Tag Archives: al-habsi

Wigan Athletic 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 – jaded Latics scrape out a win

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Reports, Other and tagged with , , , , , , , ,
Ali Al-Habsi was lucky not to receive a red card.

Ali Al-Habsi was lucky not to receive a red card.

Following the herculean performance at the Etihad on Sunday, a hung-over Latics team struggled to beat a team low on flair. Wigan scraped out a win in controversial circumstances, the winner coming in the 88th minute from a superbly executed Jordi Gomez penalty.

Latics lineup was close to what had been expected, but Uwe Rosler decided not to rest his trusted defenders James Perch and Emmerson Boyce. They lined up together with Leon Barnett and Jean Beausejour in a flat back four. Ryan Tunnicliffe took over Chris McCann’s normal position on the left of central midfield, with James McArthur in centre-right and Jordi Gomez playing the linkman role.  Martyn Waghorn and James McClean played wide up front with Nicky Maynard in the centre forward position.

The game started scrappily and Wigan struggled to get any coherency to their play. The visitors had clearly done their homework and used their own high pressing tactic to disrupt the build-up of Latics moves from the back. James McClean provided some much needed energy for lethargic Latics and got behind the big full back Buxton, only to squander a good opportunity to blazing the ball across the goal.

Wednesday were proving to be a hard nut to crack – a big physical team who had clearly come to claim at least a point. But their finishing left much to be desired and they rarely threatened Ali Al-Habsi until the 37th minute when they won a penalty.  Maghoma was put through by Best to be felled by the Omani as he went through on goal. It was a clear penalty and many of us in the crowd were expecting a red card for the goalkeeper. To the relief of the Latics faithful the big Omani was to receive only a yellow and made a great save from Leon Best’s penalty.

Latics perked up a little after the penalty save and the largely anonymous Tunnicliffe warmed goalkeeper Martinez’s hands with a shot from 25 yards. Then Boyce got in a downward header, but it was saved by ‘keeper Martinez.

Latics limped into half time, looking like they needed a new infusion of players to bring them to life. The movement that typifies Rosler’s style of football was hardly evident and changes were clearly needed. It was disconcerting to see Latics resort to using long balls in their frustration of not getting quality possession.

Those changes came in the 54th minute when Rosler brought on Callum McManaman for an ineffective Waghorn and Nick Powell for the tiring McArthur. This put some extra life into Latics play and Powell soon put McClean through on the left, but his disappointing cross went into Martinez’s hands. Apart from that there was a lack of quality in their build-up as Wednesday held firm. The visitors’ physical approach and the laxness of referee Andy Haines frustrated the home crowd.

Marc-Antoine Fortune replaced McClean after 72 minutes and his physical approach helped liven things up. Latics were now playing a 4-4-2 formation with McManaman and Powell playing wide and Fortune and Maynard in the middle. In the 79th minute one of the few moves of quality saw Fortune put McManaman through on the right with a clear run on goal. With a calmer head the winger might have scored but he blazed his low shot past the far post.

Latics continued to press and were rewarded with a hotly disputed penalty after Perch had gone down after Lavery’s challenge. Gomez put away the penalty and Latics somehow had salvaged three points.

The Good

Rosler acknowledged after the game that “Yes, we didn’t play our best and yes, we can definitely do better, but in terms of guts and belief I can’t really ask for any more from my players”.

It is the ability of Rosler’s sides to show that kind of resilience that makes Latics promotion hopefuls. The football was reminiscent of that of the dark days under Owen Coyle, but the usual style of play had broken down and Latics were left to take a more pragmatic approach.

The defence was strong throughout and limited Wednesday’s goal scoring opportunities to a minimum.

The Bad

Chris McCann was sorely missed and his replacement, Tunniicliffe, could not get to grips with the game. This led to the midfield being disjointed despite the usual hard work of McArthur and Gomez.

Rosler has lost the option of choosing his preferred midfield trio of Watson, McArthur and McCann.Moreover Roger Espinoza was not even on the bench.

Player Ratings

Ali Al-Habsi: 7 – lucky not to get sent off, but made a great penalty save and otherwise looked comfortable.

James Perch: 7 – once again his run from defence created a goal. He has added another dimension to his game. Solid as ever in defence.

Leon Barnett: 7 – superb in the air and formed a strong central defensive partnership with Boyce.

Emmerson Boyce: 7 – continues to perform consistently well.

Jean Beausejour: 7 – did not get forward as much as usual, but excellent in defence.

James McArthur: 6 – as busy and involved as ever. Taken off after 54 minutes.

Jordi Gomez: 6 – worked hard and his penalty won the game for his team.

Ryan Tunnicliffe: 4 – looked disorientated. Surely a much better player than he looked in this game.

