Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

WIGAN ATHLETIC-EVERTON PREVIEW – A GET AWAY FROM THE DARK SIDE?

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

The last time Wigan Athletic won at home was on August 27th, when they beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0. They have not won any of their last 9 matches at the DW Stadium. Everton are currently in 10th place and have won 4, drawn 3 and lost 5 of their away games. However, they have only won one of their last 5 away games. Since joining the Premier League Latics have beaten Everton only once at home.

Another “must win” match for Wigan? We seem to have been saying that for some time, but a win over Everton could be a real turning point. Everton are a mid table team at the moment and Latics need to be able to beat teams like that to stay up. Latics have four home games remaining against teams who are currently lying below Everton in the table – Aston Villa (currently 12th), Swansea (14th), WBA (15th) and Wolves (19th) – in addition to those against Manchester United (2nd), Newcastle (5th) and Stoke (9th).

Mohamed Diame is due to return for Wigan following Senegal’s disappointing showing in the African Nations Cup. There is a chance of David Jones being fit and his experience of playing in the left wing back position might well put him ahead of Jean Beausejour if they play the three centre back system. Hugo Rodallega is likely to return, hopefully at centre forward – where despite his lean spell – he is more likely to score than either Di Santo or Sammon. Antolin Alcaraz may be fit and this could pose a selection dilemma for Martinez, with Boyce, Caldwell and Figueroa being the last custodians of the centre back positions.

A lucky deflected shot, a bad penalty, an own goal, a red card – any of these could help Latics overcome Everton if they were to go in our favour. An ounce or two of luck is what we need. Everton are a very well organized team, with a miserly defence which has conceded only 26 goals in 23 matches. They get a lot of goals from set plays and most of their goals come in the second half. They have been perked up by the return of the excellent Landon Donovan from Los Angeles and Steven Pienaar from Tottenham. They have a desperately needed new centre forward in Nikica Jelavic, a 6 ft. 2 in. Croatian, plus Darron Gibson from Manchester United. As has often happened to Wigan this season they are unlucky in having to play a team whose confidence has been boosted, not only with their new arrivals, but also in their 1-0 win over league leaders Manchester City. However, Everton are not one of those top six clubs who throw around monopoly money and compete for the world’s best. They are step below that and are definitely beatable.

One can understand the doom and gloom pervading the blue side of Wigan. Results have been awful this season and points have been thrown away by reckless and frustrating individual errors. However, one can watch the other relegation candidates play and see similar patterns in their performances. What a pity we had those horrible results against Bolton, Blackburn, Wolves and QPR. In each match the other team looked as nervous as Wigan did, but things just did not work out for us. However, those clubs remain in the relegation mire and all we need to do is finish above them and we are safe. The nerves are jangling not only in Wigan. We play three of those teams again before the end of the season, classic “six pointers” that can make a huge difference if we win them.

Let’s go into this game with the right approach. This means putting out a balanced lineup (with players in their natural positions), putting in the sweat and toil needed to close down the other team’s options, but more than anything else – really trying to win the game. Draws are not sufficient at this stage. I am going to stick my neck out here and predict a win for Wigan Athletic. Let’s keep the faith and get away from that dark side!

TOTTENHAM 3 WIGAN ATHLETIC 1 – BACK INTO CAPITULATION MODE

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It was sad to see Wigan Athletic revert to capitulation mode again on Tuesday evening. Capitulation mode has been typified this season by allowing a “monopoly” team to completely dominate the match without any significant physical intervention. As reported in this column in previous posts Wigan’s foul count this season has typically been 8 or 9 per game against these teams, as opposed to averaging 13 to 14 against other opposition. It was therefore no surprise after this performance that the foul count against Wigan was only 7, with Tottenham committing one more. The irony is that Latics have committed more fouls this season than any other team in the division. So what happens in these matches? Nobody here is counting a foul as a positive thing, but the stats give much cause for conjecture.

It was something we have seen too often before this season against the big boys. A defence stuck really deep and minimal effort to show any attacking intent in terms of putting men forward, especially in the first half. The scoreline was kind to Wigan – Spurs could have scored a lot more. In the last 20 minutes we saw some spirit, typified by the inspirational Ronnie Stam’s lone and unsupported forays into the Tottenham half. With better finishing his terrific crosses would have resulted in goals, but this was not to be.

