Stats suggest Fernando Forestieri’s displays affecting Sheffield Wednesday at both ends of the pitch

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The Owls are ninth in the Championship, with Forestieri a shadow of the player he was last season.

As good as Sheffield Wednesday were last season, it cannot be denied that one man in particular was key to their success.

Fernando Forestieri scored 15 goals and created another six in his debut Hillsborough campaign, but it was the defensive side of his game which endeared him to many of the Owls faithful.

The Italian’s dogged style was the perfect match for Wednesday’s high energy approach, to which midfield trio Kieran Lee, Barry Bannan and Sam Hutchinson were also crucial.

For whatever reason, Forestieri is failing to match last season’s standards, and while he is certainly not the only one – could his shortcomings have had the biggest impact of all?

Having watched Wednesday on numerous occasions this season, one thing that has struck me about Forestieri is his position on the pitch. When deployed centrally, as he was again for the first hour or so of Saturday’s defeat to Brighton, he has tended to gravitate towards the edge of the opposition penalty box, as though operating as one of two out-an-out strikers – a slightly more advanced role than we were used to seeing him in last season.

This has led to a slight reduction in the number of touches he is having per game, and when the ball does arrive he seems to find himself with far less space in which to make something happen. This theory is supported by the fact that he has created fewer than half as many ‘big chances’ as he managed last term, when played, for the most past, as a secondary striker linking midfield and attack.

In turn, Forestieri’s tendency to stray from his designated position – unless, of course he is being instructed to play there, although this seems unlikely – has left him with far more travelling to do when the team does lose possession, and perhaps explains why his tally of ball recoveries, tackles won and interceptions won per game are all down – the latter, once again, by more than half.

Could a change of role for Hutchinson be to blame? Has Forestieri become a marked man? Or is he simply trying too hard to make up for his summer indiscretion?

Whatever the reason, Wednesday must get their star man firing again. Once they do, they *will* be an entirely different proposition.