Sheffield Wednesday came away from Bramall Lane with nothing after the Steel City derby on Sunday afternoon, and Danny Rohl has hit back at claims his team are struggling in one key area.
In the first meeting between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United for six seasons, both teams played out a scrappy, cagey affair with just one shot on target proving to be the difference on the day.
A strong first-half showing from the Owls was undone by the Blades coming out quickly after the interval and grabbing a goal through a neat Tyrese Campbell finish.
From there, Wednesday put up a spirited fight to get back into the game, but it wasn’t to be. While the fans showed their appreciation to the Sheffield Wednesday players at full-time, it is clear there are some things to work on now for the squad.
Danny Rohl will be well aware of his team’s shortcomings, but he firmly believes one key issue is more pressing than another, and it all lies with the way the Owls are defending.
Sheffield Wednesday slow to start second half
Once again, Sheffield Wednesday have conceded a goal within the first 15 minutes of the second-half, something that is becoming a worrying pattern in their season.
That is now the seventh goal Rohl’s side have conceded in that period after the restart this season, which gives them the second-worst record in the Championship for that statistic.
Speaking to the press after the game, via Rob Staton on X, Rohl was asked about the fact the Owls have been hit by a goal just after the restart, and the Sheffield Wednesday boss appeared to play down the importance of this.
“Maybe I do the wrong things. I think this topic is crazy,” Rohl said. “I think we should pay more attention to the 25 goals we’ve conceded, which is too much, and 14 of these from set-pieces. This is more the topic for me, not about the time
“You can look at other games where we’ve scored early in games… but if you want to make this the topic, I will not speak about this.”
Danny Rohl has defensive issues to worry about
Either way you look at it, both of these areas should be a huge concern for Rohl, and judging by his prickly response, they clearly are.
The goal conceded on Sunday was not quite directly from a set-piece, but the buildup did come as a result of a set-piece, so Rohl will still be looking at the way his players are failing to clear their lines from these scenarios.
Dominic Iorfa’s goal against Norwich suggests the Owls are making progress with attacking set-pieces, but defending them is something that should be the focus of Rohl’s training sessions for the next fortnight during the international break.
As for the fact Wednesday appear to be slow coming out of the blocks in the second-half of games, that is a motivational issue and a concentration issue, and that is as much down to the players as it is Rohl. It would be fascinating to see what he says to the players at half-time, though, and try to discern whether he could be doing more to keep them in the zone.
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