Wigan had reverted to their three centre halves formation, with Jean Beausejour put in as left wing back. Nominally a left winger he did pretty well in his defensive role until failing to mark Gareth Bale who scored an opportunist goal in the 29th minute. The goal came as no surprise. Only 5 minutes later Latics suffered that kind of ill luck that happens to struggling teams – or bad play depending how you see things – that saw Maynor Figueroa’s clearance hit Jordi Gomez and bounce back nicely for Modric to hook in Tottenham’s second goal. The scoreline would have been much worse for Wigan at halftime – and throughout the whole match – without another fine goalkeeping display from Ali Al Habsi. Bale and Assou Ekottu form a terrific left sided attacking front for Spurs and they overwhelmed Latics in that first half. A memory sticks in my head of Ronnie Stam being swamped by their attacks with no other Latics player in sight for support. I cannot recall a Premier League match, where for so long, two players seemed to “own’ one sector of the pitch, with so little collective challenge to their dominance.

Wigan rallied to some extent in the second half, but the home team was clearly in command. Once again it was therefore no surprise that Gareth Bale scored a simple goal in the 63rd minute, ignoring Watson’s challenge and stroking the ball home. You could say it was the goal of a genius or a soft goal to give away – your choice. Nobody had marked Bale all evening and he had a field day.

James McArthur came on for Jordi Gomez and he scored an opportunist, if deflected, goal in the 80th minute. Latics then rallied and put Tottenham under pressure in a way that did not seem possible before. Unfortunately their finishing was not to be apparent. Albert Crusat came on after 87 minutes for Ben Watson, but Wigan were a beaten force well before then.

There was controversy in the 73rd minute when Assou Ekotto committed a horrible red card foul against Franco Di Santo, who had to go off to be replaced by Conor Sammon. The referee and his assistant were so close to the play, but neither reacted. Not even a yellow card! One wonders what would have happened if a Wigan player had done this.

The stats reveal Tottenham having 20 shots or target and Wigan 9. Tottenham enjoyed 62% of the possession. There was one yellow card, for Albert Crusat in the 90th minute.

The Good

One could say that the scoreline suggests that Latics did not get “thumped”. Moreover they escaped without anyone being sent off and only one belated yellow card. A goal for James McArthur was a reward for his persistence and endeavour.

The Bad

This dual mode of damage limitation/capitulation  is hard for supporters to take. One could argue that  the end result of 3-1 does not look so bad, but the reality was something else. The woeful lack of ambition in the first half played into Tottenham’s hands and they were allowed to look impressive. The shortage of “steel” in midfield was plain to see.

Tottenham have a vastly superior squad to Wigan. They spend big monopoly money to do it. However, the gulf between Tottenhams’ collective self confidence and the paucity of self belief among Wigan players looked way beyond the difference in technical levels. No surprise, one supposes, with Spurs in 3rd place and Wigan 20th. It is the lack of self belief that is keeping Wigan glued to the bottom of the table.

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 7 – Another good display. Kept Latics in the game with fine saves.

Ronnie Stam:7 – Struggled defensively in the first half when swamped by left sided attackers, but hung in there and never gave up. An example to his teammates in his “never say die” approach.

Emmerson Boyce: 6 – Showed poise and technique, but did not offer enough support to the right side of defence in the first half especially.

Gary Caldwell: 6 – Tried hard to steady a sinking ship.

Maynor Figueroa: 6 – Also tried hard to hold back the Tottenham tide.

Jean Beausejour: 6 – Showed skilful touches, but this was a baptism of fire being asked to play at wing back.

James McCarthy: 5 – Disappointing.

Ben Watson: 5 – Disappointing.

Jordi Gomez: 5 – Ineffective, taken off after 71 minutes.

Victor Moses: 6 – Lack of service gave him little opportunity.

Franco Di Santo: 5 – Did not reach his usual level in terms of holding the ball up as a lone striker. Unconvincing as a finisher.

Substitutes

Conor Sammon: 4 – Visibly lacking in goalscoring confidence. Desperately needs a goal somehow.

James McArthur: 6 – Showed his usual commitment and got into good positions. His goal was somewhat fortunate but well deserved.

