Wigan Athletic - Securing Survival

[JCMUtdfan1]

Wigan Reach Champions League Final While Closing in on Title

Despite dropping five points this month, Wigan are two points away from winning a third consecutive Premier League title. Arsenal are still hot on their tails though they missed their chance to really put the pressure on when they played Wigan at the DW. The game ended up a 0-0 draw but Arsenal didn't even look like threatening Wigan which shows the gulf in class. Wigan seem to be getting the hand of balancing European competitions and domestic competitions as they reached the Champions League final. They avoided defeat in Munich before beating them 3-1 at the DW and despite losing against Valencia in Spain they smashed them 5-0 at home which booked them a place in the final. It will be an all English final as they will play Man City but they could have played Arsenal if they could have got an away goal. Wigan will think they have a good chance of winning as they're playing a familiar opponent who they've already beat this season and we won't have to wait too long to find out.

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Champions League Semi Final Draw
Valencia vs. Wigan Athletic

April

Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg
1/4/20
Bayern Munich 1 vs. 1 Wigan
Adryan(40)

Not a bad result away from home and we were unlucky as we were a man down in the second half due to an injury.

Premier League
4/4/20
Man City 1 vs. 0 Wigan

Disappointed we didn't get anything from this game but we were resting players for the Champions League.

Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg
7/4/20
Wigan 3 vs. 1 Bayern Munich
El Shaarawy(3, 8) Doumbia(17)
(Wigan in 4-1 on aggregate)

A great win which we sealed really early on and it was easy from there.

Premier League
11/4/20
Wigan 0 vs. 0 Arsenal

I'm happy we didn't lose this game as that would have really put the pressure on us but we dominated this game and we should have won.

18/4/20
West Brom 1 vs. 2 Wigan
Caulker(3) Banegas(62)

A good win which moves us closer to the title.

Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg
22/4/20
Valencia 2 vs. 1 Wigan
Doumbia(47)

Valencia seem to be our bogey team in Europe as they put us out in the quarter finals a couple of seasons ago but at least we got an away goal.

Premier League
25/4/20
Wigan 5 vs. 2 Bolton
Roberto(1) Ademilson(14, pen 29, 90+2) Barkley(62)

A good win with a lot of goals but I'm disappointed we conceded two to Bolton.

Champions League Semi Final 2nd Leg
28/4/20
Wigan 5 vs. 0 Valencia
Ademilson(29, 74) Adryan(40, 81) Banegas(47)
(Wigan win 6-2 on aggregate)

A fantastic win which put us through to the final!

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(I took a screenie of the league after I played the first game in May)

I'm putting these two screenies in because of the amount of CCCs in the first and the domination we enjoyed in the second:
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[JCMUtdfan1]

Wigan Win 3rd Consecutive Premier League Title!

After another long season, Wigan have come out on top after the 3-0 win against QPR saw Wigan claim the title barring a massive goal difference swing. Arsenal pushed them far but the chance was missed to put any real pressure on when they drew 0-0 at the DW. It's a fantastic achievement for Wigan who not so long ago were struggling to stay in the Premier League. It remains to be seen who will provide the biggest challenge for Wigan next season as if you look at their team they should be up there challenging for the league next season. We caught up with the Wigan manager to see what he had to stay, "It's a brilliant achievement for this club, to be recognised in the same way as United having won three consecutive league titles. Hopefully we'll manage to break that record next season but we have a tough game in the Champions League ahead of us to focus on first". The game in the Champions League he's referring to is the Final against Man City, possibly the biggest game in Wigan's history. With how close the teams are in terms of ability, it's anyone's guess who will win it and we asked the Wigan manager his view, "Well obviously it'll be a tough game but we're very capable of beating Man City and if we defend well and take our chances, I think we'll do just that". Confident, as you'd expect but is that confidence misguided? We shall soon see...

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May

Premier League
2/5/20
Everton 4 vs. 4 Wigan
dos Santos(22) El Shaarawy(56, 74) Roberto(65)

A weird game as we went 1-0 up to 4-1 down but we came back well to get a point. It should be two points dropped but given the circumstances it's a point gained.

10/5/20
QPR 0 vs. 3 Wigan
Doumbia(74, 88) El Shaarawy(78)

That's the title! It took us a while to get going but once we did it was all over and barring a massive swing in goal difference we've won it.

