Sheffield Wednesday's late tactical decision that underpinned Portsmouth victory
Sheffield Wednesday flipped the more regular roles of two senior players in a brave tactical switch that underpinned their fabulous win at Portsmouth.
The Owls collected their first win of the campaign at Fratton Park on an afternoon in which they stifled any semblance of home momentum with a resolute and hearty effort in which every player walked off with huge credit. Pompey boss John Mousinho was left slamming the complacent attitude of his side - and while the performances of a team usually strong at home were well under par, the truth may have been that they were tactically outdone.
Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen made changes to his line-up, bringing youngsters Ernie Weaver and George Brown in for their maiden Championship starts after bright showings in their Carabao Cup run. A fluid 3-4-3 set-up saw the Owls adapt formation in and out of possession, with Yan Valery picking up the number six role with Liam Palmer pushed out wide.
The Tunisia international has picked up that position in tactical transitions at times in his time at Wednesday but provided added mobility in the heart of the pitch, with Svante Ingelsson and Barry Bannan playing energetic starring roles alongside him. It’s a decision that was ultimately settled-on late in the week, the Danish coach admitted.
“We tried it Thursday and Friday,” Pedersen said post-match. “Yan is physically strong, he can win balls, second balls, headers. He is thinking defensively when Barry thinks offensively. The balance between the two we tried in those two days and weren't sure. You take him defensively away from the full-back position where Murphy is, the best player - you think is that right? But we saw from Liam in the first game against Leicester how well he did with the one v one.”
Josh Murphy missed out through injury having been talked up as a player of major threat by Pedersen pre-match. Palmer offered possibly his finest and most combative performance of the season on the right side of defence with no player making more than his five tackles.
Portsmouth were careless but were seemingly forced into errors throughout, dispossessed a total of 25 times to Wednesday’s two. The away side took the battle to Pompey, making 22 successful tackles to their five. The victorious away side flagged a touch towards the end of the clash but saw Ethan Horvath make a handful of big saves as they registered their first clean sheet of the campaign. Theirs was an effort full of running.
“The cup has made our squad a little bit bigger,” Pedersen continued. “There is still a lot to do, but today with Svante, with George and Bailey (Cadamarteri) we had three runners and three who can fight for a header, run in behind and fight for second balls coming into the box. They did it really, really well.”