Always Wolves
Always Wolves
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Craig Hickey takes a look at Wolves performance against Bournemouth and the key takeaways
The Halycon days of the recent past….
Those days are now a distant memory, we used to go toe to toe with Bournemouth, they were the minnows, we were the new kids on the block, brushing aside the Cherries with the likes of Neves, Moutinho, Jimenez et al. Alas, we are now quite a way behind in some respects, they seem to be able to replace blossoming talents like Semenyo and Solanke with new blood that takes a short time to flourish and rejuvenate the club.
We however have never been able to replace the talent we lost over the last 3 years, today made me think how far we have gone backwards as a club in the playing squad, resigned to getting in unproven overseas players that are not really up to the rigours of the Premier League, its ultimately cost us our place in the best league in the world.
My personal opinion is that going down could re-energise our recruitment, the expectation levels of us fans and maybe we can go through the good old days again as we did in 2018/19. It’s not going to be easy and from the meeting with Nathan Shi etc this week, they know we need to come back sooner rather than later. I’m looking forward to the Championship now, for many reasons, we will each have our own thoughts, VAR-less games, less dark arts from the bigger clubs, atmospheric grounds to name but a few, it’s not all bad….
The Statistics don’t’ lie….
We are bottom for a reason and after today, that’s even more evident, the lack of goals being a major issue, glaringly obvious I know. Here goes:
Possession: Wolves 52%, Bournemouth 48%
Shots: Wolves 17, Bournemouth 9
On Target: Wolves 7, Bournemouth 4
Off Target: Wolves 10, Bournemouth 5
XG: Wolves 1.94, Bournemouth 1.12
If this statistic plays out according to the xG, we should have won the game today 2-1 but it didn’t and if you look back at the game, Arokadare had chances, Mosquera hit the post, Mané had a few efforts, their keeper having shots straight down his throat. If any of the shots had gone to the side of the keeper, it could have been a different story, we did score a goal but we were offside in the build up.
Scoring goals has ultimately cost us games, along with poor defending, inept tactics from the previous coaching team and a lack of quality from some players. I thought Bournemouth were there for the taking in the first 35 minutes, we lost the ball in midfield and got punished, I’d like to know how many goals have been conceded due to that pandemic.
Time wasting is a waste of our time..
It’s an absolute menace of the game along with other things but this one really boils my waters, so to speak. Bournemouth really did take the proverbial pee today subtly and obviously at times, wasting time with goal kicks, feigning injury and throw ins.
The two instances that annoyed me were the substitutions where Michael Oliver turned his back to them leaving the pitch, each one taking over a minute each and the other was the first goal. When Bournemouth scored that first goal, it must have been about 3 minutes from when they scored to kicking off again, to me it was deliberate time wasting.
Again, Michael Oliver didn’t enforce the restart to happen quicker, he just let it all amble away like a Sunday morning stroll. I really think that 1 minute is enough time to celebrate and restart the game, if a team isn’t ready to restart, the ref should blow his whistle for the restart and that would stop this annoying sauntering back to the centre circle. Its time the authorities grew a pair of gonads and stopped some of this pantomime selfishness and punish the teams that continue to flout the gamesmanship of the beautiful game.
Win together, lose together…
Although we are not going to survive this season, it’s hard to argue against the view that the players are fighting to the death, it could be a smokescreen of course for some. The World Cup is in the summer and players want to be involved in the worlds biggest football showcase, so they want to show they are worth considering, even during hard times.
The club has released details of wage cuts for players in the event of relegation and that there are no relegation release clauses, so the rest of the season is an audition for those that believe Molineux is not for them. You would like to think that there are players that are so frustrated and distraught with how this season has gone that they will want to right the wrongs they have been involved in, bounce straight back up and show they take responsibility for the events of 2025/26.
I think Rob Edwards has got them playing better, fighting as one and giving 100% on the pitch, individual errors have been part of this wretched season but as a team, he has got them fighting, win, lose or draw.
Joao Gomes, a class act on and off the pitch….
Joao Gomes has been part of a few videos of late with his focus on helping others, using the social media and club platforms to promote Wolves Foundation work, becoming involved in school visits and even setting up his own Joao Gomes Institute in Brazil. He has no ego and gives back to society with no personal agenda, this shows he is a truly wonderful person and of course a great footballer.
He has won a fair few man of the match awards this season and will probably scoop the Player of the Year in my opinion. He has shown his quality and class as a Wolves player ever since his arrival, never wavering from his responsibilities on the pitch, today he was no different and although he isn’t the same type of player we had with Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho, he isn’t far off.
Alas, I don’t think he will be with us next season, Id love him to stay but he will go to a high flying club either abroad or here. He deserves that chance and he has shown humility, passion, responsibility and football genius on our pitch, it could have been so different if we had more quality around him. Obrigado Joao.
And finally…..
The January transfer window has two days to go before it closes, I feared an exodus from a few players but the club are at last playing hardball, no one appeared to be saying goodbye today. It’ll be different come the summer, the team will look very different in August but for now the same faces remain.
Things We Learnt Against Bournemouth: Wasteful Finishing, Familiar Punishment
Pukka