In Premier League Matchday 3, Coventry suffered a 0-1 away defeat to Manchester City, marking their third consecutive loss at the start of the season. After the match, Coventry manager Frank Lampard attended a press conference to discuss the team's performance, tactical setup, and recent signings.

Frank, could you assess today's match first?

Lampard: We played well, a very impressive performance. Losing is naturally disappointing, and I felt we deserved to take something from this game. I think a draw would have been a fairer result.

Coming to Manchester City's home, they have such talent, and we all know how strong their players are. But I thought our defensive organization was excellent, and we limited their chances as much as we could. Against Manchester City here, perhaps all you can do is try to minimize their outstanding chances. At the same time, we created three good chances of our own, and there were periods where we could consistently pressure them.

The team's spirit and overall organization I just mentioned were very good. We trained all week on how to restrict these spaces, but when you train, you don't face Cherki, Haaland, Semenyo, and Foden, so you can never be completely certain how effective it will be in the actual match. However, the players dealt with this challenge very, very well. Now everyone is disappointed in the dressing room because, in a way, we feel we deserved to take something from this match.

Do you think the five-man defensive formation could be an option you'll continue to use in matches like this in the future?

In matches like this, it would certainly be an option for us, because it can restrict opposition players from penetrating forward by exploiting spaces between the lines. When your defense faces so many talented players who are always ready to get in behind you, they can beat your defenders one-on-one time and again. So this formation really gives us more security.

But at the same time, from a personal performance perspective, we also played very well today. In fact, we've used both systems since I arrived at the club, so this will always be an option for us.

Another question about transfers. You announced the signing of... I may mispronounce his name, Gboho, very late. Could you tell us what role he'll play in the team? Also, how soon will he be ready to play?

He has been playing regularly. He didn't play in the most recent match, but he played before that, so we felt he was ready. Because this deal was completed in the final stages of the transfer window, he hasn't trained with us yet; we had to wait a bit at that point. However, he'll join up with the team when we return to training this week.

He's a very talented player, primarily operating on the left wing, but can also play in the number 10 position and as a secondary striker. The club has actually been tracking this player for a long time, and at the end of the transfer window, this opportunity suddenly appeared, and we were delighted to be able to sign him. He can give us more options, and Premier League teams need those kinds of options in their squad.

As you saw today, Rudoni and Mason-Clark played 60 minutes and almost depleted all their energy, and then we needed fresh players to replace them. So for us, being able to add a player with that caliber is very important.

Finally, you didn't pick up any points here; does this reflect the harshness of the Premier League? Manchester City have so many squad options, and when chances come, their clinical finishing is on another level?

Yes, I think so. As I just said, we also had good chances. I will never criticize players for missing chances, because I missed plenty in my career. I understand that pressure and know how it can affect players.

I think Donnarumma also made two crucial saves, which also shows the level of opponent you're facing. Regarding their goal, could we have stopped it when the ball was coming through? Yes. But then Semenyo was able to find Haaland, and we all know what Haaland can do. That's the harsh reality.

However, we can't let this affect us, because we don't face Manchester City every week. The standard of the Premier League is very, very high, and we'll face different types and levels of strong teams going forward.

For the players, what's more important today is to take confidence from their performance. We are naturally disappointed to lose, but looking back at this match, if we can really convert this performance into our mentality, we'll get a lot of positives from it. Two weeks ago when we visited Arsenal, it felt completely different. It felt like this was our first Premier League match in 25 years.

But today, it felt like a competitive Premier League team came here to play, we had a very clear match plan, and we could also pose a threat to our opponent. So we need to continue building on what we showed today.

Frank, I'm sure everyone will talk about your three consecutive defeats and no goals scored. But as you just said, you've faced what could be the two most difficult away matches right at the start of the season. What will you tell the players to keep their spirits up? Or, at this stage of the season, do you feel you need to say something particular to them?

No, I don't, precisely because of what you just said. We know the fixture list is very difficult. Losing to Hull City was disappointing for us, and I say this with no disrespect to Hull City. They've achieved two very good results, but that match was actually largely in our control for a long time. And what they did to us was similar to what we tried to do to Manchester City today.

But I think the situation is actually clear, isn't it? Away at Arsenal and away at Manchester City—in theory, these are probably the two most difficult matches. I believe many teams in a similar competitive position to us this season, if they came here and competed with Manchester City as we did today, that would already be a very good performance. Of course, they might also manage it, who knows?

But we can't lose faith just because we've played three matches and earned zero points. We have to take confidence from today's performance and move forward. At the same time, we also have to understand that there really were two very difficult matches. But at least today, we can leave with our heads held high. Next, we need to carry this performance from today into next week's match against Brighton.

Hello Frank. You were also an English midfielder. Today, Elliot Anderson alone made more passes than your entire team. What did you think of his performance today?

Yes, he performed very well. He's a very, very good player. I've always admired him when he was at Nottingham Forest. Today was the first time I've seen him play this closely.

He's very intelligent, very talented, a very good player, and plays with a lot of intelligence. He basically has everything a midfielder needs to have. I think he'll become a very outstanding player for Manchester City in the future. Yes, he really had a lot of the ball today. Although I don't think he really caused us much difficulty, he was always able to touch the ball and constantly be involved in the match. No doubt about it, I have great respect for such a high-level player's performance.

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