Always Wolves
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West Ham Wolves by Always Wolves 2 minutes ago
Five Things We Learned From West Ham 4-0 Wolves
BEN WHITEHOUSE SHARES A FEW KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM WOLVES 4-0 LOSS TO WEST HAM
1. Very Disappointing Collapse…
With the season all but over for Wolves for a fair few months now, this matchup against another side facing a very real threat of relegation was essentially the final opportunity Wolves had to potentially legitimise the so-called ‘Great Escape’ and maybe, just maybe mount a resurgence against relegation.
However, in a fashion aligned with the rest of this catastrophic season, it just wasn’t meant to be. A catalogue of individual errors, bad fortune and some poor performances culminated in a disastrous second half display which ultimately killed off the game and any lingering hope of survival.
The primary reason why this was so disappointing was the promise shown by Wolves, dominating the first-half and allowing West Ham to go in at half-time with a thoroughly undeserved 1-0 lead due to an excellent header by Mavrapanos, albeit borne from a West Ham corner which should have been a Wolves goal kick – irrespective not good enough anyway.
Then the second half was a completely different story as they let the game slip away from them in a matter of minutes; ultimately the difference between the two sides was being able to translate periods of domination into goals. Wolves had a great half and lost it 1-0, West Ham had a great half and won it 3-0.
2. Lacklustre Attacking Threat
Whilst Wolves did look the better side in the first half, there was still a distinctive lack of quality and directness in the final third once again for Wolves, a fact which is clearly unsustainable for any side battling relegation.
If you recognise that the side is going to be towards the bottom end of the table and are not going to control games on the ball then you must be direct, instinctive and quick in transitions and counter-attacks and solid defensively.
This season, the squad itself holds such limited creativity, telling as we are relying largely on the talents of Joao Gomes – a defensive midfielder by trade – and an 18 year old academy product who has played consistently for around half a season.
As previously mentioned, Wolves very rarely capitalise on positive spells or turn it into anything concrete or clear-cut in front of goal – we had a few good opportunities but in majority from free-kicks and shots from range. This has been evident all season and must be absolutely top of the list for recruitment next season because it is both imperative to winning football matches and surviving in the Championship, but also to at the very least provide the fans with some more entertainment!
3. Some Promising Displays
Although the overall performance was not great, the score line is very flattering to West Ham and individually the Wolves side had some excellent performances. Joao Gomes and Andre were especially great today, bossing the middle of the park for the vast majority of the game, excelling in very tight areas of the pitch and progressing the ball excellently.
I also thought that Bellegarde and Angel Gomes had their best performances in Wolves shirts before being substituted off around the hour mark; Bellegarde was industrious and a constant workhorse, winning fouls in important areas and taking the game to West Ham; Gomes looked very composed on the ball and was able to turn and drive at the defence a few times – he was perhaps missing that final pass though there were seldom any opportunities for it – as well as threatening from two free kicks.
At wing-backs, Tchatchoua and Bueno had some good performances, letting themselves down in the second half where especially Bueno was exposed by the superior quality of Jarrod Bowen. To be honest, ridiculous though it may sound for the wealth of the game the defence was solid as well, just being architects of their ow downfall with lapses of concentration and poor individual defending at times; it typified how the defence has been for a while now – looking quality for most of the game, conceding one and then letting errors and mistakes let the game get away from them.
4. Defensive Instabilities Remain
It has been an all too common story for Wolves in recent years of being unable to capitalise on periods of dominance, often lamenting missed chances in the first half on the way home after a 3-0 loss.
Whilst it is therefore important to speculate about why we rue so many spurned opportunities on the attacking side, it is equally as important to look at why the defence doesn’t allow us to come away from these games with clean sheets. The defence has looked stronger under Edwards’ stewardship undoubtedly – especially with fielding a consistent line up of of Bueno, Krejci and Mosquera – yet nevertheless in games like this one, we were massively let down by our lack of defensive solidity.
It comes down largely to individual errors and lapses of concentration; too many times are opposition attackers able to lose their markers with relative ease, no more evident than inexcusably conceding two goals to a central defender (although both were excellently finished I must say.)
Another aspect which has been damaging is that we often lose games due to 5 minutes of madness and conceding multiple in quick succession, letting the game get away from us in an instant. These issues are the predominant ones which must be rectified in the summer, be it through improvements from the current players, or by buying superior personnel.
5. What is left this season?
As far as I am concerned – I imagine along with many other Wolves fans – that was the final nail in the coffin for an all but confirmed relegation which I frankly welcome with open arms at this point, so what is actually left for Wolves this season?
The primary aim is to continue building on the philosophies and team spirit being instilled by Edwards since his arrival, to which this game is undeniably a setback.
Our remaining fixtures consist of games such as Leeds and Burnley away from home which I see as opportunities to gain some pride on other relegation contenders and test ourselves against similar level opposition of a ilk similar to what we will be facing next year. Games such as Brighton, Fulham and Sunderland do serve mainly as formalities but are also not completely out of the realm of possibility to compete in and pick up a few points.
The pick of the bunch however: Tottenham at home may well be a very entertaining game giving us an opportunity to be pivotal in maybe condemning Spurs to Championship football and gaining the respect and gratitude of the rest of English Football in the process!
With the season all but over, all we should be looking for is positive performances, team spirit and hopefully a few more points. 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!)
Five Things We Learned From West Ham 4-0 Wolves
Pukka