Europa or Championship for Latics?

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

When Ben Watson scored that wonderful last minute header at Wembley he changed the face of Wigan Athletic FC, as we had known it.

Latics had announced themselves on the global map.

For so many years Latics had to put up with the “little club” tag, seemingly doomed to the lower reaches of the Football League. Outsiders viewed Wigan as a rugby town, a view more than supported by Maurice Lindsay in an infamous television interview in the 1980’s. His stance was symptomatic of the condescending attitude of rugby league followers of the time. It made Latics supporters’  blood boil. Was the club ever going to rid itself of that image?

How times have changed. After eight years in the Premier League and winning the FA Cup, the name of Wigan Athletic is now known worldwide. Although the rugby club remain a big fish in a small pond their football counterpart has moved on.

Latics now have an opportunity to gain further prestige through their participation in the Europa League.

In the days prior to the FA Cup final so many Latics fans were saying that, if they had the choice of staying in the Premier League or winning the FA Cup, they would choose the former. One wonders how many were to think differently when the Cup came to Wigan.

So what would be the priority this time around – promotion out of the Championship or progression in the Europa League?

It could be argued that Latics’ FA Cup run had an adverse effect on their league position in the last campaign. The end of season fixture congestion that resulted in them having to play a make-or-break match at Highbury only three days after the Cup Final victory was cruel and merciless.

However, if anything put Latics out of the Premier League last season it was injuries. The result was a lack of continuity in team selection and a cruel decimation of playing resources at the end of the season when all those fixtures came raining in.

Owen Coyle has worked wonders in the transfer market by bringing in 12 new players since he started in July. It leaves him with a squad of 30 players – marginally bigger than that of Roberto Martinez last season – but containing  Ali Al-Habsi, Gary Caldwell and Ivan Ramis who are still out of action due to long term injuries.

Much will depend on his deployment of the young professionals contained therein. Last year Callum McManaman and Roman Golobart were the ones who made the starting lineup in the league. We will have to wait to see if Coyle will include the other young pros – Adam Buxton, Nouha Dicko, Rob Kiernan, Jordan Mustoe, Lee Nicholls and Danny Redmond – in the rotations.

If Coyle’s squad has a weakness then it is in the area of attack, with only two central strikers available. With Grant Holt already out until October Latics fans will pray that Marc-Antoine Fortune avoids injury.  Coyle continues to look for forwards through the loan market. Speculation suggests that he wants to bring Jordan Rhodes from Blackburn initially on loan with a view to a £9 m permanent move in January. But, however cash-strapped Blackburn might be, they are unlikely to want to lose their most prized asset to local rivals. Moreover Dave Whelan is going to think twice about spending so much on a player who has never played at the highest level of English football.

It will be interesting to see what kind of lineup Coyle chooses for the Zulte Waregem tie on Thursday. It will be an indication of how important he sees the Europa League compared with the Championship.

Latics fans will hope they give a good account of themselves in both.

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Leicester City 2 Wigan Athletic 0 – Shapeless Latics go down

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

A woeful performance from shapeless Wigan. They handed Leicester a gift after 15 minutes when big central defender Liam Moore headed in a corner with ease, nobody having marked him. The goal gave the home team the impetus and they never looked back. The result was sealed with a soft penalty in the last 10 minutes.

Owen Coyle had used the same starting lineup that he used in the previous match against Nottingham Forest, except that James Perch came in for the departed James McCarthy. It was like replacing a thorough-bred with a pit pony.

Wigan struggled to get to grips with the game in the first half. Their packed midfield looked sluggish and ceded control to Leicester . When Latics tried to attack they had no width, except for when Jean Beausejour moved up from his full back position. There was nothing happening on the right hand side. There was a distinct lack of purpose in their play.

The overworked central defenders – Thomas Rogne and Leon Barnett – struggled to cope with the movement of Leicester strikers Jamie Vardy and David Nugent.  Marc-Antoine Fortune was a truly lone centre forward, although when for once he got away he went down in the penalty box following a push, only for the referee to wave play on.

Wigan’s best chance came just before half time from a fine effort from Barnett, whose rocket shot could have gone anywhere, but went to keeper Kasper Schmeichel.

The second half started in the same pattern and one was expecting Coyle to make wholesale substitutions at any minute. Jordi Gomez  and  Roger Espinoza were replaced by Callum McManaman and debutant Nick Powell after 55 minutes, but it made no noticeable difference.  It was followed by another change after 61 minutes with James McClean coming on for Shaun Maloney.

