Sheffield Wednesday Fans Column: You don't need to be a coach to see things aren't working

If you weren’t there and you’re having trouble imagining it, picture how the Chuckle Brothers pass aladder to each other.

I might be embellishing there.

The team’s performance against Ipswich Town may have been lacklustre rather than inept but it was clear to see that the players are playing to the manager’s orders. Which begs the question, what are you playing at Carlos?

Now us fans are not coaches, we’re well aware of that, but even we can see that the formations and substitutions have been odd lately.

Imagine the pitch is a globe, the defence should be sitting on the Tropic of Capricorn and the forwards perched on the Tropic of Cancer in the north. The midfield, in theory should be sunning themselves around the equator, connecting the two Tropics.

Our midfield and defence are being told to tap the ball deep in Antarctica, leaving the Gary Hooper and Steven Fletcher freezing in the Arctic without any help.

It’s not just the formation but also Carlos’ substitutions. Carvalhal substituted Adam Reach in the second half on Saturday when he was the only player connecting Antartica and the Arctic. The subs move Carlos’ system around and it slows our momentum until the players figure out what their function is. As a fan it’s frustrating to watch because we know we are capable of better if the system is right.

I like Carlos but because our style of play has been figured out by others teams we’ve gone from being an exciting and fluid side to a predictable and frankly stagnant team. It isn’t working and you don’t need to be a coach to recognise that.