Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

From the magic sponge to tailored fitness programmes — a history of injuries at Wigan

Posted by JJ (Tony) in News, Other, Specials and tagged with , , ,

2012-injuries

Photo shows Larry Lloyd’s 4th Division promotion winning team of 1981-82. Lloyd centre second row, Graham Barrow fourth from left back row, Alex Cribley third from right back row. Kenny Banks, trainer, extreme left, back row. Photo from WiganWorld.

Kenny Banks is a name that  more senior Wigan Athletic supporters will remember with great affection. I never saw him play, but I saw him perform miracles as Latics’ trainer from the early 1960s. A player would go down injured — no histrionics in those days, real injuries — and Banks would sprint on to the pitch with his magic sponge. Invariably dressed in a tracksuit, he was as fast as any player on the pitch, despite his age. In those days there were no substitutes — if you went off your team played with 10 men — so Banks’ sponge was of critical importance. Indeed, to an impressionable teenager Kenny Banks was a magician. Even in the coldest nights of winter he would come on and splash the player with his sponge. Somehow the player would rise to his feet and get on with the game.

With seven of their senior players out injured for the Manchester City game on Wednesday, Latics could have used some of Kenny Banks’ magic. Why is it these days that there are so many injuries in the Premier League? Is English football more physical than it used to be?  In Banks’ time as a player — he made 183 appearances for Latics between 1952 and 1958 — and as a trainer spanning two decades at the club, the game was quite brutal at times. In 1962, Latics had a winger – Billy O’Loughlin – who was lightning fast. At times the crowd would say he was ‘fricky’, scared of the rugged slide tackles of those bruising opposition full backs in the old Lancashire Combination. Billy was just streetwise, trying to survive in a tough environment.

In 1980-81, Aston Villa won the First Division. In those days there were 22 teams in the division, so there were 42 games to play. However, they won the league in style, using 14 players all season! Compare that to Wigan Athletic of the present time. In Wednesday’s game against the League champions they were without Alcaraz, Caldwell, Crusat, Maloney, Miyaichi, Ramis and Watson – all injured. This is not to suggest Wigan get more injuries than other teams. In the last 10 games of last season they stayed relatively injury-free with only 13 players being used in their starting lineups.

The most recent posting on the Physioroom website shows that Wigan, Aston Villa and Newcastle are currently having the worst recent injury problems in the Premier League. None of the these three clubs has played up to the level expected of them this season. In contrast, one notes that currently over-performing West Bromwich have the least number of injuries according to the stats.

Injuries affect the form of all teams, irrespective of the size of their squad. The elite clubs have superb squads, which enable them to compete in Europe as well as the Premier League. They typically rotate their teams so that all players keep some degree of match fitness. Most clubs are not in that position and tend to put forward their strongest starting eleven in each match. This means that when they get injuries they have to bring in players lacking in the kind of match fitness that will serve them in a Premier League game. It usually takes them a game or two to get back to the levels required. Ben Watson and David Jones have both proved themselves to be up to the Premier League level this season, although initially they were not at their best. Rotation of the squad is not something that Roberto Martinez has felt confident enough to practice, except in cup ties.

There has been a lot of debate on why there are so many injuries in the Premier League. Oliver Sparrow identifies various factors that might contribute towards such levels of injury. Any player in the fast and furious Premier League will get injured sometime. As a consequence clubs have improved their medical facilities and sports science has come to the fore. Wigan Athletic’s Head of Sports Science, Richard Evans, came from Swansea with Roberto Martinez. According to the club’s website Evans “combines his knowledge of physiotherapy and sports science to help improve the overall fitness of the squad. This role involves designing specific fitness programmes for improvement and to help the rehabilitation of any players that pick up injuries. Evans also fronts the medical staff on match days and can often be seen pitch side.”

Things have changed since Kenny Banks’ days. Footballers now have to be super-fit, stretching their physical limits on a regular basis. Injuries can often come in waves and Wigan Athletic are currently experiencing a spate of them. Fortunately this is the best squad that Wigan have ever had, with strength in depth. However, Roberto Martinez will still breathe easier when all his front-line performers are available once again.

Barry Horne, Jordi Gomez and Wigan’s Plan B

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other, Specials and tagged with , ,

It is 10:00 o’clock in the evening in Jakarta and I am about to watch Wigan Athletic’s home match against Reading. I am hoping to enjoy the commentary on the game. When I hear the monotone voice of Barry Horne, I wince. He announces that this is the third consecutive Wigan game he has been allocated — it sounds like a punishment.

