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Wolves have hit the halfway mark in their 2020/21 campaign and Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have been nothing short of inadequate. This time last year the Wanderers occupied 5th in the division, accompanied with the likes of Chelsea and Spurs in the search for European football for the second year running.
How times have changed. 12 months on, they sit four places from the drop in 14th place and are joint third for most losses in the division (nine). And that’s without the excuse of a hectic schedule, not featuring in the Europa League this season. October was a successful month for Wolves as they picked up 10 points from a possible 12. But ever since, the decline of performances, on the whole, has been exponential.
Having lost talisman Raul Jimenez to a fractured skull at the back end of November, the lack of focal point at Molineux has been clear as day, but that’s football. 18-year-old Fabio Silva has provided a couple of decent cameos but he’s inexperienced and a different calibre of striker to Jimenez. Two wins in their last nine league matches epitomises how dependent they are on their number nine.
Five key games:
West Ham 4-0 Wolves
Wolves’ trip to the London Stadium was a definite learning curve. Despite fielding a strong starting XI, Nuno’s men were completely dismantled by the Hammers.
Two instinctive goals from Jarrod Bowen put Wolves down and out, but the goals just kept flying in. For both of Bowen’s goals, Wolves were lethargic in transition, reacting slowly to the quickly taken Pablo Fornals free-kick, with the Spaniard assisting the opener.
Image: Frank Augstein – Pool/Getty Images
The second of the evening came with a stroke of good fortune, with the ball falling kindly to Bowen after a low driven strike by Fornals hit the woodwork. Regardless, Wolves didn’t intend to press and close down the strike. Bowen’s brace was followed by a rather unfortunate goal by Raul Jimenez, however, the marking from Aaron Cresswell’s corner was abysmal.
The biggest aerial threat in Tomas Soucek lost his man before flicking the ball goal bound. Not one player stamped their authority on the set-piece. These are the basics of football. You are given your designated area to defend zonally or player to man-to-man mark.
Substitute Sebastien Haller got in on the act powering in a header back across Rui Patricio’s goal to make it four. It was a calamitous bit of defending again. Saiss recognised the danger by checking his shoulder, but the Moroccan was still caught ball-watching.
Hitting the target just twice themselves, Wolves lacked any conviction in the final third and were just too vulnerable defensively.
Arsenal 1-2 Wolves
Wolves’ trip to the Emirates has been one of the highlights of their season so far. The poignant Portuguese pairing of Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence sparkled as they both got on the scoresheet to secure three points.
The victory meant more than three points for Nuno’s side: on the fifth-minute mark striker Raul Jimenez suffered sickening head injury being knocked unconscious from an inswinging corner. The collision with David Luiz resulted in Jimenez receiving oxygen on the pitch as well as a fractured skull.
The rest of the Wolves players could’ve easily swayed for the remaining 85 minutes in absence of their number nine. Instead, captain Conor Coady lifted his teammates as they went out to win the match for Jimenez. Pedro Neto scored the opener but Arsenal’s Gabriel responded swiftly after, nodding in an equaliser. Daniel Podence scored the winner in the 42nd minute with an obscene piece of skill to take it round an on-rushing Bernd Leno before poking the ball home. It was one of those goals that if Lionel Messi had scored it, it’d pop up on your Twitter timeline on a weekly basis.
Image: The Guardian
Liverpool 4-0 Wolves
The Premier League champions welcomed fans back to their stadium for the first time this season, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers, in game week 11. It was the second time Wolves had conceded four goals away from home this season. From minute one, it was all Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah put his side in front after Wolves captain Conor Coady uncharacteristically didn’t deal with a long pass from Jordan Henderson. It was a gift for Salah but the Egyptian did well to anticipate the error, getting into a position to instinctively fire the ball past Patricio. The mistake foreshadowed then worst was yet to come.
Georginio Wijnaldum bagged the second of the match with a cute curling finish into the top right stanchion. Wolves just couldn’t deal with the transition. In fairness, they had the world champion’s racing down on them four versus three in their favour.