17/5/20
Wigan 3 vs. 0 Chelsea
Barkley(40, 55, pen 58)

A great win to end the season and a fantastic hat-trick for Barkley. I think someone is trying to play his way into the Champions League Final team.

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[JCMUtdfan1]

Champions League Final

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​

Chiles: Hello, good evening, and welcome to the Champions League Final!

Chiles: It's a clear but chilly evening in Rome but the atmosphere is sure to warm up when the teams get out on the pitch. Manchester City are trying to defend their Champions League title whereas this is the first appearance in the Final for the rapidly rising Wigan team.

Chiles: With me are Roy Keane, Martin O'Neil and Gareth Southgate and we'll be talking you through the teams and their chance of winning before kick off tonight.

Chiles: Let's start with a look at the lineups, this is the team Roberto Mancini is hoping will win him the cup

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Chiles: So what do you think of the line up Roy?

Keane: Well it's a very attacking line up as you'd expect from Man City. They are favourites to win tonight due to their history in the competition but they need to keep their concentration up.

O'Neil: I agree, I think City need to go for it tonight and peg Wigan back early on. If they can get an early goal I think it will be game over from there.

Chiles: Well, let's look at Wigan's line up and see how they stack up against this strong Man City side.

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Chiles: Quite a surprise from the Wigan manager as there's no hint of defensive minded-ness at all.

Southgate: Yes, it's quite a strange choice really as you would think that a team like Wigan will be hoping just to soak up the pressure before hitting City on the counter but it looks like he's set up as they usually do, to attack the whole game.

Keane: I disagree that it's a strange choice, on a night like this you don't want to be thinking 'what if we went for it', you want to try and win and that's what he's done here.

O'Neil: Yes but there's a fine line between trying to win the game and just being reckless. In my opinion Wigan should have set up slightly more defensively to get a foothold in the game before trying to push forward and win.

Chiles: Well, the game's just about to kick off so let's hand it over to Andy Townsend and Cive Tyldesley.

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1'
Tyldesley: Here we go! Wigan all in black kick off from left to right.

10'
Townsend: A good chance for Man City there, a free kick from a fair close range should have tested the keeper.
Tyldesley: Not impressive from Diouf, he should be hitting the target from there.

35'
Townsend: Silly tackle there from Kelly, a booking can be dangerous in Europe and he'll need to watch himself.

41'
Tyldesley: Another good chance for City as Dzeko got through there. Again City should be hitting the target and testing Ruffier.

45+1'
Townsend: I can't believe it! A penalty for Wigan! A great chance for the underdogs to take the lead!
Tyldesley: A sloppy piece of play from Varane which El Shaarawy took advantage of as he dispossessed him and went through on goal. Nkoulou tried to get across to cover but came in too late and El Shaarawy went down.
Townsend: Looking back at it City can't have too many arguments, he did come in late and gave the referee no choice in the end.

45+1'
Tyldesley: Nkoulou will get a yellow card for his troubles as Adilson steps up to take the penalty..

45+1'
Tyldesley: GOAL FOR WIGAN! A good penalty from Adilson, blasted straight down the middle to give Wigan the lead!
Townsend: Yeah a great penalty, even if Hart stood still he would do well to keep it out it was that powerful. Good on the lad, he kept his cool and put his team in the lead.

45+2'
Tyldesley: Half time and Wigan ****** a lead just before the break but can they keep it in the second half?

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Chiles: Well, what a half! It looked like City were dominating but Wigan took advantage of a mistake and kept their cool to take the lead.

Keane: It was terrible play from Varane, I'm not sure what he was trying to do there but he's ended up costing his team dearly. Fair play to Adilson though as he kept calm and converted the penalty well.

Southgate: Despite all the talk about the way Wigan have set up it does seem as if they're playing on the counter attack, frustrating City before launching forward.

O'Neil: City have been the better of the two sides so far but Wigan have defended really well and were rewarded with a chance to take the lead which they took.

Chiles: Enough of the chat now, let's see how this game will end. Back over to Clive
Tyldesley and Andy Townsend.

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45'
Tyldesley: Thanks Adrian and the teams kick off for the final 45 minutes.

50'
Townsend: A silly free-kick given away there by Song who's given Wigan a chance to whip this ball in.
Tyldesley: The second yellow card of the night given there by the referee, one apiece now.

