Category Archives: News

Bradford preview: More for Mauro?

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

I have often thought that the League Cup is a waste of time. Shadow teams playing each other in empty stadia. What purpose does it really serve? However, in a disappointing season for Wigan Athletic up to this point it has been the League Cup matches that have been the highlight. We have seen two successive 4-1 away wins where the finishing has been lethal, an uncommon experience for Latics fans. Moreover the ties have also shown that the club has considerable strength in depth, with ‘fringe’ players putting in excellent performances.

Will the finishing in the game against Bradford City tonight once again be of that order? Leading the charge, with three goals already in the competition, will be the excellent Mauro Boselli. Boselli is well on the way to proving his doubters wrong. It has been all too easy for the cynics to knock him. All kinds of misleading statistics have been thrown his way. Recently I even heard a football commentator on television say that Boselli had not scored a Premier League goal in three years at Wigan. It is not unusual for such people to put Wigan Athletic down, with their condescending attitudes towards the club. However, this recent comment was palpably unfair. Boselli started only five times in the first part of the 2010-2011 season before going off to Genoa and Estudiantes on loan. He has not started for Wigan in the Premier League since returning in July.

At Estudiantes, prior to joining Wigan, Boselli had scored 22 goals in 29 league starts in 2009-10 and 10 in 23 league starts in 2008-09. Impressive stats when playing for a relatively small club in a league with tight defences. He was the leading goalscorer in whole of the Copa Libertadores competition in 2008-09, helping his team lift the trophy with the match winner in the final against Cruzeiro. Since his return to Wigan he has been carefully nurtured by Roberto Martinez, being limited to three brief  substitute appearances in the Premier League. However, the snippets we have seen of Boselli’s finishing for Latics League Cup and Under 21 teams have shown us how he scored so many goals in tough and competitive competitions in South America. We may well see that tonight.

Prior to cup ties Roberto Martinez typically reiterates that they are an opportunity for the fringe players to break into the first choice lineup. However, he was careful to provide a backbone of experienced first choice players in defence for the wins at Forest and West Ham. Tonight he is likely to play both Roman Golobart and Adrian Lopez in the back three. They come from the opposite sides of Spain and have contrasting styles.

Roman Golobart – a Catalan from Barcelona in the east of Spain – is a big, powerful central defender, nevertheless with good passing ability. Golobart joined the club from Espanyol as a 17 year old in August 2009. Last season he had a successful loan spell at Inverness, being voted fans’ player of the year. Playing under the influence of manager Terry Butcher, ex-England centre half, will surely have helped his game. Still only 20 he is an excellent prospect.

Adrian Lopez –from the province of Coruña in Galicia, north west Spain – signed for Wigan in December 2010 from local team Deportivo La Coruña, as a free agent after a heated dispute over his contractual situation. In the previous three years he had played 26 matches for Deportivo, scoring one goal. In Spain he was known under his nickname ‘Piscu’ to distinguish him from the other Adrian Lopez ,a forward who plays for Atletico Madrid. Now 25 years old, Piscu has had 6 starts since joining Wigan. According to the Wigan Athletic club website, Lopez “ brings cultured development to Latics’ back line”. Clearly a different type of player to the more muscular Golobart. Lopez has struggled with the physicality of the Premier League, but Martinez retains confidence in the player.

Other likely starters for the match are Callum McManaman, Ronnie Stam, Fraser Fyvie, David Jones and Jordi Gomez. There are doubts over the fitness of Ryo Miyaichi. Albert Crusat remains out injured. Martinez may once again opt to put in some of his first choice players, although maybe fewer  than in the previous League Cup games with the away match at Tottenham coming up at the weekend.

Although tonight’s match is at the DW Stadium it might seem more like a home game for Bradford City, who have sold all of their 5,000 ticket allocation. Bradford are currently in 5th place in League Two, but have the highest average attendance in the division at just below 10,000.

Prediction: at least one goal from Mauro Boselli and a win for Wigan Athletic.