Albert Crusat: – Hard to prove your point when brought on in the 87th minute.

TOTTENHAM-WIGAN ATHLETIC PREVIEW – NOT DOWN AND OUT

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

A game against Tottenham at White Hart Lane would appear a daunting task for a struggling team which has not won in its last 7 league matches. Tottenham currently stand third in the table and have lost only one of their 11 home games this season. Are this Latics team that has kept only one clean sheet in 19 games in for a thumping?

We remain in a doom and gloom period with relegation staring us in the face. Not only are we bottom of the Premier League but we have a lot of players out of contract at the end of the season. Rodallega may well go in the next 24 hours, but it would be depressing for the club to lose a player like Diame for nothing, given all the work that has been put in to developing him into the well balanced player he is today. If it were not for his presence in the African Nations Cup maybe he would have been subject to the January sales too? It sounds like he will be going at the end of the season, as also could Maynor Figueroa, Jordi Gomez, Steve Gohouri and Chris Kirkland. There is a significant amount of angry and negative stuff being banded about the internet by Latics followers – not surprising given current circumstances – but writing off particular players as being not up to par is not going to help anybody. Playing in a struggling team affects the confidence of all the players and only the goalkeeper, Ali Al Habsi, has managed to play consistently well in this underperforming team.

Let’s keep the faith! After all what have Wigan Athletic got to lose in this Tottenham match? When you are counted out by so many people and are seemingly at rock bottom where do you go? It could be that we get a performance like that of the 9-1 White Hart Lane thumping in Martinez’ first season. Or maybe the opposite – like the 1-0 win in his second? The team news is that Defoe and Lennon – both of whom have caused so much damage to us in previous seasons – are injury doubts. For Wigan the return of David Jones from injury could mean a return to the three centre halves system. In the continued absence of Alcaraz the three would most likely be Boyce, Caldwell and Figueroa. The skilful new signing Jean Beausejour could appear at some stage of the proceedings.

Sometimes when you feel you have nothing to lose then you approach things in a different way. Hopefully that will be the case tonight and Wigan Athletic will defy the bookmakers heavy odds and get a result at Tottenham. More importantly let’s defy the odds and stay in the Premier League this season – we are by no means down and out yet!

QUEENS PARK RANGERS 3 WIGAN ATHLETIC 1 – A SENSE OF FOREBODING

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An hour before any Wigan Athletic game is due to start I like to trawl along to the official club website and look for news of the team lineup. I did it last weekend and got an immediate sense of foreboding. Gohouri in for Alcaraz and only one winger in the lineup. A return to playing Jordi Gomez on the right wing? A question of pack your team with midfield players to stifle the opposition? Then maybe bring on another attack minded player later? Was this to be the way to get a good result against another struggling team?

My sense of foreboding was to be temporarily lifted in the first few minutes with Latics going close to scoring on a couple of occasions. However, this was to be only a temporary respite. Wigan were playing without any attacking player on the right. Gomez would track back to help Boyce when the opposition attacked on their left, then move back to a central midfield position to receive the ball. As the half progressed a nervy QPR started to get on top. Their nerves were calmed after 32 minutes when James McCarthy idiotically palmed the ball away from a Barton corner. Helguson scored the resulting penalty with ease. The situation was exacerbated in the 45th minute when Gohouri ‘s trip on Campbell gave Buzsaky the chance to curl a wonderful free kick in off the post.

Martinez brought on Conor Sammon after the break for McArthur – an attacking move but still leaving Wigan with only one real wide player, Victor Moses. However, Albert Crusat was to be brought on the 61st minute, with Latics scoring four minutes later. Set pieces really have not been Wigan’s speciality in the Martinez era and when I saw Hugo Rodallega stride up to take a free kick it did not ease my sense of foreboding. I had visions of his kick hitting the spectator on the back row of the stand behind the goal, but had a pleasant surprise as he stroked the ball home with aplomb from 25 yards. Well done, Hugo! However, after 73 minutes the referee gave QPR a ridiculous second penalty, once more against Gary Caldwell, but Al Habsi pulled off a wonderful save. Once again the goalkeeper had been Latics best player and kept us in the game. The nail in the coffin came when Tommy Smith hit a beauty from 30 yards from open play in the 81st minute.

