Category Archives: Match Previews

Off to Charlton in an air of uncertainty

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Previews and tagged with , , ,
James McArthur is pivotal to Latics' promotion hopes.

James McArthur is key to Latics’ promotion hopes.

Uncertainty creeps up on us. Only a couple of weeks ago there was a mood of buoyant optimism about the season ahead. Uwe Rosler was seen as Latics’ saviour. Trust in Uwe said so many people. But now after a draw and a defeat in the first two games and rumours of the departure of James McArthur, fans are getting edgy.

Following his achievements last season Rosler has deserved the level of support he has received from fans. A home draw against decent opposition followed by an exit from the League Cup is not a huge deal. But what has been disconcerting has been the lack of fitness shown by the players and disjointed play that has not approached the high pressing, high tempo style that the manager espouses.

When Latics played at the Valley last October they had lost their previous three away matches, so the dull 0-0 draw that followed was an improvement. Charlton were struggling on a low budget and Latics’ form had been indifferent. Since then Charlton have had changes at board and football management levels and their outlook is looking brighter.

Rosler’s honeymoon period at Wigan is closing in on him and he will be keen to get a good result at Charlton. Critics are already starting to say that the manager’s vision of the football he seeks is not being realized on the field of play. Rather being super-fit and playing at a high tempo, Latics have looked sluggish compared with their opponents. Moreover the lack of creativity in midfield stands out like a sore thumb. If Oriel Riera is to become the successful striker that Latics so desperately need he is going to need decent service from midfield.

However, only two games have gone. Latics are out of the League Cup, but their clear priority this year is the league. It takes time to impose a style of play upon a squad of players, as Roberto Martinez found in his time at the club. Martinez arrived in the summer of 2009 and it took until the second half of the 2011-12 season before the players were able to realize his vision. The eventual realization was stunning, with Latics beating the elite clubs in the country on merit.

Possibly the most worrying thing for supporters at this stage is the possible exit of more quality players. The exits of the skilful Latins, Jordi Gomez and Jean Beausejour, are already being felt. However, with time it is to be hoped that the new players will adapt to fill the void.

James McArthur is probably the club’s most important player. He typifies total commitment and brings genuine quality to the midfield. To allow him to leave would be a body blow to Latics’ promotion possibilities. However, Dave Whelan has so often stated that any player wanting to move on can do so if the price is right.

One would have to be a mind reader to predict the lineup that Rosler will send out there tomorrow, let alone the team shape. However, both the manager and the players will be keen to show their commitment and their quality at The Valley.

A good result for Latics is a distinct possibility.

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Rosler ready for a good start to the season- Reading preview

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Previews and tagged with , , ,

This time last year Wigan Athletic travelled to Barnsley for the opening game of the season. The 4-0 triumph appeared to be the beginning of a successful campaign, as Latics’ class was too much for the Yorkshire side. The next match away at Bournemouth was eagerly anticipated by the fans, but was to be a damp squib, with Latics going down 1-0. Coyle’s side went on to take just 8 points from the first 6 matches.

Ten years ago Paul Jewell’s side made a much brighter start. Despite a disappointing 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest they went on to take 14 points from their first six matches. They were to go through their first 17 league matches unbeaten and despite a slump in November and December they went on to win promotion to the Premier League.

Over the years Latics teams have tended to disappoint in the opening matches. That start in 2004 was an exception and one that Uwe Rosler would love to replicate a decade later. Rosler’s team faces home games against Reading, Blackpool and Birmingham and away at Charlton, Cardiff and Blackburn. Can they emulate the record of Jewell’s side in their first 6 matches?

Away matches at places like Cardiff and Blackburn are going to be tricky, as is the home game tomorrow with Reading. Moreover last season’s team often struggled against lower placed opposition. Rosler’s oft stated target of picking up an average of 2 points per game would seem more realistic – can Latics get those 12 points from the first 6 matches?

Reading finished 7th in the Championship last season, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. Latics’ high pressing game undid them twice last year with 2-1 result at the Madejski and a 3-0 scoreline at the DW. Manager Nigel Adkins will no doubt have done his homework for tomorrow’s match and might well resort to a long ball approach to counteract the high pressing. Over thesummer Reading lost or released a swath of senior players including former captain Jobi McAnuff, who went to Leyton Orient, and Adam Le Fondre who went to Cardiff. Adkins expects the majority of the players on the pitch and on the bench tomorrow to have graduated from the club’s academy. Reading have a category 1 academy status and play in the Professional Development League 1.