Martyn Waghorn: 5- lacked incisive thrust. Playing wide on the right and being naturally left footed he invariably passed the ball inside.

Nicky Maynard: 5 – struggled throughout against Wednesday’s giant central defenders.

James McClean: 6 – promised but did not deliver.

Substitutes

Nick Powell: – good to see him back, but clearly not yet match fit.

Callum McManaman: – received little protection from a lenient referee. Looked dangerous on occasions.

Marc-Antoine Fortune: – added more muscle up front and almost laid on a goal for McManaman.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Rosler building on Coyle’s legacy

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other, Reflections and tagged with , , , , , ,
Uwe Rosler lost the tactical battle to Mick McCarthy.

Is it a false dawn? Or are the dark days well and truly behind us now?

Has Uwe Rosler really cleared the rubble left behind by his predecessor? Will the German become a long-standing Premier League manager with Wigan Athletic?

A mood of optimism is sweeping through the Wigan Athletic fold as Rosler has become the man to lead the club back into the Promised Land. The frustrations of the Owen Coyle era are being left behind and now, once more, we have a man with a plan.

One wonders if Owen Coyle ever received any thanks for the work he did at Wigan. In fact he might well go down as the least popular manager Latics have ever had. Being an ex-Bolton boss was clearly never in his favour. Neither was suffering relegation with the Horwich club.

However, the league season started for him in near perfect fashion with a 4-0 win at Barnsley. With Coyle at the helm people were getting excited about a swift return to the Premier League.

The Scot had a nigh impossible task to fulfil. He had to rebuild a squad devastated by the consequences of relegation. He was expected not only to get Latics back into the Premier League in one season, but also to put up a good show in the Europa League.  Moreover Latics were now the FA Cup winners – surely good enough to put the sword the kinds of teams they would meet in the Championship.

In the early days of Coyle’s reign, results were mixed. Latics were struggling to win their league games, although they made a decent start to their European campaign.  Many fans were critical of the manager’s lack of tactical nous and his long-ball approach. Others, seeing him as an improvement on Roberto Martinez, were more supportive. They wanted a more direct approach and not the tiki-taka of the previous four years. Coyle had brought in a lot of new players and there were rumours of rifts between them and those from the Martinez era.

One can only speculate as to where Latics would be now if Bernard Malanda had not scored a spectacular late winner for Zulte Waregem at the DW in late November. It was possibly the defining moment for Latics’ season, the loss of morale contributing to a subsequent home defeat by Derby and Coyle’s departure.

Rosler has since stepped in and lifted the team up to the play-off zone. His dealings in the January loan and transfer window seemed underwhelming to many fans at the time, but are looking good now.  Significantly Rosler brought in younger players, to a squad which had an average age of just below 28.  He now has a blend of players signed by Martinez, signed by Coyle and signed by himself.  Players who did not perform at potential under Coyle are now starting to shine under Rosler.

Unlike Coyle, Rosler does not have to get Latics into the Premier League this season to keep his job. Despite an excellent run of results it is highly unlikely that Latics can reach an automatic promotion spot. The best they can hope for is to win the play-offs, not an easy matter in the pressure cauldron that prevails at the end of the regular season.  Moreover the play-offs are often won by the team that peaks at the right time. Are Latics peaking too early or can they maintain this level of performance?

Should Rosler succeed in winning promotion does he have players of genuine Premier League class in his squad? How many have actually played there before?

Emmerson Boyce started in 216 matches in the Premier League, over seven seasons at Wigan and one at Crystal Palace. The next most experienced Premier League starters are Scott Carson (185) and Ali Al-Habsi (111). Gary Caldwell has clocked in 100; Ben Watson has 89 and Jordi Gomez 61. They are followed by Jean Beausejour (48), James McArthur (45), James McClean (44), Shaun Maloney (42), James Perch (41), Marc Antoine Fortune (35), Stephen Crainey (31), Leon Barnett (29), Ivan Ramis (16), Callum McManaman (8), Chris McCann (7), Roger Espinoza (6) and Martyn Waghorn (2).

Three of the four most experienced Premier League campaigners – Boyce, Al-Habsi and Caldwell – are well into their thirties. Carson is 28 years old. It is ironic that the three that follow in terms of experience – Watson, Gomez and Beausejour – are out of contract at the end of the season.

The last time Latics got promoted Paul Jewell had to bring in the likes of Henri Camara, Arjan De Zeeuw, Stephane Henchoz, Damien Francis and Mike Pollitt at the start of the season, with  more to follow later. However, Rosler has a bigger squad than Jewell had and might not need to bring in so many new players.

