Ben Whitehouse shares his thoughts following Wolves v Everton
1. Not Premier League Standard…
Well, that was awfully predictable. Yet another lacklustre performance from Wolves in spite of the performance in midweek which looked like it could be a springboard for the season to fully get into gear, however it was quite the contrary.
At times throughout the game, Wolves were completely outclassed and looked like a schoolboy side trying to compete with the big boys: aimlessly hoofing the ball forwards; weak passes not even reaching one another and most notably a very apparent lack of creativity (almost as though we sold our most creative players to Premier League rivals…) which meant we seldom looked like carving out chances especially in the first 45 minutes.
Alongside this, our previously quite successful high pressing under Pereira was nowhere to be seen, allowing Everton to venture forwards with ease and every single time they did, they looked like scoring and the defence looked shaky.
All of these aspects culminated in the performance which can be covered by the performance as a ‘close contest’ when realistically, Everton deserved a 4-0 victory based on the game and Wolves were not looking like a side who has any hope of avoiding relegation. Even just looking at the starting line up, some questionable starters were there for sure but overall the side is overwhelmingly weaker than it has been in recent years, meaning we are becoming overly reliant on new signings who have zero Premier League experience coming in and hitting the ground running, an awful expectation to put upon them. If it continues on in the ilk, it will be a very very long season…
2. Defensive Woes
The defensive performances left me absolutely incredulous against Everton in all departments, most strikingly from Agbadou who has looked a shadow of his former, brilliant self from last season. He had been so physically dominant, assured on the ball and looked unbeatable 1v1 at times during the last campaign but now he seems to be playing quite the opposite and like mistakes are inevitably going to occur.
For starters the 3rd goal came from his poor pass (he had mishit the same pass 3 or 4 times already in the game) and then his overcommitting to leave Dewsbury-Hall free to score. If we are to improve, we truly do need him to rediscover his best form again as when he is at his best, he was undoubtedly our best defender.
Toti didn’t have a great game by his standards but this was quite often due to him having no options whatsoever. I was sat in the temporary stand which meant whenever he received the ball at left centre back, we could see essentially what he could see and there was literally nothing he could do. Even he looked visibly frustrated at times as the crowd grew increasingly restless with his inaction, yet all he could possibly do was look to launch it forwards to a target man who wasn’t there!
Santi Bueno didn’t have an awful game but was bullied a lot of the time by Beto (the Everton number 9) who had the beating of him in the air 9 times out of 10, one of the major differences in the game – Everton had a big man as the out ball, we did not (hopefully once we have signed Arokadare and fingers crossed kept hold of Strand-Larsen, we will have 3 strikers above 6 foot 4 at the club, indicating Pereira sees the need for this profile of player.)
This defence is clearly insufficient and needs to change which I think must require Krejci to start preferably in the centre of the three with Agbadou and Toti either side of him. Agbadou is a far stronger 1v1 centre back than anything else I feel and he lacks the sort of organisational skills, passing range and composure that we need in a central centre back so if he were to move out the the right, he may improve and rediscover himself without the weight of being central centre back. This would be a big ask of Krejci but as a tough tackling, Czechian, Champions League captain centre back who is known for his progressing of the ball, he could be the perfect fit.
3. Credit to Everton
I’m aware this is a Wolves page so I’ll keep it brief…
Everton must be given some credit because despite how good we made them look, they were excellent as well and will go on to have some season a this rate, presumably accelerating away from the relegation battles which have defined their seasons for the last few years.
Whilst their defence looked shaky at times, their attack was free-flowing, creative and deadly. Beto was an excellent target man to bring other more dynamic players into the game (something we distinctively lacked, leaving players like Arias isolated), frustrating though he can be, Grealish has a new lease of life and is playing like his old self which as a football fan, is nice to see, and the signing of Dewsbury Hall for £25 million is one of those frustratingly good signings which I wish Wolves had looked into.
Under Moyes’ stewardship, a new stadium, new signings incoming like Tyler Dibling still coming, they performed like a side with ambitions of competing at the top half of the table and credit to them.
4. Few silver linings
There were a few positive signs buried within the performance, which were mainly due to individual performances mainly from substitutes.
Rodrigo Gomes is rapidly becoming my favourite player and (kind of worryingly) our main source of goals. He always gives his absolute best and is constantly on the move, a rare bit of dynamism in a Wolves side that looked so static and rigid for large parts of the game, exemplified by his goal; most players would have given up on that cross yet he managed to get there and get us back in the game. Defensively he looked solid as well, constantly hassling with a sense of urgency about winning the ball back rather than just letting them hold onto it. He is positioning himself I see as the natural heir to Semedo’s throne at RWB (if we hold onto him for long enough for him to flourish) and between himself and Tchatchoua, I think the right hand side is looking good and were one of our only sources of enjoyment.
Fer Lopez also stood out for me massively, being the player to get the ball on the half turn and attack the space, finding passes which other players were looking at, hesitating and then playing it back. He was an excellent creative output and looked like someone who is able to carve out chances and bring our attacking, exciting players into the game rather than just have us playing it around the back until we get pressured to punt it long, something we have been lacking.
Sasa also impressed again, proving just how pivotal it is to have a target man in the side, offering far more than Hwang did in the way of hold up play and winning knock downs which is nothing against Hwang as it isn’t his game and he scored an excellent goal – he should be the player being allowed to latch onto a target man’s headers, not having to win them.
All three of these invigorated the side and pointed blatantly to what had been missing: dynamism from Gomes; creativity and directness from Lopez; a target man from Sasa.
5. What is next?
With transfer deadline day rapidly approaching, our season does largely hinge on Jorgen Strand-Larsen: keep him and we have strong, Premier League proven attacking options; sell him and it is yet another statement of intent from the ownership that they want profits and don’t care about the state of the club.
Pereira seems adamant he will still be a Wolves player come deadline day and to be honest if he is, I cannot imagine Newcastle offering the same amount of money for him in January because at the moment they are overpaying due to urgency so survive this window and we may be alright. Pereira has also stressed that he prefers business done early which clearly hasn’t happened and that he wants the clarity of knowing exactly what he has to work with.
During the forthcoming international break, hopefully he will have a full squad complete with Strand-Larsen, Arokadore and a new CM (rumours about Josh Brownhill as a free agent are flying around as I’m writing this which I think would be an excellent addition for some Premier League experience).
This squad does lack the superstardom of players like Cunha and Ait-Nouri, but I believe that has been sacrificed because Pereira is building a squad fit for his system and that he is signing players with the intent of them fitting a style of play. So we must keep faith in him being able to get the best from these players and give them all a few weeks to get acquainted with the league, each other and the system before fully judging them. Hopefully, Pereira’s plan will be executed well enough but the concern is that it all hinges on these new signings being sufficient enough replacements for the names we have lost, but the fact that they seem to be different styles of player tells me that they are here for a purpose.
So demoralising though the game may have been (and trust me I know, was an 11 hour round trip for me!) we can only stand strong behind them and afford them the time to come good and trust in Vitor for what he has done for us. He kept us in the league single-handedly, he deserves a go to get his foothold now. COYW!
I’ve been a fan of Wolves all my life, based in the South-East, making for some fairly awkward school football conversations trying to argue that Kevin McDonald was better than Bruno Fernandes with the endless supply of Big 6 fans around here, just for the fun of it! Hoping to offer a insightful view into the performances, transfers, decisions and everything else our beloved Wanderers throw at us, good, bad and ugly (but preferably good!)
LESSONS FROM WOLVES V EVERTON