Joel Matip provided the third with a free header, powering in from 6 yards. The Cameroonian just had to guide it home – the pace on the cross was enough to suffice. To top of Wolves’ evening, Nelson Semedo chipped in with an own goal, scrambling in a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross.
The following stat says it all. Caoimhin Kelleher started for the Reds. At 22 years and 13 days, he became the third-youngest Liverpool goalkeeper to keep a Premier League clean sheet, after Scott Carson and Chris Kirkland. Daniel Podence tested Kelleher with an audacious chip from the right-hand side of the box, but the ‘keeper raced across his goal line to tip wide. Wolves gifted the debutant with a clean sheet, hardly testing the Irishman.
The performance was as dire as the away kit they sported.
Image: Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
Brighton 3-3 Wolves
Brighton away was a match which showcased another leaky Wolverhampton Wanderers defensive clinic. Nuno altered his team’s personnel, shifting from a trademark 3-4-3 Wolves set up to a 4-2-3-1. This provided more solidity infant of the two centre backs in Coady and Boly.
Wolves went behind courtesy of Aaron Connolly. The Brighton forward grabbed his fifth career league goal for the Seagulls after steering in a Leandro Trossard cross. Arguably Wolves’ player of the season so far, Romain Saiss, levelled with a phenomenal headed effort. The Moroccan looped the ball back across goal to ripple the top right stanchion. Goalkeeper Sanchez had no choice but to watch the ball sail past his left shoulder. It was the first of three goals scored in the opening 45 minutes.
Brighton defender Dan Burn had an absolute shocker of a first half, scoring an own goal as well as chopping down Adama Traore in the area to hand his opponents a penalty. Ruben Neves stepped up from 12 yards to slam the ball past Sanchez to give Wolves a two-goal advantage at half-time.
Nuisance Neal Maupay’s penalty earned his team a penalty early on after the interval. The Frenchman was bundled to the floor after being tripped by Joao Moutinho and dispatched the second penalty of the match to put the Seagulls back in the game. Wolves lacked character and looked vulnerable.
Consequently, Lewis Dunk scored Brighton’s second headed effort of the night from another Trossard cross.
Pending prospect Owen Otasowie should have won it at the death for Wolves. It was the definition of a sitter. Instead, Wolves returned to the Black Country with one point, failing to capitalise on a game which was for the taking down south.
Image: Premier League
Wolves 2-3 West Brom
Wolves’ home defeat in the local derby was the most embarrassing defeat of the campaign so far. On the seventh minute mark, West Brom forward Callum Robinson latched onto the ball in the area before Willy Boly clumsily tripped over the forward. The Albion’s talisman in Matheus Pereira stepped up to score from the spot.
Boly made up for his error, assisting Fabio Silva for the equaliser. The goal was a combination of intellect and class. Fabio Silva, 18, shrugged off Dara O’Shea before slotting the ball into the bottom left corner. It was the record signing’s first goal at the Molineux. The first of many I can imagine. Willy Boly had made more than up for his error for the first goal, as he put Wolves 2-1 to the good when the after scoring from close range.
Image: Yahoo News India
The visitors came out firing in the second half. Whatever Sam Allardyce had said, it’d fired his men up drastically. It was a classic Allardyce move – a throw-in was launched into the area for defender Kyle Bartley to flick on, which allowed Semi Ajayi, arguably West Brom’s best player this season, to loop a header over the back-peddling Patricio.
Wolves were down and out when Robinson won his second penalty of the match. The Irishman was fouled by Conor Coady, leaving Pereira to grab his second goal of the afternoon.
Image: The Telegraph
Key players:
Pedro Neto
Pedro Neto has been a breath of fresh air for Wolverhampton Wanderers this season. The 20-year-old has been directly involved in seven goals (four goals and three assists) at the time of writing. His standout performances have been against ‘the big six’ clubs, specifically against Arsenal and Chelsea, scoring the opener at the Emirates as well as a last gasp winner at the Molineux against the Blues.
