was a foul. But when you work that hard, you deserve good things.”
He talked about the game plan too: “We know Forest’s system well. Defensively, the plan was clear but not easy to do. We’ve played some good teams who press hard, and sometimes we were too direct. So today we tried to give ourselves space by getting Matt Grimes involved in the backline. We didn’t want anyone matching up directly with their big centre-backs, so Rudy, Brandon, and Ephron tried to find space between the lines to cause trouble and give us room to play.”
Lampard felt the first half was good but wanted more belief in scoring. “At half-time, I told them to believe we’d get a goal. Jay has been great in all our games, and he deserved that goal.”
He explained the goal came from a move they practiced the day before. “When you have wing-backs, it’s a bit of a challenge because it’s a one-on-one match-up. Jay had to outrun his opponent, and the timing was perfect. We wanted to play well and be a threat going forward. When we got players between the lines, we needed runners too.”
The manager said, “We thought we could keep that threat during the game. That’s how we did well last year—by playing through the team and also having runners to play a more direct style. You can see how well that worked on the goal.”