With Wigan Athletic losing to a headed goal in the first half I felt a certain degree of frustration. Latics were not taking their chances, they gave away a poor goal to an unchallenged header. A sense of déjà vu? On top of that I had to listen to Horne’s dreary voice and his “expert commentary”. His main issue with Martinez and his teams is that they do not have a “Plan B”. When things don’t go according to plan and Latics fall behind, Horne suggests that there is no immediate tactical response.

On the face of it, Horne has a valid point. When Wigan fall behind there is no increase in tempo, as one would expect from most teams in English football. This was evident on Saturday, when Latics seemed languid after giving away a soft opening goal. The Englishman in me got frustrated, but then I know Martinez’s teams do not follow the usual national pattern. Watch Barcelona fall behind and you see no change in their brand of football: they will eventually grind you down and beat you. The Barcelona style is clearly an inspiration for the Latics’ Catalan manager, but he is savvy enough to know that Latics don’t have the wherewithal to go with it fully.

Watching Wigan Athletic from afar has its ups and downs. There is nothing I love more than being at the DW Stadium, listening to the buzz of the crowd. Wiganers are resilient people and keep up their hopes in times of adversity. The “I’m A Believer” support in the latter part of last season was absolutely superb and helped inspire the team stay up. However, the buzz can dissipate when things are not going so well. When I am there, I seem to get locked into debates with Darksiders who want an English manager who will have his team ‘get stuck in’ and show real commitment. Although in a minority there are still those who would like to oust Roberto Martinez. Jordi Gomez is identified as a player in whom the manager has had faith beyond the norm. It is not only the Darksiders who have had their fill of Gomez. Normal, rational lovers of good football also tend to be polarized when the name of Gomez is mentioned.

The anti-Gomez lobby has been strong. After the Chelsea match, sheltering from the pouring rain outside, I was privy to a conversation where a group of Latics supporters came to the consensus that having Gomez in the team was like playing with ten men. Given his past performances, their comments had some justification, but the consensus was going a little too far. Yes, Gomez as a midfield player was not providing defence-splitting passes, nor was he scoring the goals he could from the good positions he got into. On Saturday Gomez sent a message to his detractors, with not just a fabulous hat trick, but also some fine midfield play. In one fell swoop he vindicated his manager’s trust in him.

As a midfield player Barry Horne was well known for his abrasive tackling, rather than an elegant passing style. He played for 10 clubs in his professional career and 59 times for Wales. Like many football analysts who we listen to on television he can be put in the position of “expert” for the duration of the match. Although I do not enjoy his commentaries very much, maybe he has a point about ‘Plan B’? Are Wigan Athletic capable of taking their game up a gear when going behind? Or is it a case of “Don’t panic, we’ll get there in the end”? One wonders if Jordi Gomez is his type of player? He is now in his fourth year at Wigan and his manager clearly thinks he is the right kind of player for the club. After that stunning second half display against Reading, Gomez deserves a fresh start in the eyes of Wigan Athletic supporters. Let’s get behind him.

Wigan Athletic 3 Reading 2 — Gomez to the rescue

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Reports, News, Other and tagged with ,

Who would have thought that Jordi Gomez would come to Wigan Athletic’s rescue, winning this game for the Latics with a brilliant hat trick? Even the most fair and open-minded of Latics supporters had been getting to the point where they would wince to see Gomez’ name on the team sheet. The same happened yesterday when Franco Di Santo was relegated to the bench, Gomez taking his place in the starting lineup.

The first half went true to recent form as Wigan conceded another headed goal from a long cross to the far post, to put them in a losing situation at half time. Gomez was booed early on following misplaced passes and poor finishing. In contrast Jean Beausejour was having an excellent game and in the 26th minute he put in a brilliant cross that had “goal” written all over it. However, Arouna Kone somehow managed to head it wide. A few minutes later Gomez slipped an incisive short pass through to Kone, who was blocked by the goalkeeper but managed to keep his footing sufficiently to jab the ball towards goal. The end result was the ball being blocked by a defender, rather than Kone going down for the penalty he would surely have got. Gomez was back to showing us his frustrating side just before half time, showing considerable skill in manoevering past defenders before shooting wide. Wigan went into half time trailing to the giant Morrison’s free header, their own profligacy in front of goal preventing them from drawing even.

The second half saw Franco Di Santo come on to replace Shaun Maloney and this turned out to be an inspired substitution. Jordi Gomez brought Wigan back in the game with two well taken goals, the second being a diving header. In between Gomez’ goals, Di Santo had scored a well taken goal from another fantastic Beausejour cross, but referee Howard Webb disallowed it for offside, which it clearly was not. Wigan were leading 2-1 with just over 10 minutes left when Reading equalized with the kind of own goal from Ali Al Habsi that will give him nightmares for weeks to come. It was a familiar situation for Wigan supporters, seeing all that good work ruined by an individual defensive lapse. It had only been a few minutes earlier that Al Habsi himself had singlehandedly kept Wigan ahead with fabulous fingertip save from a Reading header.

