Thought the service he received tonight couldn’t have been any better. Got a perfect through to play him in on goal dead central...only problem was it was from a Swansea defender! Agree with you on Callum though. For me he should start against PNE, and here’s a bold prediction, if he does start I think he’ll score and we’ll win.
Latics vs Swansea City
- Thread starter Lazysid
- Start date
jeffs right
Vital Football Hero
Strangest decision again tonight was the substitution of Powell. Why??? Our top player taken off with 7 minutes to try and win a game. A straight swap for the hapless Windass (which should have been a good twenty minutes earlier) would have been a better plan. Unless we start improving in the final third we will start dropping more and more points.
1 shot on target in over 180 minutes football. Must improve for Saturday because we cannot be fooled by knob ends league position.
1 shot on target in over 180 minutes football. Must improve for Saturday because we cannot be fooled by knob ends league position.
hindleymonwafc
Vital Champions League
Only seen highlights but the whole match was encapsulated by 1 God awful first touch from Grigg. Better touch and we win.
jeffs right
Vital Football Hero
Topped off with another ridiculous substitution of Powell when we were chasing a win. Did Cooky not notice the invisible Windass?
Thats one missed chance by Grigg but 270 minutes without one shot on target from Garner.
moonay
Vital Football Legend
You can allus tell a fishermon........can't help exaggerating. ?
wiganfanfrank
Vital Squad Member
Let's give Swansea some credit, tremendous ball movement at this level.
Let's be honest lads, we are overachieving so far. This team is not quite ready for a playoff push not ready for the next step. I think that could happen next season.
We have to many inconsistent players and are so shallow in the back.
I really hope we get another left back in January. Robinson has potential, but he gets caught out of position too much and isnt that great with the ball, better than Elder. He definitely has the athletic ability which helps him in certain areas and is decent going forward, but decision making needs to get better. Still young though!
Reece James and Nick Powell are too good for this division. The rest of the team, about Championship level.
Gibson... stop trying to play the switch ball when it's not on.
Let's be honest lads, we are overachieving so far. This team is not quite ready for a playoff push not ready for the next step. I think that could happen next season.
We have to many inconsistent players and are so shallow in the back.
I really hope we get another left back in January. Robinson has potential, but he gets caught out of position too much and isnt that great with the ball, better than Elder. He definitely has the athletic ability which helps him in certain areas and is decent going forward, but decision making needs to get better. Still young though!
Reece James and Nick Powell are too good for this division. The rest of the team, about Championship level.
Gibson... stop trying to play the switch ball when it's not on.
The frustrating thing is next season we’ll have to build all over again. We’ll lose Walton (massive blow that), James, Robinson and a damn good chance we’ll lose Powell and Morsy as well with the clowns at the top continuing to piss about. So basically we’ll have a build a whole new team all over again.
It’s a shame because there is so little in this division. A little more quality and luck with injuries, and we really would be in with a playoff shout.
You can add Walton to those two. I worry hugely about replacing him next summer. That will be our biggest signing of all, we all know how important a competent keeper is in this league...or rather how devastating an incompetent keeper is.
It’s a shame because there is so little in this division. A little more quality and luck with injuries, and we really would be in with a playoff shout.
You can add Walton to those two. I worry hugely about replacing him next summer. That will be our biggest signing of all, we all know how important a competent keeper is in this league...or rather how devastating an incompetent keeper is.
jeffs right
Vital Football Hero
Try passing to blue shirts too.
Swansea were a good side and a point against them is not bad but if you take a look at that side that started last night it was no better overall whatsoever than the regular side we put out last season bar the odd individual. So really we didnt fair too badly last night. Just hope Grigg and McManaman start to give us a chance away at Deepshit.
markgreen433
Vital Squad Member
I thought it was a great game to watch. Both sides pretty much kept it on the deck. Our switching of play didn't always come off, but the intent was there. Better than Utd v Valencia anyway.....
Made in Wigan
Vital Champions League
I don't think we are ready to mount a playoff challenge. For me, survival without any stress will do me just fine this season.
However you make some pertinent points about losing a couple of important loan players, particularly Walton and as such the need to rebuild for next season, especially if we don't get some others tied down on long term contracts.
king_dezeeuw06
Vital Champions League
We easily could've won or lost that, it was a really tough game against a side that moved the ball better and were more fluid than any side we've seen in literally years at the DW. Even when we played City last season they didn't move the ball so effectively as Swansea did last night. So credit to Swansea at times they had us chasing shadows, their composure and movement are the best we've seen this season. And big credit to our lads for managing to keep them out and nearly get a win. It would've been easy to lose confidence and give up on the high press and start to sit deeper but they never gave up and worked tirelessly.
The way Swansea were able to keep posession under pressure showed we've got a long way to go to be a real top team at this level. We are doing well but we haven't got the confidence and bravery (or maybe even technical ability) yet to keep the ball when the opposition is pressing to create the spaces.