Wigan Athletic 2 West Ham 1 -Champagne football returns to the DW

Posted by Ned in Match Reports, News and tagged with , , , , ,

The slim margin on the DW scoreboard betrayed a thoroughly dominant, flowing performance filled with invention and verve that might have ended up in a +3 or +4 margin on another day. Save for a scrappy opening six minutes, Wigan recreated the stylish, exciting form show in last season’s glorious final chapter.

The Good:

Almost everything. More than half the team put in their strongest performances of the season, with special praise reserved for Shaun Maloney who orchestrated almost every Wigan attack with clever flicks, darting runs, and eye of the needle through-balls. Maynor Figueroa recovered from a tired performance at Swansea with a masterful display at the back and some stunning passing. Ivan Ramis’ goal should be up there for goal of the season. James McArthur and James McCarthy were phenomenal and it is only a shame Jussi Jaaskelainen denied the latter a line amongst the goalscorers with an excellent first half save. Jean Beausejour and Emmerson Boyce, in different ways, were extremely effective on the day. And there was a return to form for Gary Caldwell.

The result was crucial. Microphones clearly picked up Roberto’s instructions to “keep it” with ten minutes to play, despite the ease with which Latics were cutting through West Ham’s back line. While many of us were craving that third killer goal, the manager knew that securing three points unspectacularly was more important. The win boosts the club’s points tally but more importantly provides a shot of confidence and a platform to build on. Not many teams will beat Wigan in that sort of home form.

The Bad:

The fact that the margin did end up so slim is a reminder that finishing must improve. Arouna Koné was energetic, skillful and always dangerous, but fluffed his lines on a couple occasions and should have put the game beyond reach. Franco Di Santo, playing a slightly deeper role, found himself shooting hopefully from outside the box when better options might have been available. Both had good games though — the partnership shows great promise.

Final Thoughts: 

What a shame Ryo Miyaichi was not on the bench for this one. The speed with which Wigan were breaking in those final 20 minute was impressive — he would surely have capitalized on the by then very leaky West Ham defence.

The fact that Ronnie Stam was on the bench for a league match raised a few eyebrows. Word on the street is that further Premier League appearances would activate a clause in his contract. Perhaps Roberto now believes he is ready to challenge Emmerson Boyce on the right, and may be worth the money such a clause might cost the club? Or perhaps it was a reminder to Boyce that his place is not automatic. Either way — it was nice to have him as an option, and Boyce responded with a strong performance.

Player Ratings: 

Ali Al-Habsi: 8 — Looked bright and confident, made one or two crucial saves.

Maynor Figueroa: 9 — Strong in the air and on the ground, and his passing was sensational.

Gary Caldwell: 8 — A return to form at the heart of the defence. A little shaky in the opening minutes as he tested the waters with Carroll, but dominant as the game went on.

Ivan Ramis: 9 — What a goal. Looks better every match.

Emmerson Boyce: 7.5 — Plays a much more defensive role than his counterpart on the left side, but was intelligent with his passing and movement when he did get forward. Did his part defensively — West Ham’s wingers were ineffective.

Jean Beausejour: 8 — Strong performance from the Chilean, who was unlucky not to score with a fine left-footed strike in the first half. Lost Tomkins for the consolation header but was impressive throughout.

James McArthur: 9 — How pleasing to see him take his goal so well. Worked his socks off as always, but has understated quality about his game too.

James McCarthy: 9 — Also fantastic in the centre of the park. Very pleasing to see him shooting with greater frequency, and getting forward more often. He doesn’t often have the opportunity to show his pace, but when Watson replaced Di Santo and McCarthy was pushed slightly further forward, he led the counter-attacking charge on more than one occasion.

Shaun Maloney: 9 — Outstanding. Has found his home.

Franco Di Santo: 8 — Very good work rate and hold up play, quality passing. Didn’t have any clear chances but the ovation he received upon being substituted shows how appreciated he is these days.

