Tag Archives: epl

Irritating “expert” commentators: a reflection on Garry Birtles commentary during Wigan-Arsenal

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

Do you ever get irritated by the “expert commentator” when you watch a televised football match? A particularly annoying tone of voice or an absurd level of incredulity and disbelief when a striker misses a chance. He will typically try to tell you that those things did not happen in his day. Some favour the top teams, others haven’t done their research or are just plain ignorant towards smaller sides like Wigan Athletic. Others still favour the clubs they used to play for. The theory is that they are good people to provide expert analyses, due to their experiences on the pitch during their playing careers. Their counterparts — the match narrators — are there because of their communication skills, their ability to reach out to mass audiences. They can grate on one too, particularly when glorifying the top teams and their players over all others — but I personally find them less irritating.

A few weeks ago I turned on my cable tv and found a Premier League match without any commentary. There was crowd noise, providing lots of atmosphere, but a technical glitch had done away with the official narration. What a refreshing 45 minutes of televised football. Unfortunately, after half time the commentary kicked back in and once again I found myself frustrated by the soundtrack. Ten minutes in, I turned the sound off and watched the rest of the match sans monotone monologue. While the first half with crowd noise was ideal, the second half on mute was not much fun. But the alternative of listening to the “expert” was definitely the worst of the options.

During last Saturday’s encounter with Arsenal, I found myself listening to Garry Birtles, the designated “expert” for the day. Now, Garry Birtles was a decent centre forward, who won the European cup twice with Nottingham Forest and won three caps for England. A good career to justify his “expert” status. Birtles was brutally frank about Wigan Athletic’s tactics against Arsenal. He criticized the lack of midfield tackling that led to Arsenal’s first goal, but reserved his most scathing comments for the lack of support lone forward Conor Sammon was receiving. At one stage in the first half he pointed out that Sammon was receiving the ball with not one of his own team within twenty yards of him. He continued to be flummoxed by this situation until he really blew in the 59th minute when Sammon was taken off and replaced by Franco Di Santo. “He (Sammon) was chasing his own flick-ons at times. When a system is just not working: change it!!” he remarked. He clearly had a lot of sympathy for Sammon. Later he was to state his disbelief that two substitutions had been made but the tactics remained the same. He advocated the need for a second central striker to be put in place.

I must admit that I almost muted the sound so I wouldn’t have to listen to him rant. You could picture the spit on the microphone. The fact I left him on was recognition, through my frustration, that he was absolutely right. The lone role of the Latics centre forward is something I commented on in my first article for this site. I have also advocated the need for more of steel in midfield. The reality of the Arsenal match is that we had little chance of getting back into the game after the errors that gifted them their first two goals. Martinez acknowledged as much after the match. Our players look desperately short of confidence. No matter what tactical system you adopt you cannot beat teams like Arsenal by giving away goals and lacking the self-belief to fight back. This was another capitulation to a big club — the statistics again making interesting reading. Wigan committed 8 fouls, while Arsenal gave away 12. In the matches against the big boys this year – Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham – Wigan have committed an average of 9 fouls per game. In the other 11 Premier League matches played so far Wigan have conceded 162 fouls, which makes for an average of 15 per game!

Let’s get back to the tactical situation. Our new system is a bit hard to fathom. I commend Roberto on playing with three centre halves. If Boyce and Alcaraz were to be two of those three on a regular basis it would surely help to shore up a leaky defence. Playing at wing back has given Ronnie Stam a new lease of life. It is his natural position. David Jones could have a bright future ahead of him as a left wing back. So far so good. But what about the midfield and the isolated centre forward? Prior to the change in the tactics we nominally had a centre forward and two wide players up front. However, one would expect that the addition of wing backs would change this arrangement. Two of the front three should theoretically be able to move narrower in support the centre forward, almost in the role of the old fashioned inside forward. However, last Saturday we continued to see Victor Moses operate primarily as a left winger with Jordi Gomez completely lost on the right. Diame and McCarthy were locked in primarily defensive midfield roles, rarely getting into the penalty box. The system needs to be fine-tuned so that when the ball does get into the opponents’ penalty box there are Wigan bodies there to latch on to it, not only that lone centre forward.

Listening to Garry Birtles on Saturday was painful. He was condescending and scathing in his commentary, occasionally ignorant. The problem is that he wasn’t wrong about most of his criticism. Let’s hope that the next time Birtles commentates on a Wigan match Roberto will have given him cause for praise.

The reserve team: An anachronism? What is the role of the second team?

