The hidden stat that is beginning to define the progress of Garry Monk's Sheffield Wednesday
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But done right, it can be a powerful tactic that can come to define the way a side set-up.
Few of the truly successful sides in Europe don’t have their own variation on a press, and as time has gone on during his 13-month reign at Sheffield Wednesday, Garry Monk has done his best to implement it more and more, particularly this season.
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Hide AdWhen Monk has spoken of the need to instil his principles onto the club, the ones honed in no small part on the training grounds of the ‘Swanselona’ high-pressing side that swept all before them in the football league, you suspect these are the themes he is touching upon.
The need for younger, fitter, hungrier players is one he has mentioned in just about every press call he has had since the Boxing Day domino tumble and stands up to the pressing ideal he is chasing.
When Monk says the changing room needed changing, to implement a pressing game you feel it really did – a similar squad produced a season PPDA of 11.68 in 2016/17, at an average of 10.6 over the three seasons before Monk’s arrival.
This season, they have pressed at a rate of 7.38 in three league games. It’s quite a hike.
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Hide AdWe’re working with a very limited sample size, but the standout half of Wednesday’s Championship season so far was their very first, entering the break 2-0 up against a Cardiff side taken aback by the Owls’ ability to stamp their physical threat out at source.
Monk’s side, with the energetic Josh Windass leading the charge alongside Massimo Luongo and vital wide men Kadeem Harris and Matt Penney, pressed the life out of the Bluebirds’ possession, reducing their passes per Owls’ defensive action (PPDA) to a miniscule 3.37.
A reflection of Cardiff’s long ball style of play and refusal to play around the back? To some extent, but given in that half their long ball percentage was only 11.97 – Wednesday’s was 28.57 – it seems Monk set his side up to play the hosts at their own game and came out on top. One hell of a way to start the campaign.
It’s one we’ve seen first team coach Andrew Hughes motivate from the side, his call to ‘catch up with it’ a constant in the moments after Wednesday have lost possession.
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Hide AdA cursory look through the lower points of Monk’s reign show there is a correlation between higher opposition PPDA stats and the horror days.
The Owls boss spoke of the lack of character a desire shown in defence after their 5-0 defeat at Brentford, a day that saw the Bees complete an incredible average of 23.4 passes before a Wednesday effort to stop them.
It may have a tactic on the day, in general Wednesday allowed competent passing sides more time on the ball last season, but it was a stand-out stat at the tenure’s lowest ebb. When Wednesday are at their best, it seems, they press. At their worst?
It will take time, Monk has said himself. But PPDA may well be the hidden stat may well define the rise or fall of Sheffield Wednesday under Garry Monk.