Tag Archives: Curtis Tilt

Five talking points after Wigan Athletic earn a draw at Milton Keynes

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

March 12, 2022: MK Dons 1 Wigan Athletic 1

Wigan Athletic significantly strengthened their bid for an automatic promotion place in League 1 by gaining a point at the MK Stadium. The result means that the teams remain level on points, MK having 8 games left to play and Wigan 11.

Courtesy of FootyStats.com

Leam Richardson described it as “a commendable performance” by his players, citing how they had worked tirelessly hard in and out of possession. It was what could be termed a “professional performance” with Wigan’s work rate, energy and physicality dulling the keen edge of the home team’s usual style of smooth football.

MK manager Liam Manning summed it up in saying: “Wigan had a game plan to come here and stop us playing and when you’ve got a team as experienced and physical and well set-up as they are, it made things difficult. They came here well structured, well drilled and difficult to break down.”

Tom Naylor’s 59th minute goal had looked yards offside at the time, although video replays suggest it was a borderline decision that went in Latics’ favour. The home team’s equaliser in the 88th minute was a frustrating one for Wigan to concede, with a free header from a corner.

In the end a draw was a fair result.

Richardson gets it right

Leam Richardson opted for a backline of three central defenders, with wing backs, matching the formation of the home team. It worked well, the shape and energy of the Wigan team stifling the MK Dons’ usually smooth-flowing football, forcing them into errors.

Madley stays strong

When it was announced that Bobby Madley was to officiate this game there were groans from Wigan fans. He had made some decisions in previous Latics matches that were both puzzling and infuriating.

However, Madley stayed strong. It was a tense affair between two teams vying for automatic promotion, each having a contrasting style of play. Madley’s decision to allow Naylor’s goal was pivotal, as was his strength in resisting simulations from the home team.

Unnecessary Yellow cards

One of the frustrations of Wigan’s play this season has been the accumulation of unnecessary yellow cards. Yesterday Latics were without Tendayi Darikwa, James McClean and Graeme Shinnie through suspension. Callum Lang picked up another one yesterday and will miss the next two matches.

Fortunately for Richardson, Latics have a strong squad. However, they have lost important players through long-term injury, on top of the normal shorter-term injury toll. To lose more players through suspensions which could have been avoided by better self-discipline adds to the pressure.

Lang will miss the next two games

Callum Lang has been such a key player since his return to Wigan in January 2021. Without his opportunism and drive Latics would almost certainly have been relegated last season. This season he has become an automatic starter in a strong Latics side heading for promotion.

In recent matches Lang has not been on his best form. Reports have suggested that he has been carrying an injury. Yesterday he was heavily policed by the MK Dons defence, giving him little space to work in, dulling his effectiveness.

The yellow card he received yesterday means that Lang will be suspended from the next two league games. It is a blow for Latics even if they face lowly opposition in Crewe and Morecambe this week. However, in the long run an enforced rest might prove beneficial to a player who has put so much energy into the team that he risks burning himself out.

Darling’s equaliser

Wigan’s ability to repel aerial threats has been key in their rise as a promotion-chasing team. They have four quality centre backs to choose from and tall midfielders and attackers who come back to help defend set-pieces. Moreover, Ben Amos has shown his ability to punch the ball away in a crowded goalmouth.

MK Dons central defender Harry Darling scored his eighth goal of the season yesterday. Given his goal tally one would have expected him to be better policed from the corner kick that led to the equaliser.

Wigan’s last League 1 title winning team had Dan Burn and Chey Dunkley marshalling the centre of defence, a robust duo who were superb in the air. Richardson’s preferred centre back pairing has been Jack Whatmough and Curtis Tilt, their physicality and ability in the air akin to that of Burn and Dunkley. Together with Jason Kerr they got the better of the home team forwards yesterday until two minutes from normal time. Amos could be blamed for missing his punch away, but where was his cover?

