Category Archives: Player profiles

Gomez already in tune

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with ,

Will Jordi Gomez be willing to take a pay cut to rejoin Latics?

He started slowly at Norwich, but in the 37th minute he ghosted into a centre forward position to meet Michael Jacobs’ cross, only to be thwarted by a superb block from Martin Olsson. As the second half progressed he became the orchestrator, receiving the ball under pressure, spraying passes out to the wings. It was no big surprise when he opened Latics’ account in the 72nd minute with an opportunist goal when Will Grigg’s flick opened up space in the Norwich rearguard. Just a minute later he was to go inches wide with a crisply taken free kicked curled around the defensive wall.

Wigan Athletic were unlucky not to have come away with a point from Carrow Road after all had seemed lost early in the proceedings. In the second half they had played to the Caldwell tune, with Jordi Gomez the orchestrator. Back at the club after a two year absence he looked consummately at ease with the style of football his team was playing.

Jordi Gomez is not everybody’s cup of tea. He had four years of Premier League football under the tutelage of Roberto Martinez, but only started in some 40% of the games, scoring a total of 10 goals. However, the manager always kept faith in his fellow Catalan, whose style of play many would say epitomized the Martinez era. The names of the two became practically synonymous, so much so that elements of the crowd, frustrated at the slowness of build-up play would so often vent their fury on Gomez.

But the build-up play in the second half at Norwich was not so slow and Gomez was clearly enjoying it. In his final season at Wigan prior to leaving for Sunderland Gomez suffered for months under a manager who considered him a “luxury player”. It was when the inept Owen Coyle left and Uwe Rosler took over that we saw the best of the player, who provided inspiration for a surge in the second half of the season that took Latics into the FA Cup semi-final and the Championship playoffs. Gomez scored 2 goals under Coyle and 9 under Rosler.

Gary Caldwell’s style of football bears a strong resemblance to that of Roberto Martinez, if a little more pragmatic. It is therefore no surprise that he can achieve harmony so quickly with the totally new faces around him in the Wigan Athletic team. Knowing Jordi as we do, we can continue to expect the kind of frustrating back passes that have typically marked his play, but at the same time we know that at Championship level he is a player to be reckoned with.

Gomez is already in tune. Despite having just a 22 minute appearance off the bench against QPR and very little pre-season game time, he went the full 90 at Norwich. Some have labelled him as lazy, his languid style betraying the yardage he covers during a game. There was no sign of laziness at Carrow Road: more that of a player committed to becoming a vital cog in Gary Caldwell’s machine.

Gomez will continue to divide opinion among supporters, but he fits into Caldwell’s style of play like a glove. At his best he can orchestrate the midfield, scoring goals and putting through slide rule passes to his forwards. He will surely be looking forward to a successful return to Wigan.

 

 

Bramble and Burn

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , , , , ,

Dan_Burn

Dan Burn’s inept back pass to his goalkeeper gave Nottingham Forest a flying start at the City Ground. The home team centre forward Britt Assombalomba snuffled it up to give his side an early lead. It was the kind of error a Sunday League defender would be embarrassed by. Soon after the boos started to come from a small section of the away support when Burn touched the ball again. Thank goodness the jeering subsided and it did not rear its ugly head again.

A couple of weeks earlier a Latics fan, who had been to the pre-season games and had made a frustrating journey to watch his team play at Bristol said that Burn was “an accident waiting to happen”. Another went further by saying that he looked like a second Titus Bramble.

But is it fair to compare Burn with Bramble? Was the fan referring to the Titus Bramble who was famous for his high profile errors or the one who was Player of the Season for Steve Bruce’s Latics in the 2008-09 season?

Titus Bramble arrived at Wigan on a free transfer from Newcastle in the summer of 2007. Although he had made over 100 league appearances in his time at the north east club, he had become more well known for his errors than his considerable attributes as a Premier League central defender. Bramble had a superb physique with the requisite skills to be a top class defender. But it was his gaffes that had given him notoriety. Bruce was sticking his neck out by taking in the big Ipswich-born defender, but the manager himself had been a central defender. Could he and his coaching staff help Bramble become a more complete player?