Providing there have been no further injuries following the Paderborn game, Uwe Rosler will have a strong squad available. It is anybody’s guess which of Ali Al Habsi or Scott Carson will start in goal. He is likely to go with an experienced defence of James Perch, Emmerson Boyce, Ivan Ramis and Andrew Taylor. Don Cowie and James McArthur will probably be joined by either James Tavernier or Roger Espinoza in midfield. Oriel Riera will play the target man role, with Callum McManaman and Martyn Waghorn completing the front three. Should Rosler decide to opt for a 3-5-2 formation another centre back will come in and Waghorn could take that third midfield place.

Wigan have more than enough quality to see off a young Reading side. Rosler will be keen to get the season off to a winning start.

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The Paderborn game is important for injury-hit Latics

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Previews and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,
The Benteler Arena, Paderborn.

The Benteler Arena, Paderborn.

On Friday Wigan Athletic travel to face SC Paderborn, newly promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history. In May, Paderborn clinched second place in the Bundesliga second division with a 2-1 win in the last game of the season at home to Aelen.

As with Latics entering the Premier League in 2005, the skeptics are not expecting Paderborn to survive for long in the higher league. Paderborn play in the Benteler Arena, which has a capacity of 15,300. They will be keen to prove their critics wrong by holding their own in the Bundesliga.

Over recent seasons Wigan Athletic have had more than their fair share of injuries and Uwe Rosler will be keen to get his squad in good physical shape for the opening Championship match against Reading on August 9th. Although they are convalescing well from major injuries, neither Chris McCann nor Ben Watson is going to be available over the coming weeks. Shaun Maloney has not played a single minute in the five pre-season matches up to this point and James McArthur’s only action has been coming on as a 72nd minute substitute at Dusseldorf. On top of that, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Rob Kiernan, James McClean and Andrew Taylor have picked up injuries in the pre-season preparations.

However, apart from the injuries, Rosler has managed to share out the playing time among the rest of the squad. Most of the senior players have amassed between 220-250 minutes of playing time in the pre-season games with Havelse, Walsall, Besiktas, Rochdale and Fortuna Dusseldorf. With so many midfield players unavailable the 21 year old Fraser Fyvie and 20 year old Tim Chow have stepped up to the plate and have amassed 375 and 369 minutes of playing time respectively. Another young player, James Tavernier, has played 332 minutes. Of the senior pros Leon Barnett has had the most playing time, 290 minutes. The three goalkeepers have shared the playing time, with Ali Al-Habsi having slightly more than Scott Carson or Lee Nicholls.

The last pre-season match typically provides indicators as to the manager’s preferred starting XI from the players available. Rosler will be keen to get his most experienced players ready for the beginning of the league season, but will have to tread lightly in the case of James McArthur, who is still trying to overcome an injury suffered at the end of last season. Rosler will look for experience in midfield and Don Cowie is likely to be a starter. Fraser Fyvie has come in from the cold and it will be hard for Rosler to leave him out of the starting lineup, given his good recent performances.

In defence the injury worry is Andrew Taylor, likely to be the preferred left back against Reading. Given the inexperience of Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Roger Espinoza might be retained as a left wing back. There are good options in the rest of the defence. Ivan Ramis has played in all five pre-season matches, with 272 minutes of game time. Rosler will be hoping to get the Spaniard to the level of fitness he had before that cruciate knee injury at Fulham. He is likely to line up in the centre of defence with Emmerson Boyce. Leon Barnett and Thomas Rogne have both played in all five games and will challenge for a place, together with Rob Kiernan, if he is fit. The solid and dependable James Perch is likely to start at right back, with the more attacking option of James Tavernier available later in the game.

It could be anyone’s guess who will start in goal. Latics are blessed with two experienced and highly capable ‘keepers in Ali Al-Habsi and Scott Carson, with the huge potential of Lee Nicholls breathing down their necks.

Up front we can expect Oriel Riera to play as the target man. Callum McManaman has been getting fitter and fitter and the 90 minutes he put in at Dusseldorf is something he has not been able to do for a long time. McManaman is typically played on the flanks, but might well find himself in a more central role, effectively as a second striker. Latics have been so short of players with the ability to finish, but Riera and McManaman are players who can show the kind of coolness and poise needed to put the ball in the back of the net. Martyn Waghorn scored two goals against Besiktas and will challenge for a starting spot.

Following a poor defensive display at Dusseldorf, Latics will be keen to tighten up at Paderborn. Once again Rosler will employ his high pressing, high intensity tactic in the hope that Latics can sustain it throughout the match.

