Sheffield Wednesday go up against Coventry City in the Championship this afternoon. And it’s another game with potential selection calls for Danny Rohl to make.
Rohl is working wonders with this current set of players. But he’s often let down by individual performances and often forced to make changes, when he’d no doubt like to settle on the same XI week in week out.
And one player who’s not been the same in recent weeks is Will Vaulks.
The Welshman became arguably Rohl’s best and most reliable player through December with inspiring performances against the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City.
But Vaulks’ form has been poor in recent weeks. He’s lost his place in the XI and Rohl has even had to change up his system slightly; he was operating with three central midfielders before, but the German played with two in the last outing vs Southampton.
The Star are also reporting that Rohl is now keen on signing a ‘mobile’ no.6 which tells us that the Wednesday boss wants a ‘new’ Vaulks, or least another one. And it could present the perfect opportunity for two Wednesday players to step up; George Byers and Momo Diaby.
New roles for new players in the Sheffield Wednesday
Rohl isn’t afraid to change things up.
He’s played Di’Shon Bernard and Liam Palmer as holding midfielders this season. He persisted with Akin Famewo as a left-back. And he’s played some of the rotational players like Pol Valentin in a number of roles.
Rohl then is always willing to try something new. Given Bambo Diaby‘s nightmare performance vs Southampton, many hope that he’s dropped and Bernard partners Michael Ihiekwe in the middle, and that would leave Barry Bannan needing a midfield partner; or a ‘mobile’ no.6.
With Vaulks out of form, it could be the perfect time for one of Diaby or Byers to come in; Diaby has been working his way back to full fitness and could be in line for his first league start under Rohl today, whilst Byers is available again after a three-match suspension.
Rohl hinted at Byers potential featuring today, maybe from the start, and he might be better suited for the no.6 position; he had played in all but one of Rohl’s games at the helm until his red card at Preston, but he finished just one.
Now after a timely break, he could be fit to complete a 90, and his combative style along with his good range of passing could make him perfect to partner Bannan.
But there’s a strong case for Diaby too; the Frenchman is powerful, towering, but he also boasts a good degree of technical ability which we’ve seen in glimpses since his summer arrival.
Whether he has the engine to be this mobile no.6 remains to be seen; we’ve not seen enough of him to know yet.
Rohl though, despite letting go a couple of central midfielders at the start of the month, has some good options to deploy in front of defence when playing that 4-2-3-1 we saw against Southampton.
And if one of Byers or Diaby starts today and manages to impress, it could save Rohl bringing in a new midfielder in the transfer market, which has so far proved tough this month.