5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM WOLVES DEFEAT TO NEWCASTLE

1. We’re very unfortunate

Let’s face it, going into the game, I don’t imagine we were expecting anything particularly special, after all, Newcastle are another strong side we have the misfortune of playing so early on in the season. Starting a campaign with only a grudge match away at Forest being a so called ‘easy game’ and playing Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle (and onto Villa and Liverpool) is incredibly unlucky. However, second half against Chelsea aside, Wolves haven’t let themselves be walked over at all and given a good account of themselves in every match thus far, Newcastle being no exception and arguably the best performance of the lot.  The nature of the goals were also  very unlucky: a deflected shot which is otherwise catching practise for Johnstone and a ridiculous strike from Barnes which no keeper is getting anywhere near – although Doherty should be doing better to stop the shot. Newcastle didn’t deserve three points at Molineux, but we cannot blame bad luck all season, at some point we have to start winning with or without good fortunes.

2. Yet more positives

Despite the result, and frustrating as it may be, the performance was still very good against a high quality opponent; against a lesser team (who weren’t so lucky) it would have constituted a convincing win, 2 or 3 nil. We dominated them for the majority of the second half and defended excellently in the first with that gorgeous counter attacking goal topping it off. Reintroducing Dawson into the defence was clearly vital, I thought he had an excellent game, looking back to his best from before his injury, which surprised me in a defensive partnership rather than 3-at-the-back. I thought the ‘new system’ Gary alluded to in his post-match interview had us playing our best football; far more free flowing and attacking, with the defensive hole being offset somewhat by the extra man in the midfield. The key determiner of our season is going to become managing to perform as well as we have in these matches against lesser opponents to hopefully be able to gather some form in November.

3. Great new signings 

So far this season, I struggle to think of a poor performance from one of our new signings; Hobbs and O’Neil clearly have a view for the team and identified areas that needed improving and added new dimensions to the team. Strand-Larsen has been a revelation up front, having a great game in terms of hold up ability to bring others into the game, his fantastic assist and surprising eye for a pass from a player of his stature. Once he settles in even more and we start playing some ‘easier’ teams, I can envisage him and Cunha becoming a devastating attacking duo. Andre had a world-class debut, completing 100% of his passes, being both a composed head on the ball and matching Joao Gomes’ desire to win back possession off the ball. Alongside Gomes and Lemina, for a first match playing together as a midfield trio, they were excellent and will only get better. Johnstone has also been fantastic since joining, especially having been thrown in at the deep end and with some fairly big boots to fill from Jose. He has made some cracking saves in his two games and his distribution and overall shot stopping has been great. He also cannot be faulted for either of the goals we conceded which were both completely unstoppable.

4. Still must improve

Despite how difficult the games have been and how well we may have performed, at the end of the day we do only have one point from four games. There is a lot to build on but we cannot afford to lose confidence in our ability and system and not find another gear against weaker teams later in the season, otherwise we will inevitably find ourselves praying on the downfall of three other teams come the end of the season. They showed again that they struggle to maintain the high level of performance they can achieve for 90 minutes, similar to the Chelsea game where the high performance was only for 45 minutes, this lasted about 75 minutes. I think a major part of our issues surrounding getting a result whilst outperforming the other team is that I can’t remember the last time we had a two goal lead; we often go one up but fail to get a comfortable lead due to a lack of fortune and attacking intent in coalition. Reminiscent of England’s frustrating Euros campaign, getting the one goal lead isn’t enough for a side of our quality who need to be putting the opposition to the sword and pushing for a two or three goal advantage for a bit of security.

5. Must keep faith

A shorter note for this one; I am optimistic that this team will never give anything less than 100% for the club and that this season will come good for us. In our 2019/20 Europa League season, we didn’t win until Gameweek 7 in the PL, against far lesser opponents than we are coming up against this time around. We finished that season Europa League quarter finalists, 7th in the league with a higher points total than the season before. I understand that this is an almost entirely unrecognisable squad to that one, but the sentiment remains that a slow start doesn’t always doom a season from the off and it is clear to see that this side is capable of excellent, entertaining football that will start winning matches. The next few weeks vs Villa and Liverpool may be disheartening but we must stick with them! COYW