Sheffield Wednesday’s start to the season hasn’t gone quite as planned after a busy summer.
The Owls’ survival and a new contract for Danny Rohl gave fans high hopes going into the current campaign.
A 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle rose spirits even higher, but it wasn’t long before everything came crashing down.
Sheffield Wednesday have now lost three successive games in the Championship and have failed to score a single goal, though the nine goals conceded arguably posses a bigger concern.
Thankfully, Rohl’s side now have a two week break as players head off on international duty, with their next game coming against QPR in a fortnight’s time.
The head coach is going to have a lot of work to do at Middlewood Road, with the team in desperate need of a decent run of form.
There are many things that Rohl needs to look at before Wednesday return to action, but there may be some more important than others.
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Set piece concerns
Set pieces at either end of the pitch were a concern for Wednesday last season, and while it is very much a new-look team this time round, the problem still seems to be there.
The Yorkshire outfit conceded from a scrappy corner against Millwall, while they were also criticised for Sunderland’s opener from a free-kick a couple of weeks ago.
The Owls don’t have the tallest team in the Championship, but a head coach who works on his tactics as much as Rohl should be the perfect man to be working on free-kicks and corners on the training pitch on a regular basis.
What they are doing right now is clearly not working and the international break is the perfect time for Rohl to make some tweaks and see what works best.
If they keep conceding from set-pieces then they could well be in for a very long season.
What is his best defence?
Yan Valery and Max Lowe looked to be two very good signings over the summer, but recent performances have resulted in fans calling for the returns of Pol Valentin and Marvin Johnson.
Rohl has persisted with his new signings though and he now needs to consider whether he is being stubborn and whether things could work a little better with last season’s full-back options.
Or perhaps he can mix it up – he doesn’t need to play the same two full-backs every single week. It can change depending on the opposition.
Similarly, Di’Shon Bernard is clearly one of the first names on the team-sheet, but Rohl needs to use the break to figure out who the best option to partner up with him is.
Nathaniel Chalobah’s fitness
Shea Charles looks to be a very good signing after an impressive debut, but Wednesday do seem to be missing a big presence in midfield and Chalobah could provide that.
The 6ft midfielder has managed only one appearance but has otherwise been injured and Rohl will hope he can return to full fitness during the break.
It’s unclear whether he will start against Charles this season, but to have options in that no.6 role could be really important.