Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Post Match Thread

[Lionator]

I think it would’ve been more had Patson played. I know Vardy is godlike but that link up play in the final third is a step up with Daka 

[brookfox]

Hope all their fans singing “Wednesday till I die” are ok today 🙏🏻

[dynamark]

Lots of opinions on Dennis but no doubt he has improved as he has had game time and got fit. If you look closely his passing is very quick accurate and usually easy to recieve.He will make the pass without that step or two delay which just picks up the tempo.Nice work for Fats where Dennis gives him an early pass then goes on the outside to take the slip ball or give Fats room to do his thing inside on the left foot.Hope it continues and also YUnis gets more game time

[brookfox]

Me watching Dennis last night.

 

[SickoDicko]

Was nice to see us in the first half move the ball so quick, play like that and we'll be fine !!!!

[Pliskin]

Job done. 
 

However, I was lucky enough to walk back with the Sheffield Pep… he said that we’re not very good, and we will come straight back down again, and that “their place” could fit two of “our place” inside of it. He also said that they used to beat us all the while! 
 

I’ve passed his number onto Enzo, we may as well sack this all of then! 

[ithuriel]

Do not know if this was put up yet but....

and...

 

Edited 14 February 2024 by ithuriel

[marcymarc666]

Dennis Praet has fitted in to the team pretty well. Doesn't particularly do anything exciting but keeps things moving and is tidy on the ball. Whilst we've got all of this possession , he's useful but as soon as we play a team who we're running after for the ball we'll need Ndidi back.

[TheGoldenGod]

11 hours ago, Fox85 said:

How many times have we played like that this season and either let weak goals in 2nd half or the latter period of the game?

 

Sheffield Wednesday was shocking and probably one of the worse teams we have played at kingpower this season. Game management was not required and being honest when we was conducting this "game management" we allowed them to have chances,  chances that decent teams would punish us with.

 

All I'm saying is if we do that against half decent sides we will be punished.

 

However it's a great night another 3 points in the bag, Southampton lose and we are nearly on our way back

I really think you aren't grasping that we played like we did 2nd half by choice, because we're leagues ahead of Wednesday and all the players knew it after that first half. Came out 2nd half and walked around like OAP football because we literally can. When we need to turn it on, I believe we will.

I also think there's an element of luring them into a false sense of security where they get a bit more belief on the ball before we break on them in lightning fashion. We could have scored another couple right at the end!

[Spudulike]

Commentator last night making reference to Sheff Wed being this massive, historical club. Just had a quick look on their honours board. 

 

So, it must be something connected to their stadium and all those FA Cup semi-finals. Not sure what else makes them huge 

 

 

[5waller5]

11 hours ago, Lillehamring said:

I'm alright with the walking pace second half tactics, but surely if you're going to do that, use your five subs and get some legs rested and some minutes in legs for others.

 

It was clear a few players were struggling at the end (especially faes, vesty and praet), and the difference in our counter attacks first and second half was marked.

 

Otherwise. No complaints, i even enjoyed seeing a ref play loads of advantages.

Yeah exactly this.

 

Cannon for Vardy

Anyone for Praet

Could have been 20 minutes earlier.

 

Nelson for Vesty (recovering from injury) I thought was an obvious precaution and extra minutes for BN.

 

And some rest for KDH or Winks.

 

We do seem to be making less subs as the season goes on which is counter intuitive.

 

I watched the last 20 of the Saints game after ours, they looked absolutely knackered and their commentators were very aware of it. 

The toll of a long season is starting to show - regular rotation and subs will be a key advantage of ours

 

 

[Hammo]

I really don’t get the argument that allowing Sheff Wed back into the game in the second half with sloppy passes and the frequent concession of corners was  ‘conserving energy’ or ‘managing the game’.

 

Granted, we didn’t bust a gut to finish them off, but there is no denying that we played poorly in the second half - especially after such an excellent first 45.

[Ric Flair]

29 minutes ago, marcymarc666 said:

Dennis Praet has fitted in to the team pretty well. Doesn't particularly do anything exciting but keeps things moving and is tidy on the ball. Whilst we've got all of this possession , he's useful but as soon as we play a team who we're running after for the ball we'll need Ndidi back.

This is my take too. He's done well recently and hopefully remains fit to be relied upon as our options in central midfield are fairly scarce (as they are out wide too). 

 

1st half last night he was excellent and had he got that cross right for Vardy to steer in to an empty net in the 2nd half then we'd have been raving about his performance. I like the angles he creates in the right channel, just thought Fatawu wasn't utilising this as much last night as he has previously.

[martyn]

20 minutes ago, Hammo said:

I really don’t get the argument that allowing Sheff Wed back into the game in the second half with sloppy passes and the frequent concession of corners was  ‘conserving energy’ or ‘managing the game’.

 

Granted, we didn’t bust a gut to finish them off, but there is no denying that we played poorly in the second half - especially after such an excellent first 45.

I agree. Our full backs and deeper midfielders would have expended more energy 2nd half sprinting back towards our own goal multiple times.

 

One of the main points of our methodical style is to tire the opposition by keeping the ball, maintaining our own energy levels, and completely take over the game in the late stages. We didn't "game manage" the second half particularly well because we didn't keep the ball well enough against a more effective press, Bannan took over the midfield after we totally dominated that area first half, and the back 4 got turned on several occasions with balls in behind the full backs.

