Perhaps reason for stalling Sheffield Wednesday attack is simpler than first thought
Sheffield Wednesday have failed to score in their last two league outings.
Second in the table. Unbeaten in six across all competitions. All with the context of a brand new squad with brand new expectations and the requirement to spin a win-lose habit on its head after the season from hell.
Many would suggest Sheffield Wednesday are operating ahead of schedule in what is the very earliest stages of a monstrous rebuild mission both on and off the field. Some are left with a feeling of concern at recent performances, with social media in particular airing its grievances in recent weeks.
The frustration seems to have come from back to back home performances that have seen Wednesday fail to replicate the attacking joie de vivre of a 7-2 win over Bromley a month ago. Some Owls fans chose to boo the side’s efforts in their most recent outing, a goalless draw at home to Stockport County, and there were noises of unrest as Wigan Athletic came and went from Hillsborough holding the same scoreline.
Beyond the stressing of the need for patience and how early things sit in the fusing of Wednesday’s big project is a clear marker in when things slowed-up on the attacking front; the freak injury of their star man. With many weeks yet to run on Louie Barry’s recovery from injury, it is up to Wednesday to find a fluency in attack without him.
The Owls, led no doubt by sporting director Simon Wilson who had worked with him previously, certainly backed their judgement on his signing. The former Aston Villa man arrived as the marquee signing in a whirlwind summer and is understood to have taken up a fair chunk of a budget restricted by an agreed business plan with the EFL; and a look through the statistics even at this early stage of the campaign shows just how vital he was and will be to a side that has failed to glimmer without him.
In the 209 minutes he played in League One football before injury at Wycombe Wanderers, he scored three times at an average of 69 minutes per goal; the best rate in the Wednesday squad. He ranks first for key passes per 90 minutes (2.5) and second behind only Jamal Lowe (3.6) for shots on goal at 2.5 per match. Nobody crosses more than his 0.8 per 90. Nobody has a greater xG per 90 than his 0.9. In terms of overall performance, he sits well ahead of the pack with a Whoscored match rating of 7.50. We could go on.
The matches since his injury - all the more frustrating no doubt given the nature of it being caused by artificial bordering of the pitch at Adams Park - started well in terms of attacking output, an xG of 1.36 at Peterborough United a steady effort away from home, particularly after the extra legwork of a midweek away match. But the goalless outings against Wigan and Stockport returned just one ‘big chance’ between them and xG tallies of 0.82 and 0.93 respectively.
Though taken from a small sample size, it stands to reason that Wednesday’s biggest task coming back from the international break will be to find a formula that works without their star man attacker. Since Barry’s absence, the Owls have tried Kieran Morrison, Callum Slattery and Jamal Lowe widest left, with substitute contributions from Harry Gray and Davis Keillor-Dunn. This comes on a flank that is missing its most progressive full-back in Max Lowe, though Reece James has deputised admirably.
Boss Henrik Pedersen outlined the importance of the current international break in fine-tuning some of the aspects of Wednesday’s game that need more consistency going forward. Morrison and Gray, perhaps two of the fan choices for an extended stint on the left of the attack, are away on international duty and so will not have been the beneficiaries of Middlewood Road graft.
The changes have been vast and Wednesday remain in a settling-in period in which patience has been requested. Stripped of their main man, it’ll be fascinating to see how they go about settling on a new left-side theory.