When the 90th minute expired it went into three minutes of added time. It looked like a case of sharing the points with a side who had been inferior for most of the game. Most of the danger from Reading had come from high balls and crosses. Wigan were playing the better football. After a minute of added time Gomez surged through from the centre of midfield, putting through a lovely pass for Kone to run on to. Intelligent player that he is, Kone kept his composure and squared the ball to Gomez who had continued his run. Gomez swept the ball home with panache.

In the minds of many Wigan Athletic supporters Jordi Gomez had never quite proved that he could handle the transition from the Championship to the Premier League. Too often he would get himself into great scoring positions, but not have the composure to put the ball in the net. Yesterday’s encounter will be remembered as the day that Gomez showed the Wigan fans that his manager’s faith in his abilities was justified. In the second half of this match Gomez looked a class act, threading through good passes and taking his chances with great aplomb.

The Good

At times Latics played champagne football. They were technically superior to Reading, even if the visitors were physically impressive. Gomez is the obvious candidate for ‘Man of the Match’, but Jean Beausejour gave a brilliant display as a wing back. He has been a little short of his best in most games this season, but yesterday he defended well and his crossing was superb.

Latics’ injury woes continued, Shaun Maloney coming off at half time and captain Ivan Ramis five minutes later. However, Franco Di Santo proved to be an excellent substitution for Maloney, causing headaches for the visitors defence with his movement and intelligent passing. Adrian Lopez came on for Ramis and played his best game so far for the club – he looked decisive in his tackling and comfortable on the ball.

The Bad

Giving away another goal to a free header provides further cause for concern. Granted Sean Morrison is 6 ft 5 in tall, but nevertheless nobody in the Wigan defence competed with him for the ball. The best header of the ball at the club – Antolin Alcaraz – remains out injured. In the meantime the defensive unit needs to work on attacking the high balls that come in.

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 5 – all goalkeepers make mistakes. Made one outstanding save, but was lucky with a first half shot that nearly bobbled past him.

Ronnie Stam: 6 – not so strong in defence as in attack, but as lively as ever.

Emmerson Boyce: 6 – solid and dependable at the back.

Ivan Ramis: 6 – excellent distribution. Went off after 49 minutes.

Maynor Figueroa: 5.5 – solid, but lucky not to get another penalty decision against him in the second half.

Jean Beausejour: 9 – his best game ever for Latics. Always available on the wide left, worked really hard in attack and defence. Put in some sublime crosses.

James McCarthy: 7 – worked hard, totally committed as always. Solid in defence and supportive in attack. The ultimate team player.

David Jones: 7 – worked really hard, put nice passes through with his cultured left foot.

Shaun Maloney: 6 – buzzed around as usual, putting in nice short passes. Went off at half time.

Jordi Gomez: 9 – silenced his critics, his brilliant finishing won the game for Wigan. Also put in incisive passes. His best ever game for his club.

Arouna Kone: 6 – had two first half chances that he should have scored. However, as selfless as ever, putting in another afternon of hard toil. The vision he showed in making the pass for Gomez’ winner showed what a class performer he is.

Substitutes

Franco Di Santo: 7 – showed what a class act he can be after coming on after half time. Creative, skilled, intelligent – a high class player in the making.

Adrian Lopez: 7– took over the Gary Caldwell role in the centre of the back three. Handled it with aplomb.

James McArthur: – came on for David Jones after 79 minutes.

WIGAN ATHLETIC-READING PREVIEW

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other and tagged with , , , , , ,

  • Injury-hit Wigan Athletic face newly promoted Reading at the DW Stadium this afternoon. Wigan are currently in 16th place with 11 points from 12 games. Although they have won only one league game all season – last week at home to Everton – Reading are in 17th place, with just two points less than Wigan. A win for the visitors would allow Reading to leapfrog over Wigan, plunging Latics into the relegation zone. The phrase “must-win game” tends to be overstated in the media, but in this case it comes pretty close to describing the importance of three points to Wigan Athletic.

    Ben Watson’s broken leg must have impacted on Wigan’s performance and morale last week at Liverpool. It was so unfortunate after he had waited so long for his chance to get back into the team and had regained his form. James McArthur remains injured, so David Jones will partner James McCarthy in the centre of midfield. The injury to Gary Caldwell is a blow since it is not only his playing ability that will be missed, but his organizational skills in the centre of the back three. The most obvious option is to move Emmerson Boyce across to the central three and bring in the attacking Ronnie Stam. However, reports in the media have suggested Martinez might change the shape, which would likely mean playing with a conventional back four. This would allow him to bring in a winger, such as Ryo Miyaichi – if fit. There is some doubt over the fitness of Franco Di Santo. If he does not play the obvious replacement would be Mauro Boselli, but Jordi Gomez might jump ahead of him in the pecking order.

