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Wolves 2-2 Arsenal: Five Talking Points
Wolves drew 2-2 with Arsenal after a late fightback. John Taras talks Set pieces, the short No. 9, midfield selection, sloppy passing, and a furious final 35 minutes.
I started working out my headings for this article in the first half and they were not flattering…
Can we defend against Arsenal’s set piece routines?
How are Wolves going to play with a short number 9?
Who do we pick out of Angel Gomes, Joao Gomes, Andre and Bellegarde?
Why can’t we make a 10-yard pass to a fellow Wolves player?
What changed after 56 minutes?
1) Can Wolves defend against Arsenal’s infamous set piece routines?
I didn’t think the Wolves defence would have a “cat in hell’s chance” tonight against the most successful set piece team this season. But they did.
Arsenal always seem to start with five players beyond the far post, then they peel off in different directions depending on the routine. It’s brought them 24 goals in all competitions.
Wolves actually coped well and didn’t get caught by the well drilled routines. In the end, it was the simpler stuff that cost us: not marking properly and not going with runners. Both goals tonight came from failures to pick up players.
2) How are Wolves going to cope with playing a short number 9?
Rob Edwards rested Tolu Arokodare and started Adam Armstrong. It looked doomed when Arsenal scored after five minutes.
For the first 22 minutes the ball kept coming back into the Wolves half because Arsenal bossed our forwards. When Tolu came on to replace Angel Gomes, things changed.
To Armstrong’s credit, he made a nuisance of himself all night. He was unlucky in the second half when a nice spin and turn gave him a shooting chance from 25 yards, and it just went over.
But without Tolu’s introduction, I don’t think we get that result.
3) Who do Wolves pick out of Angel Gomes, Andre, Joao Gomes and Bellegarde?
Wolves started with Andre and Angel Gomes alongside Mane. If I’m honest, I didn’t realise Andre was playing until well into the first half. He improved in the second half, like most of the team.
Angel Gomes, though, doesn’t feel like the answer for next season. He went off injured after 22 minutes from what looked like an innocuous challenge. It was the second time he needed treatment. The tackle didn’t look heavy, but he looked dazed. I also got the impression he was carrying something anyway. You could see strapping around his ribs, which begs the question: why did he start?
Bellegarde still hasn’t found his form after his long lay-off. He gave away several fouls.
Joao Gomes wasn’t used. When he and Andre both play, we can lack forward direction. We go safe and square, and we also seem to give away more free kicks.
4) Why can’t Wolves successfully make a 10-yard pass to another Wolves player?
When you’re playing the league leaders, you cannot give the ball away cheaply. In the first half, I’ve rarely seen a team lose possession so often through misdirected passes, overhit passes, or simply passing to nobody.
It’s basic. You have to be able to find a teammate from 10 yards.
That failure led directly to turnovers, and Arsenal’s quick passing punished us. Combine sloppy passing with weak marking and it looked like it was going to be a long night.
If this fundamental skill doesn’t improve, life in the Championship next season will be just as hard as this one.
5) What changed after 56 minutes?
Wolves looked dead and buried after Arsenal’s second (soft) goal. But for the last 34 minutes, plus five minutes of stoppage time, Wolves found their teeth. Their courage.
Two wonder strikes came from nowhere to square the game.
For an hour, Arsenal had total control and Wolves couldn’t get near them. Then, from somewhere, Wolves found some fight. We saw them snarl at Arsenal and give them some of what we’d taken.
To coin the classic phrase, Arsenal didn’t like it up them. They were fine dishing it out, but they didn’t enjoy taking it back.
It’s a shame that the commitment and passion we saw in that final 35 minutes (plus injury time) hasn’t been there all season. If it had, we wouldn’t be marooned at the bottom.
Hugo Bueno scored a pearler from 25 yards that beat David Raya all ends up.
Then on 94 minutes, Wolves’ pressure finally brought a deserved equaliser. Only Raya and his centre half will know why they both went for the same cross. They spilled it, it fell to substitute Tom Edozie, and he hit a superb volley that ricocheted off Raya and Calafiori into the corner.
This Wolves team can compete when it wants to.
As a Wolves fan since the 70s, it’s so frustrating to see what goes before it.
In the end it’s a fair result, even though after five minutes it seemed impossible, even implausible. Arsenal left the pitch angry. Jesus was lucky to only get a yellow on 99 minutes for flattening Mosquera.
But Wolves are where they are because they only played for 35 minutes.
Wolves 2-2 Arsenal: Five Talking Points