Thought we missed Morsy badly, Gibson made a couple of decent interceptions but he gave the ball away in bad areas and also backed off rather than making the tackle a few times directly before he came off. He also just isn't a mobile as Morsy for getting involved in the attacking play. Dont want to be too hard on Gibson as he has done well for us overall since coming but hopefully Sam is fit for Saturday.
I don't think we have the right striker at the club to really fit the way we play. I think we probably need someone bigger and stronger in a more traditional target man role than what we have if we aren't going to adjust our play as when Powell is playing further forward he is winnging headers, holder the ball and making things work better than our strikers. Garner is a battler but not sure if he's the answer so far.
We've really got to start using McMannaman more he won us the Rotherham game and nearly won us the game last night. He's probably never going to be a 90 min player but he's a game changer and a match winner we've been squandering on the bench he should be on every game even if only for last 15 mins to cause the tiring opposition nightmares.
Someone previously mentioned this but im starting to get a horrible feeling that Connolly has one of those clauses as its inexplicable how many appearances he's been getting for how poor he's been.
Robinson has always been suspect at the back but he made up for it with his attacking threat but unfortunately he's not been showing enough of that recently. It is hard finding the balance as a wing back especially when the opposition is so strong but Robinson isn't a good enough defender to be a standard left back so hopefully he can rediscover his confidence and early season form. Towards the end yesterday he started getting up the pitch but i think he's understandably trying to not leave gaps behind him and leave us open to the counter.
James, Dunkley, Kipre and Walton all did very well again. Superb for 4 lads who never played at this level before and put behind them a ropey defensive display from the weekend.
Overall happy with a point but little gutted it wasn't all 3 with the two late Grigg chances. But it keeps us ticking over and pushes us a little further away from the relegation battle (there looks like there will be quite a lot of teams involved tgis year) and keeps us on equal points to those in the play offs. If we can pick up a big away win on Saturday it will have been another decent week.
The way Swansea were able to keep posession under pressure showed we've got a long way to go to be a real top team at this level. We are doing well but we haven't got the confidence and bravery (or maybe even technical ability) yet to keep the ball when the opposition is pressing to create the spaces.
Thought we missed Morsy badly, Gibson made a couple of decent interceptions but he gave the ball away in bad areas and also backed off rather than making the tackle a few times directly before he came off. He also just isn't a mobile as Morsy for getting involved in the attacking play. Dont want to be too hard on Gibson as he has done well for us overall since coming but hopefully Sam is fit for Saturday.
I don't think we have the right striker at the club to really fit the way we play. I think we probably need someone bigger and stronger in a more traditional target man role than what we have if we aren't going to adjust our play as when Powell is playing further forward he is winnging headers, holder the ball and making things work better than our strikers. Garner is a battler but not sure if he's the answer so far.
We've really got to start using McMannaman more he won us the Rotherham game and nearly won us the game last night. He's probably never going to be a 90 min player but he's a game changer and a match winner we've been squandering on the bench he should be on every game even if only for last 15 mins to cause the tiring opposition nightmares.
Someone previously mentioned this but im starting to get a horrible feeling that Connolly has one of those clauses as its inexplicable how many appearances he's been getting for how poor he's been.
Robinson has always been suspect at the back but he made up for it with his attacking threat but unfortunately he's not been showing enough of that recently. It is hard finding the balance as a wing back especially when the opposition is so strong but Robinson isn't a good enough defender to be a standard left back so hopefully he can rediscover his confidence and early season form. Towards the end yesterday he started getting up the pitch but i think he's understandably trying to not leave gaps behind him and leave us open to the counter.
James, Dunkley, Kipre and Walton all did very well again. Superb for 4 lads who never played at this level before and put behind them a ropey defensive display from the weekend.
Overall happy with a point but little gutted it wasn't all 3 with the two late Grigg chances. But it keeps us ticking over and pushes us a little further away from the relegation battle (there looks like there will be quite a lot of teams involved tgis year) and keeps us on equal points to those in the play offs. If we can pick up a big away win on Saturday it will have been another decent week.
Kendal Blue
Vital Reserves Team
I think this one game was a good summary of the league as a whole - teams have lost the art of defending (although I thought it was one of our most solid defensive performances of the season). This league, as it was 2 years ago, is about putting pressure on the defence and pushing for the win. We lost so many games by fine margins results wise under Caldwell, but they were always inevitable defeats as we sat back. It was beautiful to see us with 3 strikers on the edge of the box every time they had a goal kick. I've seen us give the ball away in those areas so many times over the years and this was the first time I've seen us on the other end of it
Kenny Morris
Vital Squad Member
Have you not been saying this about losing our better players for the last 3 transfer windows? But they are still here
V
Victor Moses ;)
Guest
Much better work rate then we showed against Norwich. I like Swansea's tempo, moved the ball quickly. Never more then 1-3 seconds on the ball for each player. When Carroll went off just after half time with an injury, they lost their key player in the build up phase. Moved Grimes from left back into that position and wasn't nearly as effective under pressure or quality of pass for the rest of the game.
