The glimmer of light in Sheffield Wednesday's Swansea slapping amid 'no limitation' hope
A twist of the body and a carry up the field early on in the first half of Sheffield Wednesday’s Sunday slapping in South Wales proved to be as good as it got for those of a blue-tinted persuasion.
For a portion of that first half, the Owls’ new set up showed glimpses of attacking promise, Manchester City loanee Joel Ndala leading the charge with half-turns and tricky touches. But it faded to nothingness as Wednesday were overrun in midfield and were soundly beaten 4-0.
The stats are by now well documented but time has healed little. The home side took on 22 shots to Wednesday’s three and tallied 33 touches in the Owls’ box to seven in reverse. An xG of 0.06 was the lowest effort in even this of all miserable seasons. It was the seventh time this season a match returned no shots on target.
It came in a match that saw Wednesday alter their system in an effort to unlock more attacking opportunity. A back four system long since clamoured for by a section of the fanbase was employed and took Wednesday further away from the safety net of a back five formation that has kept the decimated outfit in matches for the most part this season.
Further evidence of how this Owls side can manage a back four system is of course required and a fixture-less week will offer opportunity to ensure they are better equipped to do so. Eight matches have now passed without a Wednesday goal and the effort is being made to try something new, with the vital addition of pace and invention perhaps making it more viable.
Joel Ndala’s efforts in tight areas of the pitch offered a glimmer of positivity in a miserable lunchtime on South Wales and it seems it is around his trickery and ball-carrying ability that Wednesday’s new approach will be spun on. Speedster wing-back Tayo Adaramola offered early support getting forward in an otherwise patchy debut.
Speaking to The Star after the match at Swansea, Owls boss Henrik Pedersen said: “I think Joel was strong, he was a profile we don’t have; to receive in the pocket, to dribble, to sell a man. He did really well. Tayo has to get into the understanding of how we want to press, how we want to cover and all those things. You see he has a good body and you see things he has to work on. For his first game, it was an OK performance.
“Marv (Nakamba) came on and had a good 30 minutes, so for the three it was important and it was a good support for the rest of them.”
Pedersen reported a positive week in training, with focus having been placed on unlocking some attacking joie de vivre. The Dane has placed an onus on players low in matchday confidence taking more risks in possession to go about doing so and repeated the sentiment in Swansea.
“We have nothing to lose, go out and express yourselves,” he said, relaying his message to the players pre-match. “Go out and when you are one v one, take this risk. When you are making the crossing, take the risk to get an extra man in the box. Now we have a formation where we have the extra man and try to do it. We do not want them to have any limitation to express themselves.
“Of course it is tough for the boys. We know the first goal, the first assist, something comes into the mind that we can make a goal again, we can make an assist again. The boys are working so well in this direction and we have to keep on working.”
Aside from a squad ill-equipped to take on Championship sides both in energy and quality, this season has taken a huge mental toll on all involved. It is the gumption shown in their narrow defeat to high-flying Wrexham that Pedersen wants to see from his beleaguered players.
He said: “The energy we have had, we were not happy with the energy for Blackburn - Wrexham and others, we were really happy. We have to find the balance to be a competitive team as we are in a back five. There, we stayed longer in the game. Today (at Swansea), we played a back four and we have to find this way where we can be competitive, we can be positive and we are ready to risk. The next game is Millwall, here we also want to create something and move forward. We will keep going until the end.”