Carlos Carvalhal has explained in detail the difficulties of English football and in particular the Championship.
Ahead of Saturday’s game where the Owls are perhaps marginal favourites against 17th placed Nottingham Forest, the head coach has discussed the exact reasons why the English football leagues are amongst the toughest in world football.
From the very beginning and indeed ahead of any fixture in this division, Carlos strongly underlines the fact there are no easy games, whether the opposition are in first or last position, it matters not in the stadium when it’s 11v11 and a referee in the middle.
He said: “The mentality in England is completely different to Portugal, for example.
“In this country, the teams never give up. I was in the stadium for Rotherham v Blackburn last week and the way that Rotherham played, in Portugal a team would never fight like that.
“In Portugal, they maybe give up in that moment but they are still fighting a lot and playing good football, they have a vibe and want to survive and it’s something I appreciate.
“All the teams here are like this, it’s why we don’t have any easy teams and of course you must understand that when one team are near the bottom, and when they are a goal down and take risks, they put six, seven or eight players near your goal.
“So even with the best teams in the world, if you have seven attackers against your four defenders, what will you do?
“You must come back with your wingers because with long balls and second balls, something can happen.”
A perfect example here is the Owls’ win over Rovers on Tuesday. With the visitors fighting for survival and trailing 2-1, Wednesday were forced to hold firm but stood up to the challenge to post three vital points.
With a strong dynamic in place and a firm understanding of what is necessary in this division, Carlos believes his side are well placed to go on and achieve more victories and added:
“This is something we must understand, in that moment the good teams try to manage the situations and if they have a chance with space, they can score on the counter attack.
“If you don’t act correctly, if you are winning 2-1 in the last ten minutes and you stay with four defender, four midfielders and two strikers and the opposition put six in attack – even if you are the best team in the competition, you must understand in that moment the problem the other team can create.
“You give a correct answer or you lose points. We are understanding what we must do.”