In Peace - Honest View from an Owl

[Owlfan]

Before the game when I saw the teamsheets I thought you'd murder us, you have some internationals as well as quality ball players but we know it didnt turn out that way. You lot seem to think your players just had a bad day and that may be true but I have to say, some of the touches and lay offs from your lads in midfield were just class and when they're on it, they must be a joy to watch. You are a much more sophisticated football team than we are (and thats not to play down our strengths which I'll come to) and Poyet has done a good job of building a team over time. I could watch Orlandi go about his work all day long, what a clever skilful player. But...Dave Jones did his homework yesterday and we did a good job on you for most of the game. We chased and harried in midfield and constantly made you play the ball back to El Abd who is clearly no great distributor an our shape was good all day. Man of the match was Giles Coke who was everywhere in midfield and deserved a goal. You lacked a bit of oomph, it was neat and pretty but until CMS came on we were always confortable, after which he did his usual terrorising of our defence for 20 minutes until we adapted and got hold of the game again.

Now ..our strengths...you've called us dirty and ugly and thats not true. We are a strong physical team with pace to burn and Helan and Antonio in particular would make a big difference to your side. Our full backs have licence to bomb on because we play 2 full backs in front of them in midfield and its working well for us. 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in our last 9 says this team is adapting to the championship and should stay up with ease. Calderon should by now be beginning to recover from the twists and turns that Helan put him through, Helan was taking him for a run several times in the second half. Not many sides can cope with the pace we have and the support from our rb and lb means we get plenty of crosses over...Buxton in particular seemed to float over a barrel load.

The ref, you're annoyed with him and I guess you would be but he certainly wasnt a homer, a stonewall penalty on Lita not given, Ulloa very lucky to stay on, El Abd pushing his luck at times too. The Danny Pugh foul looked a yelow card to me and I was right behind it...it just seemed that your players and coaches wanted the ref to even things out. That said, it didnt look pretty on the FLS last night although the camera angle was poor. The difference between Pugh's tackle and Barned was that Pugh went for the ball but was late, Barnes saw red mist and took the player out, a red card all day long.

Got to say I thought that Bridge and Upson were a let down, in this league they should dominate, they didnt. Did Bridge ever get forward and overlap for you?

Overall I can see why you beat a lot of teams in this league, and also maybe too why promotion might just just a bit beyond you this year. I like your football (not the histrionics of some of your players though) an if Poyet just adds a bit more pace and strength to the obvious quality you'll go far.

Good luck for the rest of the season and if you want to get rid of Orlandi, send him our way please.

 

[moggy]

Good write up.
I didn't go yesterday but you've obviously improved from your performance at the Amex earlier in the season.
A bad day in the office by all accounts so we'll just move on to two tricky home games we must take at least 4 points from now.
Good luck the rest of the season

 

[Hampster Gull]

Before the game when I saw the teamsheets I thought you'd murder us, you have some internationals as well as quality ball players but we know it didnt turn out that way. You lot seem to think your players just had a bad day and that may be true but I have to say, some of the touches and lay offs from your lads in midfield were just class and when they're on it, they must be a joy to watch. You are a much more sophisticated football team than we are (and thats not to play down our strengths which I'll come to) and Poyet has done a good job of building a team over time. I could watch Orlandi go about his work all day long, what a clever skilful player. But...Dave Jones did his homework yesterday and we did a good job on you for most of the game. We chased and harried in midfield and constantly made you play the ball back to El Abd who is clearly no great distributor an our shape was good all day. Man of the match was Giles Coke who was everywhere in midfield and deserved a goal. You lacked a bit of oomph, it was neat and pretty but until CMS came on we were always confortable, after which he did his usual terrorising of our defence for 20 minutes until we adapted and got hold of the game again.

Now ..our strengths...you've called us dirty and ugly and thats not true. We are a strong physical team with pace to burn and Helan and Antonio in particular would make a big difference to your side. Our full backs have licence to bomb on because we play 2 full backs in front of them in midfield and its working well for us. 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in our last 9 says this team is adapting to the championship and should stay up with ease. Calderon should by now be beginning to recover from the twists and turns that Helan put him through, Helan was taking him for a run several times in the second half. Not many sides can cope with the pace we have and the support from our rb and lb means we get plenty of crosses over...Buxton in particular seemed to float over a barrel load.

