This will be a tough match, definitely another banana skin.
Against Wigan we didn’t control the match, Wigan were aggressive in the press, they crossed a lot, were prepared to take many shots and we can expect the same from Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
In my opinion, we didn’t pass enough, we weren’t accurate and we were forcing longer passes that weren’t on. There were a few of other issues, we weren’t prepared/able to take on and beat players, we rarely crossed (even though we scored both goals from crosses) and we weren’t getting enough players in the box. As a result we only had 6 shots throughout the match.
It is clear that we could do with some pace out wide and I hope Garrick, even if he doesn’t start, gets at least 30 mins on Saturday.
Fundamentally we need to get back to our passing with purpose, a shorter pass and move game but with the passes happening quickly and players moving into space. We looked very static on Saturday with the player with the ball not having enough passing options.
A number of us have said it before we are best at defending by keeping the ball. The match on Saturday was crying out for us to do that after we scored, but we didn’t. To be fair Wigan raised their intensity, but we need to do the same in those Circumstances and we didn’t until late on in the match.
So to win on Saturday we need 12-15 shots on goal, and to create those opportunities we need to have some pace out wide, be prepared to take on and beat players, keep the ball for long periods and get 3 or 4 players in the box regularly.
SW will play a long ball, crossing and lots of shots type game, sound familiar? If we can get 60% possession, about 500 passes, it will reduce the amount long balls they can play and take the pressure off. However those passes need to be accurate, short and quick.
Their formation is likely to be 4-1-4-1, so we will need enough resources in midfield or they will be able to overload the press in midfield. How we deal with their press may well be the deciding factor.