"You mark your man. It’s that simple": Sheffield Wednesday boss' message to players after 'over-emotional' Swansea set piece misery
The Owls have led in the dying moments of matches away at Blackburn and at home to Swansea, failing to hold onto them thanks in no small part to lacklustre defending at set pieces.
Mistakes from experienced players have cost their side a place in the play-offs this international break and the manager admitted the ability to see out matches with a cool head has been a frustration.
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Hide AdMonk said: “I’ve been there myself, when you get to the last ten or fifteen minutes of football matches, it becomes emotional for football players.
“That’s regardless of where it’s at, whether you’re drawing, winning or losing, or where the momentum is at, you become emotional and what you have to do in those moments is focus on your jobs and what you have to do.”
Wednesday’s latest last-gasp disappointment saw Swansea defender Ben Wilmot rise unchallenged at the back post to take advantage of a Westwood flap and equalise.
And while Monk’s Wednesday are still very much a work in progress when it comes to impressing his ideals on the squad, he said they have no excuses when it comes to clarity in their roles at set pieces.
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Hide Ad“At set pieces our roles are very clear,” he said. “We train very hard at it and when it becomes emotional it’s frantic. The key to getting through and managing those moments is to focus on what your role is and focus on that.
“Everyone knows their roles but when it gets emotional and frantic quite often players don’t think clearly or are distracted for certain reasons.
“It’s very obvious, your man is your man. You mark your man – it’s that simple. Unfortunately in the last two games we haven’t done that. Of course we need to get that right.
“Unfortunately in those last two matches we haven’t done that well enough and that’s the difference between us being sat here with six points and just the one that we’ve got today.”