Manchester United vs. Wigan: Will jet lag tell?

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

One of the problems with a global recruitment policy as far flung as Wigan’s — Oman, Japan, and Honduras for a start — is that when international break comes round, half of the starting XI are likely to be jet lagged for the ensuing Premier League match.

Latics famously under-performed in the home loss to Swansea last season after players like Maynor Figueroa and Antolin Alcaraz had only landed in Manchester a day before the match. This year, ahead of the always daunting trip to Old Trafford, Roberto has again made the point that it is extremely difficult to prepare for a match without knowing who you have at your disposal.

Players like Antolin Alcaraz have played two matches in the past week, sandwiched by two day-long trips to the other side of the world, and will likely need — but not get — two full days to recover. Even if they survive the 90 minutes, proper rest and recuperation is never achieved.

Manchester United supporters might point to similar troubles, but replacing a tired Luis Antonio Valencia with Ashley Young or Nani is a bit different than, say, Adrian Lopez on for Antolin Alcaraz.

The Paraguayan (groin) is one of two major doubts for the Latics going into the fixture, with Jean Beausejour the second (hamstring). If Alcaraz misses out, we’ll expect to see the Ramis-Caldwell-Figueroa trio that figured against Stoke at the back. If Beausejour doesn’t make it, Maynor Figueroa will be pushed forward into the wingback position. If neither are available, the beneficiary will likely be David Jones at left wingback. The midfield should be the standard Scottish/Irish diamond, with Di Santo and Koné up front. The only variation in the attacking third I can imagine is the more conservative addition of Jordi Gomez at the expense of one of the strikers. Or — you never know — the introduction of the lightning-quick Ryo Miyaichi for added counter-attacking threat.

Manchester United, meanwhile, only have two international strikers to choose from after Robin van Persie picked up a knock  playing for his country. Wayne Rooney is still sidelined thanks to that unfortunate encounter with Hugo Rodallega’s boots. They’ll have to rely on Chicharito Hernandez and Danny Wellbeck, which will undoubtedly feel quite a hardship.

The clubs live in different realities. Watching Wigan outplay and topple Ferguson’s side on that special evening last April was one the greatest football spectator experiences I can remember. They played with belief, desire and no shortage of skill. One suspects that the ultimate significance of said result will not be lost on United’s players or fans — and they’ll be looking to put it behind them this Saturday at Old Trafford. But the gap on the pitch narrows each time these two teams play each other. If Latics can retain that belief and sin miedo attitude, a first result at Old Trafford is possible.

Dreaming of financial fair play — can Wigan ever win the league?

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

Ask a room of Premier League fans if Wigan Athletic could ever win the Premier League title, and your question will be met with derision and laughter. It is widely accepted that such an achievement is beyond a club of Wigan’s size and means. But what if the fundamental nature of financial competition were to radically change within English football? Is a future Premier League that Wigan Athletic could win, feasible?

It is not likely to happen this year. In fact, Ladbrokes are currently offering odds of 3500/1 against it. On the other hand they have Manchester City at 13/10, Manchester United 19/10 and Chelsea at 3/2. After that, the odds on the remaining clubs range from 14/1 to those of Latics. The bookmakers are clearly convinced that  the title will be gained by one of the two Manchester giants or Chelsea. However, if the financial ground rules under which the Premier League operates were to change radically, maybe a door would open for such dreams to come true?

In other sports, and in other countries, systems are put in place to stop elite clubs signing on dozens of highly paid players, preventing them from being available to other clubs. They also try to ensure that games are not so heavily weighted to one side that it almost seems like a foregone conclusion who is to win. Having the top players more evenly distributed between the clubs means that all clubs have some hopes for success. Their supporters are then more likely to stay with them, rather than being drawn to other sports, other entertainment, or other more wealthy clubs.

The Premier League was formed in 1992, after First Division clubs broke away from the Football League. The elite clubs had considered doing so for some time and the idea of a European League was mooted. At the time, English clubs lagged behind the top clubs in Italy and Spain in terms of revenues. Television money was burgeoning and the First Division clubs wanted a much larger slice of that cake, not wanting to share it with those in the lower divisions.

Since then the Premier League has become the most economically powerful league in the world, largely through selling itself to a global TV market. Its attendances are the second highest in Europe. Last year the average Premier League attendance was 34,601, beaten only by Germany 41,205.
It is no surprise in a league dominated by the elite that Premier League television revenue is far from evenly distributed among the 20 clubs. In the 2011-2012 season. Wigan Athletic received  £42.8 million in TV money. Manchester City received  £60.6 m and Manchester United  £60.3 m. Wolves received the lowest with  £39.1 million. It will be argued that the public are more likely to want to watch the elite teams, but the inequality clearly exacerbates the huge financial gap between rich and poor in the league.

