Category Archives: Other

Return to Alcaraz, please

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

Despite the current glut of injuries at the DW, and the efforts of the competent and ever-improving Ivan Ramis, this young season’s biggest blow is nothing new. In fact, it is the same as last year’s — Paraguayan centre-back Antolin Alcaraz.

While the Martinez-era Latics have never had a particularly strong goal-scoring record, the team has achieved remarkable results when the back line has been fully fit. In contrast to Gary Caldwell and Maynor Figueroa, who rarely miss a game, Alcaraz has sat out significant amounts of football. Put simply, when he has been out of the team, form has ranged from erratic to poor. His fitness problems (and later, suspension) last year coincided with the club’s worst ever run of form and kept him out until December. While results have been a bit better this season, the defence has been leaky without him and particularly weak in the air. His return should coincide with a tightening of the rearguard and positive run of results much as it did a year ago.

With two other centre-backs ruled out for the City fixture, his return cannot come soon enough. His performances in the early season pre-injury were strong — excellent in distribution and strong in his defending. He enjoys excellent understanding with Gary Caldwell, Maynor Figueroa and Emmerson Boyce, who he has now played with for three years, and should do well with the also Spanish-speaking Ramis. More than a month ago, Martinez reported that he was back training with the team and approximately two weeks away from action. Little has been heard since.

The question is — assuming recoveries for Caldwell and Ramis — who will drop to the bench when he does return? Caldwell is the captain and leader at the back. Ramis is now vice-captain and has become an important player in a short amount of time. And Figueroa offers balance and tactical versatility with his ability to push wide as left-back or into the wingback position. Who would you drop?

Injuries and suspensions are likely to make this a non-issue. But with all three natural centre-backs out at present, it will be interesting to see how Martinez shifts his lines. A return to four at the back for the City fixture should not be discounted as the Spaniard used one in the corresponding fixture last year. Or will Lopez be given a chance alongside Boyce and Figueroa after impressing against Reading?

Wednesday may come too soon for Antolin, but his return can’t come soon enough.

Wigan Athletic 3 Reading 2 — Gomez to the rescue

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

Who would have thought that Jordi Gomez would come to Wigan Athletic’s rescue, winning this game for the Latics with a brilliant hat trick? Even the most fair and open-minded of Latics supporters had been getting to the point where they would wince to see Gomez’ name on the team sheet. The same happened yesterday when Franco Di Santo was relegated to the bench, Gomez taking his place in the starting lineup.

The first half went true to recent form as Wigan conceded another headed goal from a long cross to the far post, to put them in a losing situation at half time. Gomez was booed early on following misplaced passes and poor finishing. In contrast Jean Beausejour was having an excellent game and in the 26th minute he put in a brilliant cross that had “goal” written all over it. However, Arouna Kone somehow managed to head it wide. A few minutes later Gomez slipped an incisive short pass through to Kone, who was blocked by the goalkeeper but managed to keep his footing sufficiently to jab the ball towards goal. The end result was the ball being blocked by a defender, rather than Kone going down for the penalty he would surely have got. Gomez was back to showing us his frustrating side just before half time, showing considerable skill in manoevering past defenders before shooting wide. Wigan went into half time trailing to the giant Morrison’s free header, their own profligacy in front of goal preventing them from drawing even.

The second half saw Franco Di Santo come on to replace Shaun Maloney and this turned out to be an inspired substitution. Jordi Gomez brought Wigan back in the game with two well taken goals, the second being a diving header. In between Gomez’ goals, Di Santo had scored a well taken goal from another fantastic Beausejour cross, but referee Howard Webb disallowed it for offside, which it clearly was not. Wigan were leading 2-1 with just over 10 minutes left when Reading equalized with the kind of own goal from Ali Al Habsi that will give him nightmares for weeks to come. It was a familiar situation for Wigan supporters, seeing all that good work ruined by an individual defensive lapse. It had only been a few minutes earlier that Al Habsi himself had singlehandedly kept Wigan ahead with fabulous fingertip save from a Reading header.