51'
Tyldesley: So close for Wigan there! The free-kick comes to nothing and City break out of the box, but Wigan win the ball back and send it out to Wellington Nem who floats a cross over Joe Hart but Romagnoli is there to clear off the line.
Townsend: What a let off for Joe Hart there, he shouldn't be coming that far out and he nearly paid the price for it.

55'
Townsend: So close for City there! Romagnoli with a powerful header from a corner but Kelly is there to clear off the line. Another good chance for City.

65'
Tyldesley: A good save from Ruffier there as Aguero fired low from the edge of the box. City are really starting to turn the screw now, can Wigan hold out?

71'
Tyldesley: A big chance for City there!
Townsend: Yeah it really should have been 1-1 there, a poor pass from Adryan, straight to Dzeko who runs through and checks back before shooting, but in the end hits hit straight at Ruffier. Big chance.

84'
Tyldesley: Third booking of the night goes to Wellington Nem for time wasting.

88'
Townsend: Another booking for Wigan, this time for Rodriguez after a poor tackle.

90+4'
Townsend: Time nearly up and Wigan win a corner, will they make it 2-0?
Tyldesley: It's whipped in by dos Santos, headed on by Caulker AND BATTH WITH THE CHANCE! He blasts hit straight at Hart but it doesn't matter anyway as Caulker was punished for a foul.

90+4'
Tyldesley: That's it! Wigan have done it! They've won the Champions League beating the defending champions Man City!
Townsend: What a terrific night this is for the players, these are nights you never forget. Same for the fans, they'll be telling their grand-kids about this day.
Tyldesley: You're right there Andy, time to hand back to Adrian back in the studio.

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Chiles: That's it! It's over! Wigan are the champions and will win this famous trophy. Do you think it's the right result?

Southgate: I think so overall, Wigan defended incredibly well through-out the game and took their chance when it came along which is what's required at this level.

Keane: I think City will feel disappointed as they had some great chances to score and will probably feel like they should have scored at least once, but that's football and well done to Wigan.

O'Neil: I agree with Roy, City probably should have scored but as Gareth said Wigan defended really well and deserve the trophy for their all around performance.

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[JCMUtdfan1]

End of Season Review
​

A fantastic season, by far and away the best I've had as Wigan manager. Winning the Champions League was the overall goal of this save and I can't believe we've managed to do it. Not only that but we won our third consecutive title at a canter as well. We were never really challenged at the top and I don't think we moved from top spot after October/November. One area where we drastically under-achieved was the Capital One Cup where we were knocked out by Huddersfield but I suppose it let us concentrate on the more important games. We were quite unlucky in the F.A Cup as we faced a tough draw and the game could have gone either way but it didn't go our way. Finally we won the Community Shield yet again and it seems to be becoming a regular thing at the start of the season which I hope will continue.

Did I meet my targets?
​

Win the F.A Cup or the Capital One Cup - No
Reach the Champions League semi finals - Yes
Challenge for the league title - Yes
Keep at least 30 clean sheets - No (28)


Did I meet the board's targets?​

Reach the semi finals of the F.A Cup - No
Reach quarter finals of the Champions League - Yes
Qualify for the Champions League through league position - Yes

Season Highlight

Has to be our Champions League triumph. Our first Champions League final and we got a little bit lucky but we defended well and Adilson kept his cool to bang home the penalty. It also meant we achieved our first European+domestic double.

​

Season Low-light

Has to be the defeat against Huddersfield. Less said about that the better...

Results from last season
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Wigan Team of the Year
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Fans Player of the Year
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Manager of the Year
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Other Player Awards
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Premier League Team of the Season
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Champions League Team of the Season
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Other Competitions
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F.A Cup - Norwich beat Tottenham 2-0
Capital One Cup - Man United beat Bolton 3-0
Europa League - PSG beat Tottenham 2-0
European Super Cup - Bayer Leverkusen beat Man City 2-1 after extra time
World Club Cup - Man City beat River 3-0

European Rankings
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[JCMUtdfan1]

Pre-season

Friendly
13/7/20
Wigan 3 vs. 1 FC Kobenhavn
Adilson(pen 12) Barkley(48, 73)

18/7/20
Wigan 3 vs. 2 LOSC
El Shaarawy(14) Adryan(25) OG(77)