Stats courtesy of WhoScored.com

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A refreshing change in formation for Wigan Athletic

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

In the summer of 2014 Uwe Rosler was a popular man with Latics followers. The German had taken over in early December with Wigan Athletic lying in the depths of the Championship table. Rosler went on to take them to 5th place and the FA Cup semi-final. They were narrowly defeated by QPR in the Championship playoffs and by Arsenal at Wembley. Although a section of the fanbase had not been happy with his squad rotation policy he produced the results and repaired the damage caused during Owen Coyle’s awful tenure.

The adage “Managers are judged on results” rang true for Rosler. Latics had been one of the bookmakers’ favourites for promotion but by mid-November the German had been sacked as they had slid down the table.

Leam Richardson too is popular with Latics fans. He worked wonders in helping the club avoid relegation last season and his newly assembled squad, with 15 new signings, has made an impressive start to the season. But three midweek home defeats, with the players looking “flat” had led to questions about whether he was too set in his ways, rigidly sticking to his favoured 4-2-3-1 system, not rotating his squad sufficiently to keep players fresh, making substitutions too late in the game, as fixture were piling-up.

If there was one factor that led to Uwe Rosler’s downfall it would be in making too many new signings over the summer, when he already had a strong squad. Richardson’s case differs in that he only had five contracted players when summer recruitment started. However, he now has a big squad which is going to need careful management in ensuring that fringe players do not get disenchanted through lack of game time.

Richardson took a major step forward in the Burton Albion game on Saturday when he brought in Curtis Tilt and Stephen Humphys and gave a League 1 debut to Jason Kerr. Fan concerns about the depth of quality of the squad soon diminished as all three players made fine contributions.

But the real surprise was a switch away from 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-1-2 formation. Kerr was employed as a right centre back, a role in which he enjoyed great success in St Johnstone’s run to win both the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup last season. Jack Whatmough looked very comfortable in the centre of the back three, with the experienced Tilt to his left. Max Power played a deep midfield role with Tom Bayliss more advanced. James McClean looked so at home at left wing back, a position he occupies for the Republic of Ireland. Tendayi Darikwa looked so much better back on the right- hand side and was afforded more freedom in the wing back role. The new formation allowed Richardson to play twin strikers in Humphrys and Charlie Wyke. Humphrys is a talented player who has spent too much time on the bench with only one central striker being employed in 4-2-3-1. Will Keane has looked somewhat jaded in recent games. The return of Thelo Aasgaard from injury will provide Richardson with a back-up in that number 10/creative central midfield role.

With Latics a goal up and Burton down to ten men after 15 minutes it is hard to evaluate the success of the new formation. But credit must go to Richardson for his willingness to go against his own previous orthodoxy. It was noticeable that there was less of a gap in the centre of the field and there was so much less long ball than we have been seeing so frequently. The formation helped to facilitate a more possession-based build up.  

3-4-1-2 offers differing opportunities to players than 4-2-3-1. Callum Lang was suspended and did not play. Lang nominally plays on the right flank but is not a conventional winger. He is a key player because of his willingness to run at opposition defences and he is always a candidate for scoring a goal. His ideal position is open to conjecture, but he would surely be comfortable in the front two of a 3-4-1-2 system.

Richardson has made a response to critics who have had concerns about the rigidity of his tactical outlook. He has shown himself to be a great motivator of his players and is a fine ambassador for the club, discreet in his comments, showing a dignity that is not the norm in football club managers. It was heartening to see him make this change.

Roberto Martinez made the switch to 3-4-3 in the middle of the 2009-10 season when relegation was imminent. It led to the most successful set of results in Wigan’s league history. It also paved the way to winning the FA Cup. Despite those successes there are Latics fans who do not favour a system with three at the back.

In the Cook/Richardson era Latics flitted with systems playing three at the back, but it could never really compete with the 4-2-3-1. Let’s hope that Richardson will give his new system enough time to evaluate it.  Another criticism Richardson has faced has been a lack of a Plan B. Getting his players accustomed to a change in shape, either from game to game, or within a game, would be a major step forward in his development as a manager.

The likelihood is that 4-2-3-1 will continue to be the modus operandi for Richardson, but one hopes that he will keep an open mind towards changes in shape. One way of looking at things is to decide on a system and look at how well players fit into it. Another way is to look at the individual talent in the squad and devise a system that can get the best out of them in their entirety.