The ref, you're annoyed with him and I guess you would be but he certainly wasnt a homer, a stonewall penalty on Lita not given, Ulloa very lucky to stay on, El Abd pushing his luck at times too. The Danny Pugh foul looked a yelow card to me and I was right behind it...it just seemed that your players and coaches wanted the ref to even things out. That said, it didnt look pretty on the FLS last night although the camera angle was poor. The difference between Pugh's tackle and Barned was that Pugh went for the ball but was late, Barnes saw red mist and took the player out, a red card all day long.

Got to say I thought that Bridge and Upson were a let down, in this league they should dominate, they didnt. Did Bridge ever get forward and overlap for you?

Overall I can see why you beat a lot of teams in this league, and also maybe too why promotion might just just a bit beyond you this year. I like your football (not the histrionics of some of your players though) an if Poyet just adds a bit more pace and strength to the obvious quality you'll go far.

Good luck for the rest of the season and if you want to get rid of Orlandi, send him our way please.

Muppet

 

[Napper]

Good assessment. Fair comment on the lack of pace and muscle. We badly lack it.

Ulloa and Upson should go someway to help with the physical side. Pace wise we miss Buckley big time

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

Before the game when I saw the teamsheets I thought you'd murder us, you have some internationals as well as quality ball players but we know it didnt turn out that way. You lot seem to think your players just had a bad day and that may be true but I have to say, some of the touches and lay offs from your lads in midfield were just class and when they're on it, they must be a joy to watch. You are a much more sophisticated football team than we are (and thats not to play down our strengths which I'll come to) and Poyet has done a good job of building a team over time. I could watch Orlandi go about his work all day long, what a clever skilful player. But...Dave Jones did his homework yesterday and we did a good job on you for most of the game. We chased and harried in midfield and constantly made you play the ball back to El Abd who is clearly no great distributor an our shape was good all day. Man of the match was Giles Coke who was everywhere in midfield and deserved a goal. You lacked a bit of oomph, it was neat and pretty but until CMS came on we were always confortable, after which he did his usual terrorising of our defence for 20 minutes until we adapted and got hold of the game again.

Now ..our strengths...you've called us dirty and ugly and thats not true. We are a strong physical team with pace to burn and Helan and Antonio in particular would make a big difference to your side. Our full backs have licence to bomb on because we play 2 full backs in front of them in midfield and its working well for us. 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in our last 9 says this team is adapting to the championship and should stay up with ease. Calderon should by now be beginning to recover from the twists and turns that Helan put him through, Helan was taking him for a run several times in the second half. Not many sides can cope with the pace we have and the support from our rb and lb means we get plenty of crosses over...Buxton in particular seemed to float over a barrel load.

The ref, you're annoyed with him and I guess you would be but he certainly wasnt a homer, a stonewall penalty on Lita not given, Ulloa very lucky to stay on, El Abd pushing his luck at times too. The Danny Pugh foul looked a yelow card to me and I was right behind it...it just seemed that your players and coaches wanted the ref to even things out. That said, it didnt look pretty on the FLS last night although the camera angle was poor. The difference between Pugh's tackle and Barned was that Pugh went for the ball but was late, Barnes saw red mist and took the player out, a red card all day long.

Got to say I thought that Bridge and Upson were a let down, in this league they should dominate, they didnt. Did Bridge ever get forward and overlap for you?

Overall I can see why you beat a lot of teams in this league, and also maybe too why promotion might just just a bit beyond you this year. I like your football (not the histrionics of some of your players though) an if Poyet just adds a bit more pace and strength to the obvious quality you'll go far.

Good luck for the rest of the season and if you want to get rid of Orlandi, send him our way please.

He was f***ing shit, both ways, we just happened to cop the worst of it. Most inconsistent ref I've seen, El-Abd given a yellow for a high elbow while going for a header but your player does the exact same and gets nothing..

