In the Season Preview for Wigan Athletic."I predicted a position of around 13th-15th is possible, anything higher would be a bonus or having to fight on the last day would be stagnation" Both of these objectives were achieved, the last three matches of the season all being wins and providing very different feelings. Newcastle where it was such a joy after a few idiot fans and their manager Alan Pardew had been stirring during the week and were thrashed with scintillating football. Blackburn was tense, but such a relief when survival was guaranteed and Wolves was party time.
Before
This season has been such a contrast, some poor and dire performances in fact before January these were the most commonplace with the odd good showing in between. In all areas it was poor, the midfield wasn't creating any opportunities for the forward, not even holding the ball which is something they have been good for. Up front only goals Franco di Santo was scoring were off deflections, Rodallega poor and Connor Sammon couldn't escape the reel. This was putting pressure on the defence which were making basic errors and general poor decision making within the squad.
Attack wise they were impotent it seemed like they were stuck in last season mode when in doubt pass it to Charlie N'Zogbia see what he can up with. Yes, it was a team effort just most players not playing well at the same time apart from Diame and Al Habsi, others had their moments just not many of them.
After
It's important to remember the poor and difficult times at the start of season, as not to get too caught up with the hype of the great finish and revival of the season. The Wigan Revival has been great to watch seeing the transformation of the team with no confidence, not wanting the ball to one dominating Man U, Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea (blind officials notwithstanding) with their possession football, off the ball movement, mixing it up going wide and in the middle.
Great Day
Tactically it took Roberto Martinez some time to get the tactics and formation he wanted with the players that he has. The 3 at the back was able to use Jean Beausejour down the left and Boyce down the right to the best of their attacking abilities and they drop back in defence to make it 5 at the back. Beausejour and Maloney have been instrumental in the creative side since Wigan lack a goalscorer they were able to get contributions from all over the park. Fortunately there weren't many injuries during this period. Martinez was able field a stable side and this is the situation managers’ love when it's because of the high quality play and not through a lack of viable alternatives.
Wigan's recovery and survival this season has been admirable as there was no panic from the club, no knee jerk reactions into sacking Martinez and they stuck to their principles of playing good football. It's very similar to another one of my favourite sides SC Freiburg, a small club, that plays excellent football, not great finances but they did it their way Resurrection . There are places for these kinds of clubs within football world. It's important that what was achieved at the end of the season with the results and style of football doesn't come to nowt.
Future
What happens in the summer is vital for the development of Wigan Athletic as a club. It can go in many ways so it's better to deal with the negatives first.
There are advantages of being a small club, players and managers can develop in a quieter environment without the spotlight on them, as they learn their trade, make mistakes and learn from them which doesn’t happen at the bigger clubs as expectations are different. Naturally the flipside to this, as soon as a Wigan player has a good season then they automatically become a transfer target for bigger sides. This is just par for the course and the way football operates.
Hugo Rodallega, Mo Diame, Gohouri and Kirkland are all leaving on free transfers, personally it would have been better if Diame was kept unless they turn Sammon into a defensive midfielder because he isn't scoring goals. Now with the silly season is here the big transfer targets are Victor Moses and Roberto Martinez which are interesting and annoying at the same time.
Victor Moses aka The Saviour is a big talent who has done well this season but in reality he is still too raw to move to a big club at the moment. His agent like most agents don't care about their clients just to take the biggest cut for themselves at the expense of finding clubs that can further their clients’ football development. Yes, Moses has great pace and can beat a man easily, while he has improved his decision making on the field it's still poor and the final ball isn't there. It would be better for him to stay for 1-2 seasons get the rougher edges out of the game, and then get the big move to a decent team unlike say Charles N'Zogbia for example.
Roberto Martinez
Naturally the club is the key and the one that needs to have the strongest structures as players and managers come and go. Since the revival now every club seems to want hire Roberto Martinez as their manager Aston Villa, Liverpool, Wigan Warriors, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, WBA, The Orwell Pub for example. It's strange really it's like what has happened before the revival has been forgotten about with Martinez. It's the classic instant gratification and bandwagon of the month syndrome, it's not like he has taken Wigan into Europe and this comes from someone who has and will continue to back Martinez at the club.
It would be silly for Martinez to move next season. Naturally there are those who will argue got to strike when the iron is hot or he has taken Wigan as far as he can and they're entitled to believe this. Reasons as to why it would be silly for him to go to Villa or Liverpool at the current times, yes they are bigger clubs and he will move to a bigger club but timing is the key for any successful move especially in football. It's very difficult to rebuild a broken reputation as a manager look at Steve McClaren for example.
He is a young manager and it's taken 3 seasons for him to finally get the football he wants from his team, let’s see if Wigan can do it for the whole season so there is a challenge for him there. If he is able to achieve this then he can have nearly any attractive job he wants. There are close bonds with the club and the chairman Dave Whelan who does talk a lot of rubbish, even then he has his moments of clarity.
With Dalglish being sacked from Liverpool, Martinez is the bookies favourite for the job. Liverpool fans don't want him for the job, they want instant success and they won't give time to managers who aren't club legends. Yes, Liverpool is a big name club, they expect and want a big name manager. At the moment they're trading on past glories and the type of football Martinez wants will take time to implement. Can't see the fans having patience when the player struggle initially to adapt. Then there are the dressing room egos Martinez doesn't have enough of a ruthless streak to deal with people that want him to fail because he isn't one of them.