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

Harry is his team’s outstanding striker. He can hit the ball with either foot with rocket-like precision. He can leap like a salmon and gets great headers. He has scored more goals than anyone has ever done for his club. He is an icon. But he is going through a bad spell. No goals for five games now and he is getting tense. The manager ‘drops’ him and it makes the headlines. Harry has to play for the reserves. A blow to his dignity. He is angry, but being a true professional, he accepts his fate. His first game for them is not a success: no goals and a poor performance. He scores a hat trick in his second game. But he is not recalled to the first team. Harry goes to see the manager. The manager tells him that he needs to do more: only then he will look at bringing him back to the first team. Harry responds and gets back into the first team. He continues on his successful career path.

Those times have gone. Let’s be fair: Harry’s career at the club could well have been waning, but in those days the reserve team was a different beast. They played on the same day as the first team. If you couldn’t make it to your first team’s away game you could go and watch the reserves. You could see the young players playing with some seasoned pros. Both benefited: the first team players could regain confidence, reap havoc against less experienced opposition. The younger players in the reserve team could learn exponentially through playing with the seasoned pros. A bygone era!

These days the reserve leagues serve a different function. The basic concept is that of the ‘development squad’ where young players are seemingly groomed for the Premier League. In reality, the players who play in the Premier Reserve League are from all over the world. Few of them make the jump to the Premier League. Worryingly fewer of them are English. The top clubs find ways to recruit the best teenagers worldwide, although their ethics can leave a sour taste in the mouth.

Take Wigan Athletic as an example. Twenty-one players have represented them — either started or come off the bench — in the 13 Premier League matches played this year. The development squad/reserve team have played 12 matches. 8 of those games were played without any of the aforementioned ‘first teamers’. James McArthur has played two games for the WADs; six others have played one game each. However, four of those were in one match against Everton Reserves. Hendry Thomas is still nominally a member of the first team squad, but he has not appeared on the pitch in the Premier League this year. In that time he has played one game for the WADs. An even more extreme case is that of Mike Pollitt who has not stepped on the pitch for either the first team or the WADs. How can these players possibly be match fit when they are playing no competitive football?

Wigan Athletic are not alone in having players who have been playing for neither their first or second strings up to this point. Reserve teams are regarded primarily as development squads for younger players, rather than as a means of keeping highly paid, underused senior professionals match fit. Wigan are one of the few Premier League clubs to have largely English players in their development squad. The club’s official site lists 17 ‘young professionals’ of whom only the young Spaniards, Roman Golobart and Abian Serrano, come from outside the UK. Looking at Manchester United’s reserve team lineup in the recent match against our WADs, they are largely foreign players. Last year was the best reserve team Wigan Athletic has ever had. They came close to winning the Premier Reserve League North, amid fierce competition, with a team largely composed of players born within a 40 mile radius of Wigan. Two of the outstanding performers – Callum McMananan and Roman Golobart – have since been sent off on loan in an attempt to give them a taste of first team football. However, seasoned development squad veterans such as Daniel Redmond and Jordan Mustoe must wonder whether they will ever make the jump to Premier League football. A make or break season for them.

Hats off to Roberto Martinez, Graham Barrow and the coaching staff for revitalizing our youth system, bringing in so many capable young professionals. Those young pros who are fortunate enough to play in the Premier Reserve League are meeting good quality opposition. Unfortunately this cannot be said of our third string team who play in the Football League Youth Alliance against the likes of Macclesfield and Tranmere. They have won only 2 of their 12 matches this season. Although it can be argued that results are not the key factor with this age range there is clearly a lot of work to be done by the new coach John Doolan. A pity that we cannot compete with the bigger clubs at this level.

My overriding concern is that of first team squad players who simply do not play enough competitive football to be match-fit. Our strikers cannot score goals but Rodallega and Sammon have each played only one game for the reserves and Di Santo has played none. Putting senior players into the reserve team helps them move toward match sharpness while their presence benefits the younger members of the squad. A balance needs to be achieved, between using the reserve team to maintain levels of match fitness among the senior squad, and providing a nurturing environment for the young pros. There is an imbalance in this respect not only at Wigan ,but at most clubs in the Premier League. It needs to be addressed.

A share of the morsels or (another) nail in a coffin? Wigan – Blackburn Preview

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

For the past couple of seasons both Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers have been stuck in dog-eat-dog relegation fights. Somehow, each has prevailed — but things are not looking good for either at the moment. When you are so hungry you sometimes have to settle for any morsels you can get. Odds are the two struggling teams will share points on Saturday. A loss for either would represent another nail in its coffin.

In order to survive relegation, a team needs to average around a point per game over the course of the season, although fourth-from-bottom Wolves needed 40 to stay up last year — an exceptional year. Wigan currently sit on 5 points, while Blackburn have one more, from 11 fixture. Two consecutive wins for either team would bring them within striking distance of the point per match relegation barometer.

