No case for the defence

Last updated : 25 September 2009 By C. Morris

Sheffield Wednesday sit in fourteenth place in the Championship having won 2 and lost three of their opening eight fixtures.

It is obvious to see where the team’s problems lie at the moment – the Owls are joint third top scorers in the division but defensively little more than a handful of teams have conceded more goals, only one of which is above Wednesday in the table.

Last season saw a similar start but with a distinct difference in home and away games with Wednesday leaking goals on their travels but being generally solid at Hillsborough.
This season there is no such marked difference with Scunthorpe the only team to fail to score against the Owls in the league so far.

Darren Purse was brought in during the summer to add experience to the back four and in the away games at Peterborough and Newcastle he certainly justified his place in the side and as Captain but in more recent games against Sheffield United and Middlesbrough he has made costly mistakes.

Lewis Buxton came in on loan last season and after a slow start to his Owls career he began to settle in and earned himself a permanent contract. Unfortunately this season he is another that has made individual errors and seems to have lost confidence, not looking totally comfortable in the right-back role.

Tommy Spurr is as committed and enthusiastic as anyone in the team and has progressed in leaps and bounds in the past few years but sometimes maybe needs to temper his eagerness as he can get caught out of position at times.

Richard Wood has been much maligned by some sections of the support in the past year or so after making a transfer request shortly after being made captain last year. The loss of the captaincy to Purse this season will have been a disappointment but has been the Owls most consistent performer defensively this season.

Having conceded 6 goals in the past 2 games, the majority of which came from mistakes rather than moments of quality from the opposition, Brian Laws must be considering changes if this poor form continues so what options does he have available to him?

Mark Beevers burst on to the scene as revelation in 2007/08 but the youngster lost his way somewhat towards the back end of last season and struggled in the Owls defeat at Port Vale in the League Cup this season.

Full-back Frank Simek was undoubtedly one of the Owls best players prior to picking up a serious injury in December 2007 but has since struggled to return to full-fitness and looked a shadow of his former self in the defeat at Port Vale where he was given a torrid time by a league two winger.

Richard Hinds has been a solid squad player for the Owls but has not performed consistently enough to hold down a place in the side and is unlikely to be chosen ahead of Purse at centre-back when both are fit and perhaps doesn’t offer enough with the ball to play regularly at full-back.

Moving Michael Gray to right-back may also be an option if the Owls choose to attack games by playing Esajas and Johnson in the wide midfield positions although this may leave the Owls more open. Gray made his name as a full-back and although he is predominantly left sided he has played most of his games on the right side of midfield since joining the Owls and he has ample experience and ability to adapt to such a role.

It seems that whilst the Owls have plenty of options further up the pitch the defenders places in the team are not under much pressure at the moment so hard work, better tactical awareness and application may be what is needed rather than changes in personnel to turn things around.