Danny Rohl made some poor decisions that led to the heavy Sheffield Wednesday defeat against Watford.
The Owls suffered a very poor defeat against Watford in a game that ended 6-2 at Hillsborough Stadium.
To suffer such a defeat at home certainly raises alarm bells, and Danny Rohl wasted no time to show his side the goals they conceded after the game.
Sheffield Wednesday had some positives, which saw Michael Smith bag another goal, whilst Barry Bannan was yet again solid in the midfield, but the shocking second half showing without a doubt overshadowed that all.
There are several places in which the blame can be passed onto, including several issues that Rohl must take ownership of.
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Sheffield Wednesday took too long with substitutions vs Watford
The bulk of Sheffield Wednesday’s substitutions took place when the Owls were already 4-2 down at Hillsborough Stadium, at a point where they were certainly unable to mount a comeback with just 17 minutes left on the clock.
Pol Valentin bagged himself a consolation goal, but it is safe to say that none of the substitutes made a significant impact from off-the-bench, including Ike Ugbo and Jamal Lowe, who still just have one league goal between them.
The choice of substitutions were also quite surprising as Shea Charles, Josh Windass and Michael Smith were far from being the Owls’ poor performers on the day, however they were all hooked in the second half.
Defensive shape causes issues again for Sheffield Wednesday
Rohl showed determination yet again to set up his side with a high line against Watford, and you only need to look at the scoreline to work out how many issues that caused, particularly in the second half.
The full back-line far from covered themselves in glory on this occasion, with centre-backs Dominic Iorfa and Di’Shon Bernard being unable to deal with the threat of Watford attacker Vakoun Issouf Bayo, who spectacularly bagged four in the second half.
Wednesday simply don’t have the pace at the back to deal with a nimble attacker, and that without a doubt showed against Watford.
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Sheffield Wednesday lack control in two-man midfield
Bannan played fairly well in the centre-of-the-park, and Shea Charles wasn’t having the worst game either, but the shape does without a doubt invite pressure onto the pair, and coming up against Watford made that issue known.
As a result, this had a knock-on effect of putting the defence under even more pressure. The system should be rejigged as a result of this heavy defeat, and whilst some may place the blame on Bannan he can hardly do much when being overrun as a result of the Wednesday formation, which was set up to be too attacking on this occasion.
Rohl must take ownership of these several mistakes, and with the Steel City derby looming, he will without a doubt need to make sure that such a disappointing showing isn’t set to be repeated.