Another impressive clinic was his performance in the Black Country derby. Neto provided 15 crosses as well as creating five chances, giving full-back Dara O’Shea a migraine.
Neto has produced the most amount of crosses for his team (74), almost three times as many as second-place Nelson Semedo. Plus, he’s progressed with the ball at his feet a total of 3017 yards, a team-high, emphasising how important his dribbling ability is to create chances and get his team higher up the pitch. He’s lightning-quick off the mark, close dribbling and can make something out of nothing.
It’s easy to say, but if Raul Jimenez was fit, his numbers could be substantially higher. Being the club’s top goalscorer this season, do not rule out Neto doubling his goal involvement tally before the end of the season.
Credit: Sky Sports
Daniel Podence
Compared to Eden Hazard in every pre-match, during and post-match commentary, Daniel Podence has been electrifying at times for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men. Similar to fellow Portugal teammate Neto, his standout performances have been against Arsenal and Chelsea. Podence’s winner at the Emirates was simply obscene. The piece of skill before the finish was mouthwatering.
His strike against Chelsea wasn’t too bad, either. Podence sat Ben Chilwell on the floor before cutting inside and lashing the ball near post past Edouard Mendy. He also scored one of his three shots against Crystal Palace.
That low centre of gravity he possesses means he can glide past players with or without the football. He’s a fullbacks nightmare with the ball at his feet.
Credit: The Times
Romain Saiss
Despite being at fault for a couple goals so far, Saiss has been impeccable more often than not. The 30-year-old has scored three goals at the time of writing and is one of the team’s most consistent performers.
His switch of play is key to beating the opposition press. We’ve seen the pass executed numerous times to the likes of Adama Traore and Pedro Neto in order for them to get at their opposite number 1v1 as quick as possible.
Image: Express & Star
What’s next?
Due to the shaky start of the season, Wolves fans can’t get their hopes up too much. Occupying the bottom end of the table was far from everyone’s expectations at the start of the season, considering the standards they set themselves last campaign. The club needs to prioritise finishing mid-table to salvage the underwhelming first half of the season.
The excuse of no Raul Jimenez can be dished out, but somebody else needs to step up to the plate. The number one priority for Wolves is to splurge on a goalscorer this January window. Rumours of Real Sociedad striker Willian Jose are circulating as he looks to be pushing a move out of Spain: a like-for-like replacement for their usual talisman in Jimenez. Willian Jose lacks pace in behind but is comfortable at having it played to feet and is deadly in front of goal. It’d be a no brainer as relying on Fabio Silva game-in game-out is unrealistic.
Image: TalkSPORT
Like every game in the Premier League, every game is tough. But looking at Wolves’ run of games from now until the back end of February, it’s all doom and gloom. Three must-win fixtures are as follows:
Chelsea (A) – 27.01.2021
Frank Lampard’s Blues are yet to beat a side in the top 8 this season at the time of writing, despite spending a quarter of a billion pounds in the Summer. Despite the fluidity between Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi they can’t buy a win against a top side. Defeating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge would put a real mark of intent for the remainder of Wolves’ season, and it’s the perfect time to do so – exploit them whilst they’re fragile.
Newcastle United (A) – 27.02.2021
Considering Newcastle gifted rock-bottom Sheffield United their first win of the campaign, Wolves should be licking their lips at this fixture. It’s a game which involves two teams that are mid to bottom of the table, and three points for either side could be gargantuan in the long run.
Fulham (A) – 10.04.2021
At first thought, a fixture against Fulham isn’t the most strenuous of games. However, Scott Parker has got his side playing some brilliant stuff as of recent, drawing to the likes of Liverpool and Spurs, and narrowly missing out on getting something out of the Manchester United game. Prior to their previous losses to Man City and Man United, the Cottagers had drawn five games in a row, reinforcing that ‘hard to beat’ mentality of Parker. It’ll be a test for Nuno’s men to see where they’re really at as they approach the end of the season.
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