The Wonder of Wigan’s New Tactic

Tom Moseley explains to The Football Front the beauty of Wigan's new system which has been reaping rewards instantly in the Premier League.  

Wigan’s new tactic has moved them away from the relegation zone, and 3 points clear from the bottom three, with a drastic turn in form, that’s put them 3rd in the Premier League form table, with four wins in their last seven. Their tactic can be ultra-defensive and be 5-4-1 with one striker left upfront, or it can be ultra-attacking and be 3-4-3, but the best part about it, is the fact it switches between the two in a matter of seconds.

In defence (especially against Arsenal) it very much looked like this…

Which, as you can see from the picture and presumably saw from the Arsenal game, it’s very hard to break down. Not only is there five at the back, the central midfielders also get back and defend deep, almost playing as holding midfielders. This results in almost a seven man defence and all practically on the edge of the box, meaning no space in behind for teams to exploit.

So Wigan can sit there and watch teams pass in front of them for however long before getting the ball and counter attacking. In a matter of seconds, and this is the main strength of this tactic. Wigan have the ability to turn a ‘backs against the wall’ situation to a ‘throw the kitchen sink at them’ situation and the most important people to do this are the full backs and winger, in my opinion. When they counter attacked against Arsenal, and got their two goals, the tactic went from the one above to something more like this…

I know it isn’t perfect or exact, but you can see what generally happens. The two wing-backs push forward down the line, providing the width, then the two ‘wingers’ from before, (if we’re talking about the Arsenal game,) Gomez and Moses, push inside and support the lone striker Di Santo. This works brilliantly as these two are inverted, so it’s similar to how Barcelona used to play, when their wingers were Henry and Messi or Ronaldinho and Messi and they used to be inverted, so they’d push inside and support Eto’o and then the full-backs, Alves and Abidal, would push up the line and provide the width.

But the only difference being Barcelona had one less defender and one more midfielder, but it's the overall same sort of mentality. Wigan's inverted wingers system works well because Moses and Gomez are two very creative players, which you can see from the game against Arsenal, with Gomez playing a lovely ball across the pitch for Wigan's first and Moses scoop turning then crossing for the second goal. It also leads to good passing as lots of channels would open up, if the opposing full-backs had to mark the attacking wing-backs because it means the inverted wingers could ‘float’ and get into the gaps between the full backs and centre backs, so that stretches defenders and also means there can be a nice bit of interplay between the wing-backs, wingers and forward in these kind of areas. However, the centre-midfielders are extremely important as well, as they provide the balance in the team, thus being able to control the tempo and help the team keep possession in attack. McCarthy and McCarthur had a passing accuracy of 94% and 88%, against Arsenal. Even though, they didn’t make lots and lots of passes, that is still tidy and crucial, especially when holding a lead, like they were. So, as you saw against Arsenal, the counter attacking ability of this tactic is amazing, with basically five attackers, which most defences, would struggle to deal against, as Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea all will tell you.

However, there is another transition, that’s different to these previous two mentioned above. This transition is in-between Wigan's ‘backs against the wall’ and ‘throwing the kitchen sink.’ The third system could be used when leading 1-0 and wanting to attack, but being balanced on not being caught on the break yourself and is basically a 4-2-3-1 and look like this…

This would happen when Beausejour pushed forward down the left, he would become the main left winger, then Figueroa would move over from centre-back and go left-back, creating a standard back four. Moses would then shift from the left to the right and Gomez would play just behind Di Santo, which is a good, relatively-attacking, formation, but also brilliant in my opinion, because Boyce wouldn’t push forward, he’d hold and play right-back, which means they can attack but still have a ‘normal’ back line so it would be hard to be broken against. As they aren’t throwing several bodies forward, then if they want to get back and go ‘backs against the wall’ again, it’s easy to do. All Wigan need is Beausejour to get back and Figueroa to move inside, then the two midfielders to track back as well.

I have to admit, I love this tactic.

I’ve always wanted a team to play with 3/5 at the back in the Premier League, as it’s what Cruijff did with Total Football. I've always been intrigued to see if it would work in the Premier League. And so far it has. Martinez has got it spot on.

I love the versatility of it, the way you can be defending for you lives, and then attacking at will in a matter of seconds. The middle transition, just makes the system that one bit better as you can be balanced as well and don’t have to go between the two ‘extremes’. The tactic has also been effective, with wins against Manchester United and Arsenal, I think, if they start better next year and continue to use this tactic and generally don’t do a ‘Wigan’ I think, they could have a comfortable finish. Well done Martinez, I think you’ve got it spot-on.

This article was written by Tom Moseley, you can follow him on Twitter: @PlayedOfThePark .Check out his website too: http://playedoffthepark.blogspot.co.uk/

More of Tom's work can be found here

Can Wigan save themselves from the drop again?