Despite now having two wide players there continued to be no pattern to Wigan’s play. It was no surprise when Leicester added a well-deserved  second goal, albeit through a generous refereeing decision. Latics fans could argue that Vardy ‘s fall after colliding with Beausejour was less of a penalty than in the first half when Fortune hit the ground after being pushed. Scott Carson almost saved Nugent’s penalty, but the power of the shot beat him.

However, the referee cannot be blamed for Wigan’s defeat. Leicester are a well organized team with a solid defence. They more than merited their victory.

The Good

Once again Scott Carson looked reliable in goal and the centre backs had to work hard due to  the lack of shielding from midfield. Thomas Rogne and Leon  Barnett need to continue to play together and develop that mutual understanding that centre back pairs need. One hopes that Coyle will resist the opportunity to tamper once again.

The Bad

Coyle was quoted as saying that if he could have made seven substitutions he would have done so.  He also criticised refereeing decisons. However, the manager needs to take more responsibility for a poor team performance.

Roberto Martinez’s tactical approach at Wigan could be rigid and Latics were criticized for passing the ball across the field rather than being direct. However, Martinez managed to instill a system in which each player knew his role.

That is not the case with Coyle’s teams. There has been no consistent tactical pattern up to this point and changes have been reactive, rather than proactive.  The end result is the whole adding up to less than the sum of its parts. Players don’t seem to be able to read each others’ games. Part of this is down to having so many new faces, but much is also due to the lack of structure in the tactical approach.

With a host of quality midfield players available Coyle chose to put the limited James Perch in front of the back four. With two specialist left backs in the squad he chose to play Beausejour – a wing back maybe –  but never a full back,  in that position.

Wigan tried to keep the ball on the ground in the first half but every time the goalkeeper got the ball his long kicks went straight back into opposition hands. It was a revelation around halfway through the second half when Carson threw a great pass to the half way line to start a Wigan move. This is not to criticize Carson himself, who is probably playing under orders. The big goalkeeper has been Latics best player so far this season.

One mistake that Martinez habitually made was to play Jordi Gomez in a forward role. Coyle is falling in to the same trap. Supposedly Gomez was playing some way forward on the right. The Spaniard never has been and never will be a wide player. He looked lost most of the time and it was no surprise when he was substituted. Gomez’s natural role is as a creator in the centre of midfield, but last season he really improved in the midfield holding role. A forward he is not.

Player Ratings

Scott Carson: 7 – alert and solid. Unlucky not to save the penalty.

Emmerson Boyce: 5 – poor. His lack of pace was exposed by winger Lloyd Dyer.

Thomas Rogne: 6 – a disciplined performance;  he never gave up trying  despite being under constant pressure.

Leon Barnett: 6 – with a little more poise and composure he could be a top central defender. Lucky not to concede an own goal in the second half when he headed back to Carson who was not where he thought.

Jean Beausejour: 5 – covered acres of ground in the first half trying to get Latics’ attack going. Made some errors but played with commitment. Unlucky to have another dubious penalty against him.

James Perch: 4 – poor.

Ben Watson: 5 – unable to stamp his class on the game.

Roger Espinoza: 5 – not as involved as usual. Probably jaded from World Cup qualifying matches with Honduras.

Shaun Maloney: 5 – ineffective. Maybe also jaded from matches for his country.

Jordi Gomez: 4 – lost.

Marc-Antoine Fortune: 6 – sacrificed to the robust Leicester central defenders who constantly surrounded him. Worked hard without support.

Substitutes

Callum McManaman: – unable to prise open a tight Leicester defence.

Nick Powell: – not able to make much impact.

James McClean: – ineffective.

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Give Roger a Chance

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other

espinoza

Mexico had an amazing record in World Cup qualifying matches until a week ago. Invariably playing their home matches in front of 100,000 fans at the magnificent Aztec Stadium in Mexico City they had lost only one out of 77 such matches.

The ‘Catrachos’ of Honduras were to pull off the shock result of the CONCACAF qualifiers with a 2-1 away win. A  large part of their victory came from excellent  performances from a couple of midfield players well known in Wigan – Wilson Palacios and Roger Espinoza.

A familiar name in central defence – Maynor Figueroa – had helped repel the waves of Mexican attacks. New Latics signing Juan Carlos Garcia was on the bench, the experienced Emilio Izaguirre of Celtic being preferred.

Roger Espinoza played the full 90 minutes in Mexico and did the same in the next match when Honduras drew 2-2 at home with Panama, the visitors equalizing in stoppage time. As always, his performances were full of effort and determination, with no mean level of skill.

