Tag Archives: Shaun Maloney

NORWICH 2 WIGAN ATHLETIC 1

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

Wigangoal

Hoolahan2

In stoppage time Arouna Kone looked odds-on to net the equalizer, after being put through by a great flick by Franco Di Santo. It might have helped Wigan get a result they would have scarcely deserved following a lacklustre performance. In the event Kone was blocked by a great tackle by Sebastian Bassong, who together with his central defensive partner, Michael Turner, had blunted so many Wigan attacks.

Norwich are a pretty ordinary team, but they have been in a good run of form and have that kind of self confidence and belief that Wigan lack. Once again the Wigan defence gifted the opposition their goals. An error by Boyce enabled the excellent Hoolahan to put through the predominantly right footed left winger, Pilkington. Al Habsi will be kicking himself for not stopping Pilkington’s left footed shot. Norwich had been easily the better team in the first half.

Wigan lost  James McCarthy to an ankle injury after a nasty tackle from midfield enforcer Bradley Johnson, with David Jones replacing him at half time. A second change made during the interval was to take off the ineffective Gomez and replace him with Maloney. The diminutive Scot was to make a difference with a rasping shot in the 61st minute to bring Wigan level. For a little while the roles were reversed and Wigan looked the better team.  However, poor defending allowed Norwich back in the game. Wes Hoolahan is 5 ft 5 inches tall,  but nevertheless managed to outjump Maynor Figueroa and the Wigan defence to put the  ball in the net, after Pilkington had too easily found his way past Boyce to put over  a right footed cross.

The Good

A cracking goal from Shaun Maloney. Arouna Kone adapted well to the Di Santo role, using his dribbling abilities to run at the opposing defence. It was good to see Mauro Boselli given a chance after being left out in the cold so long, although he looked rusty and was taken off after 72 minutes. .

The Bad

The lack of defensive cohesion is costing Wigan dearly. It would be unfair  to point the finger at individuals who have operated in the back three this season. However, it has been that lack of cohesion that has led to soft goals being gifted to opponents. The back three that was the fulcrum for Wigan’s revival last season – Alcaraz, Caldwell and Figueroa –  has not played together this season.

Wigan’s injury woes continue with James McCarthy (ankle ligament) and Adrian Lopez (hamstring) set to miss the upcoming matches.

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 7 – made some outstanding saves, but should have done better with opening goal and later fluffed a cross that should have led to another Pilkington goal. Not at his brilliant best, but still Wigan’s best player on the day.

Ronnie Stam: 5 – disappointing. His crosses were not up to his usual standard.

Emmerson Boyce: 5 – had problems dealing with Pilkington. Disappointing.

Adrian Lopez: 5  – pacy and committed, but lacks aerial presence. Together with Figueroa should have cut out Norwich’s second goal. Pulled a hamstring in added on time.

Maynor Figueroa: 5 – unimpressive. He has played too much football over the past year and needs a break. However, he is not going to get one until Wigan’s injury woes subside.

Jean Beausejour: 4 – out of touch.

James McCarthy: 6 – fine until crocked by injury in first half. Went off at half time.

James McArthur: 6 – tried hard, but it was not his best day.

Jordi Gomez: 4– ineffective and lightweight. Taken off at half time.

 Mauro Boselli: 4.5 – could not get into the game. Taken off in 72 minutes.

Arouna Kone: 6 – looked lively in this more “roaming role”. Not afraid to take on defenders. Got another assist with his cut back to Maloney for Wigan’s goal.

Substitutes

David Jones: 5 – hard working, but passing too predictable. Lacking spark.

Shaun Maloney: 6 – his goal revealed his excellent technique. Worked hard to get Wigan moving, but to no avail. Why wasn’t he on from the start?

Franco Di Santo: – came on for Boselli. Put a lovely pass through for Kone in the dying moments.

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 4 NEWCASTLE UNITED 0 – A VINTAGE DISPLAY FROM LATICS

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Wigan Athletic once more played with confidence, style and determination, as they had against Manchester United a little over two weeks ago. This first half display with four spectacular goals completely blew away a 4th placed Newcastle team that had arrived full of confidence after 6 consecutive victories.

