Sheffield Wednesday expectedly lost at Leicester City in the Championship last night.
Sheffield Wednesday lost against the runaway league leaders. But Danny Rohl‘s side certainly didn’t disgrace themselves.
The Owls lost 2-0; the first goal owing to a poor pass from James Beadle and the second being a fine bit of play from a much more expensive Leicester City side, with Wednesday then holding their own in the second half.
The second 45 was a good showcase of what Rohl can do as a coach, with Sheffield Wednesday having 38% possession and 10 shots compared to Leicester City’s 4, as per Sofascore.
Ultimately though, the Owls failed to find the back of the net.
Wout Faes dominant at the back for Leicester City
Despite Sheffield Wednesday giving the Foxes something to deal with in the second half last night, Leicester never really looked to be in danger of conceding.
It was a typically dominant defensive display from Enzo Maresca’s side and one player seemed to stand out as being a type of player that the Owls could really do with; Wout Faes.
He and Jannik Vestergaard partnered in the middle of a back-four and played the ball around nicely; stemming attacks with some neat short and long passing, but also proving to be physically dominant in the face of Bailey Cadamarteri and the Sheffield Wednesday attack.
As per Sofascore, Faes recorded 87 touches, completing 71/76 passes (93% passing), and 6 long balls.
The Belgian is a keen ball-playing defender, earning a 7/10 rating from Leicester Mercury for his performance last night, with journalist Jordan Blackwell adding:
“He played some excellent crossfield passes to [Stephy] Mavididi early on and then clipped a delighted ball over the top for the second goal.”
And it’s a ball-playing centre-back that Rohl could really do with.
Danny Rohl style at Sheffield Wednesday missing some pieces
We’ve seen many times now under Rohl that Sheffield Wednesday are a team who can pass like some of the best teams in the division.
The way that Rohl has galvanised such a poorly performing team at the start of the season is very impressive, but it’s clear that he’s lacking a couple of pieces of the puzzle.
One of those pieces is another striker, and the other is a centre-back like Faes or even Vestergaard who can kick-start those quick attacks.
When in possession, opposition teams can simply sit back and drown out the play, so teams often times need to be quick about their attacks like Leicester City were for their second goal last night.
It was Faes’ long ball to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who then set up Jamie Vardy; such a quick and simple, yet stunning move from Leicester City.
We’ve barely seen a Sheffield Wednesday centre-back attempt such a pass this season.
Di’Shon Bernard has shown glimpses of being a player that can move forward with the ball and pick out a pass, but Rohl needs a player who can play these crossfield balls and set Sheffield Wednesday on the attack instantly.
Bernard is still young and could be moulded into that player, should he stay with the Owls beyond this season that is.
But Rohl should certainly look at bringing in a dedicated ball-playing centre-back in the summer, as it would surely give Sheffield Wednesday a new and useful outlet.