Coventry City player analysis from CoventryLive as we take a look at the big Sky Blues' midfield debate

Matt Grimes is one of the big talking points among Coventry City fans at the minute.

Frank Lampard has kept faith with his captain following the step up to the Premier League with the 31-year-old starting all eight of the Sky Blues' league games so far this term.

Of those matches, the central midfielder has played all but 13 minutes – completing the full 90 in six top flight encounters and substituted in the 84th and 83rd minutes against Brighton and Newcastle, respectively. Victor Torp took his place against Albion immediately after Lewis Dunk had hit a top corner stunner from outside the box to extend the visitors’ lead to 4-0, while Stephen Mfuni went on for him with the game at 3-1 in City’s favour against the Magpies.

Grimes has been outstanding for the club since he became Lampard’s first signing in January 2025, quickly establishing himself as the beating heart of the midfield where he has kept the ball moving. Often dropping into the back four to help screen the goal and always making himself available as an outlet for the goalkeeper, the former Swansea skipper also provided an effective link to the forwards with his range of passing.

A natural successor to Ben Sheaf for the armband, his experience and influence is felt on and off the pitch as Lampard’s link to the dressing room.

Outstanding in the Championship and regarded as one of the best at that level – backed by being named as one of four Coventry players in the EFL Team of the Season – all eyes have been on City’s promotion winners to see if they can step up to top flight football.

Grimes, however, has drawn criticism in recent weeks for not being as effective at the level, with some supporters calling for a change. Deployed alongside Frank Onyeka in the earlier games and now Caleb Yirenkyi in the last three, Grimes has been a mainstay of the midfield while other contenders, albeit a bit more forward thinking, have struggled to get a look-in.

Torp is one – the Dane featuring just four times from the bench to the tune of 60 minutes in total – while the more dynamic Gustavo Hamer is another, featuring five times as a substitute in the league but only for a total of 48 minutes.

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The question is whether it is time for a change? It’s a conundrum for Lampard, that’s for sure.

Looking at the stats we can see the pros and cons that Grimes brings to the team. Against Fulham, he led Coventry in completed passes (53 of 60 attempted, 88.3% accuracy) and registered the second-highest touch count on the team (69).

And according to Opta, no Coventry player had more passes go into the final third than Grimes at the weekend. Of those, 10 of the 12 were out wide, and probably only one on the right wing got someone running to the byline to put a cross in. So while the stat sounds good, how much damage is he actually doing to an opponent?

Throw in that Grimes created just one chance and registered one low probability shot (0.05 xG) at the weekend and across eight Premier League matches (707 minutes), he is yet to record a goal or an assist.

So he’s a stable footballer, but he’s not a player opponents are really going to fear. Nothing new there, though, given that his primary role in the side is more on the defensive side and moving the ball.

However, according to Opta, against Fulham he recorded 0 tackles attempted, 0 tackles won, 0 blocks, 0 aerial duels won and 0 fouls committed.

Pic below shows all his defensive actions - he recovered possession once (in midfield out wide) and made four clearances. So in a game where the Cottagers dominated possession – 63.7% – he offered no ball-winning presence or resistance. In contrast, Onyeka won two tackles in 28 minutes off the bench.

With this, and Caleb Yirenkyi also quite deep and not really doing a huge deal (only 35 touches in 69 minutes), there becomes huge emphasis on Jack Rudoni to do all the attacking from midfield - as well as the pressing.

Rudoni led Coventry in touches (70), chances created (3), attempted crosses (11), successful dribbles (2), and possession recoveries (6).

In contrast, Shea Charles had 95 touches in Fulham’s midfield and City’s inability to get into their faces ultimately helped Fulham to win it.

It begs the question, is Grimes being so stand offish a big problem and is it time for Lampard to try something different?

That’s not to write him off but there’s a strong argument for a change to see if a different combination in the middle of the park can help the team be more effective and start picking up desperately needed points.