3 dilemmas Darren Moore will have ahead of 2022/23 at Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

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Football League World

·4 July 2022

3 dilemmas Darren Moore will have ahead of 2022/23 at Sheffield Wednesday

Article image:3 dilemmas Darren Moore will have ahead of 2022/23 at Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday are amongst the favourites to win promotion from League One after their fourth placed finish last season.

The Owls were one of the most impressive teams in the third tier in the second half of last season, but came up against an inspired Sunderland side, under Alex Neil, and were beaten 2-1 on aggregate at the play-off semi final stage.


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Wednesday have also made some eye-catching signings in preparation to push for automatic promotion in 2022/23, with Ben Heneghan, David Stockdale, Will Vaulks, Michael Ihiekwe and Michael Smith arriving at the club.

Here, we have taken a look at three dilemmas Darren Moore will have ahead of 2022/23…

Expectation

Moore will not receive as much patience from the board and the stands as he did last season, and it would seem that anything other than a top two finish will be deemed a failure.

Wednesday were hitting their straps on a consistent basis from about November onwards last term, but gave themselves too much catching up to do and were unable to throw themselves into the automatic promotion places at the back end.

With patience set to thin if they do not get off to a good start, Moore needs to navigate a tricky opening couple of months smartly.

Horrible start

Wednesday’s first 11 third tier fixtures are extremely difficult and as follows: Portsmouth at home, Milton Keynes Dons away, Charlton Athletic at home, Peterborough United away, Bolton Wanderers away, Forest Green Rovers at home, Barnsley at home, Plymouth Argyle away, Morecambe away, Ipswich Town at home and finally Wycombe Wanderers at home.

It is tough to pick out back-to-back matches where you can bank on the Owls earning six points, they should do so, but it is a horrible first couple of months with the way the calendar has fallen.

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Article image:3 dilemmas Darren Moore will have ahead of 2022/23 at Sheffield Wednesday

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Defensive recruitment

Wednesday utilised the loan market quite well last season, particularly in defensive areas and they will need to do so again this time around.

As it stands, Moore will likely play a three at the back system and the options at his disposal for that defensive trio are: Ben Heneghan, Dominic Iorfa, Liam Palmer and Michael Ihiekwe.

Palmer is a specialist full back, Iorfa spent extended periods on the sidelines last term and Heneghan arrives off the back of a humiliating relegation with AFC Wimbledon, where they did not win a game after the turn of the year.

There is still a lot of work to do, for the Owls to realise their top two ambitions.

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