 

[Gordon the Gopher]

Muppet

Stupid reply. Thought he made a lot of spot on comments

 

[lastyboy]

not really an honest view though is it.... very biased! by doing a number on us you mean lump it as far as you can and hope for the best. ok it worked for you and you had the help of a useless ref but you couldnt pay me to watch dribble like that every week. relegation beckons IMO

 

[Trigger]

I think it's a fair assessment and a sad state of affairs when even an away fan can see we lack pace and muscle while our manager is oblivious to it.

 

[mona]

Fair comment. Ironically we have the pace but LuaLua, Buckley and CMS were all non-starters. Thought SW's defence looked dodgy but BHA were not up to exploiting it yesterday.

 

[Fourteenth Eye]

Fair assessment

 

[Soulman]

Before the game when I saw the teamsheets I thought you'd murder us, you have some internationals as well as quality ball players but we know it didnt turn out that way. You lot seem to think your players just had a bad day and that may be true but I have to say, some of the touches and lay offs from your lads in midfield were just class and when they're on it, they must be a joy to watch. You are a much more sophisticated football team than we are (and thats not to play down our strengths which I'll come to) and Poyet has done a good job of building a team over time. I could watch Orlandi go about his work all day long, what a clever skilful player. But...Dave Jones did his homework yesterday and we did a good job on you for most of the game. We chased and harried in midfield and constantly made you play the ball back to El Abd who is clearly no great distributor an our shape was good all day. Man of the match was Giles Coke who was everywhere in midfield and deserved a goal. You lacked a bit of oomph, it was neat and pretty but until CMS came on we were always confortable, after which he did his usual terrorising of our defence for 20 minutes until we adapted and got hold of the game again.

Now ..our strengths...you've called us dirty and ugly and thats not true. We are a strong physical team with pace to burn and Helan and Antonio in particular would make a big difference to your side. Our full backs have licence to bomb on because we play 2 full backs in front of them in midfield and its working well for us. 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in our last 9 says this team is adapting to the championship and should stay up with ease. Calderon should by now be beginning to recover from the twists and turns that Helan put him through, Helan was taking him for a run several times in the second half. Not many sides can cope with the pace we have and the support from our rb and lb means we get plenty of crosses over...Buxton in particular seemed to float over a barrel load.

The ref, you're annoyed with him and I guess you would be but he certainly wasnt a homer, a stonewall penalty on Lita not given, Ulloa very lucky to stay on, El Abd pushing his luck at times too. The Danny Pugh foul looked a yelow card to me and I was right behind it...it just seemed that your players and coaches wanted the ref to even things out. That said, it didnt look pretty on the FLS last night although the camera angle was poor. The difference between Pugh's tackle and Barned was that Pugh went for the ball but was late, Barnes saw red mist and took the player out, a red card all day long.

Got to say I thought that Bridge and Upson were a let down, in this league they should dominate, they didnt. Did Bridge ever get forward and overlap for you?

Overall I can see why you beat a lot of teams in this league, and also maybe too why promotion might just just a bit beyond you this year. I like your football (not the histrionics of some of your players though) an if Poyet just adds a bit more pace and strength to the obvious quality you'll go far.

Good luck for the rest of the season and if you want to get rid of Orlandi, send him our way please.

I suppose after playing a decent footballing side like Arsenal last week, we had to dig in this week. Obviously playing with ten men for much of the game did not help. Unfortunately Ulloa did not get much help when he tried to physically match your team.
Wednesday got off to a good start with Lita nipping in before Upson had got into the pace of the game. A skilful team often portray histrionics, they tend to get slowed down on the way past.
A much different game to the one at the Amex, where on that day, you were outclassed.
A good day for your team, a bad day for ours.