It was not easy for Bruce or Bramble and the player continued to make those same kinds of errors in his early days at Wigan.

But Bruce maintained his belief in the player. The result was Bramble being voted both Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year near the end of the 2008-09 season. Bramble was to spend three years at Wigan, before following Bruce to Sunderland.

Dan Burn’s poorly hit back pass at Nottingham hardly places him in the category of Bramble. But Fulham fans will tell you he was prone to the odd howler and his pre-season performances for Latics were riddled with occasional errors that one would not expect from a player who has made more than 70 appearances in the Championship.

Having a very tall central defender can be a prerequisite for success in the Championship. At 6 ft 6 in Burn can dominate in the air. Tall defenders like Burn are not always strong in their distribution, an important feature in Gary Caldwell’s style of play, but Burn is capable of launching precise passes with a sweet left foot. Moreover he can be effective on the ground in making interceptions and breaking up play.

However, Burn needs to work on his heading of the ball. Being tall is not sufficient. He needs to work on developing more power and control of his headers. His arrival in the opposition penalty area should provoke concern for their defenders, but he remains unconvincing.

More than anything else he needs to work on his concentration.

When Bramble arrived at Wigan he was 24, the same age as Burn. Direct comparisons are futile. Their attributes and experience differ. But there are analogies.

Titus Bramble was a success at Wigan despite his precedents. His manager clearly believed in him and inspired him to give his best.

Like Bruce, Caldwell too is an ex- central defender. Can Caldwell help Burn cut out those errors, those moments of uncertainty which can blight his performances?

Dan Burn and Titus Bramble are different types of player from different eras. Moreover Bramble operated in the Premier League, not the Championship. But some parallels exist. Will Burn become one of the first names on Caldwell’s team sheet as was Bramble in the Bruce era?

Burn has the attributes to become a dominant central defender in the mould of Fulham legend Brede Hangeland. As such he could be invaluable to Latics. Although he can sometimes be uncertain in his play he has not committed the quantities of high profile errors that had plagued his predecessor Bramble’s early career. But can he win over the doubters in the Wigan support as Bramble did?

Caldwell was clearly unhappy with Fulham’s first goal at the weekend. With Jake Buxton’s suspension period over will he recall the ex-Derby player at Burn’s expense for the QPR game coming up on Saturday?

Or will he find a way to include both, giving Burn a vote of confidence?

 

 

Life without Pearce?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , ,
Photo courtesy of football365.com

Photo courtesy of football365.com

Wigan boss denies defender set for Charlton switch said a headline yesterday. Headlines are meant to draw attention to an article. This one certainly drew mine. But did Gary Caldwell really deny that Jason Pearce might be heading for Charlton?

The Latics manager had said that he had not yet received any offers for the central defender and quoted that that “The arrival of Jake [Buxton] has given me options that I need going forwards. If anything changes, we’ll let you know.”

It could be argued that the headline was misleading, but it has got fans debating as to whether a defender who was pivotal in the League 1 title winning triumph should be allowed to leave. Would Caldwell be willing to lose Pearce? It appears that the door has already been opened, given the absence of a comment from Caldwell saying that the player is staying at the club.

The 28 year old Jason Pearce was signed by Malky Mackay in January 2015. Impressing in a struggling team was never going to be easy, but Pearce held his own and formed a solid partnership with Harry Maguire in the centre of defence. He went on to make 15 appearances from February until the end of the season on May 2.

Then came a massive summer clear out by Caldwell, but Pearce was to become a rock upon which a League 1 title winning team was built. Pearce was to miss the start of the 2015-16 through injury, appearing in his first game in a home match against Crewe at the end of August. He partnered Donervon Daniels and Craig Morgan in a backline of three. Given Caldwell’s predilection to switch between three at the back and an orthodox back four, Pearce had to be flexible in his positioning, but was to be inevitably found on the left side of the central defence.