So what to expect on Saturday? It will largely depend on whether either team is bold enough to go out and grab those three points or if the fear of losing will paralyze them. This columnist will continue to advocate the former approach for Wigan. A positive approach would be to start with at least three front players. In the Martinez system, this means a centre forward and two wide players. If Martinez is unwilling to adapt this tactical system to accommodate two central strikers, one would hope that two genuine wide players would be employed. Fine player as he can be, Hugo Rodallega is no left winger. The mistake of playing James McCarthy, a central midfield player, in a wide position against Bolton needs to be avoided. We have Moses, Crusat and Maloney for the wide positions. The centre forward position is up for grabs. Di Santo has proved to be a good target man and has scored spectacular goals, but one still lacks the belief that he can put himself into positions where it hurts, to get the tap-ins and scrappy goals typical of a top class central striker. Four of Wigan’s seven goals this season have come from shots outside the box, two more were penalties. The need for someone to latch onto those crosses, rebounds and deflections is crying out. Latics have the worst striking rate in the league with one goal per 17 attempts. Rodallega can do that but seems to be suffering a crisis of confidence. Being played on the left wing or as a lone forward with minimal support has not helped. Sammon remains a largely unknown quantity, not having had sufficient game time to prove himself. One recalls his opportunist goal that helped to turn the relegation match with West Ham last year, showing that there is definite potential. The midfield trio is likely to consist of Watson, Diame and Jones, but James McCarthy will probably appear at some point. In defence Gary Caldwell will return to replace the suspended Antolin Alcaraz.

Like Wigan, Blackburn can complain that luck (including refereeing decisions) has not favoured them this season. Again like Wigan, they have better players than their position suggest. However, they have only won two out of their last eighteen away matches in the Premier League. They have kept a clean sheet in only one game from twenty four. They are clearly beatable. Let’s keep an eye on the giant Chris Samba from set pieces and keep our concentration at the back and up front. More than anything else let’s go in with an aggressive, not passive, approach. A relatively bold team selection would send a message to the opposition that we mean business.

Prediction: draw or close win for Latics. Keep the faith!

Wolves 3 Wigan 1: That sinking feeling

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

For several weeks now, we have sat down to write our match previews with relentless optimism (#keepthefaith), operating under the assumption that at some point in the next match, during a crucial moment, we would get a slice of luck.

This week, we finally did.

1-0 down, just before the stroke of halftime, Emmerson Boyce cleverly drew a penalty by jinking through a pair of Wolves defenders. Ben Watson stepped up, a visible bundle of nerves, and kicked it right at the keeper. It bounced back for an easy tap in, and Latics were back in the match. We finally got that bit of luck.

The problem was everything else. Despite playing far better football, creating chance after chance, Latics continued to single-handedly provide footage for the 12Bet.com How-Not-to-Finish instructional video. The man posing as Hugo Rodallega was culprit-in-chief, tamely toe-poking when through on goal early in the match before missing an absolute sitter — probably the easiest chance he’s had in a Wigan shirt — after chesting down a lovely Franco Di Santo pass with only the goalkeeper to beat. It visibly affected him, but he has cut a forlorn figure for quite some time now. With his agent talking up a potential move to Juventus, Latics Premier League goal-scoring record holder’s stay appears to be coming to a depressing end.

But it’s too easy to make a scapegoat out of the Colombian. Victor Moses was once again devastating in one-on-one wing play, but his final pass, cross, or shot simply fails to yield. The fear with him is that for all his raw talent there is no football brain, no vision. He holds on to the ball too long, keeps his head down when others are making runs for him (Dave Jones made an excellent one in particular after recovering the ball in Wolves territory in the first half), and shoots either too early or too late. This is harsh criticism for a young player who has been denied by posts and outstanding saves all season long, but it is what we’ve missed of N’Zogbia’s game. Coolness under pressure. Can you teach that?

Moving back to the defense. Gohouri was wobbly, while it’s hard to talk about Antolin Alcaraz’s performance after the spitting incident that will see him banned for the next three matches. Needless to say he didn’t have one of his better games. We can only hope a public apology is coming, and the incident doesn’t negatively affect relationships within an already distraught squad.

The way he is performing, it won’t be long before there is an Ali Al-Habsi statue in the town centre. The frustration he must have felt after his defense failed to clear three times before Dave Edwards hammered that second goal in must have been unreal. His agility and reflex saves are second to none in the premiership.

In midfield, Mo Diame and Dave Jones had decent games, and Ben Watson was solid enough. Latics passed well and had the better of the game. They are not the problem. If Diame continues to progress, he will no doubt be making the step to a bigger club sooner or later.

And so it has to be said — barring an astonishing turnaround, Latics look doomed. Last season, West Ham billed their home match against us their “Save our Season” fixture. They beat us, and then in the reverse fixture, we sent then down. The home fixture against Blackburn in two weeks time is certainly a must win if this season is to be saved. But then so was the last one. I’ll be wearing my lucky sombrero and moustache, but how great would it be if the team could put in a performance that didn’t need it?

