After starting the season with an eye-catching 4-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle, Danny Rohl’s side have failed to score a goal since, with defeats to Sunderland, Leeds United and Millwall.
After such high expectations for the Owls heading into the 24/25 season following their distinct turnaround in fortunes under the German last season, a promising summer of recruitment hasn’t yet had the desired effect.
And after looking at the underlying numbers behind those losses, Elek believes the Yorkshire side have some work to do over the next fortnight to improve their attacking output.
With 15 wins from 35 matches after taking over from Xisco Munoz in the previous campaign, Rohl had seemingly transformed Wednesday into a top level Championship side over the past 11 months, but those promising performances have dropped off in recent weeks.
A lack of sharpness in the final third has cost the Owls dearly against two of the sides hunting for promotion in Sunderland and Leeds, while more was expected against a Millwall side that had struggled at the start of the campaign.
With just one shot on target at The Den throughout the whole 90 minutes, a lack of cutting edge is apparent at this moment in time, and Elek is beginning to get worried about what he is seeing from the Steel City outfit.
He said on his Not The Top 20 podcast: “There are some real warning signs as to what is going on there right now, where I can’t really remember a drop off that has been so obvious from game to game as Wednesday right now.
“On opening day they put in one of the most dominant displays we’ve seen in the Championship, maybe ever, against Argyle where they win 4-0.
“4.68 expected goals that day, so it wasn’t a fluky 4-0 win where the finishing was good, it has to be one of the highest xG figures for an individual team in the Championship in the last few years.
That resulted from 31 shots against Argyle, giving Wednesday 4.68 xG and 31 shots in one game. However, Wednesday has lost its last three games, falling to Sunderland 4-0, Leeds 2-0, and Millwall 3-0.
“You can look at the opposition and see that Sunderland and Leeds may be the first and second best teams in the division this season, but going to Millwall, who are having trouble, and being eliminated the way they were ought to raise some red flags.”
The triumph on opening day could turn out to be an anomaly in Wednesday’s opening round of fixtures, as Plymouth Argyle is still unable to secure a victory under Wayne Rooney. Three concerning performances followed the Hillsborough success.
Chances are scarce for the Owls because of the Yorkshire team’s lack of inventiveness, which was shown in just 0.16 xG during their 90 minutes in East London on Saturday.
Elek is concerned about Wednesday’s offensive production, but with Queens Park Rangers, Luton Town, and West Bromwich Albion all on the schedule before September ends, it might be a true test of Wednesday’s capabilities this season.
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