His wealth of experience in the lower divisions made him invaluable defensively in Caldwell’s set up, particularly when playing in tandem with Morgan. Moreover Pearce had worked on his passing skills out of defence, rarely wasting the ball. Given the player’s willingness to totally commit him to the cause, putting his body on the line so often, it was perhaps inevitable that injuries would result. In fact he went on to make 33 appearances. It was a reflection on the effectiveness of the Pearce-Morgan combination that Latics did not lose a single game when the two appeared together in the starting lineup until the final match of the season against Barnsley.

It could be that injury has once again intervened, preventing Pearce playing in the final two pre-season matches at Oldham and Fleetwood. If that is the case he will be among more than half a dozen of the squad currently suffering from pre-season injuries. However, rumours persist that the player wants to move back down south; moreover that Caldwell has already signed Buxton as his replacement.  Could it be that Caldwell does not see him as effective a player in the Championship as he was in League 1?

Jake Buxton’s arrival appears to be an indicator that Pearce is on his way out of the club. Buxton is a physical, combative player in the mould of Pearce and will fans are hoping he can reproduce the same kind of form at Wigan as he did during his prime at Derby, where he spent seven years, an idol of the fans. It can be seen as an indication of Caldwell’s regard for Buxton that he gave the player a three year contract at the age of 31. Pearce remains only 28. Is there not room in the defence for the two?

Should Pearce move on Caldwell will be left with just one player in his senior squad recruited prior to his appointment as manager.  That is Lee Nicholls, who faces competition from Adam Bogdan, Jussi Jaaskelainen and Dan Lavercombe for the goalkeeping position.

Jason Pearce has earned the respect of Wigan Athletic supporters due to his commitment and willingness to put his body on the line for his team. Whether he will be at Wigan at the start of the 2016-17 season next weekend remains uncertain.

 

 

 

How good is Michael Jacobs?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with ,

Jacobswigantoday

The statistics place him as the second leading goal scorer and the joint leader in assists for a side that won the divisional title. In this case the stats don’t lie – Michael Jacobs played a key role in the 2015-16 season for Wigan Athletic.

“Crackers” scored 10 league goals and made 8 assists, an impressive record, given that he missed a couple of months of the season through injury. He made 30 league starts, with 5 appearances off the bench.

Michael Jacobs was the main creative force for Latics over the course of the season. He was often employed wide, but looked particularly effective when operating in the hole behind the centre forward. Jacobs has genuine skill, with vision to match. He has the ability to take on defenders and make incisive passes.

Being a skilful player in League 1 can have its drawbacks, with ruthless defenders not being afraid to stick the boot in, aided by refereeing that can be over-tolerant. It is to Jacobs’ credit that he has not retaliated when singled out for rough treatment. A good temperament added to a strong work ethic makes him a key team player.

Jacobs is still only 24 and his best is surely yet to come. However, the  Championship is a very different prospect to League 1. Jacobs has prior experience there with Derby, Wolves and Blackpool, but was unable to make the kind of impression he would have liked. Can he make the transition back to the Championship and be the kind of key player that he was for Gary Caldwell this past season?

Jacobs has the pre-requisites to succeed in the Championship, possibly even in the division above. He has the skill, technique and temperament to become a top player. It is self-belief that will be the key, as it has been for Jamie Vardy at Leicester.

Jacobs is not the only Latics player returning to the Championship. All of them will need to step their play up a gear if they are to be a force in the higher division. Jacobs has as gòod a chance as anyone in doing so.

 

 

 

How good is Grigg?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with ,

This post was originally published a week ago. However, it did not reach our wider audience because it was not picked up by our main news aggregator. We are therefore republishing it. Apologies to those of you who might have previously received it.

Grigg

In the past 20 years just four players have scored 20 goals in a season for Wigan Athletic. Nathan Ellington scored 24 and Jason Roberts got 21 when Latics were promoted from the Championship in 2004-05. Graeme Jones scored 31 when they gained promotion by winning Division 3 in 1996-97.

Will Grigg has scored 23 goals already this season, 20 in league games and 3 in cup competitions. His team is already practically odds-on for promotion. The goals of Ellington, Roberts and Jones were key to their team’s promotion successes. It looks like those of Grigg could prove to be the same.

