The recent international break, perhaps, came at the ideal time for frustrated Owls manager Danny Rohl, who is keen to get to the bottom of what’s going wrong for his side, and with some difficult-looking fixtures on the horizon, the German will be looking at ways to make his side more competitive against strong second-tier opposition.
Wednesday welcome QPR to Hillsborough this weekend in what all associated with the club will see as an opportunity to get back on track after setbacks against Sunderland (4-0), Leeds United (2-0), and Millwall (3-0) respectively.
It will be far from easy, though, as Marti Cifuentes’ West Londoners have had a very solid start to the season themselves, including picking up four points from their two away games to date: drawing 2-2 with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane before winning at Luton Town last time out.
The Hoops will arrive in South Yorkshire full of confidence and hopeful of getting a result in the Steel City for the second time this season already.
Röhl and Wednesday will be keen to prevent that from happening, however, and the 35-year-old has some tactical decisions to ponder as he assesses the best way to approach the contest.
Owls should sacrifice a forward for more midfield solidity
So far this season, Röhl has largely been brave in his team selections, often going with four out-and-out attacking players from the likes of Ike Ugbo, Djeidi Gassama, Anthony Musaba, Jamal Lowe, and Josh Windass.
While the former German national team assistant wants his side to get on the front foot, this bold approach is leaving their midfield exposed and easy to play through, subsequently putting undue pressure on a back line clearly struggling to cope.
With confidence low, and a need to dig out results, the Owls boss should consider bringing in a midfielder for one of his forwards and opting for a little more pragmatism – at least in the short term.
