Sheffield Wednesday were thumped 5-0 by Ipswich Town in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Sheffield Wednesday traveled to Portman Road to face Ipswich Town in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls were looking to avenge a 2-0 defeat vs Leeds United in their previous outing, with that defeat ending a run of four-straight wins for Danny Rohl‘s side.
Ipswich were also looking for a return to winning ways after seeing a six-game winning streak come to an end vs Cardiff City last time out.
And it was the home side who took the lead today; Sheffield Wednesday started on the front foot but Omari Hutchinson would wrong-foot James Beadle in the Wednesday goal for the opener.
Two more goals followed before the break, and soon after the restart, the score was 4-0 to the home side,
Here are three things we learned about Sheffield Wednesday after the defeat vs Ipswich Town…
Marvin Johnson is not a left-back
Marvin Johnson has been a key player for Sheffield Wednesday.
His delivery and forward-thinking down the left channel has been a key outlet for the Owls under Rohl, but on the left of a back-four, Johnson really struggles.
He doesn’t get as far forward as he would like and against a rapid Ipswich front-line, Johnson certainly struggled.
Three of Town’s goals today started from attacks down Johnson’s side; that’s not to say that Johnson was directly at fault for all of those goals, but he was often beaten too easily.
Danny Rohl doesn’t have the players for a back-four
Following on from the above point, it certainly seems like Sheffield Wednesday suit a back-five better than they suit a back-four.
Rohl may deserve credit for starting out in a very attacking manner today. But why he felt the need to do that, against such a potent and fast-breaking Ipswich Town side, remains to be seen.
Fans will retain total faith in the impressive German but it seems like he got it wrong today.
With a back-four, Rohl needs full-backs who can defender better than the likes of Johnson did, and with three centre-backs on the pitch, Sheffield Wednesday are better able to build attacks from the back.
Pressure mounting on Owls players
If there’s an overriding message that stems from Saturday’s humbling from Sheffield Wednesday, it’s that the players are clearly feeling the heat.
There’s a clear gulf in class between the two sides, but once the first goal went in, Wednesday heads dropped, and they completely fell apart after that.
Body language throughout looked negative, and when every goal went in, heads dropped further and further to the ground.
It’s a difficult situation for Sheffield Wednesday and it’s been a very long season so far.
It’ll have no doubt taken a mental toll on the players but with games against Leeds United and Ipswich now out of the way, Rohl can focus on a much more winnable game against Swansea City vs Hillsborough next weekend.