Sheffield Wednesday rank near the bottom for most stats this season. But defender Akin Famewo is surprisingly quite high in one stat.
Sheffield Wednesday are improving quite rapidly under Danny Rohl. But the club’s dire start under Xisco Munoz leaves them in a perilous position still.
The Owls are eight points adrift after a 3-1 defeat at Norwich City in midweek and go up against QPR at Hillsborough this weekend in what is a real crunch match in the second tier.
But Wednesday are improving. They’ve given themselves a newfound hope in their fight for survival, and individually, the players are certainly stepping up.
One player who may have gone a bit under the radar this season though is Akin Famewo.
Akin Famewo ranks among Championship’s best dribblers
The 25-year-old joined Sheffield Wednesday for last season, but only managed 17 appearances in League One.
So far this season, Famewo has already made 17 league appearances for Sheffield Wednesday, playing in an unfamiliar left-back position.
Xisco Munoz was the man who deployed Famewo at left-back and he gave some divisive performances at first.
But Rohl has continued with Famewo on the left and he’s become a dependable player for Sheffield Wednesday.
And it’s since been revealed that Famewo has one of the highest take-on percentages in the Championship, completing 64.5% of take-ons to rank him joint-third in the league for that stat.
An underrated player for Sheffield Wednesday?
When Sheffield Wednesday lose or don’t play well, it’s often the defence that comes under scrutiny.
On Wednesday, Liam Palmer, Michael Ihiekwe and Cameron Dawson faced criticism online, largely for the way in which the third goal went in, but Famewo’s name wasn’t spoken off too much.
He’s become quite a dependable member of the team and he’s certainly improved in his new role under the new boss.
Although he’s a centre-back by trade, he’s shown a new side of his game this season, being able to move past players with the ball and do so effectively.
He’s one of the highest-ranking players in the league for take-ons and that’s a huge credit to him and the way he’s adapted to the Championship and his new position.
His position in the XI is never really in doubt now and the fact that he’s keeping two decent left-backs in Reece James and Marvin Johnson out of the XI is another credit to his ability.
Up next for Sheffield Wednesday is a home game vs QPR tomorrow afternoon.