Were Rosler to achieve promotion this year he would have two experienced Premier League goalkeepers in Al-Habsi and Carson.  The possibility of Boyce playing on for at least one more season cannot be ruled out, although Caldwell’s injury problems might prevent his return. However, Rosler could call on the experience of the likes of Perch, Barnett and Ramis in defence.  Were the three out of contract players to re-sign he would have an experienced midfield available.

Rosler’s mode of operation is clearly different to that of his predecessors. Bringing in young players on loan gives him the opportunity to closely assess possible permanent signings in the future. Over the years Latics have sometimes speculated big money by their standards on players who have not proved successful.  Rosler’s approach is more patient, preferring to work with players to maximize their potential.  He is unlikely to splash out big money.

Rosler is topping the opinion polls with Wigan fans in contrast to his predecessor, Coyle. Whether he can continue to maintain the current level of momentum remains to be seen. If he cannot his ratings will fall.

Whatever else may be said about Coyle there can be little doubt that he did a good job in recruiting so many quality players in such a short amount of time.  So much criticism has been made of his signing of the misfiring Grant Holt but players such as Carson, Perch, Barnett, McCann and McClean could well be at the club for years to come.

Rosler has built upon the foundations left by Martinez and Coyle, but has added a further tier through his own signings. He now has a well balanced and capable squad capable of beating any team in the Championship division.  The bookmakers are now starting to lower their odds against Wigan Athletic getting back to the Premier League this season.

It does not look like a false dawn.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Leeds Preview – time for Latics’ players to step forward

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

I cannot remember a time when a departing Wigan Athletic manager has been subject to such a torrent of abuse on leaving the club. Owen Coyle’s  name has been vilified from all corners of social and fan media. Few of those who supported him less than a week ago seem able or willing to stand up for him now.

So much as changed in such a short amount of time.

Coyle has been condemned for having poor team selection skills, not having a tactical plan, for playing people out of position and for the sagging of players’ energy levels during the 90 minutes.

But now Coyle has gone there are no more excuses for poor individual player performances. Now is the time for the players to step forward and show what they are capable of.

Players such as Ali Al-Habsi, Jean Beausejour, Roger Espinoza and Fraser Fyvie (still on loan at Yeovil), will surely have breathed a sigh of relief when hearing of Coyle’s departure.

The big goalkeeper is back in training now and when fully fit is sure to pose a big challenge to Scott Carson and Lee Nicholls between the posts. The two Latinos – Beausejour and Espinoza – clearly did not receive any favours from Coyle, but both have previously proven themselves to be players of Premier League quality. The classy young Fyvie was one to be nurtured for the future, rather than to be snubbed and sent off to another club.

It appears that Graham Barrow has been given temporary responsibility for the senior squad, although Sandy Stewart is still in the picture.

One of the main problems in the Coyle reign was the absence of an “identity” in terms of the way the team were to play their football.Barrow needs to stamp some kind of identity upon the team immediately, so that players know exactly what is expected of them.

Under Coyle it was too easy for players to opt out by making hopeful (or hopeless?) long passes. Now it is the time for the players show their skill and demonstrate to Leeds tomorrow night that they are a cut above their Yorkshire opposition.

It is a tall order for Barrow.

As first team coach he would surely have been involved in developing a style of play, but he might well have been overruled by Coyle or Stewart. Who knows whether his hands were tied or whether he too was part of the problem?

One thing is for sure. Not one of Latics’ players recruited by Martinez has performed at the level we expected when they dropped down a division.

Barrow knows those players and what they can do and his task will be to get them performing at their optimal level. He could do worse than have a core of Martinez players as the spine of the team, with the best of Coyle’s recruits joining them.

It is going to take some time before a new manager is appointed so Barrow needs to act fast and decisively. It is going to be interesting to see the style in which Latics play tomorrow night.

It looks like the excellent Scott Carson will come in for that fine prospect Lee Nicholls in goal. The remaining places are up for grabs.

Under Coyle Latics took one step forward and two steps back.

It is now time for this squad to reveal their true potential.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Phasing out Martinez’s men?

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

Fraser Fyvie

“It’s not great. The manager’s just not given me any chance at all. Of course it’s demoralising. You go down there and a manager (Martinez) buys you and tries to mould you into the player that he wants you to be and then of course he went to Everton. The new manager (Owen Coyle) has come in and he’s got his own players, so there’s not much I can do apart from prove a point to him that I want to get in the Wigan side.”

The words of Fraser Fyvie quoted by the Scottish Herald, before he joined Yeovil Town on a three month loan deal today. The young  Scot had not even been made the bench, let alone started, in a league game this season.

Were Roger Espinoza  less tactful he too might say something similar.  A star in  an Honduras side that has secured qualification for Brazil, he has started in only two league matches for Latics this season.