Espinoza is clearly a key player for his national team. However, he has been low down in the pecking order at Wigan since Owen Coyle’s arrival.  Given the injury problems that Latics had at the end of last  season Espinoza was played out of position at left wing back. Although he originally struggled in that role he was to play with distinction in the team that won the FA Cup Final. Coyle used him in  the left back position in pre-season.

Roger Espinoza is a dynamic midfield player who makes things happen. He is tenacious in the tackle, covers a huge amount of ground during a game and has good technique.  His spectacular goal for Honduras against Brazil in the Olympics put him on the global football map.

Owen Coyle has surrounded himself with largely British Isles players since his arrival at Wigan. However, he revealed that he was interested in signing Espinoza while at Bolton. Having moved from Honduras to the United States when he was 14, Espinoza speaks like an American.

Espinoza is not yet the finished article. His enthusiasm is his strength, but he can be reckless in his tacking. He has a great left foot and has shown his ability to put in crosses that have led to goals. He has successfully made a major adjustment from playing for Kansas City in the MLS.

In order to get out of the Championship division Wigan Athletic need players who are not easily deterred. The opposition can be very physical and referees can let things go in a way that they would not in the Premier League.

Roger Espinoza is not easily deterred. He is exactly the kind of player to move Latics ahead.

Following James McCarthy’s departure to Everton, Coyle has been talking about finding a replacement for the Irish international.  He should first look in-house. The Honduran/American deserves strong consideration.

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How good is Grant Holt?

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

grant-holt_2635269b

The fans at Norwich loved Grant Holt. They did not want him to leave.

Owen Coyle’s signing of the big centre forward in July looked like the bargain buy of the summer. But why had Holt left a Premier League club where he was idolised to join an outfit that had been relegated to the Championship? Why were Norwich willing to accept a fee reported to be less than £2m for a player who had been so successful with them?

A couple of months ago most Latics supporters were excited about Holt’s signing. He had scored 78 goals in 168 appearances for the Canaries, helping them get back to back promotions. He was the goal-scoring, bustling centre forward who had come up the hard way, through the lower leagues. If anybody was going to get goals for Wigan Athletic in the fast and physical environment of the Championship division then it was Holt.

How times change. Already some are questioning his ability. At times Holt can look slow and cumbersome, more willing to get into physical tussles with defenders than focus on the footballing side of the game.

Some compare Holt with Arouna Kone, who sadly for the Latics faithful, departed to Everton for a fee well below his true market value.  Kone too was a big and strong central striker, but he was also mobile and skilful. Last season Kone started in 32 league games, scoring 11 goals, conceding 39 fouls and suffering 29. In comparison Holt started 28 times, getting 8 goals, whilst conceding 82 fouls and suffering 65.

The statistics emphasise the differing styles of the two central strikers. However, it would be a mistake to condemn Holt as merely a battering-ram centre forward. The big Cumbrian has a good football brain and can put delightful passes through for teammates. The style with which he dispatched the penalty against Middlesbrough – after Marc-Antoine Fortune has been pulled down in the box – was the hallmark of a player who has the technique to match his brawn.

Holt got off to a good start in the opening game at Barnsley, opportunistically deflecting a loose ball into the net. Up to this point he has scored two goals in four league games. He has been inches away from scoring more goals on several occasions. Although often double -marked he uses his strength and technique to hold up long balls until teammates arrive. Holt has already been denied at least three penalty decisions that a referee might have awarded were he not the player brought to the ground. At times his reputation as a physical player can act against him as far as refereeing decisions are concerned.

So why did Holt leave Norwich for Wigan? Although 32 years old, he joined Wigan on a three year contract. On signing for Latics he told BBC Radio Cumbria that “The Europa League was a massive pull for me. It’s something I’ve never done in my career and I’m hoping we can have a good spell in that.” Moreover Chris Hughton had adapted the direct style of play typical during Paul Lambert’s time  at Norwich.

Having a centre forward like Holt in your team is a double-edged sword. He certainly unsettles defences and does a superb job in holding up the ball, taking the pressure of his team. At the same time having him there as a target can tempt defenders into launching long balls, by-passing the midfield where Latics have so many technically-gifted players.

At 32 years of age Holt has almost certainly passed his peak. However, he is still going to score goals, especially if Latics play with two wide players. With Holt in the middle, Callum McManaman on the right and James McLean or Jean Beausejour on the left, Wigan have a well-balanced front three that will cause headaches for Championship defences.

Holt is a players’ player, who frequently sacrifices himself for the benefit of the team. It is this attribute, along with his goals, that helped him endear himself with the fans at Norwich. In March 2009 the FourFour Two magazine revealed that Holt covered an average of 4.8 km per match, more than any other player in Leagues 1 and 2.

