Sheffield Wednesday’s Danny Rohl calls on Owls to ‘invest’ more in order to avoid feared relegation

In the end, that is what made him upset.

Rohl’s side resembled a team of individuals doing their own thing rather than a cohesive entity. A ‘team’ that was outworked by their opponent, lacking intensity and tactical discipline.

With games running out and teams in their division on the horizon in QPR, Stoke City, and Blackburn Rovers, Wednesday just cannot afford a recurrence of their disastrous 2-0 defeat at Boro. The only consolation is that the margin of defeat was substantially smaller than it may have been on another day.

Rohl stated, “You talk about this shape and that shape, but if you don’t invest heavily, these things happen in football. These are concerns, particularly when traveling.

“I return to the Ipswich game. The final score was 6-0. We talk about the shape and this and that.

“But there was no inaccuracy in the statistics, and it was nine km (running) less than the opponent, indicating that we are not investing enough. This is a huge problem for me.

“I compare this to Preston, for example, when we won 1-0 and had 15 or 20 minutes with one man less and outperformed the opponent.

“There were several simple errors (at Boro). I can have a lot of ideas for how we should play as a team, but if you don’t do the proper things, it’s difficult. But it’s my job to try and get them back on track.

Only Rotherham (54) has conceded more goals on the road than Wednesday (40 in 20 games).

Set-piece concessions, now numbering 13, are becoming another Achilles heel, regardless of venue.

Rohl, whose team conceded the first goal from a corner and the second from their own flagkick, added: “It has played a significant role in recent weeks.

“You faced Huddersfield, Ipswich, Bristol (City), and Swansea. It’s an important aspect of this league.

“We can also look at how many set-pieces we surrendered (against Middlesbrough), which is also a risk. If you are more active and push them out, you will have fewer opponents.

“It is a problem right now, and it is losing you points and shattering your confidence. “We need to find a solution.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​