23/7/20
L.A Galaxy 1 vs. 2 Wigan
Neco(28) Barkley(37)

26/7/20
New England 2 vs. 4 Wigan
Modestov(9) Barkley(34) Neco(53, 56)

1/8/20
Freiburg 1 vs. 3 Wigan
Iturbe(9, 45+1) Barkley(43)

4/8/20
Elche 1 vs. 5 Wigan
Iturbe(1) Neco(25) Adilson(34) El Shaarawy(pen 52) Modestov(82)

Community Shield
9/8/20
Wigan 2 vs. 1 Norwich
dos Santos(15) Neco(28)

It's becoming too easy this Community Shield lark..

Summary

Pretty good pre-season overall though Foster unfortunately didn't get a goal but he did go out on loan early if I remember correctly. I made a couple of big signings this season which I'll get too but they seem to be settling in well. We do seem to be conceding a lot of goals but hopefully that will stop when the season starts. I think this season I need to slightly change the tactics of my striker as they don't score as many as I'd like them too but as long as we keep scoring from elsewhere it's not a big issue. Another Community Shield in the bag as well, I'm hoping to make it 7 in a row in the next couple of seasons to fill up the winners section on the right of the Community Shiled page.

Transfers

In
I decided to splash out a little this season as I think I need to look at covering positions for players who are nearing the end of their peak. Unfortunately I can't wait forever for my youngsters to hit their peak and one position I will need a replacement in is a striker. I brought in Modestov from Lokomotiv Moscow for ?22.5m, he's 20 years old with great stats and can play up front or AMR. After selling Matuidi I realised I didn't have as much cover as I thought in midfield so I splashed out on a Brazilian from Real Madrid called Denis for ?18m. He's also very young at 22 with great stats and hopefully will create and score like Adryan does. Also I think I'll mention it here but one of my youth intake, Alfio Ancione was rated 2.5 stars when being judged but I checked him out now and is 5 star potential! Will post a screenie along with the two new signings below.



Out
Probably my biggest season in terms of transfers since the first season as we had quite a lot of high profile activity. I was looking into getting rid of Lacazette last season as he doesn't get a game very often and his wages are quite high but I decided against it. This season I went for it and I wanted a lot for him which I eventually got as PSG paid ?23m for him after it looked like I wouldn't get anywhere near that. I also got rid of Matuidi for ?7.75m to Real Betis as he's not getting any younger and I want a younger midfielder to take his place. I also sold a young player who had no chance of getting in the team as well as letting McFadden go on loan for 90K a month.



My Aims For This Season:
Win the F.A Cup or the Capital One Cup
Reach the Champions League semi finals
Challenge for the league title
Keep at least 30 clean sheets

Board Aims For This Season:
Reach the final of the F.A Cup
Reach semi finals of the Champions League
Qualify for the Champions League through league position
​

 

[JCMUtdfan1]

Wigan Given Tough Start to League

Wigan will feel like the Premier League are against them this season as the first run of fixtures could see them just about out of the title race if they're not careful. They play Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, Man City and are away to Everton in the first 6 games and they could play Tottenham in there if cup competitions don't conflict with it. However if Wigan can come through this run of fixture then they'll be in a good position for the rest of the season, though they will have to go through the same tough run of fixtures later in the year. The fans will be cheered up though by the European Super Cup win over PSG who they will play in the Champions League group along with Genoa and Getafe. Wigan will be expected to top this group as long as they can beat PSG which they've just shown they can do. From there Wigan will be looking to defend their Champions League crown but do you think they'll be able to this season? Let us know what you think.

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Capital One Cup 3rd Round
Everton vs. Wigan Athletic

Champions League Group C
Wigan Athletic
Paris Saint-Germain
Genoa FC
Getafe

August

Premier League
15/8/20
Blackburn 1 vs. 2 Wigan
Denis(6') Modestov(pen 52)

A winning start to our title defense with our new signings on the score sheet.

22/8/20
Wigan 1 vs. 0 Arsenal
Modestov(77)

A good win against last season's runners up. Modestov seems to be fitting in well.

European Super Cup
28/8/20
Wigan 1 vs. 0 PSG
Doumbia(85)

Another trophy added to the collection. Would have liked to play an easier team but you can only play who's in front of you and luckily Lacazette didn't haunt us.

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