Cook's changed the system back to how we played for the majority of last season, with a deeper defensive line. I could understand it last season, to draw the opposition out. But we don't have a counter attacking team. Leaving big gaps in between the lines, down both flanks and outside of our defensive two man midfield. Without having the ability to go forward quickly as our starting positions are deeper. Just feels as if we are giving up more then we are gaining. But to his credit whilst not pretty and chance creation is very low. We are defending better. We also picked up a lot of points doing that last season.
Earlier in the season when we were compressing teams as one it was impressive. Attacking and defending as a team, now we are attacking in units and defending in units. With gaps and space being given to the opposition.
Under this approach Jacobs and Massey struggled at times last season, so there's no need to worry about attacking players performances as this style doesn't lend itself to the attackers. We only looked an entertaining team with Colclough in this style of play as he had the size and ability to beat a defender regularly on the counter. Even though we created very few good chances we still found a way to win. I feel Cook is trying to replicate that until we get 50 points then maybe he will see what we can do by being more aggressive with our approach.
Also credit to Walton, the past 5 games he's been superb. Really has worked on a few things and it's showed in his performances. Reads the game better when the ball is out wide and has been anticipating crosses very well. He's made a lot of low saves, couple against Brentford which he really should of had now chance with. Nearly saved the one v one against Hull. Best player for us against Norwich. Again last night he was solid. If he continues to work on his weaknesses he will become a brilliant keeper.
Cook's changed the system back to how we played for the majority of last season, with a deeper defensive line. I could understand it last season, to draw the opposition out. But we don't have a counter attacking team. Leaving big gaps in between the lines, down both flanks and outside of our defensive two man midfield. Without having the ability to go forward quickly as our starting positions are deeper. Just feels as if we are giving up more then we are gaining. But to his credit whilst not pretty and chance creation is very low. We are defending better. We also picked up a lot of points doing that last season.
Earlier in the season when we were compressing teams as one it was impressive. Attacking and defending as a team, now we are attacking in units and defending in units. With gaps and space being given to the opposition.
Under this approach Jacobs and Massey struggled at times last season, so there's no need to worry about attacking players performances as this style doesn't lend itself to the attackers. We only looked an entertaining team with Colclough in this style of play as he had the size and ability to beat a defender regularly on the counter. Even though we created very few good chances we still found a way to win. I feel Cook is trying to replicate that until we get 50 points then maybe he will see what we can do by being more aggressive with our approach.
Also credit to Walton, the past 5 games he's been superb. Really has worked on a few things and it's showed in his performances. Reads the game better when the ball is out wide and has been anticipating crosses very well. He's made a lot of low saves, couple against Brentford which he really should of had now chance with. Nearly saved the one v one against Hull. Best player for us against Norwich. Again last night he was solid. If he continues to work on his weaknesses he will become a brilliant keeper.
R
The club will always be two steps ahead of us. We're feeding on news scraps and often jumping to conclusions.
How about we take one step at a time and actually trust the people who've brought us our recent success. All summer we had fretting about this or that player leaving, no signings, and so on. Not to mention questioning the quality of the squad because League 1 was apparently a "Pub League".
The club will always be two steps ahead of us. We're feeding on news scraps and often jumping to conclusions.
Lazysid
Vital 1st Team Regular
That was a point gained taken from a more skillful team who played it around nicely in that first half.
Second half was much more even if not tipped in our favour.
The defence were fairly decent last night - a good partnership has developed between Chey & Cedric. Robinson does struggle but James is immense.
I expect Swansea to be in the playoffs.
We missed Morsy but Gibson was a reasonable replacement.
Walton my MotM.
Second half was much more even if not tipped in our favour.
The defence were fairly decent last night - a good partnership has developed between Chey & Cedric. Robinson does struggle but James is immense.
I expect Swansea to be in the playoffs.
We missed Morsy but Gibson was a reasonable replacement.
Walton my MotM.
king_dezeeuw06
Vital Champions League
Regarding rebuilding for next season - we knew full well that James, Robinson and Walton were going to just be for the season when we took them but if they do the job of keeping us up (maybe even challenge for the play offs?) we'll be in a much better position to recruit good players on full time deals than we would've been last summer. We will know they are going back and have a full year to be scouting and trying to find suitable replacements.
Also it wasn't so long ago (Villa) loads of people were slating Walton, and these past few games Robinson not looked the player he was at the start of the season - a lot can happen over the course of the season, so like Studds says lets take it one step at a time and cross that bridge when we come to it.
We absolutely want the contracts sorting - Cook has said that publiclly but we know the takeover is the hold up. I suspect the club and players have already had intitial chats on this and fingers crossed that will get done soon and the contract offers will immedietely be made.
Also it wasn't so long ago (Villa) loads of people were slating Walton, and these past few games Robinson not looked the player he was at the start of the season - a lot can happen over the course of the season, so like Studds says lets take it one step at a time and cross that bridge when we come to it.
We absolutely want the contracts sorting - Cook has said that publiclly but we know the takeover is the hold up. I suspect the club and players have already had intitial chats on this and fingers crossed that will get done soon and the contract offers will immedietely be made.
