Andoni Iraola talked more about what he expects to see from Wolves.
Their visitors were winless in the pre-season and also conceded four goals on the opening matchday of the campaign, sitting at the bottom of the table.
Yet, history would indicate that change can come for a historical stumbling block.
‘It’s a strange matchup’
The manager made clear he was mostly positive about the performance at **Anfield**on the opening day.
“It was overall a good game from our side. I think from the games we played against Liverpool this was the one we've been closer to get something from the game but everything cannot be positive at the end we conceded four goals and I think past season we didn't concede four goals in any game.”
Similarly, Iraola does not believe **Wolves**ought to have lost 4-0 to Manchester City.
The hosts were inches away from taking the lead with a disallowed header from Marshall Munetsi, who strayed offside.
Then, Tijjani Reijnders reined in the resistance.
He slalomed through the midfield to release Rico Lewis for an Erling Haaland assist, then scored a second goal and set up the Norwegian for a brace.
“I think they were much better than a 4-0 also. I think they even score a goal. It was slightly offside but you score the first goal and maybe we are talking about other things in that game. The City goals were top level with individual skills for every goal. Probably they would have scored that goal against most of the teams because they were brilliant so I expect them really tough.”
Vitor Pereira pulled up to the Midlands to take the place of Gary O'Neil.
He has so far helped to stabilise the side, and Iraola insisted that their defensive discipline will test his players on Saturday afternoon.
“They have been a team defensively very solid If you see the stats, all the goals they concede, they have been very good. I think they have good, physical defenders, even the games we played against them here: we had one of the red card, and the other one, it was difficult to score against them.”
Last season, the Cherries suffered a 1-0 loss at Dean Court against this weekend's opposition, with help from a red card after half an hour for Illia Zabarnyi.
But even in the **FA Cup**fifth round, they went through to the next round with a penalty shootout, showing firsthand how three points are far from guaranteed.
“We have the experience against them here it's a strange match-up because we've lost the last three games here against them we've won the last three games away against them. We have experience of the cup game where we played well and we had to go to penalties. I expect a very level game.”
The guests lost two key figures this summer, ripping up the partnership on their left flank.
Matheus Cunha, a talismanic figure with his ball carries and 15 goals in the league last term, went to Manchester United, while Rayan Ait-Nouri was in the back four for the Citizens at the Molineux Stadium.
Cunha claimed 15 goals; their striker scored only one fewer.
Jorgen Strand Larsen netted 13 times for Celta Vigo in **LaLiga**in the 2023/24 season, impressing Iraola as a threat in his home country.
“Strand Larsen is a very good player. I know him very well from my LaLiga years in Spain.”
The team also have two more creative profiles to add to the power they have in offensive midfield.
*“They've signed also areas Fer Lopez, Jhon Arias, good number tens with different characteristics , with Marshall Munetsi and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. So they will have in some positions still new players and I think we are two teams that we've lost important players and now we have to adapt.”*
‘He has been training normally this week ‘
The strength of the showing against the Reds meant that the fine details were where things went wrong for Bournemouth.
Iraola insisted that his focus was on tightening up details in training.
“There are things we need to improve against these teams. It’s normal: first game of the season the four defenders first time they play together so things we need to improve like I suppose every team now in in this moment but overall it was a very good game from our side.”
One of their debutants was Bafode Diakite.
He and Adrien Truffert took to the field for the first time in the Premier League after long spells in Ligue 1.
The central defender already saw the work of Arne Slot with a 2-1 loss as a member of the **Lille**camp in January, but it was still a tough test.
*“He said this is a high level game. He had already played against Liverpool the previous season there in the Champions League. He's used to this kind of game but it went really fast and he had only had to train with us two days. We need to improve with him understanding with the teammates.”*
It is no slight on the Frenchman that he did not figure out everything straightaway.
The manager mentioned two of his top defenders, who made moves to massive clubs, as examples of progress.
*“When I arrived, Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, they make a lot of mistakes at the beginning my first two three months they were playing well but making some mistakes and this you have to sometimes make the mistakes so we can correct and then you can and I hope that this process goes quicker.”*
Their man of the match at **Anfield**was Antoine Semenyo.
The right winger was a physical threat to Kerkez and showed his shooting skill with a brace on the transition.
His contribution was even more outstanding given that he had to report an incident of racial abuse, which has not left him unaffected.
“His behaviour from the moment he received the abuse to now I think has been amazing. I think to take the things the way he took it. He explained the situation calmly to the referee and teammates. He focused on the game. He played very well and I saw him probably after the game a little bit down and also a little bit probably overthinking and is normal but he has been training normally this week.”
The 43-year-old opened up about another attacker, David Brooks, who also grew into that game.
“The second half was very good, very good. He finished dead at the end normally because he run a lot and but the second half I think he not because of the assist. I think we had good combinations with Adrien Truffert even with Marco Senesi going that side and I think we found good positions.”
The Welshman went on loan to Southampton, but he has built back his confidence with the Cherries.
“There is a part that is the physical side that he's in a much better place. Something very normal in his case. But also I think mentally he understands very well what we need from him. He is smart in the way that sometimes he has to work more defensively. Some sometimes he has to cover more inside.”