In the 2013-2014 television rights are set to steeply rise, making it even more lucrative for Premier League clubs. At the same time, footballers’ salaries have escalated almost beyond control, the absurd spending of Manchester City and Chelsea exacerbating the problem. The League is looking at ways to provide more financial control. One realistic option is to follow UEFA’s initiative, which will require clubs to break even financially. According to BBC.co.uk, Dave Whelan supports the adoption of a financial fair play policy, saying that a proposal in this area has come from Manchester United. The strong inference is that United are envious of their near neighbour’s success last season.

Clearly a move towards Manchester United’s proposal would favour the interests of big clubs with huge fan support  like themselves and Arsenal, cutting out the excesses of clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City. This might help to redress the issue of spiralling player salaries and stop multi-millionaires financing huge debt in top clubs. However, the end result is still going to be a huge divide between rich and poor in the league.

This columnist advocates the implementation of not only financial fair play rules, but also of a salary cap per club. The latter would prevent the elite clubs hoarding so many top players, making them unavailable for other clubs. It sets a limit on the total salaries that a club can pay each season. This does not preclude a club paying the ridiculous wages to some players that have become the norm, but it does limit how many players they will be able to accommodate this way.

The salary cap concept is used widely in American sports as means of stopping wealthy clubs achieving dominance by signing up the majority of outstanding players available. The National Football League (NFL) of the USA had a salary cap of $120 million per club in 2011. It is to be noted that since the Premier League was formed in 1992 only 5 clubs have won championship titles. Manchester United have won it 12 times, Arsenal and Chelsea 3 times each, Blackburn and Manchester City once. In comparison the NFL has had 12 clubs winning its championship in that time.

The implementation of financial fair play rules and club salary caps would not be easy. There are so many potential loopholes involved. However, there has to be a way forward from the current situation which has such inequities that it makes it virtually impossible for any club without huge revenues or massively rich benefactors to reach the top. Let’s at least give the average club in the Premier League some chance – although it may be slim – to win the title.

It is highly unlikely that Wigan Athletic will ever win the Premier League. At present, their chance is almost zero. Lets at least lower the odds and give clubs outside the elite few at least a chance to dream.

What now for the Wigan Athletic youth system?

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

Last season, Wigan Athletic beat Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, finishing in 15th place in the formidable Premier League. The reserve team ended 6th out of 8 in the competitive northern division of the Premier Reserve League. The youth team lost more than it won in the Football League Youth Alliance, with clubs like Rochdale and Bury topping them. Over the summer, we have seen a welcome shake-up of the youth scheme with Matt Jackson given the job of making sure the infrastructure is in place to better develop players. We now have an academy, rather than a centre of excellence. But has this shake-up come too late? Are we still being left behind our immediate competitors?

The Premier Reserve League – which started in 1999 — was disbanded at the end of last season. The FA has replaced it with the Professional Development League. We now have “development teams” playing in the new league at under 21, under 18 and under 16 levels.

Will this new infrastructure provide a better outlet for developing young players than the old reserve league? The reserve team concept appears to have been dying a slow death over the years. In reality most Premier League clubs have been fielding mostly young players in their reserve teams. There never seemed to be enough fixtures and matches were being played at training grounds, lacking in atmosphere.

Moreover, the English game has not been producing enough youngsters capable of making the grade at Premier League level. Last season — according to transfermarkt.co.uk — 64% of Premier League players were foreigners, compared with 37% in La Liga, 49% in Serie A and 52% in the Bundesliga. A recent online article in the Daily Mail tells us that in the matches played last weekend, only around 30% of who started who would qualify to play for England. Interestingly enough Norwich were the leaders in English players with 6, whereas Wigan Athletic were the lowest with zero. Although you could argue that Latics’ do have several “homegrown” players such as the Scots, Irish and Emmerson Boyce.

Facing this dearth of young English players, the FA has introduced its Elite Player Performance Plan. This has required club’s academies to be ranked on a 1-4 scale, 1 being the highest. Almost all Premier League clubs have their development teams in Division 1 of the new league, since their academies were placed in category 1. The exceptions are Wigan Athletic, Queens Park Rangers and Swansea. The Latics and QPR academies were given category 2 status, meaning the club’s development squads will play in Division 2 of the new leagues, together with clubs from the Football League. Moreover, according to an interesting article by Alfie Long clubs with academies rated in categories 2-4 run the risk of having their top youngsters poached by category 1 clubs, with minimal compensation.

Only time will tell if the new infrastructure will better produce homegrown players. In Wigan Athletic’s case, the initiative to upgrade the youth system has come a little late, but should be viewed as a step forward. Better for our youth teams to be playing the likes of Leeds and Leicester than those of clubs in Leagues 1 or 2.