When the 90th minute expired it went into three minutes of added time. It looked like a case of sharing the points with a side who had been inferior for most of the game. Most of the danger from Reading had come from high balls and crosses. Wigan were playing the better football. After a minute of added time Gomez surged through from the centre of midfield, putting through a lovely pass for Kone to run on to. Intelligent player that he is, Kone kept his composure and squared the ball to Gomez who had continued his run. Gomez swept the ball home with panache.

In the minds of many Wigan Athletic supporters Jordi Gomez had never quite proved that he could handle the transition from the Championship to the Premier League. Too often he would get himself into great scoring positions, but not have the composure to put the ball in the net. Yesterday’s encounter will be remembered as the day that Gomez showed the Wigan fans that his manager’s faith in his abilities was justified. In the second half of this match Gomez looked a class act, threading through good passes and taking his chances with great aplomb.

The Good

At times Latics played champagne football. They were technically superior to Reading, even if the visitors were physically impressive. Gomez is the obvious candidate for ‘Man of the Match’, but Jean Beausejour gave a brilliant display as a wing back. He has been a little short of his best in most games this season, but yesterday he defended well and his crossing was superb.

Latics’ injury woes continued, Shaun Maloney coming off at half time and captain Ivan Ramis five minutes later. However, Franco Di Santo proved to be an excellent substitution for Maloney, causing headaches for the visitors defence with his movement and intelligent passing. Adrian Lopez came on for Ramis and played his best game so far for the club – he looked decisive in his tackling and comfortable on the ball.

The Bad

Giving away another goal to a free header provides further cause for concern. Granted Sean Morrison is 6 ft 5 in tall, but nevertheless nobody in the Wigan defence competed with him for the ball. The best header of the ball at the club – Antolin Alcaraz – remains out injured. In the meantime the defensive unit needs to work on attacking the high balls that come in.

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 5 – all goalkeepers make mistakes. Made one outstanding save, but was lucky with a first half shot that nearly bobbled past him.

Ronnie Stam: 6 – not so strong in defence as in attack, but as lively as ever.

Emmerson Boyce: 6 – solid and dependable at the back.

Ivan Ramis: 6 – excellent distribution. Went off after 49 minutes.

Maynor Figueroa: 5.5 – solid, but lucky not to get another penalty decision against him in the second half.

Jean Beausejour: 9 – his best game ever for Latics. Always available on the wide left, worked really hard in attack and defence. Put in some sublime crosses.

James McCarthy: 7 – worked hard, totally committed as always. Solid in defence and supportive in attack. The ultimate team player.

David Jones: 7 – worked really hard, put nice passes through with his cultured left foot.

Shaun Maloney: 6 – buzzed around as usual, putting in nice short passes. Went off at half time.

Jordi Gomez: 9 – silenced his critics, his brilliant finishing won the game for Wigan. Also put in incisive passes. His best ever game for his club.

Arouna Kone: 6 – had two first half chances that he should have scored. However, as selfless as ever, putting in another afternon of hard toil. The vision he showed in making the pass for Gomez’ winner showed what a class performer he is.

Substitutes

Franco Di Santo: 7 – showed what a class act he can be after coming on after half time. Creative, skilled, intelligent – a high class player in the making.

Adrian Lopez: 7– took over the Gary Caldwell role in the centre of the back three. Handled it with aplomb.

James McArthur: – came on for David Jones after 79 minutes.

WIGAN ATHLETIC-READING PREVIEW

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

  • Injury-hit Wigan Athletic face newly promoted Reading at the DW Stadium this afternoon. Wigan are currently in 16th place with 11 points from 12 games. Although they have won only one league game all season – last week at home to Everton – Reading are in 17th place, with just two points less than Wigan. A win for the visitors would allow Reading to leapfrog over Wigan, plunging Latics into the relegation zone. The phrase “must-win game” tends to be overstated in the media, but in this case it comes pretty close to describing the importance of three points to Wigan Athletic.