Arouna Koné: 7.5 — Tricky to grade this performance. He was a constant threat, constantly got past his man, but guilty of missing a  couple quality chances.

Subs:

Ben Watson: Looked almost surprised at how much time he had on the ball, so exhausted were the West Ham midfielders after being given the Jimmy Mac runaround for 80 minutes. Played some nice football in his time on the pitch and freed James McCarthy into a more attacking role.

Wigan Athletic vs. West Ham: Diame returns with Big Sam’s bruisers

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Previews, News, Other

Misfiring Wigan Athletic face newly promoted West Ham at the DW Stadium on Saturday. West Ham have made a good start to the season, currently in 8th place with 14 points. Despite their poor results Wigan are placed just above the bottom three with 5 points from 8 games. However, another adverse result is likely to push them down into that psychologically daunting relegation zone.

The last time the teams met in a Premier League fixture at the DW Stadium was on May 15th of 2011, when a thrilling fight back from the home side condemned West Ham to relegation after six years in the top flight. West Ham had been 2-0 up at half time and relegation looked a certainty for Wigan. The players who scored the goals for Wigan that day – Charles N’Zogbia and Conor Sammon – have since moved on. West Ham’s current XI is unrecognizable from the team that played that day, Sam Allardyce having since brought in a swath of new players. Wigan retain seven of that starting lineup, one notable absentee being Mohamed Diame who now plays for West Ham.

The teams have met six times at the DW Stadium in the Premier League, ending in three wins apiece. Latics beat West Ham 4-1 in a League Cup encounter at the Boleyn Ground a month ago, but Hammers supporters would tell you that their team was largely composed of fringe players. There will be few surprises in their style of play and you can expect long balls to be played forward for Andy Carroll, with the dangerous Kevin Nolan sniffing around the box for rebounds. Nolan has already scored four league goals this season. Once again Wigan will have to be prepared to resist a physical barrage. In their win at QPR, the Hammers committed 22 fouls and received 8 yellow cards.

Given the potential aerial threat from Andy Carroll, Roberto Martinez might be tempted to bring back Antolin Alcaraz in central defence. Ivan Ramis has done well since his unfortunate debut against Chelsea, but Alcaraz’s ability in the air and his understanding with Gary Caldwell make him a strong contender if fit. Another possibility is that Maynor Figueroa will be rested, with Ramis moving across top the left. Figueroa has played non-stop for the past year, having spent the summer playing for Honduras in the Olympics.

Despite the poor results this season Roberto Martinez is once again likely to keep faith in his trusted first team regulars. One of the criticisms leveled at Wigan teams in the Martinez era has been that they pay too much respect to the opposition. The flawed tactic of playing deep in defence against Swansea allowed the opponents to get away with their defensive deficiencies, which Latics only started to expose when they were two goals down. The substitutions came too late and were largely uninspiring. Bringing on Jordi Gomez at a time when urgency was required was unfortunate. The effect was to slow down play and have the ball retreat back into the Wigan half. Mauro Boselli clearly deserved an opportunity, after banging in goals regularly in cup games and for the under 21 team, but bringing him on 7 minutes from the end was not ideal. Franco Di Santo has played some good stuff this season, but was not on top of his game at Swansea. He could have been replaced at least 10 minutes earlier. However, the introduction of Ben Watson into a holding role in front of the defence allowed greater freedom to James McArthur and James McCarthy to play further forward and create opportunities. A definite option for future substitutions.

One could say that Wigan Athletic have been unlucky so far this season. Refereeing decisions have not gone their way and they have not played as badly as their record suggests. Critics would say that you create your own luck and have to go into a match with a positive attitude and really “get at” the opposition. Let’s hope that Martinez resists the temptation of putting Jordi Gomez into a forward role and plays with three upfront. That would likely be his preferred formation of Di Santo, Kone and Maloney. Boselli, Miyaichi or McManaman might enter the fray at some point.

Given an attacking lineup and assertive approach this game is definitely winnable. Prediction: a win for Wigan Athletic.

