Roberto has been following Crusat for at least a year, and finally gets his man. He is apparently a skillful, fast, left-footed winger who spent his last six seasons for Almeria in Spain. Perhaps some of our Spanish readers can provide some insight in the comments section below this story.
Match Report: Swansea City 0 Wigan Athletic 0
That little slice of luck that eluded Latics in the first two matches finally turned up in this home win over Queens Park Rangers, the last in a series of three fixtures against newly promoted clubs. It had been Wigan hitting posts against Norwich and Swansea, but QPR managed to do so no less than three times without scoring on Saturday. That statistic flatters the visiting side, however, as Wigan rarely looked in trouble and once Di Santo had netted his first the match was rarely in doubt.
Prior to his two strikes on Saturday, the Argentine had only managed two goals in fifty-odd Premier League appearances, although many of them were made as a substitute, and half under Fat Sam’s management at Blackburn in a system that did not suit his style of play. His goal-scoring record at Audax Italiano, the Chilean team Chelsea poached him from, was decent if not prolific, with 26 goals from 76 appearances. On Saturday, he scored two beauties — albeit with a fortunate deflection on the second — and it might have been a hat-trick but for an excellent save from QPR keeper Paddy Kenny.
Positives:
Di Santo and Rodallega. Much like Jordi Gomez did last week at Swansea, Di Santo enjoy a breakthrough match, his best in a Wigan shirt. He had already showed encouraging signs in the first two matches, a man with a renewed sense of confidence and purpose. But where he’d failed in those, he succeeded this time around. Against QPR he was dynamic and dangerous, carving out a chance for himself and hammering at Paddy Kenny, before going one better with a sublime volley from the top of the box, and later sealing the match with another top-corner nestler after a slight deflection. Rodallega, meanwhile, looked back to his lively best, making a real nuisance of himself, passing intelligently and running at defenders. He and Di Santo seem to play well together and could be a useful partnership for the rest of the season.
Another clean sheet. Having shipped nine goals to Tottenham two years ago, and ten to Blackpool and Chelsea in their first two matches last year, Latics have come a long way defensively. Two clean sheets — and it would have been three but for Al-Habsi’s unfortunate mistake against Norwich — in three matches bodes well for the season, particularly given the absences of Antolin Alcaraz and Steve Gohouri, two of the club’s best three centre-backs.
Negatives:
I’ll keep this section short because the mission was accomplished with minimal fuss, but Adrian Lopez still looks wobbly at the heart of defense, Al-Habsi made a couple very good saves but looks uncharacteristically timid since his mistake against Norwich. Victor Moses, probably not at 100% having pulled his groin the week before, needs to improve his decision-making once he’s beaten his man. There isn’t a better dribbler in the league at the moment, but it will be important that he focuses on his final pass, or shot, if he is going to fill N’Zogbia’s boots.
Player Ratings:
Ali Al-Habsi: 7 — Made a couple very good saves, in particular from Taraabt’s deflected free-kick, pushing the ball onto the post and away from goal.
Maynor Figueroa: 6 — Fairly quiet match from the Honduran.
Gary Caldwell: 6 — Solid enough, although his passing was a little off.
Adrian Lopez: 5 — Better than his Norwich nightmare, but still a little wobbly and struggled again with the physical nature of the centre-forward’s game, in this case Patrick Agyemang. That said, he improved as the game went on and lets hope that continues.
Emmerson Boyce: 7 — Reliable, and made an excellent mazy run past several defenders that resulted in a goal-scoring opportunity for the Latics.
Ben Watson: 7 — Did his job fairly quietly in midfield, did not get forward at all, however.
Mo Diame: 6 –The odd moment of invention as is customary, but not much in the way of end product. Good tackling, however.
Jordi Gomez: 7 — Finishing was a little disappointing but it was another step in the right direction. He looks involved, confident, and did a fair bit of defending and tackling.
Victor Moses: 6 — Went past his man a couple times only to waste the final pass or shot, but he will continue to grow as the season goes on. Was probably still suffering the effects of his groin injury suffered against Swansea.
Hugo Rodallega: 8 — Very energetic performance on the left wing from Hugo, who was involved throughout, passed and moved well, and linked up nicely with Di Santo. Strangely, however, he didn’t have any chances or memorable goal attempts.
Franco Di Santo: 9 — His best performance for the club. Two lovely goals, excellent forward play, full of dribbling, passing and effort. Very pleased for him, it’s like having a new signing.
Subs:
Conor Sammon: 5 — After his exciting contribution at the end of last season, he’s looked a little less flashy this year. Fast, strong and willing, but the team has looked less dangerous when he has replaced Franco Di Santo on the pitch. Didn’t do much wrong, but didn’t create much either.
James McArthur: 6 — Came on and looked at home in midfield, though didn’t contribute too much of note.
Ronnie Stam: Was only on the pitch for a few minutes.
El capitán Gary Caldwell le dijo a periodistas británicos ayer que confía que el delantero colombiano Hugo Rodallega se quedará en el club a pesar de que varios equipos se interesan por el. Al delantero solo le queda un año de contrato y podría salir del club gratis el próximo semestre. Esperemos que firme un nuevo contrato pronto y que tenga una buena temporada. Sera importante que el club haga buen negocio si llega una oferta de un club mas grande en enero, o el próximo verano.
