The attacking changes Sheffield Wednesday could make to return to their pre-Christmas form

On one hand the obsession of thousands is back, filling a hole that no number of Tiger Kings or family walks could come close to filling. On the other, well, it wasn’t all that fun when it stopped.

But the three-and-a-bit month pause in Wednesday’s season represents a huge opportunity for Garry Monk’s men to right the wrongs of a run of form that had seen them record only two league wins in 14 and return to a run of form that had seen them rise to third at Christmas.

A look at the numbers are revealing and paint a sorry picture when it comes to comparing the two runs.

Since Christmas only Hull City have a worse record in the Championship, one point worse off than the nine Wednesday collected in 14 games. Only bottom-of-the-league Barnsley (11) had scored fewer goals than the Owls’ 12 from Christmas to the league’s suspension.

It’s no secret that the Owls were less creative and less potent after Christmas – their xG was significantly lower – dropping 50% from 1.49 per game to 0.99.

The numbers back up the eye test in suggesting Wednesday had perhaps lost their way in terms of how they went about creating those chances.

The incisive counter attacks that had seen the likes of Kadeem Harris flourish in the season’s opening weeks were down to 1.71 per game compared with a pre-Christmas figure of 2.16, as was the quality of their crossing – an accuracy of 38.41% falling to a meagre 22.38% more recently.

But what does this say about Monk’s approach and the side itself? The Owls boss was open about the fact that he had shifted systems and personnel as Wednesday’s fortunes nosedived so spectacularly from Boxing Day defeat at Stoke.

It seems sides are setting up differently, preventing the Harris-led Wednesday counter, and without the presence of rough-and-tumble target man Steven Fletcher to aim at, their aerial threat has been quashed.

The return of Fletcher would be a monumental bonus, as will the energy and goal threat of Adam Reach, who was well due a rest after playing 92%, 98% and 98% of every minute of Wednesday’s last three campaigns respectively.

The numbers also suggest the need for more urgency with the ball at feet. Where the Owls’ possession stats barely changed pre-and-post Christmas – down just a fraction from 46.78% to 46.32% – passing numbers are down 11% from 283 down to 252 per 90 minutes. The return of the progressive Massimo Luongo into midfield is one body that could change that.

Much has been made of Monk’s attention to detail and technical and tactical work over the past few months and no doubt he’ll have been plotting a way to improve their attacking output. Rumours of a shift to a wing-back led 5-3-2 formation, experimented with on a couple of occasions already this season, may be the way he goes.

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