Amigo and Social Media Reaction to a goalless draw with Ipswich

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Social Media and tagged with , , , , , ,

Wigan Athletic 0 Ipswich Town 0

“It’s another point in the right direction”

So said Leam Richardson in his post-match summary.

It was a tight game with few chances created by either team with defences dominating. With Scott Wootton out through injury, Curtis Tilt moved to the right hand side of the centre of defence with George Johnston on his left. With various options for employing his front four Richardson had Will Keane at centre forward, with Callum Lang and a strapped-up Viv Solomon-Otabor playing wide and Thelo Aasgaard given a rare chance to play in his natural position as a number 10.

Aasgaard is a very talented young player and it was brave of the manager to give him the chance in the central creative role. However, in a game where defences and holding midfielders dominated the 19-year-old was so often crowded out when receiving the ball. Moreover, Keane looked lost at centre forward and the wingers could not get into the game. Solomon-Otabor was clearly not match fit and it was only later in the game when Lang played a more central role that he got more involved. Richardson’s dilemma is that Aasgard, Keane and Lang play best in that role behind that central striker.

Following a ragged performance at Accrington the defence was solid in this game with Johnston having a man of the match performance and Tilt not far behind. Moreover Jamie Jones was more authoritative in goal. If the defence can play like that in the games that remain then Latics will have a good chance of avoiding relegation.,

Let’s take a look at how fans reacted to the match through the message boards and social media. Our thanks go to the Vital Wigan – Latics Speyk Forum and Twitter for providing the media for the posts below to happen. Thanks go to all whose contributions are identified below:

True Believer commented:

As Arthur says it is a matter of opinion and in my opinion the game was fought out by two teams who were intent on winning three points but lacked the necessary skills to break the other down. Neither team showed any composure up front and lacked the ability to dominate the game. Both teams had opportunities to win the game but in the end I think both managers will be happy to come away with a point.

MoM for me was George Johnston who once again showed that he is a versatile player and a very solid performer. Alongside Curtis Tilt, who showed his commitment to the cause by returning from international duties a day earlier and still making himself available, they made a very strong CB pairing. Tendayi Darikwa had a decent game and is improving game by game and his forward runs caused a few problems for Ipswich, however his final ball needs improvement. Young Luke Robinson once again put in a solid shift but his inexperience shows in his pass selection and on a couple of occasions his wayward passing caused us problems, but I have no doubt he will improve.

Midfield has been a problem this season as we lacked experienced heads able to slow play down when necessary and pick out a pass when needed. In Evans and Ojo I think we have solved the problem as both had decent games with Evans spraying the ball wide to Darikwa to release him and set up a crossing opportunity.

Aasgaard looked good again playing in the central role but once again his lack of experience allowed the Ipswich players to crowd him out and snuff out the danger when he was in possession. Viv SO flatters to deceive and his control let him down today, although once again I have to applaud him for wanting to play even though he was heavily strapped up and this clearly hampered his pace.

Will Keane worked hard but doesn’t challenge enough for the high balls and is a poor substitute for Proctor, he is a much better number 10, playing off the main striker. Unfortunately for Will he is also second best as a No,10 to Callum Lang who once again makes you ask the question “why was he out on loan for the first half of the season”. His running with the ball directly at defenders causes panic and he was unlucky today not to have got a penalty, his energy is boundless and his enthusiasm rubs off on other players whilst his willingness to show for the ball gives the defence and midfield options.

Now to the scapegoat for many JJ.

I thought he commanded his area today and marshalled the defence well making a couple of decent interceptions and clearing the ball under pressure. His near post block saved the points when they did eventually get past the defence, and although you would expect him to make the block I still believe it was worth the mention.

To sum up, it was not one for the purists but given the performance last weekend it was certainly an improvement and pre match that is all I could ask for. A win would have been a great result, but at this stage of the season, and considering three points would have seen Ipswich back in to the play off places at the start of play, I’ll take the point, the performance, and look to build on that against Gillingham.