There remains an option for senior squad players to get match time with the under 21 team. A goalkeeper and up to three outfield players may be included as “over-age”. In this way, it is pretty close to what we have had in the past. The difference is that, for the near future at least, our under 21 team will be playing against teams from Championship clubs. A backwards step.

The sooner the club’s academy moves into the category 1 rating the better.

WIGAN ATHLETIC 2 STOKE CITY 2

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

Perhaps we Latics fans were getting a little over-confident. A couple of encouraging performances at Southampton and Nottingham Forest over the past week, plus a great record against Stoke in the Premier League. Did we really think it was going to be easy to beat Stoke? It proved not to be. Despite going behind twice the visitors showed a fighting spirit and deserved their point in an entertaining game.

Latics went ahead after only 5 minutes, a shot from James McCarthy hitting Robert Huth’s hand and the referee, Martin Atkinson, giving a penalty. Up stepped Shaun Maloney who dispatched it calmly and accurately, sending Begovic the wrong way. After 15 minutes Di Santo appealed for a penalty after being sandwiched between two Stoke defenders , but not given. Latics were playing attractive football, but Stoke still looked lively.

Wigan had a blow on 28 minutes when Jean Beausejour went off injured, David Jones coming on in his place. This and the introduction of the skilful, if abrasive, Charlie Adam for Stoke soon afterwards changed the flow of the game. Adam had come on to replace the combative Andy Wilkinson. Cameron had a good effort go narrowly wide, then a wicked free kick from Adam caused mayhem in Latics’ defence until it was cleared. Stoke were to get back in the game after 4o minutes when the ball hit Maynor Figueroa’s hand and Walters scored from the resulting penalty. Wilson’s volley was then pushed on to the bar by Al Habsi. 1-1 at half time.

Latics started the second half well as Arouna Kone broke away in the 49th minute, being chased by Stoke defenders. He held the ball up before unselfishly putting in a neat pass to Franco Di Santo, who scored with the panache of a natural goalscorer. Stoke then really started to control the midfield and put latics under a lot of pressure. They play a little more football than they used to – no more rocket throws from Rory Delap – some neat midfield play these days. However, the end result is still a lobbed ball aimed at Crouch or one of their other many corpulant players.

Despite the lack of sophistication to their approach Stoke did have several half chances before Crouch got his goal in the 76th minute after outjumping Figueroa to a pretty good lob from Walters. Al Habsi was to produce two great saves, one to deny Cameron Jerome, another to somehow get his fingertips to a free kick from Adam that had taken a wicked deflection off Gary Caldwell.

At the other end the substitute Ryo Miyaichi was subject to a debatable slide tackle in the box from another abrasive Stoke player, Ryan Shawcross. In many countries such tackles would be penalized. In this case, the referee decided it was fair.

In the end, honours even.

The Good

Franco Di Santo is clearly coming of age. Martinez has stuck by him and his belief in the young Argentine is paying off. Di Santo proved himself to be a top class central striker last season in terms of his foraging and hold-up play, scoring some spectacular goals along the way. However, there were times when one doubted he had the finishing power that he has shown in the past two Premier League games. His goal at Southampton was finished with aplomb and he made this one look easy.

It was a pleasure to see Di santo and Kone operating as twin strikers, something new in the Martinez era. The tactical adjustment needed following the departure of Victor Moses is looking good. There remains the possibility of a wide player replacing one of the two big central strikers to provide variation.

The Bad

The midfield lost its way in this match. The two Jimmy Macs have been fantastic for so many matches over the past months. This time around they were not at their best. The admirable James McArthur is still not physically at his peak, following injury. He went off after 76 minutes to be replaced by Ben Watson. Latics had already lost the central midfield battle by then. James McCarthy was relatively subdued in this match, but it is hard to criticize a player who week in, week out gives his all for the team.

The loss of Beausejour halfway through the first half disrupted Latics’ rhythm. He is a key player in the system they play. David Jones tried hard but the Chilean was missed.

Player ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 9 – without his superb goalkeeping Stoke would have won.

Ivan Ramis: 7 – looking increasingly comfortable in the Premier League. Strong in the tackle, with excellent distribution.

Gary Caldwell: 8 – played a captain’s role in holding the defence together during Stoke’s second half onslaught..

Maynor Figueroa: 6 – the tenacious Honduran could not quite keep up his outstanding recent form.The penalty decision against him, was a little unlucky, although last season luck tended to favour him in similar sitiuations.

Emmerson Boyce: 7 –solid in defence, supportive in attack.

Jean Beausejour – went off injured in first half.