It is the third time that Grigg has exceeded the 20 goal per season mark with a League 1 club. He first did it for Walsall in 2012-13, leading him on to win their player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season awards. However, rather than build on his successes in the midlands Grigg moved on to Brentford, who at the time were then in League 1 under the management of Uwe Rosler.

The move from Walsall had been acrimonious. The player had been out of contract, but since he was under 24 a Football League tribunal required Brentford to pay a £325,000 fee plus add-ons. The Walsall manager Dean Smith said at the time that “If he were leaving to go to a better side I would have thought he would have done better than Brentford.” Ironically Smith now finds himself  manager at the West London club.

Given his success in League 1 it had seemed that Grigg would be moving up a level, to the Championship at least. His move to Brentford did not work out as he would have hoped and in the 2014-15 season he was sent off on loan to the MK Dons, an eventful move which put him in the limelight when he scored a brace to knock Manchester United out of the League Cup, scoring 20 goals in the league.

In June 2015 David Sharpe’s gave his guarantee that Wigan would have a 20 goal striker in their lineup this season.  In mid-July he got his man, paying Brentford  £900,000 for Grigg. It was a huge fee for a club in League 1 to splash out, particularly for a player who had never played at a level above League 1. Grigg was brought in to provide the firepower to get Latics out of League 1, but were Latics also looking beyond that? Were they expecting Grigg make it as a striker in the Championship?

At his best Grigg is a handful for any opposition defender. He has the ability to time his runs to create space when surrounded by the tightest of defences. His workrate cannot be faulted and he is a real team player. Grigg relies on his intelligent movement rather than sheer physical power to get past defenders. He is a genuine goal poacher, a dying breed in the modern game. Grigg also has a good temperament as evidenced by receiving just one yellow card in the season so far.  This is despite the rugged treatment he so often gets in a division where too much cynical and tactical fouling goes unpunished by referees.  Still only 24 years old his best is surely yet to come.

However, like any striker Grigg can have his off days. In the visit to Walsall in February he had at least five gilt-edged opportunities to score, but fluffed them all. Latics had to rely on a last minute winner from Yanic Wildschut to bring home the three points that their superior play had merited. But Grigg can opportunities with genuine aplomb, in the style of a “natural” goalscorer. There is finesse to Grigg’s game that suggests he can make it at a much higher level than the third tier of English football. As his confidence grows and he matures as a player he will put home an even higher proportion of the opportunities that come his way.

Grigg’s first season at Wigan did not start particularly well. In its first quarter Grigg had struggled to reach the goalscoring form that Caldwell would have hoped for. He had scored just three goals, two of which were penalties. After starting in the first six games he missed the match at Chesterfield through being on international duty for Northern Ireland. He came back as a 66th minute substitute at Port Vale, but was to pick up an elbow injury which kept him out of the next two games. He made his return as a 77th minute substitute, scoring the equalizer during added-on time against Millwall. Grigg returned to the starting lineup for the next game against Walsall, but was substituted after 70 minutes. However, international call up knocked on the door again and Grigg missed the last two matches at Crewe and Bury.

By Christmas Grigg had notched 8 goals for Latics. Since then he has scored 15 more. Grigg just does not seem to do so well in the earlier part of the season. In fact in his 20 goal season at Walsall he had only scored 5 by Christmas. At MK Dons he scored 9 by Christmas, followed by another 13 by time the season finished.

At Milton Keynes, Grigg had to play second fiddle to Benik Afobe until the latter’s 19 goals persuaded Wolves to pay serious money for him in January 2015. This and a loan move to Fleetwood of the Dons’ other main striker, Tom Hitchcock, opened up the door for Grigg to be the automatic choice as a lone centre forward. Grigg was to thrive on the consistency of having a regular first choice berth.

At 24 years of age, Will Grigg has a bright future ahead. His immediate target will be to score goals in the remaining five matches to help propel Latics back to the Championship. But the irony is that should that promotion come into effect and should Grigg continue to score goals, he will surely arouse the interests of the big clubs that dominate the English game.

Despite a slow start Will Grigg has become a key player in Wigan Athletic’s promotion push. Fans will be hoping he will continue to knock in the goals for the Latics for years to come.