Jeffs right wrote:

I don’t expect us to roll any side over. We are struggling at the bottom because we have one of the weakest squads in the league. So long as we give it a go is important but two shots on target in 96 minutes is not going to get us up to finish fifth from bottom. Ipswich were depleted too and since Cook went there are struggling to get wins so have been slipping away from contention and like Stanley last week are not exactly buzzing. Today was another of those games where if you were to expect three points then this was one of the games. Alas two shots on target is not going to do it.

Victor Moses summarised:

Viv was done 20 minutes before he came off.

Evans actually played to the standard you would expect from him today. Some lovely switch passes which led to some of our best openings, several sliding tackles and used his body well to win several freekicks. Was good to see him play well.

Lang was excellent but didn’t see enough of the ball out wide, really had the beating of them almost everytime he had the ball.

Johnston had a very good game, won the ball back a lot.

Robinson struggled but thats expected every now and then.

The rest had good and bad moments, had chances to win that, ball never fell kindly and wasted too many opportunities to be creative.

You are my sunshine summarised:

Thought we played well today and all that was lacking was an end product and cutting edge at the top end of the pitch. We’ve created 3 good chances and also got into some good areas and situations without making the most of them.

We were really solid defensively today and the clean sheet is a real positive. Johnston was outstanding and Tilt was excellent as well especially after his whirlwind few days.

After an even 1st half I thought Evans and Ojo then controlled the game in the 2nd and we were the better team, so I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t win the game.

Lang needs to play centrally and only out wide when we have no other options to play on the wings. He’s wasted out there and we need him more involved in the game which he will be through the middle.

Although I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t win,because we were the better team that 2nd half, it’s a point closer to safety and very much all to play for going into the last 9 games.


Additionally we have the official takeover to look forward to next week, which,fingers crossed should be rubber stamped before Good Friday!


Keep the faith!

Stats courtesy of WhoScored.com

Amigo and Social Media reaction to a narrow defeat at Oxford

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Social Media and tagged with , , ,

Oxford United 2 Wigan Athletic 1

The trip was always going to be difficult to play an Oxford side that had won 11 of their last 12 games. A soft goal conceded in the 83rd minute proved to be the decider despite the solid defence and endeavour we had seen from Wigan until the last 20 minutes when their legs seemed to become heavier.  

Leam Richardson named a lineup that was unchanged from the win at Northampton. In the first half they held their own physically.  Although Oxford had 65% of the possession the Wigan defence looked solid and well organised, the front players high pressing when the home defenders had the ball. Chances for both teams had been minimal.

Following a long half time break Callum Lang’s well taken goal after 57 minutes gave Latics a surprise lead. Lang took a knock not long after and was eventually substituted after 69 minutes by Joe Dodoo. The centre forward’s absence signalled a change in Wigan’s approach with the high pressing becoming less evident and Oxford dominating the game.

Latics were so often hoofing the ball away, inviting further pressure. Crosses were being too easily launched into the box with Wigan’s defence becoming increasingly hard pressed. After 72 minutes Brendon Barker was allowed to cross from the left flank, despite two Wigan players being in close attendance. Sam Winnall headed in with ease at the far post. Some ten minutes later Mark Sykes was  allowed the space to launch a cross into the centre where big centre back Elliott Moore outmuscled both Curtis Tilt and Scott Wootton to go on to score.

It was a defensive lapse that produced the deciding goal, but Latics had done well to hold a good Oxford side until those final 20 minutes.

After the game Richardson commented:

“With the emotion that went into half-time, we went in and passed information across and then you’re waiting 30-40 minutes to kick-off the second-half.  As a professional you must take the information on and display it anyway but it didn’t help either side.The second-half was really scrappy; we got our noses in front but two balls into our box we should defend better cost us.

Going forward I thought we got in some good areas where our numbers should have favoured us, albeit in difficult conditions today. Overall, I thought for 70 minutes we were worthy of something and in the last 15 or 20 minutes we self-destructed a little bit.”