 

[Foolg]

Before the game when I saw the teamsheets I thought you'd murder us, you have some internationals as well as quality ball players but we know it didnt turn out that way. You lot seem to think your players just had a bad day and that may be true but I have to say, some of the touches and lay offs from your lads in midfield were just class and when they're on it, they must be a joy to watch. You are a much more sophisticated football team than we are (and thats not to play down our strengths which I'll come to) and Poyet has done a good job of building a team over time. I could watch Orlandi go about his work all day long, what a clever skilful player. But...Dave Jones did his homework yesterday and we did a good job on you for most of the game. We chased and harried in midfield and constantly made you play the ball back to El Abd who is clearly no great distributor an our shape was good all day. Man of the match was Giles Coke who was everywhere in midfield and deserved a goal. You lacked a bit of oomph, it was neat and pretty but until CMS came on we were always confortable, after which he did his usual terrorising of our defence for 20 minutes until we adapted and got hold of the game again.

Now ..our strengths...you've called us dirty and ugly and thats not true. We are a strong physical team with pace to burn and Helan and Antonio in particular would make a big difference to your side. Our full backs have licence to bomb on because we play 2 full backs in front of them in midfield and its working well for us. 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in our last 9 says this team is adapting to the championship and should stay up with ease. Calderon should by now be beginning to recover from the twists and turns that Helan put him through, Helan was taking him for a run several times in the second half. Not many sides can cope with the pace we have and the support from our rb and lb means we get plenty of crosses over...Buxton in particular seemed to float over a barrel load.

The ref, you're annoyed with him and I guess you would be but he certainly wasnt a homer, a stonewall penalty on Lita not given, Ulloa very lucky to stay on, El Abd pushing his luck at times too. The Danny Pugh foul looked a yelow card to me and I was right behind it...it just seemed that your players and coaches wanted the ref to even things out. That said, it didnt look pretty on the FLS last night although the camera angle was poor. The difference between Pugh's tackle and Barned was that Pugh went for the ball but was late, Barnes saw red mist and took the player out, a red card all day long.

Got to say I thought that Bridge and Upson were a let down, in this league they should dominate, they didnt. Did Bridge ever get forward and overlap for you?

Overall I can see why you beat a lot of teams in this league, and also maybe too why promotion might just just a bit beyond you this year. I like your football (not the histrionics of some of your players though) an if Poyet just adds a bit more pace and strength to the obvious quality you'll go far.

Good luck for the rest of the season and if you want to get rid of Orlandi, send him our way please.

I've seen you lot 5 or 6 times this season, and agree with a fair part of that assesment.

However there are a few things which I strongly disagree with. Ulloa was being pulled and pushed all over the place, to the point where I was astonished how Llera and your other center half managed to avoid a booking, almost every time there was a big push in the back, two hands on his shirt, or something similar.

Pugh's challenge was a red card, end of. I said it at the time, and all of my house watching it back this morning (5 Brighton, 2 leeds, and 2 neutral's all said it was easily a red).

As you say though, Dave Jones did his research, and for the first 15-20 minutes you were tight on us and we had little spark. However, the amount of teams that have contained us for 20 minutes is endless, to do it for 90 minutes is where teams really struggle. As for Antonio and Helan, two very quick players, but technically two of the worst players i've seen in this league all season. Llera did nothing but wallop the ball upfield as soon as it came near him, with three quick players left to chase it, leaving players like Prutton/Coke and so on void in the middle of the park. In fact that midfields technical ability pretty much sums up Sheffield Wednesdays style of football.

You may well pick up points, but it will never, ever get you out of this league. Not a chance. It was the most dire style of football I think i've ever seen, and really does make me appreciate Gus Poyet even more.

 

[Mackenzie]

Thank you Owlfan for taking the time to post on here, its always refreshing to hear the oppositions view, even if it does sometimes make for uncomfortable reading. I didn't go yesterday, but it seems like for whatever reason the team didn't perform to anywhere near its best. Hopefully we'll learn from it and improve. As for Wednesday, I'd imagine it was a good three points, which will get you looking up the table now rather than over your shoulders. Well done, and best of luck with your remaining fixtures.

 

[Screaming J]

Fair comment on the lack of pace and muscle. We badly lack it.

Ulloa and Upson should go someway to help with the physical side. Pace wise we miss Buckley big time

Exactly the same problem as the away game at Blackburn. No pace there and them pressing our midfield meant constantly having to pass back to El Abd/Greer and we struggled.