The Good

Another goal for Hugo Rodallega who is regaining his form. Yet another excellent goalkeeping display from Ali Al Habsi.

The Bad

The last time I had that same kind of foreboding feeling was when I saw the team sheet against Bolton in mid October. We had only one wide player – with James McCarthy nominally on the left wing – and the end result was a 3-1 defeat to a struggling team. This was like déjà vu.

Who knows what might have happened had James McCarthy not palmed away the ball after 32 minutes. It changed the game, giving QPR that confidence that they did not have before. However, let’s not beat about the bush here. When you play with a lone central striker you need two natural wide players to provide an attacking threat and to give balance. The sight of Emmerson Boyce moving into the opponent’s half and putting in long crosses was depressing. No blame attached to Boyce here – what else could he do with nobody else supporting him on that side of the pitch?

During the Martinez era we have seen some good football mixed with farcical errors. More often than not individual errors have lost us matches, or their mistakes have proved to be turning points in converting potential victory into defeat. It is hard to blame the manager for individual errors. This is largely down to the players, probably related to their lack of self confidence. Martinez has to operate a relatively low budget, being unable to bring in the kind of experienced, hardened Premier League pro who demands exhorbitant wages. This means developing players within the club and getting others from overseas leagues or the lower divisions in England. Given the club’s financial restraints – and I applaud Dave Whelan on his insistence on coming close to balancing the books – it means that the club needs to operate a “farm system” to survive. Put simply we need to develop players and sell the odd one each summer to keep the whole thing going. The trick is to have the replacement player groomed to take over from the one due to depart. Last year Charles N’Zogbia was to be the departing star, Victor Moses his potential replacement. Unfortunately Moses struggled with injury for part of last season and just did not get enough appearances under his belt. The result has been that this season he has shown huge promise, but so often the final pass or shot has been lacking. Centre forward has been a problem position under Martinez. This season Rodallega has been off form and has not signed a new contract. Neither Di Santo not Sammon has shown sufficient consistency or self belief to command a regular place.

The manager has a difficult job in terms of the tight budget he has to work within and in getting players to come to what is perceived to be a small club. The irony of the situation is that this year we have probably as good a squad as we have had in the past seven Premier League seasons. It is that self-belief that remains lacking among the players, following an accumulation of horrendous thrashings against top four clubs and the frustrations of individual errors giving the points away against average, and often less than average, teams. A few weeks ago I commended Roberto Martinez on his tactical innovation of playing with three central defenders. It was a welcome change from a manager who had not shown such tactical flexibility in the past. If he has an Achilles heel as a manager then it is in this area.

So Martinez has shown that he is able to adapt his tactics to suit the players he has at his disposal. He will almost certainly continue to pack his midfield and play with a lone centre forward. That is something I do not love, but which I can live with. However, I have to admit my frustration at his repeated tactic of playing either a centre forward or central midfield player on the flanks. Hugo Rodallaga has time and time again shown that he is not a left winger. He simply does not have the dribbling skills or the pace to play in that position. Neither do I want to see Franco di Santo or Conor Sammon assigned to the wings. If we have a lone centre forward let’s at least have two genuine wide players to pose an attacking threat on each side of the pitch. Please, please, please – let’s not see Jordi Gomez nominally on the right wing! Play him in his natural position in the centre of midfield.

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 9 – Another excellent display. Kept Latics in the game.

Emmerson Boyce: 5 – Had to go off after 69 minutes. Has made too few appearances in the past two seasons. Let’s hope he can get back to the match fitness that is required for him to be a regular fixture.

Steve Gohouri: 5 – Lacks confidence. He has never had a long run inn the team in his natural position as a centre half.

Gary Caldwell: 5 – Is this controversial player a target for referees? I doubt whether the second half penalty given against him would have happened with most centre halves.

Maynor Figueroa: 5 – Once more tried hard but was left exposed at times.
James McCarthy: 5 – Giving away the penalty was not typical of him. He is a mature player for his age, but maybe the nerves are getting to him too.

Ben Watson: 5 – Solid, but uninspired.

James McArthur: 6 – Industrious as usual. Taken off at half time.

Jordi Gomez: 5 – Ineffective in his hybrid role. Substituted after 61 minutes.