Let’s take a look at how fans reacted to the match through the message boards and social media. Our thanks go to the Vital Wigan – Latics Speyk Forum and Twitter for providing the media for the posts below to happen. Thanks go to all whose contributions are identified below:

You are my sunshine commented:

Really disappointed and frustrated to lose that game. We were great for an hour, looked well organised and solid defensively as well as looking a threat going forward, getting into some decent positions. We just couldn’t quite get that final cross or pass right until Lang showed good strength and smashed the ball home.

The game then seemed to change after our goal. Lang went off a short time later and we had no outlet, got pushed back by their attacking subs and were also guilty of sitting back ourselves. After defending crosses well for the most part,to concede from those 2 crosses was disappointing, especially that 2nd one. We had 2 defenders to deal with it when the ball dropped and their guy had no right whatsoever to get in between them both from behind, out muscle them and score.

I thought Lang led the line superbly again and the game changed when he went off.All the other youngsters Aasgaard, Merrie, Robinson and Johnston also did well.

Despite the disappointment at losing, we have given the form team in division a decent game today and should’ve got at least a point,if not all 3 from the position we put ourselves in after our goal. But we take the positives, work on the negatives and go again on Wednesday!

SwindonLatic stated:

We’re not going to create enough chances with Aasgard and Keane playing either side of Lang. Aasgard has some nice touches but he loses the ball too much and Keane seems to be half the player he was a couple of months ago. We won’t improve and start creating chances until we have some more pace upfront to support Lang.

Victor Moses wrote:

Aasgaard can be wasteful, but he puts a respectable shift in. Pressed and won the ball for the goal, he also helps the fullback to defend.

He later added:

It’s not so much the effort levels that gets me its the output levels. Players in the team like Keane and Gardner in past weeks who simply cannot cover distance, with two slow midfielders central and pressing the half way line is a tough ask. They get too much free territory, also with the 5 at the back every failed cross attempt they easily collect because we drop so deep.

There’s not many if any defenders in this league that cope with being pressed, but we don’t do enough of it for easy turnovers. Sitting in waiting for the next passes is allowing their better players to operate.

Springy-Park commented:

Our defence keeps making the same mistakes, they cannot clear the ball and the opposition are scoring easy goals. We keep standing off teams and giving them far too much room, we are bunched up at the back and are easily by-passed by simple crosses which causes mayhem at the back.

Unless we get this sorted out very quickly we will lose contact with the bottom pack, we have to put far more pressure on teams and not retreat into our shell. As the saying goes the best form of defence is to attack, every team we play get the ball into our goal area as quickly as possible.

As Shankly said:

“If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be.”

Stats courtesy of WhoScored.com

Amigo and social media reaction to a narrow loss at Charlton

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Social Media and tagged with , , , ,

“We’re playing the twelve men at Old Trafford”.

In the Premier League days one rarely felt that Latics were going to get the balance of refereeing decisions going their way when playing the bigger clubs.

They certainly did not yesterday at The Valley.

John Sheridan had to reshuffle his pack for the game with left back Tom Pearce unavailable through injury. Gavin Massey was moved to right back, with Tom James moved across to the left. Darnell Johnson and Curtis Tilt formed yet another central defensive partnership. Will Keane was employed in a roving role behind Joe Garner. The seven substitutes on Wigan’s bench were graduates of the U23 squad.

I was a tight game ultimately decided by poor goalkeeping. The major refereeing decisions went to the home side, as noted by John Sheridan: “We are unfortunate to go away and get nothing from the game and it’s very disappointing.  We had two stonewall penalties and I will never know why he disallowed the Joe Garner goal; the linesman was 10 or 15 yards away from Will competing for the ball and he doesn’t give a foul but for some reason the referee – who is 40 yards away – gives a free-kick and disallows the goal.

The performance and the way the players went about getting something out of the game was a lot better. Again, we have lost the game and it’s disappointing because the goal is a direct free-kick and leading up to the goal we made ourselves vulnerable. The things we do, the decisions we make and we give too many little free-kicks away in dangerous areas, if you do that you get punished. It’s a shame we didn’t get something from the game because we deserved to.”