 

[SeagullSongs]

Before the game when I saw the teamsheets I thought you'd murder us, you have some internationals as well as quality ball players but we know it didnt turn out that way. You lot seem to think your players just had a bad day and that may be true but I have to say, some of the touches and lay offs from your lads in midfield were just class and when they're on it, they must be a joy to watch. You are a much more sophisticated football team than we are (and thats not to play down our strengths which I'll come to) and Poyet has done a good job of building a team over time. I could watch Orlandi go about his work all day long, what a clever skilful player. But...Dave Jones did his homework yesterday and we did a good job on you for most of the game. We chased and harried in midfield and constantly made you play the ball back to El Abd who is clearly no great distributor an our shape was good all day. Man of the match was Giles Coke who was everywhere in midfield and deserved a goal. You lacked a bit of oomph, it was neat and pretty but until CMS came on we were always confortable, after which he did his usual terrorising of our defence for 20 minutes until we adapted and got hold of the game again.

Now ..our strengths...you've called us dirty and ugly and thats not true. We are a strong physical team with pace to burn and Helan and Antonio in particular would make a big difference to your side. Our full backs have licence to bomb on because we play 2 full backs in front of them in midfield and its working well for us. 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in our last 9 says this team is adapting to the championship and should stay up with ease. Calderon should by now be beginning to recover from the twists and turns that Helan put him through, Helan was taking him for a run several times in the second half. Not many sides can cope with the pace we have and the support from our rb and lb means we get plenty of crosses over...Buxton in particular seemed to float over a barrel load.

The ref, you're annoyed with him and I guess you would be but he certainly wasnt a homer, a stonewall penalty on Lita not given, Ulloa very lucky to stay on, El Abd pushing his luck at times too. The Danny Pugh foul looked a yelow card to me and I was right behind it...it just seemed that your players and coaches wanted the ref to even things out. That said, it didnt look pretty on the FLS last night although the camera angle was poor. The difference between Pugh's tackle and Barned was that Pugh went for the ball but was late, Barnes saw red mist and took the player out, a red card all day long.

Got to say I thought that Bridge and Upson were a let down, in this league they should dominate, they didnt. Did Bridge ever get forward and overlap for you?

Overall I can see why you beat a lot of teams in this league, and also maybe too why promotion might just just a bit beyond you this year. I like your football (not the histrionics of some of your players though) an if Poyet just adds a bit more pace and strength to the obvious quality you'll go far.

Good luck for the rest of the season and if you want to get rid of Orlandi, send him our way please.

Decent post, I've highlighted a couple of points though.

I'm sure Helan and Antonio would have made a different in our side from yesterday, but I'd take Buckley and Lualua ahead of them any day of the week.

If Bruno is 100% fit for the next game, I'm sure he'll start. I reckon he'd have caused you some problems like he did at the Amex. Calderon is normally a very good back-up for anywhere in the back 4.

When Bridge bombs forward down the wing, Barnes (who usually plays on the left of the front 3) tends to drop back in behind him to cover, so once Barnes had been sent off, Bridge didn't want to risk it not only because we were down to 10 men, but because his usually cover wasn't available. Barnes is one of our more influential players, so not a great one to lose for 60 minutes of yesterday's game, and all of the next 3.

 

[Brightonia]

Muppet

Why is he a muppet?? It was actually a decent post and probably the best from an opposing fan we've had for ages!

 

[One Love]

Barnes is one of our more influential players, so not a great one to lose for 60 minutes of yesterday's game, and all of the next 3.

I have heard it all now.

Yes he has played quite well recently, for him.

One of our more influential players! No wonder we are struggling.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Fair post, the only thing is you say you play two full-backs in front of your full backs. Surely they're just defensive wingers and not full backs?

 

[The Modfather]

Fair enough. I was not aware that Sheffield Wednesday fans with common sense actually existed.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

When our system works it is a joy to watch. It looks like Premiership football. When it doesn't work we look like the shittiest team on the planet. Reality check after playing so well against Arsenal. I honestly though we could get something out this match yesterday. Sheff Wed got the job done unfortunately. Hoping for a CMS and Ulloa line up.