From the start the Jimmy Macs – McCarthy and McArthur – ruled the midfield, barely allowing the visitors a touch of the ball. This laid the foundation for the wing backs to play more like wingers and the forward players to slice holes in the Newcastle defence. The little genius, Maloney, was orchestrating it all from midfield and the end result was a fluid attacking style with more than a touch of class. Vintage football indeed!

The first goal arrived in the 13th minute when Moses got the back of his head to wing back Boyce’s cross for the ball to loop past Krul. The second arrived two minutes later when another of those beautiful curling crosses from the other wing back, Beausejour, was making its way towards Di Santo at the far post. The unfortunate Coloccini got in its way but the ball ricocheted to Moses who hit it home with aplomb. The third was a real gem with Di Santo putting Maloney through on the left. The little man raced inside to put the coolest of finishes past Krul with a low drive to the far post. Then as half time beckoned Di Santo showed us his superb technique in lobbing Krul, the ball reeling into the top left hand corner leaving the goalkeeper helpless. A breathtaking first half.

The second half could not live up to the first, with Newcastle coming more into the game. The dangerous Papiss Cisse (11 goals in 11 games for Newcastle, 37 in 65 previously for Freiburg in the Bundesliga) was to draw a fine save from Al Habsi and to hit the woodwork twice during that second half. Latics did have chances. Moses drew a fine save from Krul and Sammon almost scored after a great run, his effort being blocked practically on the line by Coloccini.

Latics had 57% of the possession, having 6 shots on target compared with 2 for the visitors. Wigan committed 15 fouls and Newcastle 12. Two yellow cards for Latics, one for Newcastle.

The Good
The first half performance was probably the most spectacular in Wigan Athletic’s history. This was no fluke, but more the result of a long process of building the foundations for future success. Over the past weeks Roberto Martinez’s vision has been put into practice by the players. Interesting that in a post match interview when asked what has been the basis for the recent successes, Shaun Maloney put it down to work rate. Latics now work really hard to get the ball back when they lose it. Moreover there are players making 30-40 yard runs on a regular basis. It is this increased work rate that means that the centre forward is no longer alone, but supported by team mates coming in from all directions. The change to the defensive trio and wing backs was the catalyst that helped the players change their mind sets and play to their strengths. A central defence that was leaky has now become a rock. Confidence now surges through the Latics’ ranks, in place of the fear that was present for so long this season.

The Bad
Following a performance like that – on the back of wins against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal – Roberto Martinez has become a target for speculation among the media. Why would a manager who can produce teams that can play that kind of football want to continue to work on a shoestring at Wigan? Let’s hope that this speculation does not upset the momentum that the team has built up. Losses for QPR and Blackburn today make it increasingly likely that Latics will maintain their Premier League status.

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 8 – Another good display.

Emmerson Boyce: 8 – Tireless in his efforts to support the attack and solid in defence.

Antolin Alcaraz: 9 – In top form again. Looks a quality player.

Gary Caldwell: 9 – Superb yet again.

Maynor Figueroa: 9.5 – In the best form of his Latics’ career. His interceptions and powerful tackles have been so important over recent weeks.

Jean Beausejour: 8 – A complete player. What a January signing!

James McCarthy: 9.5 – Took the initiative from the start. Hugely energetic and technically gifted.

James McArthur: 9.0 – Superb yet again. Runs himself into the ground for his team. Put in lots of neat passes too.

Shaun Maloney: 9.5 – The little magician engineered most of Latics’ best moves. Took his goal superbly.

Victor Moses: 8.5 – Took his goals well and was a constant threat to the Newcastle defence.

Franco Di Santo: 9 – Another superb exhibition of leading the line. Brilliant goal.

Substitutes

Conor Sammon: – Once again gave 100%. Unlucky with a fine run in the final minutes.

Jordi Gomez: – Came on and fitted in seamlessly.