Sheffield Wednesday were beaten 2-1 by Brentford nine days ago.
Sheffield Wednesday defender Vincent Sasso
Whichever division Sheffield Wednesday are in next season, a new central defender is an absolute priority.
Owls head coach Carlos Carvalhal has admitted already that he tried to strengthen in that department last summer, but was unable to find ‘value for money’.
Instead, the Portuguese dropped Sam Hutchinson back into defence and turned to a player he knew well, Braga’s Vincent Sasso, to make up the numbers at Hillsborough.
Sasso was free, he was familiar with the club, having spent the 2015-16 campaign on loan at Wednesday, and had already proved himself adequate if nothing more.
The problems arose for Carvalhal, however, when it soon became apparent that Hutchinson’s energy and combativeness in the centre of park could not be matched by any other Owls midfielder, and Sasso, in turn, was elevated to third choice.
From then on, Wednesday were only ever an injury to Tom Lees or Glenn Loovens away from having to rely on the Frenchman, for whom every positive is counteracted by something catastrophic.
Recent concessions at Nottingham Forest – where Sasso was robbed of the ball while trying to shield it out of play – and Leeds United – where he ducked, inexplicably, to present Chris Wood with a chance no 23-goal striker could ever miss – were almost exclusively down to him, and there’s likely to be more where they came from.
If only Sasso was more like Brentford’s John Egan, whose impressive display at both ends nine days ago saw the Bees escape Hillsborough with all three points.
Brentford’s John Egan (not pictured) scores his side’s first goal at Hillsborough
Scorer of the Londoners’ opener, Egan – a former Sheffield United loanee – spent much of the second half under siege, showing his resolve as Wednesday fired in the crosses and wound up the shots.
And as simple as that might sound for a by-trade central defender, it is remarkable how many – like Sasso – struggle with such basics.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, West Brom boss Tony Pulis – whose sides are built first and foremost on effective if unspectacular back-lines – is already said to have shown an interest in Egan, who moved to Brentford from League One Gillingham only last summer, for a compensation fee (£400,000 initially) which the Owls could have easily afforded.
And whether it’s Premier League or Championship for Wednesday next season, a defender such as the 24-year-old – who trumps Sasso in almost every key area this season – should be first on their shopping list.
| Errors leading to shots (per game) | Aerials won (per game) | Effective clearances (per game) | Won tackles (per game) | Outfielder blocks (per game) | Accurate passes (per game) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vincent Sasso | 0.13 | 1.5 | 6 | 1.25 | 0.38 | 23.75 |
| John Egan | 0 | 3.97 | 6.34 | 0.86 | 0.93 | 33.38 |
Would Egan be a good signing for Sheffield Wednesday?
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