Category Archives: News

Wigan vs. Arsenal: Latics out to defy reason

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

2012-arsenal

If the deepest injury crisis of Wigan’s Premier League existence has led to a slide down the table, Saturday’s home fixture against Arsenal — on paper — promises to extend the misery. Not only are the Latics potentially without two more players, bringing the injured or doubtful list to nine senior players — the London club are enjoying a resurgence and love nothing more than a leaky defence.

The last time these two clubs met was a glorious occasion for Martinez’s men, but it would be a minor miracle if Wigan could repeat the feat on home soil with the casualty list so strong and morale so fragile.

The biggest question is who will play alongside Maynor Figueroa and Emmerson Boyce at the heart of the defence. Gary Caldwell, Ivan Ramis, Antolin Alcaraz and most recently, Adrian Lopez, are injured. While it is feasible one of the four will recover in time to play, there are no guarantees. David Jones deputised at left centre-half against QPR, but a similar move would force Maynor Figueroa into an unfamiliar central role. Roman Golobart is untested at this level and it would be a baptism of fire to face Walcott, Cazorla and company in this sort of form. A change of shape would be an option if there was another left back in the available squad, but not so.

And yet, in situations like these when it all seems impossible, Wigan is capable of surprising everyone. Shaun Maloney has been eased back from injury and should start after being Latics’ brightest spark in a poor team performance against Norwich. Franco Di Santo has also been used a little more sparingly recently but could return to partner Arouna Kone up front. The big question is whether Jordi Gomez will be dropped for one of them. And whether James McCarthy’s ankle injury heals in time. His importance to the team grows by the match.

It’s always an unfair contest when Wigan faces Arsenal. But when you have nine senior players injured, including your four senior centre backs, against a team that just scored five goals away from home, all you can do is your best. Reason says straightforward win for Arsenal today — Wigan will be out to defy it.

Wigan 2 QPR 2: Frustration setting in

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

Another opportunity squandered as Latics failed to convert a string of chances to put this game beyond Harry’s energized, but sloppy troops. Wigan were still missing seven senior players against a team with a new manager in desperate circumstances, but frustration is starting to set in as the season shapes closer to another relegation battle than a than a cozy mid-table finish.

The Good:

James McCarthy’s finishing — he was unlucky not to score three — confirmed what we already knew: the lad has everything. Ronnie Stam put in another good display down the right. The team’s response after a poor first half was once again very strong and resulted in an equaliser, although it probably should have resulted in two or three more goals as well.

The Bad:

The result and the scrappy nature of the team’s play at times. The worrying lack of composure from those charged with putting the ball in the back of the net. Koné was poor, and desperately needs a goal. Boselli came on far too late — this game would have suited him as Latics had a lot of possession in the opposition’s box. When Maloney came on, he looked out of place in a left-midfield role instead of around the box where his incision was needed.

Player Ratings:

Ali Al-Habsi: 6 — Made a couple great saves and could not be blamed for any of the goals.

Emmerson Boyce: 7.5 — Once again a strong performer on the right of the back three.

Adrian Lopez: 6 — Ryan Nelsen lost his mark for the first goal and a sloppy pass from the Spaniard led to the second. He was very good otherwise, but…

David Jones: 7 — Called upon to fill the left centre-half position and did his best. Got forward occasionally too, deserves credit.

Jean Beausejour: 6 — Despite providing the cross for the second goal, this was not one of his stronger performances.

Ronnie Stam: 7.5 — Full of running and endeavour down the right. May be one to keep his place when all the injured players return to the squad.

James McArthur: 6 — Ok on the ball, but not as dominant as usual.

James McCarthy: 9 — Excellent. Drove the team forward in the second half. Capable of scoring regularly — sadly will end up at one of the big clubs if he does.

Jordi Gomez: 6.5 — Poor first half, faded in and out of second, but looked to be the only attacking player with the composure to score. Latics’ biggest threat and was unlucky to hit the crossbar.

Franco Di Santo: 6.5 — Some good running with the ball, was fouled a lot, but didn’t ever look like scoring.

Arouna Kone: 5 — His touch let him down on numerous occasions, and he failed to get his shot off when through in the second half. Needs a goal.

Subs:

Shaun Maloney: N/A — Brought on in a strange left midfield role and looked a little off the pace. Still, if he made it through without injury setback

Mauro Boselli

Wigan vs. QPR: Clean sheets unlikely

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

2012-qpr

Wigan Athletic returns to the DW to face a Harrified QPR with even fewer available players than they left it — some feat! — including all four of the club’s first-choice centre-backs. The injury total now stands at eight senior players.

Word on the street is Roberto Martinez will revert to a more traditional four-man defence featuring Emmerson Boyce and Adrian Lopez as centre-halves — which sounds fine until reminded of Ronnie Stam’s defensive frailties as a traditional right-back, and the lack of a Maynor Figueroa understudy on the left. The idea of Boyce and Lopez being flanked by two wing-backs playing as full-backs — Stam and Beausejour — is not a warm and fuzzy one, not least because the team’s attacking play has largely been built around their ability to get forward and put crosses into the box.

A perhaps more fluid adjustment, if not without its own set of risks, would be the inclusion of promising Spanish youngster Roman Golobart as third centre-half. This would allow Beausejour and Stam to play in their natural positions and the rest of the team could remain unchanged.