    Ben Watson’s broken leg must have impacted on Wigan’s performance and morale last week at Liverpool. It was so unfortunate after he had waited so long for his chance to get back into the team and had regained his form. James McArthur remains injured, so David Jones will partner James McCarthy in the centre of midfield. The injury to Gary Caldwell is a blow since it is not only his playing ability that will be missed, but his organizational skills in the centre of the back three. The most obvious option is to move Emmerson Boyce across to the central three and bring in the attacking Ronnie Stam. However, reports in the media have suggested Martinez might change the shape, which would likely mean playing with a conventional back four. This would allow him to bring in a winger, such as Ryo Miyaichi – if fit. There is some doubt over the fitness of Franco Di Santo. If he does not play the obvious replacement would be Mauro Boselli, but Jordi Gomez might jump ahead of him in the pecking order.

    In contrast, Reading have better news regarding injuries, with forward Jimmy Kebe fit again after missing the Everton game. Old Wigan favourite, Jason Roberts, now 34, will probably start for the visitors. Reading’s win last week will certainly boost them although rumours regarding manager Brian McDermott’s position are not going to help. A failure to get a result at Wigan might well push him closer to the edge. Reading play an energetic, physical type of football and Wigan can expect the crosses to be teeming in. Ex-Watford midfield player, Jobi McAnuff, made 11 assists last season when Reading won the Championship and he has already made 4 more assists this season. Their leading goalscorer is Adam Le Fondre with 3 goals.

    Critics would say that there has been a need for a shake up in the Latics lineup for some weeks. Martinez has kept stubborn faith in his first choice players, many of whom have disappointed up to this point. This time he is going to be forced into making changes because of injuries. Too many times in key relegation tussles in the past Wigan have gone into the match with a cautious team selection. Let’s hope Martinez puts on a positive lineup from the start in this match.

    Reading have not won an away game this season, drawing 2 out of their 5. Wigan have won 1 out of 6 games at home. The logical prediction would therefore be a draw. However, football does not always work like that and it could be that a soft goal, penalty decision or red card could make the difference in this encounter. Wigan are due for a little bit of luck – maybe it will come today?

    • Style, goals, or both?

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

    In August 1963, non-league Wigan Athletic were due to play at Southport, then of the Fourth Division, in a pre-season friendly. My Dad commented at the time that the Seasiders played too much “pretty, pretty football” to be effective. I had visions of Southport’s players almost walking the ball into the net. The end result was not so pretty for Latics. Southport – inspired by ex-Manchester United youth player, David Latham – tore them apart 10-2. Funny enough four days later a return match was played at Springfield Park. Latham was marked out of the game. Southport played some nice possession football but were not incisive. Latics beat them 3-0, inspired by ex-Liverpool youth playmaker Pat Kinsella, Tommy Neill netting a penalty. Southport had played the football, but Wigan took their chances. Maybe my Dad did have a point?

    When my son, and regular columnist Ned, was 8 years old we moved to Cali, Colombia. We would regularly go to watch the local teams –- America and Deportivo Cali -– play each week at the Pascual Guerrero Stadium, close to the centre of that vibrant and captivating city. The Colombian league was a joy to watch — the ball was invariably on the ground, technical levels very high, the emphasis on skill. The downside was that, at times, play could go across the field rather than towards goal.

    The Colombian national team were the same – full of promise and good football, but short of bite. The captain Carlos Valderrama – he of the frizzy hair and wonderful technique – was the most popular person in the whole country. Valderrama’s outfit was the best national team Colombia had ever had and in 1996 FIFA ranked them fourth best in the world. They were playing that technically pure type of football that probably only Brazil could match in terms of artistry. They still were not scoring many goals, but they had a strong defence and retained possession in such a way that opponents found them hard to play against. In 1994 they had got their most famous result, beating Argentina 5-0 in a World Cup qualifying game in Buenos Aires. Valderrama bossed the match from the centre of midfield and the lightning fast Colombian forwards – Faustino Asprilla and Adolfo Valencia – blew Argentina away. It was a case of pretty, pretty football being finished off by ruthless and clinical finishing. You can watch highlights here.

    Colombia have continued to promise — but not deliver — since that era. However,  they currently lie in third place in the 9 team South American World Cup qualifying group, having beaten Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile in recent qualifiers and drawn with Brazil in a New Jersey friendly. The emergence of one of the world’s most sought-after strikers — Radamel Falcao –- has helped them translate their pure technical football into goals.

