As pointed out by stats, Chelsea GK was the busiest keeper in the PL against Wigan. All PL games are tough.
Depends on how we play. If it's 4-3-3, I think that they'll give us a rather difficult time. If we play the 4-4-2 of yesteryear, with the fullbacks bombing up in support, I think that we'll be the ones causing problems. The downside of the 3-4-3 is that you can get outnumbered in the centre of the park, and that could mean space and time for our passing game.
Full backs will be key against the 3-4-3 of Wigan both defensive & offensively.If we play a front three we can overload the vulnerable Latics defence but their pace & width will have to be dealt with. We liked to get our full backs forward & I wonder if Richardson may feature
Some words from Martinez - http://www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-athletic/martinez-relishing-saints-test-1-4857654
2-1 to Saints. Should be a good game, but anyone expecting Wigan not to come out swinging will be in for a shock. My nerves are jangling already :/
Martinez likes his teams to play football. If we line up with a 442, they are likely to outnumber us in the middle. Just like us, they are a fluid side and when they get the ball, defenders turn into midfielders and midfielders into forwards. 343 is a bit of a weird formation, but Wigan have got it to work for them. If they were pushovers down the middle and weak on the flanks, they wouldn't be in this league. To get the fluidity and to stop them from having it, we need to contral the midfield and I think we need the extra man to do that. On our turf, we should be the ones taking that initiative.
I'm slightly nervous about this one, depends which Wigan turn up, the Wigan that were absolute dogsh*t for most of last season, or the Wigan that were one of the best teams in the league towards the end of last season. They conceded twice early on against Chelsea, but then more than matched them for the rest of the game. 2-1 Saints. Davis, Lambert - Moses
I would start with the same system and team that started Man C, except bring in Rickie and drop Punch for Guly. Punch did ok tracking back but never offered an attacking option. JWP showed he has a great engine and was always with the attackers and back with the defenders, even if he is told to run his arse off first half and then change for Davis, who as well did nothing wrong on Sunday. Cork is now defo no4 in the pecking order for me. I am worried with Fox, but he was making the same errors last year and never got dropped, I think Shaw would deal better with thier flying wingers, as he is faster and would not give them the space that Fox does, but Fox will play. The key is to attack thier flanks, play our game, not thiers.
looks like a near sell out. On OS, says limited availability because Wigan returned some tickets and a new block has been opened.
Simon Peach: #SaintsFC team news is that @jackcork1 will again be missing against #WAFC with an ankle knock. @ChunTadanari could be back involved.
Davis Clyne Fonte Jos Fox Guly Davis Schneiderlin Lallana Sharp Lambert That's what I think, Rodriguez to be used from the bench and Davis to be picked over JWP
Just been announced that Wigan have accepted a £9m bid for Victor Moses, from Chelsea. He won't play on Saturday now.
i think we'll win, but purely because wigan seem to match the other team and perform in the last 20 mins. they were useless last season against most clubs other than in the last 1/5th of the season. I think we'll see most of the ball in the first 70 mins, be winning 2/3-0 and final score being 2/3 - 1 as they finish with a flourish..
We've never looked terribly fluid in the 4-5-1/4-3-3, though; we've played our best possession football in the 4-4-2, whereas the five-in-midfield formation has generally been broken out in situations where we were more interested in disrupting the play of the opposition rather than dictating the game ourselves. As you say, Wigan didn't get where they are through a lack of organization, so I'd rather play to our strengths rather than attempting to crowd them in midfield. And every formation has its vulnerabilities. For the 3-4-3, it's situations in which the wingbacks are up the pitch, and the opposition is able to move the CBs out of position...either to the flanks to cover, or to close down a player in the hole between defense and midfield. Playing the 4-4-2 with Rickie up top alongside someone in the poacher role allows him to drop into the hole without bringing multiple members of their back three with him, and that's where he's the most dangerous in engineering our build-up.
That's not surprising really. It's new. Every half decent team has converted and we'll need to as well if we're going to keep up. The better teams can press a midfield 2 out of the game. Playing 442 is like using Windows 95 because you know how to use it.
