Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 - 2 Wigan Athletic
Our last victory against Hull City in the third round of the F.A. Cup was inspired by a number of fringe players who came into the first eleven. In the days leading upto our next league encounter, supporters were curious to see who, if anyone, Martinez would give a chance in the first team.
The answer was to be James McCarthy. The energetic midfielder was on the scoresheet against Hull City and started the game out wide. Scott Sinclair, also on the scoresheet against Hull was unfortunate to miss out and surely deserves more first team chances.
However, back to Moleneux and a very important three points for the Latics who have now inched away from the relegation zone with a game against Bolton Wanderers in hand.
Fresh from his arrival from Celtic, Gary Caldwell slotted into the centre of defence alongside Titus Bramble. The Scotish international took the place of Emmerson Boyce to add organisational qualities to the heart of the Latics defence.
Momo Diame also came back into midfield to continue his dominance with Hendry Thomas, whilst Jason Scotland has paid the price for his lack of goals, making do with a place on the bench.
As ever the Latics dominated possession and there are suggestions that as the team get used to the Martinez ethos, the performances could also improve in hte second half of the season.
This performance certainly goes down as one of the better that the Latics have employed this season. In a similar way to the Hull City FA Cup victory, the Latics seemed to have that extra bit of quality that was the telling difference.
Martinez now has a problem. Hopefully with the continued January additions this problem will only grow. He now has a first team that is no longer cobbled together of the only players who could possibly employ the system. Rather he now has a squad of players from whom any number are capable of a first team birth. A luxury for the Latics boss that should make the second half of hte season much easier.
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Star man: Gary Caldwell. It was a close run thing with James McCarthy but both players added some much need freshness to the Wigan team. In particular, Caldwell's organisation of the backline was very important. He looks like he could be a tidy bit of business by Martinez.
Worst performer: Hendry Thomas. Sawdust for brains is the only way you can describe the lunge that earned his second yellow card. Never one to shy away or shirk a tackle, Thomas cannot be faulted for effort, but a little bit of thought would have seen him complete ninety minutes.
Best moment: James McCarthy scoring in his first Premier league start to give the Latics the lead. A well taken finish from inside the area after Hahnemann spilled Rodallega's effort.
This was closely followed by Charles N'Zogbia celebrating his goal with the Wigan fans. Perhaps a telling sign that the Frenchman does not want to the leave the DW Stadium?
Tactics: Martinez seemed to have the tactics spot on with the Latics being much the better side for long periods of the game. The defence was also much more organised and managed a clean sheet which was very pleasing. A good day all round really.
Oppo sition fans: A cracking atmosphere that will go a long way to help the Wolves maintain their top flight status. They are certainly a bonus to the league and should have enough to stay up.
Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
It was a massive three points for us and we really needed it. We've been saying for some time that we need to learn from the first half of the campaign, and we saw many positives from this performance.
We saw a very spirited work ethic from the players. They put their bodies on the line to secure the clean sheet, and we also had very good phases of play that saw us create chance after chance.
The goals we scored were of real quality, and that is the hardest thing to do in the game - score goals from open play.
At the other end, we defended extremely well. We know Wolves can generate a lot of momentum at home and we took the sting out of the game very well.
Hopefully we can kick-start on from here into the second half of the campaign. We haven't been getting as much as we have deserved from our performances lately, and we have had to work hard for everything we have got. No-one could call us a lucky team.
Obviously we missed a penalty in the first half and we also hit the post, and it would have been easy for us to have found it too difficult to find the answers to break Wolves down.
The sending-off allowed Wolves to get organised and get men behind the ball, and they do that really well. So to find a way past that was pleasing.
Mentally we were really tested, and we put in a complete performance that shows we are ready to attack the second half of the season.
We have seen time after time this season that Charles is a lethal player. He has huge talent, but he worked extremely hard and he deserved his goal.
I don't think many Wigan Athletic fans would have been surprised to see that because they have seen it many times during his time here.
We just need to make sure he continues enjoying his football and keeps developing as a player - and, if he can, it will put a smile on a lot of our supporters' faces.