Swansea City 2 Wigan Athletic 1: That sinking feeling

Posted by Ned in Match Reports, News, Other and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Without doing a terrible amount wrong, Wigan Athletic has found itself sinking into the all-too-familiar lower depths of the Premier League. We might be telling a very different tale if Arouna Koné’s headed equaliser had not been incorrectly disallowed for offside, but in the end those small margins told and it was another tight loss. There have been several of them in recent weeks against beatable teams — Fulham, Sunderland, and now Swansea — in which the side showed positives but failed to get the result. The good news is that fellow basement dwellers Southampton, Reading, Aston Villa, Norwich City and QPR look a weaker set of competition than last year’s pack.

Of the aforementioned strugglers, Norwich were the only team to secure three points this weekend with a shock 1-0 victory over Arsenal. Chris Hughton’s side deserve full credit for an excellent performance, but it is no coincidence they got the result following an international break. Like Swansea, Norwich looked fresh and full of zip — both squads have few internationals and benefitted from two weeks of focused training. Like Arsenal, a majority of Wigan’s starting XI had played two matches in the previous week, spread across the far corners of the world. Between Al-Habsi, Figueroa, Beausejour, Caldwell, McArthur, McCarthy and Koné (who admittedly did not play but had an eventful week nonetheless) — Latics players covered four continents and hundreds of thousands of miles before this fixture. Thank goodness Barbados wasn’t playing. Maynor Figueroa, whose Honduran national team secured qualification after thumping Canada 8-1, certainly looked like he was in a different time zone.

A detailed analysis of post-international results will follow next time there is an international break. But in the meantime, it seems fair to raise the question why Roberto is not leaning a little more heavily on his squad for these fixtures based on recent post-international break results?

The Good: 

Despite a sharp-looking home performance from Swansea, Latics kept them out in the first half, and looked the more incisive team on the counter. James McArthur showed some touches of real class and vision. Arouna Koné was very good, despite seeing relatively little of the ball. After Latics conceded and bodies were pushed forward, Shaun Maloney was excellent, getting on the ball, making things happen.

The Bad: 

Figueroa had a bad day. The marking for the second goal was non-existent — they appeared to stand still as Michu ran in to score. The team didn’t show real urgency or ambition until it was 2-0. All of which was a shame against a team that demonstrated their attacking threat but were defensively wobbly throughout. Opportunity lost.

Player Ratings: 

Ali Al-Habsi: 7 — Caught flat-footed on the first goal, but there was not much he could do about either. Made one or two decent saves before then.

Ivan Ramis: 6 — Solid until he lost sight of Michu for the second goal.

Gary Caldwell: 6 — Solid until Hernandez got the better of him for the first goal.

Maynor Figueroa: 5 — Not solid. Looked out of sorts, substituted to accomodate an attacking tactical change.

Emmerson Boyce: 6.5 — Brilliant improvised goal, but didn’t have an easy afternoon with Routledge in fine form.

Jean Beausejour: 7 — Cracking cross for Koné, which would have been the equaliser but for an errant offside call. Also played a delightful ball in for Koné, which the Ivorian couldn’t make the best of. Need him to get forward more often.

James McArthur: 7.5 — Some real quality from the Scot, who always puts the miles in defensively but rarely gets a chance to show his skill.

James McCarthy: 6 — Not his strongest performance.

Shaun Maloney: 7 — Always trying to make things happen. But his finishing should have been better with both a first half opportunity and a disappointing second half free-kick.

Franco Di Santo: 6 — Only got one chance and telegraphed it.

Arouna Koné: 7 — Strong performance that deserved a goal. His strength and pace are impressive, but he showed he can dribble and head the ball as well. The complete striker — just needs a bit more service and luck now. Took a heavy touch on a lovely Beausejour cross, mind.

Subs:

Ben Watson: N/A — His introduction saw a formation change, which resulted in more bodies forward and sustained pressure on the Swansea rearguard. It also left Latics’ defense a bit exposed.