Wigan have started the season off poorly. Its simple as that. Three wins from 16 games is hardly inspiring form. Not only this, the team have a winning ratio of 20% which is frankly quite frightening if you’re a Wigan fan. But this woeful start to the season and a reflection on last season’s results, spell one question, Is this the season when Wigan fall through the relegation trap door?

Possibly. But the side have shown some fight. Recently Wigan picked up two away wins at Sunderland and West Brom. Furthermore, the team managed to hold Chelsea at home last weekend. These results are utterly vital, especially the away results. It shows Wigan have the ability to take points from the teams in and around them. Not only this, very few of Wigan’s relegation rivals can boast two away wins on the bounce.

Many pundits argue Wigan’s ability to keep possession of the ball has been the difference between them and their relegation rivals. Perhaps they have a point. After all, Wigan have a impressive passing accuracy of 81% this season. Wigan have also made more accurate passes (5268 passes), than Wolves (4938 accurate passes), Aston Villa (3876), Blackburn (3738), and Bolton (4470).

So, Wigan keep the ball better than the teams in and around them. That’s all well, and good but is it really working for the side? Some may comment that it does work for them. After all, under Martinez’ Wigan have never been relegated. However, against certain sides, Wigan’s passing strategy seems like its suffocating some of the Wigan players.

For example, when Arsenal and Spurs visited Wigan at the DW, the London sides high pressure system continuously caught Wigan out. Wigan would look to slowly build from the back and progressively go forward. However, Arsenal and especially Spurs did not allow Wigan’s defence to settle on the ball. Thus causing the players to misplace passes or worse, pass the ball straight to the opposition.

These missed place passes have proved to be fatal. As Wigan have often found themselves trailing games because of defensive mishaps.

But another problem Wigan are encountering is the team are not scoring enough goals.

This season, Wigan have scored 15 goals in 16 games. It is the worst goal scoring record in the Premier League. Indeed, Wigan are craving the return to form of Hugo Rodallega. Last season the Columbian scored 9 goals. While in 8 games this season, he failed to net.

Wigan’s struggle to score goals is a significant issue. Especially if one follows the trends of the last few seasons.

Last season, Wigan had the second worst goal scoring record in the Premier League. They scored 40 goals last season. While the team who had the worst goal scoring record, Birmingham City scored 37 goals and were relegated on the final day. Furthermore, in the 2009/10 season, Hull and Portsmouth scored the least amount of goals (34 goals) and both were relegated. Finally, three seasons ago, in the 2008/09 season, Middlesbrough scored (28 goals) and found themselves going through the relegation trap door.

This is a cause for concern for Wigan. Under Martinez, the team have a history of not being able to score goals. In Martinez’ first season, Wigan managed 37 goals, the third worst in the division. While as stated before, last season, the team had the second worst goal scoring record in the division. And so far this season, the team have the worst goal scoring record. Perhaps this is symbol of the yearly decline of Wigan.

The statistics also paint a vivid picture. If you cant score, you cant win and if you cant win, you cant survive.

Wigan’s goal scoring statistics foreshadow a worrying end to their Premier League dream. Of course there is a long way to go. But if Wigan’s statistics continue to follow the same trend, there really is one inevitable route which Wigan will be taking. Relegation.

But scoring goals are not Wigan’s only problems. The club are also conceding a hell of a lot of goals too.

Wigan have the third worst defence in the league. They have conceded 30 goals already this season. Wigan are far more exploitable than some of the teams around them. After all, the teams who often survive in the Premier League are often the most efficient. They can either consistently score, or they are very strong defensively. Wigan have been neither under Martinez. If the team could score far more goals, perhaps their goals conceded statistic would not be a big issue, as their total points tally would do the talking for them.

The problem Martinez is facing is a reoccurring problem. Relegation. In Steve Bruce’s final season at Wigan, he left the club 11^th. The team were 13 points away from relegation. While under Martinez, the team have always finished 16^th. In his first season, 2009/10 season, they finished 6 points away from the relegation spots. While last season, The Lactics finished an alarming three points away from the relegation zone.

This is clearly a worrying trend. With every season, the club are getting closer and closer to the relegation trap door. Only three years ago, the club were safe in mid-table. But now, under Martinez, the team have not had any progressive improvement. The team have been in a freefall of decline.

Wigan Athletic are aesthetically pleasing with their tidy keep ball philosophy. But the stringent issue is the team cant do anything productive with it. The club have won their last two away games, but that does not hide away the fact the team have severe underlying inadequacies such as not being able to finish or concede which have been crippling the club for years.

This may well be Wigan’s final dance in the Premier League.