James McCarthy: 6 – unusually subdued. Howev er, it must be difficult to maintain his intensity of play, match after match.

James McArthur: 6 – worked hard as always. Put some nice passes through. Has become a key player.

Shaun Maloney: 7 – took the penalty with authority. Worked hard.

Franco Di Santo: 8 – an excellent all round performance. Worked very hard, taking his goal really well.

Arouna Kone: 7.5 – a hardworking performance, showing commitment and good technique.

Substitutes

David Jones: 5 – after after a solid performance in central midfield at Nottingham during the week he looked uncomfortable at wing back.

Ben Watson – came on after 76 minutes for James McArthur, but failed to put his stamp on the game. A lack of regular first team football may be the root cause.

Ryo Miyaichi – came on for the last 1o minutes. The Stoke defence did n0t allow him the time and space to make use of his electrifying speed. More to come from this potential match winner.

Wigan Athletic vs. Stoke City: Are we Stoke’s bogey team?

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

As I sat down to write this — amid transfer deadline madness — I was struck by a re-assuring thought. The pressure is completely off us going into this deadline. The planning for Victor Moses’ departure began a long time ago and his move could not have been more swiftly put behind us. Whilst not replacing like for like, we have three very able strikers and a host of talented attacking midfielders competing for three berths. While a new body or two are always welcome, they are certainly not necessary and I imagine they would add depth and cover, rather than an immediate first team challenge. As has become a theme when reporting on the progress this club has made under Roberto Martinez and Dave Whelan’s partnership, there is simply no comparison to this time last year, when Charles N’Zogbia’s departure and Shaun Maloney and Albert Crusat’s adjustment periods totally derailed the team’s start to the season.

Indeed, in the two matches immediately following Vic’s departure, we have scored six goals — each from a different player, and each more emphatic than the last. We’ve had long range strikes, one-on-ones, headers from crosses, left foot, right foot, from all three strikers, two attacking midfielders and our left back. Victor who?

This should not be read as a wildly optimistic view on our chances against Stoke this weekend, but rather for the season and indeed seasons to come. Stoke are always a tricky proposition, and stakes always seem to be high when we play them. That said, our record against them in the Premier League is good, with our only loss coming away in 2009. In the other seven encounters, we’ve drawn five times and beaten them twice, including that victory to stay up two seasons ago. Statistics are on our side, just.

But it’s not all optimism from me today. I think we’ve been something of a bogey team for Stoke — and we’ve been lucky against them. Be it Ben Watson’s late penalty to equalize after Gary Caldwell’s sending off at The Britannia last year, or managing to keep the ball out of Al-Habsi’s net in the first half of the survival match Rodallega ultimately won for us, I think we’ve been riding our luck a bit against them. Logic says that luck will eventually turn, so I reserve a little concern for tomorrow’s clash.

This all said, we are showing the sort of form that doesn’t rely on luck. The cup win against Nottingham Forest carried on where the excellent away win at Southampton left off, underlining the strength in depth Roberto has at his disposal. There are few superstars in the lineup, but there is strong cover for every position, except goalkeeper.

Which means Antolin Alcaraz’s suspension, the lone negative from Tuesday’s cup tie, will be a much lesser problem than it would have been four months ago. We can expect a back three of Figueroa, Caldwell and Ramis (who by the end of the match will have played in all three centre-back positions in his first four matches for the club) — and the inclusion of now-fit Jean Beausejour at left wingback. Emmerson Boyce will likely return at right wingback despite Ronnie Stam’s strong performance mid-week. The Jimmy Macs will almost certainly reclaim the midfield with Maloney ahead of them. The big question is who will start in the attacking berths. Jordi Gomez’s performances this season have been of a high standard and he might be in with outside chance if Roberto feels conservative with his lineup. More likely is a repeat of the Southampton strikeforce, with Koné and Di Santo up front. But Mauro Boselli’s goal and performance had the manager raving, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he could be given the nod. If you haven’t already, check out our interview with the Argentine here.

Meanwhile, Stoke were booed off at half-time in the home cup loss to Swindon — who incidentally also knocked Latics out of the FA Cup last season. In the league, they drew away to newly promoted Reading and at home to Arsena, both respectable results, and have just signed Charlie Adam from Liverpool for 4 million pounds. Presumably he will take the set pieces they are always dangerous on, but we are unlikely to see much of the playmaking he showed at Blackpool in a team that likes to bypass that part of the pitch. Fellow new signing Michael Kightly has looked impressive for them and will be a threat.

An interesting one as always. With a trip to Old Trafford coming soon, a positive result in this one with be vital to keep the good feeling we’re enjoying at the moment.

Prediction: 2-1 Latics.