I watched both of Sheffield Wednesday's defeats to Sheffield United - they sold themselves short

The clash came and went in a whirlwind of back and forth between the two managers. But where was the game actually won and lost? Our Wednesday writer Alex Miller had a prime seat for both derby clashes. With this weekend’s clash as the centre point, here’s how he saw the Owls’ performances over their two goalless efforts.

They were both, really, games pretty much devoid of quality. The Bramall Lane edition back in November more so, the first Steel City derby clash in five-and-a-half years delivering more droan than drama as Tyrese Campbell poked home the only shot on target of the entire clash to secure the Blades a famous win.

Watch every episode of All Wednesday with Joe Crann - interviews, opinion and insight on the Owls every week, on demand on Shots TV here

As is so often the case in derby football, Sunday followed a similar theme. Neither side gave a great account of themselves and though there were more chances in the Hillsborough leg, it petered out to something of a slog fest. Not that Sheffield United will give a single thought to any of that, of course, as they rode victorious back to another evening of barstool singalong.

A cautionary tale..

Wednesday started well. Having turned the two sides around at the toss in order to shoot towards the Kop End - we’ve seen that before - they initially pinned United back. It wasn’t the prettiest football ever played; they hit the channels to good effect and sought to utilise the physicality of Michael Smith and Callum Paterson to whip the crowd up into a derby day cauldron.

It was the first time the pair had started together in a league game under Danny Röhl since the German’s first win at Wednesday boss against Rotherham United in October 2023. And it worked, Smith seeing his close-range header well saved by Michael Cooper in a moment that could have pushed things in a very direction. There was a defensive benefit too, Paterson able to offer strength and physicality in wide areas.

“We knew they would be looking for long balls, especially in the winger position which is why I wanted height on both sides, Röhl told The Star. “On one side was Dom and the other side was Pato. We created a lot of pressure, especially at the beginning with front foot defending and all the things we wanted to do.”

Their rough-and-tumble approach early doors was in no small part led by harrier-in-chief Paterson and inspired a fast start from Wednesday, a match tempo of 15.54 in the first 15 minutes coming well above their 13.6 season average at Hillsborough. It kept United at bay, too. The Blades are notoriously fast starters in Championship football but aside from a self-confessed turgid 1-0 win at Luton Town last month and a 2-0 defeat at Leeds United in October, their first 15 minutes on Sunday was their slowest of the season, played at a tempo of just 13.16 and a long way below their season average of 16.78.

The Star has a dedicated Sheffield Wednesday WhatsApp Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click here to join

One of many possible contributing reasons is that Paterson, so influential in the opening exchanges, was yellow carded for booting the ball at a United player in the 18th minute and from there was far less effective. Before his caution he led the way with one shot, three successful aerial duels, a tackle and two won corners - afterwards his headline metric contribution rested at a single aerial won.

It is a long, long way from the only contributing factor, but from there Wednesday’s grip loosened. The Owls’ tempo in the rest of the game dropped to 14.17 and United’s blitzed up to 17.42. A habit has been made by Wednesday in going hard in the second half of matches, but their Sunday tempo in the second 45 was 14.73, some way below their season average of 15.91.

A switch in approach..

Röhl has spoken a number of times about his use of Smith in Championship football this season, and a ‘job-sharing’ between him and Paterson that allows him to keep physicality at the top of the pitch. What we have seen in many of Wednesday’s successes this season is Smith’s arrival from the bench and a the delivery of a fresh impetus that has served to make him the most prolific second half introduction across the entire league.

With the big unit pair having started, Wednesday’s tempo slowing and the game meandering a touch at 0-0, the wonder was how and from where Röhl would seek to change things and provide that added boost. A triple change came on 72 minutes and delivered a little more control in moments, but the weapon that has been so useful in introducing one of the more physical threats had been used-up.

Challenged on this, the Owls boss said: “I think the one thing was that in the second half against Norwich we played with both. Also in the first half with the two guys we had the energy. Of course we can think about this, this, this, this and what it means and whether we could bring the other one on. I had a good feeling and this was not the reason why we lost this game. Musa gave us energy which was good to see.

For the latest Owls news straight to your inbox, sign up for The Star’s free Sheffield Wednesday newsletter

“We played the second half with some more calmness and the first half we tried to play with one touch sometimes. The second half we took two touches, had more control, passes and passes and prepare the the next action. These are the things we prepared at half-time, we also changed our pressing with small details.”

Big name no-nos..

Given it was an afternoon that saw Sheffield Wednesday busily chasing a game from the hour mark, an unknowing peek down the match sheet would perhaps spark a little confusion; Shea Charles and Djeidi Gassama both ejected before the end of the game.

In truth, in a scrappy affair, Wednesday’s big-name players weren’t able to grab a hold of things. Gassama had just 11 touches of the ball in an anonymous first half and amid limited opportunity was dispossessed more times than he was able to pick up and dribble.

The midfield two of Charles and Barry Bannan were well off-colour and gave the ball away too much. Josh Windass offered some important carries and grew into the game but couldn’t produce his best outing. It was a game crying out for someone to grab hold of it but its ragged nature handed the game over to the battlers. Wednesday ultimately sold themselves short.

Long story

Wednesday’s long ball percentage was 15% across the entire game, a figure well above their season average of 12.8% in matches at Hillsborough this season. Given their form at home this season, you can perhaps forgive a fresh approach, though a look through the figures suggest a correlation between the Owls going longer at times and their rare S6 wins.

Their opening day win at Plymouth Argyle treated as something of an outlier on several fronts, the fact is that of their remaining four home wins in Championship football this season, three have come with a big influence from long balls.

A 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion saw Wednesday go long 17.94% of the time, their 2-0 win over Norwich City 16.92% of the time and their 10-man battling victory over Stoke City a whopping 19.48%. Crude though these stats are, it might suggest that Wednesday were right to up their long ball percentage.

Given that home form, given the difference in resources and given the yawning points gap between the two sides, perhaps two single-goal defeats aren’t a source of too much disappointment for Wednesday once you strip away the emotion of the thing. Röhl spoke of his side deserving a draw and it’s difficult to argue with that on the balance of the big moments.

But there was plenty in Sunday’s showing that left plenty to be desired. It felt like an opportunity slipped by.

Your next Sheffield Wednesday read: "He's not won anything" Chris Wilder takes aim at Danny Röhl chat after Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United