Sheffield Wednesday boss might have to break up key partnership to trigger Owls improvement
Sheffield Wednesday’s last two games have highlighted their lack of speed and energy in the centre of midfield.
Few areas of Sheffield Wednesday’s squad required more work and attention than the midfield department during their summer rebuild.
Following the end of last season, Wednesday said goodbye to Nathaniel Chalobah, Marvelous Nakamba, Rio Shipston and Jaden Heskey. Player of the Year Svante Ingelsson then sealed a move to Stoke City on July 1 for an undisclosed fee.
The departures of the aforementioned quintet left Wednesday threadbare in the engine room, with Jarvis Thornton the only recognised central midfielder remaining on their books.
However, Wednesday gradually started to rebuild their midfield, drafting in Callum Slattery, Barry Bannan, who sealed a return to Hillsborough just months after leaving for Millwall, Billy Mitchell and Tyler Onyango ahead of the start of the campaign. Heskey then returned on loan from Manchester City on deadline day to complete the Owls’ midfield rebuild.
After Bannan and Onyango started the League One opener against Leyton Orient, the former and Mitchell have established themselves as manager Henrik Pedersen’s first-choice midfield partnership, while Slattery has made the No.10 position his own.
Bannan and Mitchell have started five of the Owls’ opening seven League One matches side by side this season. Heskey got the nod alongside Bannan in the Owls’ 2-1 win over Peterborough United earlier this month after impressing off the bench against Wycombe Wanderers a few days earlier.
However, Heskey has been limited to just four minutes of football in the last two matches, being introduced as a late substitute in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Stockport County after missing out on a place in the squad against Wigan Athletic the previous weekend.
Heskey improved throughout his time at Wednesday last season after arriving on loan in January, showing flashes of the potential that has seen him earn the opportunity to spend the last 12 years climbing the rungs of City’s academy. His return was welcomed by almost every Wednesdayite, who felt the midfielder would look even better at a lower level.
Additionally, Heskey’s athletic profile was highlighted as a positive after Wednesday, until his return, had failed to add a degree of pace and power to their midfield. Bannan is a technical player, capable of pinging passes and dictating play, while Mitchell is happy to roll up his sleeves and do the dirty side of the game.
However, a midfield pivot of Mitchell, who has banked plenty of justified credit since joining Wednesday, and Bannan, who has not got into his stride so far this term, particularly in the last two games, has highlighted that Wednesday lack athleticism and energy in midfield.
Wednesday have failed to dominate proceedings in their goalless draws with Wigan and Stockport, losing the midfield battle on both occasions. A lack of energy and speed has been their Achilles’ heel in the centre of the pitch.
Mitchell and Bannan, on paper, form one of the strongest midfield duos in League One, but their partnership lacks energy and guile, with a lack of invention evident in the last two games.
Heskey, who has made three appearances since returning to Hillsborough earlier this month, can offer something different with his athletic profile, and you have to question whether Wednesday would benefit from having him deployed alongside either Bannan or Mitchell to inject some speed into the midfield department.
With Louie Barry sidelined, Wednesday are currently short of progressive ball carriers, meaning they are struggling to set an intense tempo capable of putting the opposition on the back foot.
With an injection of speed required, Pedersen might have to break up his first-choice midfield partnership and experiment with a new one.