The Working Class v The Posh | Page 3 | Vital Football

The Working Class v The Posh

At the end of October I was asking the question (to those around me in the West Stand) "Will the real Wigan Athletic please stand up?" I think in the games against Oxford and Peterborough (and somewhat in the 2nd half against Charlton) we have seen what this team can be capable of. It's up to Shaun now to instil the confidence in them to play bravely, as they did tonight. If they do, I think we will not have any issues with easily avoiding a relegation scrap!
 
Fantastic win tonight, I’d say it’s up there as possibly our best performance of the season as they were a good side and carried a real threat.

Can’t fault any of the players tonight but as it’s already been said Shaw was outstanding. S Smith is growing into a decent player too, I wasn’t too sure about him but he was very good in possession. I think whoever is in there needs Shaw alongside them though.

Subs all did well too and lifted the energy levels, there were a few groans when he took off Humphrys, Godo and J Jones but they were all tiring. Great winner by McManaman, such a shame J Jones effort didn’t go in as it would’ve been a worldy.
 
An enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

Despite conceding the majority of possession and territory we actually created some good opportunities on the break in the first half. A pity Jones effort hit the bar (seems customary we hit it every home game) as it would have rounded off an excellent move starting with Tickle showing some composure to beat their press (bit too risky for my liking however).

Second half was much of the same though thought the system change was unnecessary. The subs added energy and we took our chance with a mcmanaman thunderbolt. The centre halves got stuck in and seemed to relish the backs to the wall stuff to see the game out.

Plenty of effort and determination on show tonight against what is a decent team and it’s always pleasing when that fight gets the points.
 
Th10 said:
Fantastic win tonight, I’d say it’s up there as possibly our best performance of the season as they were a good side and carried a real threat.

Can’t fault any of the players tonight but as it’s already been said Shaw was outstanding. S Smith is growing into a decent player too, I wasn’t too sure about him but he was very good in possession. I think whoever is in there needs Shaw alongside them though.

Subs all did well too and lifted the energy levels, there were a few groans when he took off Humphrys, Godo and J Jones but they were all tiring. Great winner by McManaman, such a shame J Jones effort didn’t go in as it would’ve been a worldy.
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Great winner by McManaman..... he was down tying his laces prior to the corner & I turned to my mate n said he's gonna put his foot thru this if it comes to him.....seconds later, boooooom, back of the net. Cracking strike & worthy of winning the game.
 
runcornfan1978 said:
Guy behind me was moaning about the substitution of Jones & Humphrys, but it was clear to me they were both running out of gas & was a good call IMO. Likewise with Lang.

Nevertheless, a good win.
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That cud have been me Runcorn....I was perplexed with the subs n thot SM had balls'd up again, but what the hell do I know, good job I'm not on the sidelines, I'd just carry on with the players who are doing well....didn't realise they were running out of gas.....that's why I'm in the stands I guess 😉
 
As Jock said, most of their threat was from their right, our left. The change at half time to a back 3/5, switching Sessegnon over still didn't work, but Runcorn was right about the two lads blowing, so the replacements made sense in that context.

The only thing though is Pearce is more conservative than Jones, and so isn't really interested in getting past players ...... just getting crosses in from a comfortable position. However, I'll forgive him everything after that clearance off the line.

Any road, ... what about the performances of young Sze and Stones ... and Smith, and Shaw ... and bloody Sessegnon !!! ... and then the thunderbolt from Cal Mac.

Bloody magnificent every single one.
 
jeffs right said:
What? Thats not being ungracious. I thought they were.
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You don't think it's a bit ungracious toward those like Shaw? Second half, those two weren't doing much at all. Ironically, Sessesgnon was poor in the first half, but was in a different class in the second.

It was certainly ungracious toward the manager, who made match winning substitutions ... an assister and a scorer.

One day maybe ... one day.
 
That was a fantastic game to watch. As said above, Shaw and Smith were superb. Both were solid and creative in equal measure, which is particularly impressive given their age and, in Smith's case, height. I thought that was Humps at his best tonight. Jones keeps improving and is unrecognisable and there are no words for Godo's talent. Charlie Hughes takes MOM for me though. His leadership and organisation at such a young age is incredible. His power, speed, foresight and vision not only stopped them scoring, but instantly set up the attack for our 1st goal. Not many at this level would have that in their locker. Also credit to the manager for a superb performance against a top side
 
moonay said:
As Jock said, most of their threat was from their right, our left. The change at half time to a back 3/5, switching Sessegnon over still didn't work, but Runcorn was right about the two lads blowing, so the replacements made sense in that context.

