Wolves pre match chat
A spirited but ultimately limp performance vs Fulham culminating in a last minute own goal sucker punch and defeat saw us drop to 16th at the weekend.
On the positive side we looked pretty organised off the ball, for much of the game kept Fulham at bay with relative comfort.
On the negative we could have played for another few hours and probably not created a decent chance never mind scored a goal.
And ultimately the difference was made by the Fulham bench which highlighted our own by now well discussed deficiencies.
Next weekend we welcome winless and ultimately pointless Wolves
Defeats to Manchester City, Bournemouth, Everton and Newcastle have seen them bottom of the league with a cup win vs West Ham the only positive.
A slight surprise perhaps given last season after new manager Vitor Pereira came in just before Christmas they experienced a very decent turn in form, a ppg that over the season would have secured a top 10 finish.
However the loss of key players such as talismanic attacker Matheus Cunha and marauding full back Rayan Aït-Nouri to different sides of Manchester has proven a difficult adaption.
Added to that the maybe less noticeable losses of people like Nelson Semedo, Goncalo Guedes and Pablo Sarabia, not huge names compared to the other pair but between them another 9 assists and 5 goals gone which added to the loses of the other pair means Wolves have lost 28 goals and 18 assists from last seasons side.
They have spent decent money, over £100mil and managed to hold on to striker Jorgen Strand Larsen but still struggling so far.
In terms of tactics they have been playing a back 3, either 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.
A counter attacking system with the 2nd least possession in the league .
A heavy focus on long passes as you'd expect in that sort of philosophy.
And pretty tenacious, not a high pressing side massively (not against it either) but they do win a lot of tackles and get a lot of interceptions so it's a bit odd they don't create as you'd expect transition to be key for them (maybe bad passes I don't know).
In terms of key players.
The aforementioned Jørgen Strand Larsen is actually an injury doubt having missed the last game and returned early from international duty. But he's the talisman now, 14 goals last season and would be a big miss.
They spent big money on giant Nigerian striker (6ft6) Tolu Arokodare who was the top scorer in the Belgian League last season. As you'd expect a massive aerial threat and good link player but early days yet for him.
And they also spent big money on talented and highly rated but raw Spanish attacking midfielder 21 year old Fer Lopez. Another big lad but more technically gifted, good creator and dribbler but also very raw.
In terms of ourselves.
Could we see Joel Piroe back in the squad ?
Ao Tanaka back in the side to try and give us a bit more class in midfield rather than oomph?
Has DCL done enough to retain his place or does Nmecha return?
Perhaps a game for Bijol? Given the fact Wolves new striker is a giant of a human being?
And does Gnonto come back in or James?
Finally under the circumstances is this must win? Even if its just to prove we can score a goal?
On the positive side we looked pretty organised off the ball, for much of the game kept Fulham at bay with relative comfort.
On the negative we could have played for another few hours and probably not created a decent chance never mind scored a goal.
And ultimately the difference was made by the Fulham bench which highlighted our own by now well discussed deficiencies.
Next weekend we welcome winless and ultimately pointless Wolves
Defeats to Manchester City, Bournemouth, Everton and Newcastle have seen them bottom of the league with a cup win vs West Ham the only positive.
A slight surprise perhaps given last season after new manager Vitor Pereira came in just before Christmas they experienced a very decent turn in form, a ppg that over the season would have secured a top 10 finish.
However the loss of key players such as talismanic attacker Matheus Cunha and marauding full back Rayan Aït-Nouri to different sides of Manchester has proven a difficult adaption.
Added to that the maybe less noticeable losses of people like Nelson Semedo, Goncalo Guedes and Pablo Sarabia, not huge names compared to the other pair but between them another 9 assists and 5 goals gone which added to the loses of the other pair means Wolves have lost 28 goals and 18 assists from last seasons side.
They have spent decent money, over £100mil and managed to hold on to striker Jorgen Strand Larsen but still struggling so far.
In terms of tactics they have been playing a back 3, either 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.
A counter attacking system with the 2nd least possession in the league .
A heavy focus on long passes as you'd expect in that sort of philosophy.
And pretty tenacious, not a high pressing side massively (not against it either) but they do win a lot of tackles and get a lot of interceptions so it's a bit odd they don't create as you'd expect transition to be key for them (maybe bad passes I don't know).
In terms of key players.
The aforementioned Jørgen Strand Larsen is actually an injury doubt having missed the last game and returned early from international duty. But he's the talisman now, 14 goals last season and would be a big miss.
They spent big money on giant Nigerian striker (6ft6) Tolu Arokodare who was the top scorer in the Belgian League last season. As you'd expect a massive aerial threat and good link player but early days yet for him.
And they also spent big money on talented and highly rated but raw Spanish attacking midfielder 21 year old Fer Lopez. Another big lad but more technically gifted, good creator and dribbler but also very raw.
In terms of ourselves.
Could we see Joel Piroe back in the squad ?
Ao Tanaka back in the side to try and give us a bit more class in midfield rather than oomph?
Has DCL done enough to retain his place or does Nmecha return?
Perhaps a game for Bijol? Given the fact Wolves new striker is a giant of a human being?
And does Gnonto come back in or James?
Finally under the circumstances is this must win? Even if its just to prove we can score a goal?