Sheridan did not use any of his bench, preferring to use the senior professionals at his disposal for the whole game. Despite the result it was a good performance with some bright spots. Gavin Massey had looked a shadow of his former self in the previous two games. He had a nervy start at right back, but grew into the game, looking more confident and assured. Curtis Tilt made an impressive debut despite not having played competitive football since March. It was good to see Lee Evans playing a more commanding role in the centre of midfield.  

Let’s take a look at how fans reacted to the match through the message boards and social media.

Our thanks go to the Vital Wigan – Latics Speyk Forum and Twitter for providing the media for the posts below to happen. Thanks go to all whose contributions are identified below.

The_Pon commented:

Absolutely shocking refereeing today. I’m not normally one to blame a ref. They do have a difficult job to do and I’m usually willing to let a few bad decisions go, especially when they’re are bad decisions that go both ways.

Today though, it was absolutely appalling. Every decision went the same way. Charlton players just hit the deck for free kicks whenever they like, whilst two very strong penalty claims turned down and a perfectly good goal disallowed for us. That’s not to mention the niggly trips and pulls that they got away with almost every time but the ref gave them pretty much every time.

Don’t mind cr.p referees that much when they’re cr.p for both sides, but obvious bias makes my blood boil.

SwindonLatic said:

Poor goal to concede. But we deserved at least a point. If we can get an end product out of Viv he can be as big for us at this level as Yanic was. Get the Palmer lad in, in place of Gardner and we could have the makings of a half decent team. Looked much more solid at the back. Liked the look of Tilt

Tilt was very good, head and shoulders our best player. Having Garner back certainly helped. Evans looked better than he has in recent games in def mid, but really started to look more like his old self after we went behind and it felt like he started to take more responsibility and dictating the play – that is what he is best at and hopefully with Palmer coming in he will be able to do more of it. Keane showed some nice flashes but he doesn’t really seem to be the Kieffer Moore type who can cope with the long balls and needs the ball more on the deck and players running off him. Otabor and Kal could really do some damage but they are so often taking on 3 players by themselves and crowded out – they need some help in the form of some runners and support to pull men away from them or give them options to slide someone in.

Felt that we aren’t really doing ourselves justice. We are not giving ourselves many options on the ball with a lack movement resulting in losing the ball by going long and we haven’t got a Moore to make it work. On the occasions we go up a gear start to up the tempo, show more urgency and commit men forward like we did towards the end we look a much better team. Not sure if the players are showing the opposition too much respect but if that the is the reason they really shouldn’t. Need to start games showing the urgency we show after we go behind.

Omar Bogle is still totally sh­.te – even at this level!

We’ve played about 5 of the likely teams in the promotion hunt this season and they’ve all been utter shte. We have been in turmoil with a team of cast offs yet if we could cut out costly errors to give away the points we could’ve probably won all 5. If we could get our takeover done and get our act together there is no reason we couldn’t fly up the league but we’ve got to do better ourselves.

 

TrueBeliever opined:

Quite an even game for me, Charlton looking to bed players in as were we. The goal was a mistake from Jones but overall he had a decent game and kept us in it when their forward turned Johnson in the first half.

Johnson and Tilt looked comfortable given it was the first game they had played together. Evans looked better running the show from deeper but Gardner is too loose on the ball and tries the flicks too often losing us possession.

Massey was half decent as a full back but still lacks confidence and pace going forward, maybe he is still trying to get his fitness back and will improve with game time. Solomon-Otabor drifts in and out but is dangerous in one on one situations when he gets the ball out of his feet.

I thought both Garner and Keane fought well against a couple of decent CB’s and won their fair share of the ball without actually creating much. No doubt if they get to play together more they will improve and form an understanding.

We should have been given at least one of the two penalty shouts as Evans had his standing foot whipped away as he was about to shoot. The one with Keane was more debateable but his set up for Garner was never a foul and the assistant ref, who had the better view, obviously thought so. Poor decision by the ref.

Overall a decent performance from yet another makeshift side still looking to find some consistency and getting to know each others games.

Onwards to Tuesday and the visit of Peterborough with at least an improvement on last week’s performance.

Stats courtesy of WhoScored.com