The Paderborn match is an important one for Rosler in that he needs to get his key available players as match fit as possible. Paderborn will provide tough opposition, but Rosler will be looking at the performances of individual players more than at the result of the game. Last year Owen Coyle’s squad enjoyed success in terms of results in their US tour, but were to be palpably short of match fitness as the season progressed. Rosler and his conditioning team are clearly demanding more of the players and despite the current injury situation, they will are unlikely to be deterred. The success of the high tempo style that Rosler seeks is dependent on the players’ physical abilities to meet its demands.

It promises to be a fascinating contest and an indication of what we can expect over the coming weeks.

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Latics at Loftus Road – will Uwe park the bus?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Previews and tagged with , , , , ,
Bus

Thanks to WiganWorld for the photo.

In September 2004 Chelsea and Tottenham played a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge. After the match Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho commented “As we say in Portugal they brought the bus and left it in front of the goal. I would have been frustrated if I had been a supporter who paid £50 to watch this game because Spurs came to defend. I’m really frustrated because there was only one team looking to win, they only came not to concede – it’s not fair for the football we played.”

“Parking the bus” has since become a well-used term in football vernacular. Ironically Mourinho himself has become an expert in having his teams do exactly that same thing when he has felt a 0-0 draw would suit him.

Despite making noises about playing an attacking line-up, Harry Redknapp parked the bus on Wigan Athletic on Friday night. The wily East Londoner had clearly made up his mind that a 0-0 draw was what he wanted. With an away record of W8 D5 L10 Redknapp’s team had the least number of points away from home of the top six in clubs the Championship division. In comparison their home record was bettered only by champions, Leicester City.

Latics go to Loftus Road tomorrow to play a team that has lost only two league games all season on their home ground. One of those was to Leicester and the other was to play-off contenders Reading.

Loftus Road has never been an easy place for visiting teams. The pitch measures 102 by 66 meters, on the small side compared with the standard dimensions of 105 by 68 meters stipulated by the Premier League and UEFA. The stadium itself is small, with a capacity of 18,360. The stadium feels tightly enclosed as all four stands meet with no gaps and fans are closer to the pitch than at other stadia. Away teams can easily feel intimidated as the crowd noise reverberates in a compact space.

It is a difficult task for Rosler’s team, which has played 61 games this season. However, Latics are used to playing against the odds. In March they went to the Etihad Stadium to defeat a Manchester City side that had won 12 of its 13 home matches in the Premier League, scoring 43 goals. Rosler might be right in saying that QPR have three times the wage bill of Latics, and they do have some quality players, but they pale in comparison with the might of Manchester City.

Redknapp might well have done his homework prior to Friday’s game. If he had then he would have expected Latics to struggle against a massed defence. They have done so all season. During Rosler’s tenure they have had most of their best results away from home, where they have more room to play. They won 4-1 at playoff rivals Nottingham Forest, 3-0 at Sheffield Wednesday and had hard fought wins at Brighton, Derby and Reading.

Despite what seemed to be a bad result on Friday, Rosler did not seem over concerned. He acknowledged that his wing backs had not pushed forward sufficiently. It could be because Redknapp had planted Hoilett and Traore in wide positions as a tactical ploy to hold back Perch and Beausejour. Or maybe Rosler had wanted to keep things tight and not push them as far forward as usual.

Rosler saying that the pressure is now on QPR might be playing mind games with Redknapp, but could also be a statement he genuinely believes. So what will Rosler’s tactics be tomorrow?

It would be ironic if the German were to turn the tables on Redknapp by parking the bus too. Allowing the home team to do the work of breaking down a massed defence, at least in the first half, would conserve the energy of his players for a concerted push later in the game.

But then again Rosler might go for broke by blitzing QPR from the start. To do so he would be asking a lot from players with already tired legs. However, with vigorous high pressing from the start Latics could disrupt the home team’s play and possibly secure an early goal. Getting that goal could be psychologically huge for a Latics side that has lost some of its self-confidence through a string of indifferent results.

It will be interesting to see if Rosler continues to operate with a back line of three central defenders and wing backs. He did so in the victory at the Etihad, but reverted to a flat back four in the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal. When Latics visited QPR in March he played a back line of Rogne, Ramis and Kiernan. It was a tight game, with Latics a little unfortunate to lose 1-0.

Unfortunately it looks like Latics will be without the excellent Ivan Ramis tomorrow. Rosler’s gamble of playing him at Blackburn misfired, with the Spaniard going off injured at half time. Ramis could make a huge difference in the centre of defence if he were fit.

Gary Caldwell looked comfortable on Friday, but the defence were put under little pressure by a defensive QPR side. Playing him tomorrow would be another gamble and it could misfire. However, Rosler boldly thrust the Scot into the FA Cup semi-final and it came off.