Whichever way Martinez decides to go, statistics suggest the rest of us are in for some goals tomorrow. While Southampton lead the goals conceded table with a remarkable 32 — more than 2 per game — Wigan is close behind with 28, followed by QPR on 27. Considering Wigan’s four first choice defenders are unavailable and the goalkeeper is suffering from a bit of a confidence crisis, a clean sheet does not look likely, though stranger things have happened. If reports of Julio Cesar’s fitness struggle are true, we could even be in for another Robert Green appearance at the DW, thus furthering the argument.

Have you ever sat down to write something and realized five paragraphs in that it’s all coming out wrong?

Despite the defensive crisis and unlikeliness of a clean sheet, I am backing Wigan to win this fixture. Harry has already made big improvements at QPR, with the defence tightened up and Sean Wright-Phillips enjoying a second chance. They showed last week that they are quite good at hitting the post, which should sound familiar. But despite the negative results of the last two fixtures, Latics’ form overall has not been okay. If the general play and discipline of the City match can be retained, three points should be up for grabs.

Prediction: Wigan 2 QPR 1, Jordi Gomez style.

Meet Roger Espinoza — the inside scoop on Latics’ Honduran target

Posted by Ned in News, Other, Specials and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

2012-roger

As today’s news reports have all but confirmed the signing of Honduran Roger Espinoza, we thought we’d seize the opportunity to introduce him through a Kansas-tinted lens. Though familiar on this side of the pond for his star turn in the summer olympics, the midfielder is a far cry from Wigan’s typical Latin American recruits.

Born in Puerto Cortes, Honduras, Espinoza moved the United States at the age of 12, where he has resided since — becoming a citizen in the process. He played collegiate (university-level) football for Yavapai College before transferring to the much bigger Ohio State Buckeyes, where he was identified as a talent and selected in the “draft” by the Kansas City Wizards.

He has since made more than 100 appearances over a four-season span for the club — now known as Sporting Kansas City — and amassed 25 for his native Honduras since his first call-up in 2009, not including the four for the olympic squad this past summer.

Not only will Espinoza become the fourth Honduran to don Wigan Athletic colours — strengthening the ever growing bond between our club and the central american country — he also arrives with fluent English, a huge advantage over his countrymen. As one Wigan supporter humorously, if somewhat inaccurately pointed out, he will be the first “American-sounding” player at the club since Jason de Vos.

When I reached out to the independent supporters club, the KC Cauldron, their response was warm and swift. Latics supporters know a thing or two about losing quality players for little or no money, and the feeling in Kansas is not unlike what we have experienced so many times in the past — sadness and resignation, mixed with pride and genuine wishes for the player to succeed on the big stage.

Without further ado, the words of James Starritt, who writes and speaks about Sporting Kansas City on the web and local radio, on sportingtimes.net and kicktheball.us — and has been thoroughly impressed by Roger in his four years at the club.

A frenzy of crunching tackling and combative running

“Roger is a fantastic player who has shown enormous capacity to grow over the last few years. As is typical for MLS he was played out of position for a while — on the flanks early — before being converted to full-back. He didn’t do well, and was a fairly average presence until Honduras popped him into central midfield, and he immediately carved out some fantastic performances. An injury crisis in the middle in 2011 forced a similar move shortly afterwards from Sporting Kansas City, and in his first game he simply dominated the entire midfield, scoring a goal, and breaking up opposition possession in what I can only describe as a frenzy of crunching tackling and combative running. He has never looked back.

If you watched Paul Ince, David Batty or Roy Keane back the days, he is cut from that mold. He is passionate and dominant when he is on his game, and he leaves everything he has on the field. He thrives on the competition, and seems to get stronger as games go onwards. He is very, very consistent. If he can play … he is on.

He is very dangerous around either area, breaking up possession in front of his defense and winning it back around the top of the opponents box. He is ideal sitting right between a defensive midfielder and an attacking/creative one — at least at this level. He can drop back into defensive midfield comfortably, however. He is not terribly dynamic going forward but he does create chances for other players to play around him simply by winning the ball and pressuring people into mistakes, he won’t make goals, you’ll still need players to capitalize on the possession he wins for that. If he can raise his game to BPL levels, Wigan should see more of the ball just having him out there. He is a decent passer, he won’t score many goals, but I think he will only improve with better players around him.

The transfer will go through, goodbyes have been said – I see no reason that he will not pass the medical. He may be a little beaten up after a long season but nothing stands out as problematic long-term that should prevent this going through. Pay will not be an issue either as he is on less than £80,000 currently … annually. The only question is whether he can handle the step up in level … what you get with Roger is a guy who will die trying. He is 26 now but players start later in MLS (they go to college/university and then play…) he is still learning and growing and doesn’t have 8 years of time on his legs. He’ll earn his share of yellows and reds… it is just the nature of his play, he isn’t malicious or dirty but if he dives in, he is going all in. You’ll get no histrionics, no diving – he goes down and bounces right up and gets right back into the game, not much complaining, no drama off the field, and he is a nice guy to talk to – he won’t have problems fitting in with the squad unless he struggles to feel at home within Wigan itself.

If he can handle the BPL I think he has the capacity to be a bit of a fan favorite, maybe not a huge star but a good solid pro who you’ll miss when he isn’t out there. We certainly will.”

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.