Edited 14 February 2024 by martyn

[ithuriel]

Mav terrorised their defence first half,  doubling up on him not working, having to go three against him at times.

Really has improved over the course of the season.

[KFS]

Just now, ithuriel said:

Mav terrorised their defence first half,  doubling up on him not working, having to go three against him at times.

Really has improved over the course of the season.

Finishing still needs to improve massively for the Prem. He’ll get there 

[James_lcfc]

49 minutes ago, marcymarc666 said:

Dennis Praet has fitted in to the team pretty well. Doesn't particularly do anything exciting but keeps things moving and is tidy on the ball. Whilst we've got all of this possession , he's useful but as soon as we play a team who we're running after for the ball we'll need Ndidi back.

Yep.

 

I noticed last night that his positioning is really good. Was always coming inside at the right times to block passing lanes when we weren't in possession. 

 

He's still not match fit either. With a run of games he should be really useful at this level, and our best alternative to Wilf in that position.

[ACF]

12 hours ago, sbfox said:

I'm just going to say it - I like Dennis Praet

[ozleicester]

1 hour ago, ithuriel said:

Do not know if this was put up yet but....

and...

 

that vardy dummy... does he get an assist

[st albans fox]

6 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

that vardy dummy... does he get an assist

Looked like he was trying to do his back heel finish to me (think Germany ) 

[bovril]

59 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Commentator last night making reference to Sheff Wed being this massive, historical club. Just had a quick look on their honours board. 

 

So, it must be something connected to their stadium and all those FA Cup semi-finals. Not sure what else makes them huge 

 

 

Yes it's the stadium mostly, and then a bit because they're from Sheffield. I find a lot of their fans pretty arrogant, and this notion that they are a sleeping giant has really stuck around despite the fact that in the league over the last 25 years they've had similar ups and downs to say Barnsley maybe? 

[Spudulike]

9 minutes ago, bovril said:

Yes it's the stadium mostly, and then a bit because they're from Sheffield. I find a lot of their fans pretty arrogant, and this notion that they are a sleeping giant has really stuck around despite the fact that in the league over the last 25 years they've had similar ups and downs to say Barnsley maybe? 

One League Cup since WWII. That's all. Very odd how certain clubs retain such high status despite mostly never achieving anything. Sunderland another one. 

[CUJimmy]

3 hours ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

1st half was some of the most scintillating football I have seen for a long time, Wednesday were poor because we made them look poor, some of our movement, patterns of play and the way we won the ball back was obscene. Thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining to watch. 
 

2nd half without really getting out of 2nd gear we could and probably should have scored 5, we rightly took the foot of the gas and conserved energy, which meant the 2nd half was a bit flat but thoroughly professional result and performance, which hopefully leaves lots in the tank for Boro and Leeds. 
 

I thought Praet was excellent, kept possession ticking over, never flustered and brings a lot more composure and continuity in possession than Ndidi or Casadei, however you can see he is rusty and still getting up to speed both fitness and with the patterns of play in a real game scenario, unfortunate not to get a couple of assists. If we can keep him fit for the remainder of the season he will be a very good option as rotation with Wilf for the no 8 role. 
 

Also did anyone else notice Enzo going mental on the touchline at McAteer on a couple of occasions for going back rather than being positive and aggressive? I know Enzo comes in for a lot of criticism about sideways and backwards passing, but if you listen to what he has said about Nelson needing to be more aggressive and positive with the ball and then last night with McAteer shows that he wants the players to be brave and to try and play forwards whenever possible, the time to play back and sideways is when the passing lines are closed and the defensive set up is very much set, at that stage the plan is to recycle and maintain possession whilst trying to pull the opposition out of their shape and create opportunities to progress. It was good to see Enzo challenging McAteer to be more positive. 

 

I like McAteer but just don’t see him as a winger.  He looks much more dangerous (and comfortable) in a more central attacking role.

 

 As others have said the first 30 mins were outstanding and it looked like another 5-0 was on the cards but conserving energy, avoiding injuries and maybe trying out a few things in the second half was the right call.

[BertFill]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

Commentator last night making reference to Sheff Wed being this massive, historical club. Just had a quick look on their honours board. 

 

So, it must be something connected to their stadium and all those FA Cup semi-finals. Not sure what else makes them huge 

Maybe it's the four league titles and the three FA Cups.

Huge ground too.

Historically they're a very big club, and I don't see why admitting that should be a problem.

Doesn't mean they're a top club now. Preston, Wolves, Sunderland, Portsmouth... the league's littered with clubs who were once giants of the game.

 

But history still counts for something. It's all there is, really.

[Tazfox]

1 hour ago, Hammo said:

I really don’t get the argument that allowing Sheff Wed back into the game in the second half with sloppy passes and the frequent concession of corners was  ‘conserving energy’ or ‘managing the game’.

 

Granted, we didn’t bust a gut to finish them off, but there is no denying that we played poorly in the second half - especially after such an excellent first 45.

Enzo even admitted he didn't think we were great in the second half on Radio Leicester. Some people just want to jump on any slight criticism at the moment.

 

I'm a big fan of Enzo and have been complimentary of our style understanding we need to be patient at times. But it's OK to suggest the football wasn't the best when it's not the best. 

 

We gave the ball up much to easily in the second half when if we had just believed in our passing we would have been much more comfortable in the second half