Player Ratings:

Ali Al-Habi: 9 — Made a number of excellent saves, inspirational.

Emmerson Boyce: 6.5 — Won the penalty, did some good defending and got forward. But two of the goals came down his side.

Antolin Alcaraz: 5 — Was okay, until the spitting incident.

Steve Gohouri: 5 — Wobbly.

Maynor Figueroa: 6 — Wolves’ first goal just seemed a bit too easy, but otherwise fine.

Ben Watson: 6 — Solid performance, was unhappy to be substituted which at least shows desire.

Dave Jones: 7 — Worked really hard and had an effective game in midfield.

Mo Diame: 8 — Latics best player this season, lively.

Hugo Rodallega: 4 — Miserable. Missed a sitter and several other chances. Sad to watch him perform this way.

Victor Moses: 6 — Great running, no end product.

Franco Di Santo: 7 — If Rodallega has been up to it, he would have emerged from this match with a couple assists and a good energetic, committed performance as centre-forward. His own finishing should have been better when he had half chances, however.

Subs:

Conor Sammon: 7 — Deserves a chance. Had a good effort and looked lively.

Albert Crusat: 6 — Did not assert himself on the game this time.

James McArthur: 6 — Not much to report.

Wolves – Wigan Preview: It’s now or never

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


If the must-win theme in our match previews of late has been getting a bit repetitive, at least its message becomes truer by the week. Wigan has already lost two absolutely-must-win home fixtures, the first with a shambolic display against Bolton, the second a luckless affair against bogey team Fulham. The next three — Wolves away, Blackburn at home, and Sunderland away — are probably as crucial to our survival as any in the season run-in. Not only because they are matches we should expect to emerge from with some points. But because we have to emerge from them with some points. If we don’t, we go into December bottom of the table with fixtures against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United in four of the five next games.

Assuming we don’t pick up much in that Christmas deathtrap, I think we need no less than 7 out of the next 9 points. Which means beating Blackburn at home, then beating either Wolves or Sunderland away, and drawing with the other. Given Wolves’ poor form, this may be the better chance for that away win.

The good news is that Latics have a strong record at Molineaux in recent times. We won 2-1 last year and 2-0 the year before. Their form has been poor, losing 7 of the last 9, although they won 3 of the 4 before that, and the most recent two losses were back-to-back exercises against Man City. They did draw at home to Swansea and lose to Newcastle, though, which should give us hope.

The bad news, of course, is that our form is worse. We are now on a staggering eight-match losing streak, although performances have not been as bad as the statistic suggests. With the exception of Man City away, Latics could have (in several cases should have) emerged with points. We live in hope that this will be the performance that delivers reward.

Not too much in the way of player news other than the excellent report on Mo Diame’s ankle injury not being serious. He may even be in contention for a starting spot on Sunday, and thank goodness given the rest of our midfield’s scoring record this season. Gary Caldwell is out suspended, which I daresay has been greeted with enthusiasm by many sections of Latics support. He appears to have lost a yard of pace — not that he was ever the quickest — and equally importantly, presence. I felt he was a good choice for captain when he first arrived at the club, but the defense is severely lacking the authority he was signed to provide, something has gone wrong. Roberto has a few options to replace him — none that steady — playing Steve Gohouri or Adrian Lopez in the centre with Antolin Alcaraz, or moving the ever reliable Emmerson Boyce into centre, drafting in Ronnie Stam at right-back. Or playing Gohouri or Lopez at right back. The main concern should be containing Matt Jarvis, who usually operates down Wolves’ left wing.

If Diame is fit, I would guess a repeat lineup in midfield, with Dave Jones and Ben Watson. Albert Crusat was dangerous against Fulham and should keep his place on the left, while Victor Moses will continue to provoke panic in goalposts country-wide on the right. Hugo Rodallega has been poor — a lifeless, dejected version of the livewire striker with the neon green boots that joined us under Steve Bruce. He remains the most likely player to score, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Martinez opted for Franco Di Santo, who at least looks like he wants to be on the pitch.

As for Wolves, it will probably be a 4-5-1 similar to ours, with Kevin Doyle the frontman. Matt Jarvis will be the main creative threat, while Jamie O’Hara will be energetic in midfield. Cristophe Berra is a bit of a weak link in their defense, though old Birmingham bruiser Roger Johnson always seemed to enjoy a good tussle with Rodallega, I’m sure it will be the same in different colours.

Not much more to say. We’ve played well in the last two outings but haven’t scored. We know we’ll hit the post at least once, but lets hope it bounces in this time.

Heart says: We are a bogey team for Wolves. The extra pace in centre of defense will do us well. We need to win. 1-0.

Mind says: If Wolves score first, we’ve had it. If we do, anything is possible. Realistically, 1-1, but lets hope I’m wrong.