The season has a long way to go. Holt is injured at the moment and Wigan are short in the area of central strikers, with only Marc-Antoine Fortune available in his absence. Given the physical nature of his game Holt is frequently going to pick up knocks. However, he managed to steer clear of major injuries in his three years at Norwich, appearing on a regular basis, largely in the starting lineup, sometimes coming on from the bench.

Providing he receives the necessary service and stays clear of major injuries, Grant Holt‘s name is going to regularly appear on the score sheet. He is physically and mentally resilient and his determination to succeed is going to rub off on his teammates.

Holt’s goals could well take Wigan Athletic back to the Premier League.

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Watch out for Callum

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

Manchester City v Wigan Athletic - FA Cup Final

Callum McManaman  deservedly won the  ‘Man of the Match’ award at the FA Cup Final, after a scintillating display.  He had run the expensively-assembled Manchester City defence ragged and in doing so he won over many of the armchair critics who had condemned him following the “Horror Tackle” episode.

When McManaman walked onto the Wembley turf he had only started seven times for Wigan in a Premier League match. Seeing what he could do and that Latics were staring relegation in the face, even neutrals were asking why he had not been given more opportunities much earlier in the season. Wigan Athletic fans still ponder on what might have happened if Roberto Martinez had put him before it got too late.

McManaman was 22 years old when he helped his team win the FA Cup. He had joined Latics as a 16 year old after Everton had released him. Steve Bruce gave him his Premier League debut as an 18 year old, as a substitute for the final 12 minutes of the last match of the 2008-09 season at home to Portsmouth.

After that he did not make a Premier League start for three seasons. In 2011-12 he made four appearances for the England under-20 team and went on a successful loan spell at Blackpool. However,  the winger could still not break through into the Premier League team, making just two appearances as a substitute.

Starved of Premier League action – other than late appearances as a substitute –  his first team appearances were typically in cup ties, where he did well. After scoring a cracker in the stunning 3-0 FA Cup win at Everton in March, McManaman was given his first Premier League start of the season at home to Newcastle. What followed was his controversial tackle on Newcastle’s Massadio Haidara that got huge media coverage.

It is to McManaman’s credit that he continued to be focused on his football despite the media hype. His well taken goal in the FA Cup semi final against Millwall once again showed what a match winner he could be. Given a run of consecutive games in the first team his game was coming on and his performance in the Cup Final was a revelation.

So why was Callum McManaman not brought into the starting lineup earlier in the season, when Latics’ play was looking predictable and short of a cutting edge? Did Martinez leave it too long?

Martinez fans would say that he nurtured the young player, weaning him into a more major role. There was a huge gulf between the level of play in the under 21 competition and the Premier League. Martinez had been waiting for the right time to bring McManaman in and his timing was just right

Critics would say that Martinez did not want to risk young players in the Premier League, given the pressure the team was under.  McManaman’s contemporaries Lee Nicholls, Daniel Redmond and Jordan Mustoe still have not made the starting lineup for the first team in a competitive match. Nicholls has at least made it to the bench this season as backup goalkeeper, but Redmond and Mustoe have to compete in the Central League with the likes of the Morecambe under 21 side.  Like McManaman they too will have to bide their time, but at 21-22 years of age they are not so young any more.

The recently concluded transfer window was kind to Wigan Athletic in more ways than one. The culmination was that they sold James McCarthy for a decent fee and got Nick Powell and Ryan Shotton on loan. The skilful Powell and the combative Shotton will have important roles to play.

However, it is not so much who came in, but who did not leave, that gives Wigan Athletic hope for promotion back to the Premier League. Shaun Maloney is a class above most players in the Championship. If Latics can keep the ball on the ground and feed him the ball he can cut open Championship defences.

When McManaman picked up an ankle injury at the end of last season it looked like a blow for Latics at the start of the current season. However, had he been fully fit and starring in Championship matches, the elite of the Premier League might well have moved in and taken him away. The red card he received at Bournemouth was ridiculous, but Latics wisely resisted appealing the three match suspension. To do so would have put the player back in the media spotlight. Moreover it gave him more time to get fully fit.

If Wigan Athletic are to gain promotion this year, you can bet that Callum McManaman will play a leading role, together with Shaun Maloney. They are the two who can best unlock opposition defences, making and scoring goals.

Callum McManaman remains a relatively inexperienced footballer. Some days are going to be better than others for him as he continues to mature professionally.

However, exciting times lie ahead for Latics with this talented player remaining on board.

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