Is It Time For Carvalhal To Try Something New?

Whilst I have been very complimentary of Carlos Carvalhal recently, I have to say I might agree with the disappointed views of some Wednesday fans.

As I see if there are a few problems surrounding Carvalhal. More generally regarding Wednesday`s performances this seasons and in his summer transfer dealings.

More specifically, his performance as manager in the last two games as well as his proceeding comments.

I don`t think The Owls have played that well this season even when getting results, apart from a few games in which Forestieri was back to his best, worrying. I also disagree with Carvalhal`s views on the two most recent performances against Preston and Wolves.

I wrote earlier on in the season that I was worried that Carvalhal might fall folly to some of the same mistakes previous managers at Wednesady have made, in terms of their stubbornness regarding both formation and tactics as well as player selection.

Despite this initial fear, Carlos made clear that he had no problem dropping his new signings or changing his formation, having reverted to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 on a number of occasions.

However the last two performances against Preston and Wolves have bought to the front some clear problems.

Though Hutchinson`s repositioning into the midfield gave us the solidarity in this area that we were clearly lacking, Carvalhal has not found a way to get Wednesday`s quite large number of forward players scoring regularly.

This brings us back to the feelings felt by a large number of Wednesdayites, that Carvalhal didn`t really fill the required gaps at Wednesday, despite bringing in some highly reputable players. They were crying out for a striker over the summer, and whilst I accept that Wednesday can`t go and spend £10million on a striker, Carlos Carvalhal had to find a way. Bristol`s acquisition of Tammy Abraham showed that there is something to be said for taking a risk or looking into the loan market.

I also wrote a couple of months ago that I thought Wednesday had been lulled into a false sense of security, and that despite picking up results they weren`t playing very well. I also expressed a thought that the difference between Wednesday this season and last was the form of Fernando Forestieri.

This was possibly proven to be correct, after Carlos came out in the media and told us that we had the ‘real Fernando back.` Following this statement Forestieri scored 3 in 3, and despite getting suspended, we rode the wave and only lost 1 of the 3 in which he was suspended, then beating Newcastle in a game where he played but did not score.

However, he was unavailable against Preston and Wednesday performed incredibly poorly, that I think it possibly sunk in once more how badly the team needs Forestieri a lot of the time. I think this was in the player`s minds, and when he returned but played poorly against Wolves, they looked like a team with no spark, no invention.

It has been made clear that they simply cannot rely on Forestieri. Not relying on his may take some pressure of him and might enable him to play better as well.

My other problem is with Carvalhal`s mindset regarding these last two games. He had very little impact on the team in both of the last two games. He has looked really unable to make a difference either with a substitution or via communication. What is worrying isn`t the initial form in either game; it is that we have not been able to take it into the next gear, even for a moment in either game, and that has to be down to the coach as well if not more than the players.

They were as poor as I have seen against Preston and I don`t remember ever leaving a game as early as I left that game. We totally deserved to loose, and you might call it negative but I think Wednesday fans would also be correct in saying that they didn`t want to get that equalizer.

I think Wednesday deserved to learn a lesson that day, and that learning that lesson would be more productive for them over the course of the season, that gaining that point.

I also thought Reach was the poorest player on the pitch that day, and him scoring gave positive impressions in both the minds of the fans, and the manager, when actually he probably should have been dropped for the next game.

So that is my first problem surrounding Carvalhal and the last two games specifically. The second I don`t approve of what Carlos said in his conference after the Wolves game. To blame it on the fixture schedule when it was the same for his opponents, who played much better than them, is not a legitimate excuse.

Furthermore the Preston performance should not have affected the performance a few days later. Having played so poorly with so little intensity, they should have been fine for Monday.

It is clear that Carvalhal has done a sterling job for Wednesday over the last 18 months. He is a breathe of fresh air around the club both in terms of his attacking formations and his general persona. I am sure very, very few die hard Wednesday fans think Carlos Carvalhal should be relieved of his duties. However I do feel that if Sheffield Wednesday want to achieve all they can this season, there are some very obvious problems that need addressing, and in some places, more honest truths possibly need telling.