Jordi Gomez: N/A — Went backwards too many times, to the support’s frustration. Played so well in the corresponding fixture last year, maybe he should have been brought on sooner — before goals were needed urgently. Urgency is not his strong suit.

Mauro Boselli: N/A — No service, barely touched the ball.

Swansea vs. Wigan Athletic: Goals guaranteed

Posted by Ned in Match Previews, News, Other and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Of all the clubs that voluntarily or otherwise replaced their managers over the summer break, the Swansea revolution has been the most intriguing. Steve Clarke’s positive start at West Brom has been surprising in its results, but not in approach or style. Norwich’s decline had been gloomily predictable, while their old boss Paul Lambert is going to need years and quite possibly a magic wand to steady Villa’s sinking ship. Andre Villas-Boas endured a rocky start but has started to show signs of the fast-paced attacking football that won him a treble with Porto a year and a half ago. All four of them were relatively known quantities or familiar faces.

Enter Michael Laudrup, and Swansea.

When Brendan Rodgers left to pursue a career in corny one-liners on “Being Liverpool,” many wondered if the style of play would go with him. It is often overlooked that it was not Rodgers, but our very own Roberto Martinez, that instilled such a style of play at Swansea long before Mr. Ok came along. That said, Rodgers deserves enormous credit for an excellent season brimming with possession-based, continental-style football. Until that magical final stretch for the Latics, watching Swansea last season had been like watching Wigan 2.0 — a new and improved version of our team with goals and clean sheets added.

In appointing Laudrup, they made a real statement. As successful as Brendan Rodgers was in Wales, he was never a big name. Appointing the Dane, such a stylish and well-travelled player, brings an air of prestige to the Liberty Stadium. And it opens up markets.

New signings Jonathan De Guzman, Michu and Chico admitted the Dane was the main draw in their respective moves to the Liberty Stadium, while Pablo Hernandez said he was his childhood idol. All four are proven performers in the Spanish league and Michu already looks like the signing of the season at 2 million pounds. Ki Sung-Yeung, signed from Celtic, has been described by the Swansea writer on ESPN FC network as “being able to do everything Joe Allen does at a third of the price.” Tidy business indeed.

And the style has changed. And not necessarily for the worse, from an entertainment perspective. They look a more potent threat in attack, committing more men forward, which in turn renders them a bit more susceptible at the back. Their results are extreme to say the least — starting with 5-0 and 3-0 wins before a 2-2 draw, then a three match losing streak, and another 2-2 draw. At home, they’ve won 3-0, lost 3-0, and drawn 2-2 twice. There appears to be a bit less tikki-takka and more direct attacking play. Still skillful and on the ground, but less patient, and more adventurous. The result is possibly an even more entertaining brand of football, but less reliable.

All of which should contribute to a mouthwatering fixture tomorrow. Wigan’s front three of Koné, Di Santo and Maloney showed tremendous movement and understanding against Everton and were unlucky not to win it for their teammates on the day. If Swansea take the initiative as one would expect playing at home, there should be space on the counter. The key will be who scores first. When Everton visited Liberty Park several weeks ago, Swansea were vulnerable on the break and conceded two more. Reading put two past them before a spirited second half fightback that rescued a point.

Wigan should expect to start with the same XI that faced Everton — unless anyone returns from international duties with injury or severe jet-lag. Maynor Figueroa will be buzzing after Honduras thumped Canada 8-1 to advance to the final phase of CONCACAF qualification. Jean Beausejour fared less well, with Chile losing both of their qualifiers. Ali Al-Habsi’s Oman beat Jordan to keep their dream alive, though Australia’s late winner against Iraq pegged them back on goal difference. James McArthur, Gary Caldwell and Shaun Maloney all featured for Scotland, while James McCarthy played two matches for the Republic of Ireland. Comparatively, Swansea lost few of their starters to international travel and may have an advantage there.

A difficult one to predict, but all signs point to goals galore. 2-2, anyone?