Victor Moses: 6 – Tried hard despite the lack of good service coming to him.

Hugo Rodallega: 6 – Worked hard, scored an excellent free kick.

Substitutes


Conor Sammon: 5 – Huffed and puffed, but no end result.

Albert Crusat: – Did not get a lot of the ball. What a shame he was not on at the start.

Ronnie Stam: – took over from Boyce, but had a frustrating time.

QPR-WIGAN ATHLETIC PREVIEW

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In the first three matches of the season Wigan Athletic had to play the three promoted teams. They drew with Norwich and Swansea –games they should have won – and beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 in a game they were rather  lucky to win. Two spectacular deflected goals from Franco Di Santo won the game for Wigan, although QPR came close. Football is a strange game.

Away at QPR – another  “must win” match for Latics? Last year Wigan Athletic stayed up largely due to their excellent record against the bottom teams. This year things have not worked out too well against teams currently in the bottom seven.  At home – a win against QPR, defeats to Bolton and Fulham , a draw with Blackburn. Away– a defeat at Wolves and a win at West Bromwich. Overall the progress so far is P6 W2 D1 L3, with four of the six matches being played at home. A good result at QPR will help redress the balance.

Let’s keep the faith! There has been too much doom and gloom among Wigan Athletic supporters in the past couple of weeks. Yes we are a small fish in a big pond. We are the minnows that the big clubs want to nibble. But we are a proud club and we are far from finished this season. Of course Latics  will be found wanting in defence against the attacking quality of a super-luxury Manchester City team, but this does not mean we cannot stay up. Good performances against other teams with their backs against the wall, can make a huge difference. Dave Whelan is right to insist on balancing the books and ensuring our short term future. He is the wonderful driving force behind the club – let’s hope he can hang in there a few years longer.

However, his protege, Roberto Martinez, does not have the “luxury” that his predecessor Steve Bruce had in offering over-the-odds salaries to often less than wonderful players. He has built up a squad capable of staying in the Premier League and better than most in the lower reaches of the division on a meagre budget. What is lacking is confidence, with the accumulation of bad results over the past two seasons having a cumulative effect on the “psyche”of the club. Martinez has players who could comfortably fit in to a top four club, but whose “psyche” has been affected by playing with a struggling team. Every player is affected by playing in such a situation – we should not be too judgmental about their ability to perform the Premier League, given this factor.  There is no player who has played for Wigan Athletic this season who cannot cope with the Premier League demands. Let’s be fair – we can compete with most teams in the division, and even get the odd decent result against the monopolistically rich – and that is a terrific achievement for a small town team. A big transfer kitty for Roberto Martinez in January is not the key – he has the players necessary for Wigan Athletic to stay up – so let’s give him and his team that support.

So what of QPR? They have history, being formed in 1882, from the amalgamation of two clubs, their main players at the time coming from the Queens Park area.  They hold the record of playing at 20 different home grounds in their years in pro-football. They have been at Loftus Road since 1933, except a year at White City in 1962-63. Loftus Road has a current capacity of 18,360.  Their only trophy win was in 1967, when they beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2, coming back from a 2-0 deficit,  in the League Cup, although they were in the third division at the time. One recalls the wonderful football of QPR in the seventies, being graced by the elegance of Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles, plus that terrific goalkeeper, Phil Parkes.

QPR come back to the Premier League after a 15 year gap. They have a new owner in Tony Fernandes, a Malaysian who has done an incredible job in transforming Air Asia into a huge budget airline. Fernandes has already shown a ruthless streak in dismissing Neil Warnock, who brought them up from the Championship. They have appointed a big name in Mark Hughes, but he has an uphill task in preventing the slide of a team which has only two points from their last nine matches. A win for Latics on Saturday would put a further nail into their coffin.

Roberto Martinez needs to decide on the right tactics to get a good result against QPR. A loss would really knock us down further into the mire. QPR have some seasoned Premier League professionals, many on salaries way above those at Wigan. However, they have only won 1 out of 10  home games this season. They have lost 7 out of the last 9 league games. Hopefully Martinez can get inside his players’ heads and tell them that they can win this match. Yet again, an away win can help transform Wigan Athletic’s  season. Go for it, Wigan!!