Despite his international experience – 34 caps for his country at the age of 26 – Espinoza has not appeared in either of the Europa League games up to this point.  In the league matches where the Honduran made the starting line-up he was taken off after 65 minutes against Nottingham Forest and 55 minutes at Leicester.

The loan of Rob Kiernan to Southend was announced earlier this week. It is the central defender’s fourth loan  move since joining Latics in 2011.

Kiernan is 22 years old and does not yet have the right kind of experience to enable him to challenge for a first team place. He has made regular appearances for Latics’ under 21 team, but the lack of serious competition in the Central League would not have done much for his development. The under 21s  find themselves in a division of clubs from the third and fourth tier of English football. The gap between the level of football in the Central League and that of the Championship is huge.

Fyvie is only 20. Unlike Kiernan he has considerable  experience at a competitive level. He was signed as a 19 year old with more than 50 senior games prior experience under his belt for Aberdeen. Roberto Martinez used him sparingly last year, presumably giving him a year to adapt to English football. Fyvie has the potential to be a good player at Premier League level.

When Coyle signed Chris McCann, Fyvie probably saw the warning signs.  The squad was already overloaded with quality midfield players despite relegation from the Premier League. McCann himself has had few opportunities, despite his previous record of success in the division and might well prove to be a player of Premier League quality were the opportunity to arise.

Conspiracy theorists will say that Coyle is ridding himself of players he inherited.

Questions remain about the futures of long term injured players – Gary Caldwell, Ali Al Habsi and Ivan Ramis. Two of the three are ex-players of the year for Latics. The third – Ramis – might have received the same honour had his season not been curtailed by a cruciate knee ligament injury at Fulham in January.

One also wonders about Shaun Maloney.

A new manager typically brings in his own players. Coyle has done well in recruiting new players who can help Latics get back to the Premier League. That is quite distinct to preparing a squad that can get promotion and hold their own at that higher level.

Coyle runs the risk of losing players who have already proven themselves at Premier League level, let alone a potential talent like Fraser Fyvie.

One hopes that the conspiracy theorists are misguided.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Resistance broken

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

Roberto Martinez was on the money when he said Wigan Athletic would need to be tactically perfect against defending champions Manchester City — a soft goal halfway through the second half was the difference in this one.

James Milner added a wonder strike two minutes later but probably wouldn’t have gambled on a shot from that far out without the one-nil cushion. It gave City the confidence to attack with verve against a Wigan side that had until that point looked both resilient in defence and composed in attack.

The Good:

The makeshift defence performed admirably. Adrian Lopez was a revelation and is clearly well-suited to a back three. The midfield pairing of James McCarthy and Dave Jones was excellent, as was Franco Di Santo, who skillfully and energetically led a number of breakaways.

All in all, given the injury crisis the club is going through, this was a positive performance against a team full of match-winners. If you’d pulled four starters and several other senior players out of the squad three years ago, it would have guaranteed a hammering. Not so anymore.

The Bad:

A missed opportunity. City were starting to grow frustrated and Wigan were growing in confidence. Al-Habsi’s mistake was his second in two matches. You can get away with it against Reading — just — but not Manchester City. It was effectively game over.

Player Ratings:

Ali Al-Habsi: 5 — Though it pains me to say it, but his mistake led to the goal that changed the game.

Emmerson Boyce: 7 — Could have done better after Ali spilled, loses a point for that. But he was otherwise excellent in his old position.

Adrian Lopez: 8 — A revelation in the Gary Caldwell role. No fault in the goals, made numerous timely interceptions and tackles, and distributed well.

Maynor Figueroa: 7 — One near disastrous backwards header aside, he did well alongside unfamiliar defensive partners.

Jean Beausejour: 6 — Played one delicious cross in the second half but otherwise failed to have a strong impact on the game.

Ronnie Stam: 6 — Rusty. Struggled to get his ball into the box. But he shows promise and could be very useful in the right wingback role in weeks to come. Especially as Boyce appears to be set for an extended run at centre-back.

James McCarthy: 8 — Outstanding. Didn’t put a foot wrong all game. Broke up play and started counter-attacks.

David Jones: 7.5 — His best outing for some time. Good passing, strong tackling.

Jordi Gomez: 6 — Better in the first half, although casual at times. Might have had a penalty shout but stayed on his feet and then went down under lesser contact. Faded as the game went on.

Franco Di Santo: 8 — Broke up play, broke with pace, created opportunities, but often found himself alone.

Arouna Koné: 7 — Linked up well but couldn’t put away any of the half-chances he had.

Subs:

James McArthur: Glad to see him back.

Callum McManaman: Came on with a minute to play for Ronnie Stam. A bit late.