Ideally for Wigan Roberto Martinez would be with Wigan for another 2-3 seasons. The style of football will be entrenched, the youth teams should be playing this style and a replacement for Martinez can be found within the existing structure. There are successful templates for small clubs to follow Udinese are the ultimate example with great scouting, buy low, sell high make profits on player sales, play good attacking football and have achieved success despite their limited size and income streams.
On a smaller scale there are guys like Volker Finke, Foppe de Haan and Guy Roux use Google if necessary. These guys were long term managers at Freiburg, Heerenveen and Auxerre they set the template for how their clubs play attacking football through the ranks, excellent scouting, focusing on youth development. Their legacy to their respective clubs is assured and the clubs have survived in good and bad times, adapting to changing trends in the sport.
Kids are always honest
Whether or not Wigan can build upon their excellent finish to the end of season depends on retaining Roberto Martinez. Getting good replacements within budget that have the potential to suit the system, getting a loan deal from Man City since we helped them win the title. It's time for Whelan to start negotiating terms with Roberto Martinez and get it sorted quickly, better for the players, the fans and all concerned.
No matter whether Martinez stays loyal for now or succumbs to the instant gratification of the filthy lucre and fans who won't have patience if they aren't winning instantly. The club will always be bigger than any one person.
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6 comments:
Very good article. I will highlight some of the key points I think are most important over the season.
1) There is a clear difference between our form up until Bolton in February and after that huge win at the Reebok. Some may argue that we began getting a better rub of the green but I wouldn't buy into that. I think the emphasis from that game onwards was that we played with no fear. We played with more of a purpose when we had the ball rather than keeping the ball for long periods without actually penetrating the oppositions defence. Further to that, we found a formation (and in particular personnel) who fitted the formation which Martinez has wanted to play for some time. Before the Stoke game I spoke with Martinez at some length about the formation and he outlined that the 343/351 formation would become the most used style of play in a few years. He further said that it allows you to have numbers in attack without ever being stretched at the back. He did mention that to play the formation you were required to have specialised personnel in the position to see the formation work at its best. If you remember back to the beginning of the season, we were forced to play Jones as the LWB. Jones, albeit a solid player, was never a LWB. He never looked assured attacking or defending. In January Martinez spent £4m on Beausejour from Birmingham. At the time I must admit I was skeptical at his arrival BUT I turned out to be horribly wide of the mark. He has been brilliant. He is the specialist in that area that Martinez wanted and we have surely seen the benefit.
2) The players have stepped up to the mark. At the beginning of the season if you had mentioned to me that Gary Caldwell would have been our player of the season I would never have believed you. He has been phenomenal. He has been a true leader, a brilliant organiser and has put in some excellent performances. Coupled with Caldwell, the two Macs have been outstanding. They keep the ball well and allow others to break forward when we have the ball. When we lose it, the pressure and harrass until we regain the ball back. I could go on, but all the players have been brilliant.
3) My final issue is the biggy... we must keep hold of Martinez. I know our position isn't nothing to write about but he has totally changed the club. We now have an aim and an objective. We know how we want to play and people you speak to enjoy to watch us play. All this is down to Martinez. I have a slight feeling he will stay. Why would he not? Hes got a team now playing great football the way he wants it to be played. I hope he sees all his hard work come to fruition because next season could be our best yet.
I fully agree with the above poster. Good article and would also like to point out that I think Shaun Maloney played a major role in us picking up points since he became a regular. Kaiser Caldwell seems to have lost a stone in weight and compensated for it by gaining in confidence and marshalling what was a very troubled defence.
Very good article and from the Wigan matches I've seen especially since they were outplaying the big sides. Shaun Maloney along with Beausojour gave extra punch to the attack. Maloney with excellent passes that bought the others into the game.
Definitely agree with the view Martinez must be kept at all costs. There is an identity in the football that Wigan play and it's generally positive. Yes, there are clowns that whine it's a small time club, doing it on the pitch is what counts.
Poster above with Caldwell he has been on fire scoring goals, making timely interceptions and thankfully he gave up the volleyball spikes in his own penalty box.
I don't think it would be beneficial to Martinez to leave and go to Liverpool - I think it would be Roy Hodgson all over again - a good manager, but without the fans onside, he won't get anywhere.
I feel he could stay at Wigan, carry on improving, I think under Martinez, Wigan aren't too far from teams like Fulham, who are now almost a permanent top 10 fixture.
And I completely agree about Beausejour - I really didn't understand the signing at all, but his signing was the catalyst for the change in Wigan's season.
Very good article. Completely agree with the comments above that Wigan finally have a clear identity and template for what they want to do. Hope Martinez stays as it will allow him to experiment with his philosophy a bit more and set up cover for the specialised players in the 3-4-3 formation he brought in. Beausejour was a very underrated piece of business of January. Hopefully he can work on his finishing a bit for next season though!
Excellent points raised in the article and also in the comments. Martin has covered most of the points in fine detail.
Martinez is to Liverpool it's wrong on many levels. The fans don't want him for the most part, he needs time to implement his plans. In spite of their current predicament Liverpool are still big name in football around the world. Villas Boas would be better suited for the role.
As was said in the article it's the classic thing with small clubs if they do well, then their players and manager are always up for being poached. Say Martinez doesn't get the job he doesn't have the easiest position in the context of how can he attract players and get the ones to sign extended contracts while the perception is that he wants out.
Beausejour, Caldwell and Maloney had brilliant in the last weeks, lets hope this surge doesn't come to nowt because Martinez was seduced by the bright lights.
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