This could prove to be one match too many for Latics at the end of a marathon season. They have done so well to get into the playoffs after a poor managerial appointment in summer left them heading towards the lower reaches of the table by December. Win or lose, the fans will continue to back Rosler.

If Wigan were to lose tomorrow it might well be the last match for the club for a number of players recruited in the Premier League era. Another year in the Championship would mean tightening the purse belts and letting the larger wage earners move on.

However, having seen what Latics have done before when the odds were stacked against them, only a fool would count them out.

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Callum, Jordi and Maloney ready for QPR

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Previews and tagged with , , , , , ,
Callum McManaman
Will Jordi Gomez be willing to take a pay cut to rejoin Latics?
Shaun Maloney

 

Some football managers are predictable. Their teams are built around a nucleus of players who play week in, week out. Their tactical plan is the same every match, but it is well defined and players know their roles within it. Given information on injuries and suspensions an astute fan can practically name the manager’s lineup for the next game.

Over these past six months we have learned that Uwe Rosler does not fit that model. One would need to be a clairvoyant to predict his team selection and its shape. Added to that is the unpredictability of the way he uses his substitutes.

Rosler is an advocate of a rotation policy, frequently citing the example of Alex Ferguson who he says never picked the same team twice. Given the sheer volume of games Wigan Athletic have had to play over these months the rotation has been a necessity, which the German has handled with skill.

However, some players have rarely been rotated out and have remained almost permanent fixtures. James Perch and Emmerson Boyce have played with a lot of different partners in defence, but their almost constant presence has provided stability. The same can be said of James McArthur, who has had a myriad of partners playing with him in central midfield.

At times Rosler has had to rotate in too many players producing a lack of cohesion. The end product has been occasional poor performances and results. But now with only two or three games left he can rotate his squad as he wishes, not as a matter of necessity.

Rosler has varied the team’s shape at will, switching for instance from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3. However, there has been a common theme to Latics’ play – that of high pressing.

When Rosler first arrived his players really struggled to adapt to his demands for the high pressing. However, as physical fitness levels improved so did his team’s ability to disrupt the opposition’s game through energetic pressing. Results moved in an upward spiral. But as the games kept coming in thick and fast, key players started to look jaded and the pressing was not so effective.

Substitutions have been paramount to Rosler’s game plans. Playing with such intensity takes a lot out of players, both physically and mentally. The message to the players is clear – start to flag and you will be replaced. Moreover the German is not afraid to take off a player who has not played at all badly, if he feels a need to change the team’s shape.

Sometimes his hand has been forced. Having to think of the next match coming up just a few days later he has had to take off players who were performing close to their best. Rosler has tended to make his substitutions much earlier than what we were accustomed to during the Martinez era. More often than not his substitutions have made a difference, those fresh legs helping to raise a flagging tempo.

Earlier in the season it looked like QPR were going to get automatic promotion through finishing in the top two. On paper their squad is far superior to those of Leicester and Burnley who succeeded in securing the top two spots. Harry Redknapp’s team have learned to their cost that there are teams in the Championship division who are willing to scrap it out to get a result and are no respecters of the Premier League quality players that QPR possess.

Rosler’s approach to the QPR games will surely be to put in a solid defensive line, relying on the individual brilliance of his flair players. Jordi Gomez has been a revelation over these past months complementing a very high work rate with a great temperament and goals at crucial times. Callum McManaman is approaching the form he had near the end of last season and is a real danger to the Londoner’s defence. Rosler has carefully nurtured Shaun Maloney following his return from long term injury and the Scot is a potential match winner.

With high pressing and a solid and well organized defensive line QPR’s more talented players can be neutralised. It will then be a matter of Latics’ flair players breaching the London team’s defence.

Paramount to Latics’ chances will be the ability of the players on the pitch to press for the full 90 minutes. So often we have seen them struggle in the closing minutes as tiredness sets in. Rosler is going to ask for one final push from players who have played so many games already, often defying niggling injuries.

Wigan Athletic have had an awful record in playoffs over the years. So often they have fought to get there, but let themselves down.

However, they have had an amazing amount of success in difficult cup ties over the past two years. The cup runs have given them the kind of experience and belief that is going to be needed to get through the Championship playoffs.

The players at Rosler’s disposal have the ability to go on and beat not only QPR, but go all the way back to the Premier League. Things are going to be tight and a moment of brilliance or a controversial refereeing decision could tip the balance.

But the crucial question is whether his key players will have the energy levels at the end of this marathon season to consistently produce the high tempo football the manager seeks.

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