Rodallega inicio los dos primeros partidos de la temporada en el banquillo después de haber participado en la Copa América con la selección de su país. Sin embargo, las negociaciones han alimentado rumores de la prensa de que esa no era la única razón por la cual no fue titular en los partidos contra Norwich y Swansea. Algo parecido sucedió a principios de temporada el año pasado, cuando Charles N’Zogbia estaba negociando un posible traspaso a Birmingham, y Martinez decidió sentarlo.
Caldwell dijo: “Creo que Hugo quiere estar aquí”, dijo Caldwell. “Siempre hay rumores en esta etapa de la temporada pero nosotros trabajamos con él todos los días y seguirá siendo jugador de Wigan cuando cierre la ventana.”
Jugando en su puesto, el delantero argentino Franco Di Santo se ha lucido, pero se le esconde el gol. Dada la lesión que sufrió Victor Moses contra Swansea, es probable que Rodallega sea titular como puntero izquierdo en el próximo partido, con Di Santo arriba y Jordi Gomez por derecha. Su olfato goleador le ha hecho falta al equipo, que también se ha estado adaptando a jugar sin la gran figura de la temporada pasada, Charles N’Zogbia.
Esperemos que firme en los proximos dias. Después de una temporada 2010-2011 discreta, sera importante para el jugador y su equipo que retome su buena forma.
LINK TO ENGLISH ARTICLE: Rodallega will stay, says Caldwell
Good news today as Latics trio Ben Watson, Emmerson Boyce and James McCarthy signed new contracts for three, two and three years respectively. McCarthy had been linked with a move away during the summer but has decided to stay and further his career with the Latics, while deep lying playmaker Ben Watson has been rewarded for his increasingly influential displays in midfield. Everyone at the club will be delighted to hear Emmerson Boyce is sticking around for another couple years — he just keeps getting better with age.
Watson made mention of the “good feeling” at the club which suggests last season’s relegation battle and the relatively quiet summer of ins and outs has created strong team spirit. Boyce, already a father figure at 31 in this young side, has now been with Wigan all six of the club’s Premier League years and should handily break Paul Scharner’s record of most Premier League appearances this season. An under-appreciated player, Boyce has really flourished under Martinez, adding an attacking threat to his always reliable defensive work. And McCarthy, undoubtedly destined for one of the top clubs in the country, will continue to develop his game at Wigan Athletic, although the club will be lucky to hold onto him for all three years of his contract. The contract should, however, allow the club to ask for top dollar if the big boys do start circling in the next year or two.
Despite losing 3-1 to Arsenal earlier today, the reserves apparently looked very sharp. They had more than one goal disallowed and Callum McManaman hit the crossbar and had an effort cleared off the line when the game was still in the balance. Apparently, he and Nouha Dicko looked very dangerous throughout. Dicko is a natural left footer, who has been playing in that N’Zogbia right-wing role. Sounds really promising. Daniel Redmond scored the goal, a screamer from midfield. You can read the match report here.
As Peter Odemwingie put his name to a contract extension that will see him a West Brom player through the summer of 2014, the curtains closed on Wigan’s latest failed attempt in the transfer window.
There has been plenty to smile about this summer — Al-Habsi’s permanent deal, the release of wage drainers like Jason Koumas and Daniel De Ridder, and the retention of all but one of the club’s crop of talented young players.
But as we approach match day number two, the club appears no closer to the signing of a winger it so desperately needs. Nouha Dicko was apparently quite useful for the “development squad” in their 3-1 win the other day over Fulham, but is clearly one for the future. And Callum McManaman is back from the u-20 World Cup and will hopefully be available in the coming weeks. But it was quite clear against Norwich that while not doing anything wrong (or much of anything at all), Jordi Gomez is not dynamic enough for that position on the right wing. When the opposition wises up and starts kicking Moses on the left side of the pitch, we’ll have a problem.
And so West Brom rejected the Latics offer of 4 million pounds, a weak bid that was never going to tempt them. Odemwingie was a revelation last year, scoring 15 goals. He only cost West Brom 2.5 million, but who in their right mind would sell 15 Premier League goals for a profit of 1.5 million? That’s the difference between mid-table security and relegation.
Meanwhile, Sean Wright-Phillips is apparently close to joining Bolton. Roy Beerens (who?) snubbed Latics for AZ Alkmaar. Carlos Vela joined Real Sociedad on a year-long loan. Everton’s injury-prone forward Yakubu was linked a few days ago but nothing further on that one. Which probably means the best bet at this point is another season-long loan signing, ala Cleverley last year. But who else is there? Milner or Johnson from City would be great but their wages will be prohibitive. Diouf and Macheda of United may be available but haven’t shown too much in previous loan spells. Gio Dos Santos would be a loan possibility but it sounds at though Spurs want to sell. Arsenal don’t really have too much to spare. Maybe Pablo Barrera from West Ham’s bench? Someone from the Spanish market?
Overall, I’m a very happy supporter with Roberto Martinez at the helm. The team is financially stable, he’s building for the future, they’re playing decent football, and he genuinely cares. But one thing Steve Bruce had — and continues to have at Sunderland — is a big enough football name to convince proven Premiership players to join the club. At this stage, it looks like any signings are going to be from weaker leagues, who will take time to settle in and find their feet. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think the team can afford to wait too much longer — the relegation six-pointers have already started.
LOS THREE AMIGOS 