    The message for the current Wigan Athletic team is clear: it is not enough to play good possession football. It is incisive approach play and ruthless, clinical finishing that wins matches. Finding strikers of the kind of quality to kill off the opposition is hard for a club like Latics with limited resources. It is also hard to find creative midfield players who can provide them with the ammunition. Shaun Maloney is doing a fine job in that role, although in recent outings he has often been heavily marked. The opposition have learned that he is the main creative threat.

    I had the pleasure of meeting Carlos Valderrama near the end of his career when he was playing in the MLS in the United States. Modest, friendly and warm hearted you would not have guessed what a superstar he was with the 45 million people in his home country, and many more on the South American continent. A model professional with a fantastic attitude. For me the only way he could be faulted was that he never scored enough goals. Maloney, Gomez and company please take note.

    LIVERPOOL 3 WIGAN ATHLETIC 0 – WHAT A DIFFERENCE A GOAL MAKES

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

    Once again a defensive lapse led to an opening goal, from which Latics were never going to recover. Wigan had managed to stifle Liverpool during a poor quality first half and the home team had not looked like scoring. Neither had Wigan. Latics had a body blow after 32 minutes as Ben Watson suffered a broken leg following a tackle by Raheem Sterling.

    However, just after half time, loose build-up play put Maynor Figueroa into a 50-50 situation with Sterling. More often than not  Figueroa would win such a tackle, but having already picked up a yellow card in the first half, he backed off. Sterling ran through and passed to Luis Suarez who scored. Only one goal but effectively it was “Game Over” as Liverpool’s tails were raised and Latics played like a team that had no faith that they could get back into the match. By the end of the game Latics had made Liverpool look a good team, which they are not.

    Liverpool had dispensed with the Martinez-like back three that they employed at Chelsea the previous week. Their lineup was unbalanced with the right footed Glen Johnson on the left of the back four and the natural left back, Jose Enrique, in midfield. Rodgers seemed to have lost his rag completely when he made a tactical substitution after only 35 minutes, replacing the inconspicuous Suso with the workmanlike Henderson. However, once that first goal had gone in it looked like Rodgers’ tactical lineup was right after all. Predictably the in-form Suarez was Liverpool’s outstanding player and the main difference between the two teams. Enrique too had a fine second half, enjoying the lack of composure of Wigan’s defence and midfield.

    The Good

    In the first half Latics had played well defensively, although it was worrying to see how little ambition they showed in trying to put the ball into Liverpool’s net.

    The Bad

    It was sad to see Ben Watson leave the field with a major injury, just when he was getting back on top of his game. Let’s hope he has a speedy recovery.

    When Latics fall behind they just cannot raise the tempo of their play sufficiently to cause concern for the opponent’s defence. Wigan created very little going forward, bar a couple of poor finishes from Jones and Gomez in the second half, when in good positions.

    All in all – a match best forgotten.

    Player Ratings

    Ali Al Habsi: 6 – played well, apart from only being able to parry Sterling’s shot leading to Enrique’s goal.

    Emmerson Boyce: 5 – not his best day.

    Ivan Ramis: 5.5 – the best in defence, tried to stem the flow of opposition attacks on the defence.

    Gary Caldwell: 5 – played well in the first half, but faded. Substituted after 69 minutes when Martinez reverted to a flat back four.

    Maynor Figueroa: 5 – not his best day.

    Jean Beausejour: 5 – not his best day. His poor backpass led to the first goal.

    James McCarthy: 5 – looked lost in the second half without McArthur or Watson alongside him.

    Ben Watson: 6 – played pretty well until his inopportune injury.

    Shaun Maloney: 5 – ineffective.

    Franco Di Santo: 4.5 – could not get into the game. Should have been taken off earlier than the 69th minute when he was substituted.

    Arouna Kone: 5 – an afternoon of hard toil for the big centre forward, with poor service being supplied to him.

    Substitutes

    David Jones: 3 – anonymous after coming on for Watson on the  32 minute mark.

    Jordi Gomez: 3– ineffective and lightweight,  coming on after 69 minutes.

    Ryo Miyaichi: 5 – tightly marked and did not receive one pass for him to utilize his pace. Came on after 69 minutes.