Wigan, Rodallega and all that jazz

Wigan ride Rodallega's strike to another year in the Premiership

Once again the Premier league has done it. I had only finished writing about why English football has captured Indian hearts and minds, when my stand is vindicated with another close finish to the relegation battle. Over the years, the league winner has inevitably been decided at least a week before the league ends. However, the battle for survival, almost with as much certainty, has gone on till the last whistle of the last day! Survival, as the wise say, brings out the best in you. And this year was no exception, with five teams fighting out to stay up in the flagship league of the country.

One team had a drastic turn of fortunes. Wigan Athletic, or the Latics as they are fondly called, turned on an inspired performance on the last weekend, to stay up in the premier league for one more year.

For an apparently lowly side, manager Martinez’s style of free flowing football came under the scanner for being too flamboyant at times. Wigan have shown severe frailties defensively this Premier League season, because of which, they have been down at the bottom of the league. The Latics have kept 6 clean sheets in the League this season and have conceded 61 goals. With the free-flowing forward football Martinez instills in his side, they need a sturdy defense to deal with any counter-attacks Wigan falls foul to. Unfortunately, their backline does not possess the capabilities to deal with Premier-League attacking play. Hence, Wigan have suffered.

Left back Maynor Figueroa’s famous and outrageous goal at the Britannia Stadium last season was a highlight of Wigan’s season. But when it comes to defending, Figueroa lacks the strength to deal with the tricky wingers English top-flight football has to offer. Emmerson Boyce’s central defensive skills leave much to be desired, and captain Gary Caldwell is the only Wigan defender who can actually stop attackers getting easy goals at the DW stadium.

So Wigan went into their last game with lots of things to sort out, a hell lot of belief, and nothing less than a win, required to stay up. And they couldn’t have asked for a more difficult place to put up their last fight in. Britannia stadium is a cauldron of Stoke supporters who make even the best shudder in their boots. And when the first whistle blew, the first few seconds didn’t do Martinez’s blood pressure any good.

Another big scare was avoided when Jones’ header was flicked over the line by Walters, who found himself in an offside position right at the mouth of Wigan’s goal.

Wigan, on the other hand, could hardly put together a decent attack. And anytime they did, they could not maintain composure as they headed towards Stokes’ goal. However the tactical genius of Martinez made the difference. Replacing Sammon with Cleverly meant Rodallega could make the shift from the left wing to the center. And it was not very long before the move paid off!

Wigan’s leading marksman, N’Zogbia broke down the left moments later. He then floated a glorious pass to the center where the Colombian, Rodallega was ready. A strong header later, Wigan was leading 1-0 at the Britannia!

An uncannily strong defensive display then on made sure that Wigan could maintain a rare clean sheet on the day when it mattered the most.

Blackpool’s loss against United, and Birmingham’s loss against the Spurs assured Wigan another year in top-flight football. It reminds me of manager Martinez’s famous lines:

‘If we can get the points to stay up, I am convinced we can reach another level next season and be the sort of team that doesn’t have to worry about relegation every year. We are very close to being a good side.’

The Latics, it appears, are on their way to being a good side!