    In contrast, Reading have better news regarding injuries, with forward Jimmy Kebe fit again after missing the Everton game. Old Wigan favourite, Jason Roberts, now 34, will probably start for the visitors. Reading’s win last week will certainly boost them although rumours regarding manager Brian McDermott’s position are not going to help. A failure to get a result at Wigan might well push him closer to the edge. Reading play an energetic, physical type of football and Wigan can expect the crosses to be teeming in. Ex-Watford midfield player, Jobi McAnuff, made 11 assists last season when Reading won the Championship and he has already made 4 more assists this season. Their leading goalscorer is Adam Le Fondre with 3 goals.

    Critics would say that there has been a need for a shake up in the Latics lineup for some weeks. Martinez has kept stubborn faith in his first choice players, many of whom have disappointed up to this point. This time he is going to be forced into making changes because of injuries. Too many times in key relegation tussles in the past Wigan have gone into the match with a cautious team selection. Let’s hope Martinez puts on a positive lineup from the start in this match.

    Reading have not won an away game this season, drawing 2 out of their 5. Wigan have won 1 out of 6 games at home. The logical prediction would therefore be a draw. However, football does not always work like that and it could be that a soft goal, penalty decision or red card could make the difference in this encounter. Wigan are due for a little bit of luck – maybe it will come today?

    • Style, goals, or both?

    Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other and tagged with , , , , , , ,

    In August 1963, non-league Wigan Athletic were due to play at Southport, then of the Fourth Division, in a pre-season friendly. My Dad commented at the time that the Seasiders played too much “pretty, pretty football” to be effective. I had visions of Southport’s players almost walking the ball into the net. The end result was not so pretty for Latics. Southport – inspired by ex-Manchester United youth player, David Latham – tore them apart 10-2. Funny enough four days later a return match was played at Springfield Park. Latham was marked out of the game. Southport played some nice possession football but were not incisive. Latics beat them 3-0, inspired by ex-Liverpool youth playmaker Pat Kinsella, Tommy Neill netting a penalty. Southport had played the football, but Wigan took their chances. Maybe my Dad did have a point?

    When my son, and regular columnist Ned, was 8 years old we moved to Cali, Colombia. We would regularly go to watch the local teams –- America and Deportivo Cali -– play each week at the Pascual Guerrero Stadium, close to the centre of that vibrant and captivating city. The Colombian league was a joy to watch — the ball was invariably on the ground, technical levels very high, the emphasis on skill. The downside was that, at times, play could go across the field rather than towards goal.

    The Colombian national team were the same – full of promise and good football, but short of bite. The captain Carlos Valderrama – he of the frizzy hair and wonderful technique – was the most popular person in the whole country. Valderrama’s outfit was the best national team Colombia had ever had and in 1996 FIFA ranked them fourth best in the world. They were playing that technically pure type of football that probably only Brazil could match in terms of artistry. They still were not scoring many goals, but they had a strong defence and retained possession in such a way that opponents found them hard to play against. In 1994 they had got their most famous result, beating Argentina 5-0 in a World Cup qualifying game in Buenos Aires. Valderrama bossed the match from the centre of midfield and the lightning fast Colombian forwards – Faustino Asprilla and Adolfo Valencia – blew Argentina away. It was a case of pretty, pretty football being finished off by ruthless and clinical finishing. You can watch highlights here.

    Colombia have continued to promise — but not deliver — since that era. However,  they currently lie in third place in the 9 team South American World Cup qualifying group, having beaten Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile in recent qualifiers and drawn with Brazil in a New Jersey friendly. The emergence of one of the world’s most sought-after strikers — Radamel Falcao –- has helped them translate their pure technical football into goals.

    The message for the current Wigan Athletic team is clear: it is not enough to play good possession football. It is incisive approach play and ruthless, clinical finishing that wins matches. Finding strikers of the kind of quality to kill off the opposition is hard for a club like Latics with limited resources. It is also hard to find creative midfield players who can provide them with the ammunition. Shaun Maloney is doing a fine job in that role, although in recent outings he has often been heavily marked. The opposition have learned that he is the main creative threat.

    I had the pleasure of meeting Carlos Valderrama near the end of his career when he was playing in the MLS in the United States. Modest, friendly and warm hearted you would not have guessed what a superstar he was with the 45 million people in his home country, and many more on the South American continent. A model professional with a fantastic attitude. For me the only way he could be faulted was that he never scored enough goals. Maloney, Gomez and company please take note.