I had no doubts about putting him [Caldwell] straight in, because we had trained together for three days and straightaway we all got the feeling that he is a talker and a leader.
He looked like he has been playing with us for a long, long time and hopefully he will continue developing with us and I'm sure he'll be a big asset for us.
I hope the fans enjoyed the performance, because everything we do is for them. We just have to make sure we put in performances like this on a more consistent basis.
It was great to have Momo back out there, because he gives us that balance between giving us a solid outlook and helping us to play the ball from the back.
It has maybe helped him to have had a rest, because you have to remember the Premier League is played at a huge tempo and then injury has allowed him the chance to be able to kick on into the second half of the campaign.
Mick McCarthy
The fact that we lost the game disappointed me most. The fact that we've made the mistakes which cost us. I've only one problem with the referee and that's that he put a good block on David Jones and stopped him trying to get to the ball in the 18-yard box when they scored.
I've just been to see him to ask because I don't know what he's doing there - I've no idea. He says he was there to try and get a view of whether Charles N'Zogbia was brought down but he wasn't in the 18-yard box to make the decision about Richard Stearman's foul and he managed to get that one right.
The goal is the only problem I've got because I've no problem with the penalty and sending off. N'Zogbia was one of the better players on the pitch and is a terrific player. He got in behind us but Marcus had saved the first shot.
And when he's made that save I'd rather one of my players be allowed the chance to try and get to the ball rather than be blocked by the referee. It's not the sanest thing I've seen Stears do but it's one of those.
There but for the grace of God go I as a young player when you do things and you wonder why afterwards as I'm sure Stears will. Does the referee have to book him as well? I don't know but I've no complaints with the penalty decision.
It sent us to ten men and they got in behind us but I thought we started the second half really well and kept the ball. Wigan have got good players in their side and in Rodallega and N'Zogbia they've got two of the really good Premier League players.
It was never going to be a case of us getting at them and battering them. We got to 45 minutes and we've both had chances and it's 0-0 that's how it should have been with 11 men on the pitch.
We were playing Wigan, in and around us in the same part of the league, and it was always going to be a scrap and a tough game. People will look at it and think we've lost to Wigan so where are we going to get points from but we'll do it, we'll be fine.
The table
| Latest match Saturday, 16th January 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 21 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 18 | 48 | +34 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 22 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 49 | 19 | 47 | +30 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 20 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 53 | 23 | 42 | +30 | ||||
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 22 | 38 | +20 | ||||
| 5 | Manchester City | 21 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 42 | 30 | 38 | +12 | ||||
| 6 | Aston Villa | 20 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 29 | 18 | 35 | +11 | ||||
| 7 | Liverpool | 21 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 38 | 26 | 34 | +12 | ||||
| 8 | Birmingham City | 21 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 33 | +2 | ||||
| 9 | Fulham | 20 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 26 | 22 | 27 | +4 | ||||
| 10 | Everton | 21 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 34 | 26 | -4 | ||||
| 11 | Stoke City | 21 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 26 | 25 | -7 | ||||
| 12 | Sunderland | 21 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 38 | 23 | -8 | ||||
| 13 | Wigan Athletic | 20 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 44 | 22 | -21 | ||||
| 14 | Blackburn Rovers | 21 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 28 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 39 | 21 | -18 | ||||
| 15 | Burnley | 21 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 34 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 43 | 20 | -21 | ||||
| 16 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 21 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 38 | 19 | -21 | ||||
| 17 | Hull City | 21 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 42 | 19 | -22 | ||||
| 18 | West Ham United | 20 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 37 | 18 | -9 | ||||
| 19 | Bolton Wanderers | 18 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 26 | 36 | 18 | -10 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth | 20 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 14 | -14 | ||||
Next game
As ever, after an important win the Latics tend to throw away all their good work. With the FA Cup fourth round hopefully taking place on Saturday (subject to the replay between Notts County and Forest Green taking place this week), the Latics next league game is a trip to Blackburn next Wednesday.