The only thing though is Pearce is more conservative than Jones, and so isn't really interested in getting past players ...... just getting crosses in from a comfortable position. However, I'll forgive him everything after that clearance off the line.

Any road, ... what about the performances of young Sze and Stones ... and Smith, and Shaw ... and bloody Sessegnon !!! ... and then the thunderbolt from Cal Mac.

Bloody magnificent every single one.
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Their number 17 (Jones) playing down that side caused us problems all night, just a matter of time before it clicked for him, I thought taking Jones off for Pierce was the right decision from Maloney even though our Jones was playing excellent.
 
First half Maloney got his tactics spot on we kept our shape, packed midfield to deny them the space to play through us and let their defenders have the ball in non dangerous areas. We pressed intelligently in the right areas funneled them into places we were comfortable. It wasn't the sexy football we've seen at times, but it was very well planned, executed and effective. It was a bit like we were the away team coming and doing a job on the home side, absorbing pressure and punishing them on the break.

It reminded me of what Barnsley and Blackpool did to us earlier in the season - denied us space to play our game, stopped us using our pace and just frustrated us. We lacked a physical presence or target man as we didn't play an out and out striker, so at times we did struggle for an out ball but it also gave us more pace, movement and fluidity that Peterborough found it hard to pick up when we broke. By half time Peterborough probably had good posession stats and a decent number of shots, but most of the posession wasnt threatening and most of their chances were speculative long shots. We on the other had had worked very hard off the ball and been very economic with it, to the point we could've been 2 or 3 up.

Playing a back 4 allowed us to double up defensively and stop overloads on either side although Peterborough were still getting some good balls in down our left. That was probably the only thing we needed to address at half time but otherwise you'd expect us to be doing more of the same. We were smothering them in midfield with our numbers advantage, not giving them any time or space and it felt like we had their number. So I found it absolutely baffling that we decided to change formation and tactics for the second half.

The switch to wing backs meant we couldn't double up defensively in wide areas and Peterborough were immediately able to get their tricky wingers loads more time and space to get balls in. They were able to isolated Jones defensively who we all know isn't a natural defender. The change in shape also saw the midfield press fall apart as we were just all over the place. We went from snuffing them out completely to them being all over us due to our changes.

It was no suprise at all to see Peterborough exploit our wide area's with them getting the cross in from one wing and their goal scorer arriving unmarked from the other wing. It felt like it was coming and Peterborough were finding openings constantly.

We made a couple of changes taking off Jones and Humps for Sze and Pearce and it didn't really seem to help, we obviously lost the creativity and goal threat of 2 of our better attacking players and it didn't really seem to help address the issues. The side looked unbalanced, struggled to keep the ball and we continued to largely be under pressure and hanging on. But when we brought on McManaman and Stones it felt like we regained some balance and threat and their energy and intensity helped get us back into the game.

We took the lead in the last 10 through a superb McManaman strike and saw it out for a big 3 points. Our game management wasn't great, it was just sheer desperation and commitment to throw ourselves in front of everything and thankfully we got over the line.

It was overall a mixed bag for us, great result, first half was tactical master class in controlling the game, professional, diciplined and well planned. The changes for the second half were the exact oppositeand nearly cost us dearly, but fortunately we managed to weather the storm and find a way to grind out a win regardless against a good side in good form.

The first 45 mins showed Maloney at his best and he completely killed Peterboroughs game with his tactics. But the second did feel like Maloney was again trying to be too clever for his own good tinkering with what was working. Fortunately we got away with it this time but I think he is guilty of over thinking things and i know he's trying to outsmart the oposition managers but sometimes even if it is predictable, sticking with what is working well can still be the best option. Nothing wrong with being tactically flexible and taking the odd risk but sometimes you can over do it.

But at the end of the day it's an impressive 3 points and further proof that we are a good side and shouldn't be fearful of anymore in the division. We are still a work in progress but I think there's a lot of good things developing in our play and we've got a lot of potential to be even better as time goes on. I'm not sure if we'll be able to overcome the points deduction to crash the play offs this season but after we've played 46 games I don't think we'll be too far away.
 
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