LIAM BERRY SHARES HIS THOUGHTS FOLLOWING WOLVES 1-1 DRAW WITH FOREST AND THE THINGS WE LEARNT
Wolves fight back to secure a point against Nottingham Forest.
Coming off a 5-0 loss, Nottingham Forest were looking to bounce back and put some points on the table, particularly with Steve Cooper’s job at major risk had they lost. The fans still clearly love him judging by the reception they gave him all afternoon.
Wolves conceded first after a mix up at the back post, but responded not long after with a well worked goal scored by Matheus Cunha.
Let’s take a look at what we can take from this match.
1. Your defence is terrified!
Cunha is in some fine form at the moment. Having being involved in a goal in the past five fixtures (three goals and two assists), he is certainly now making his mark on the Premier League.
Being brought in last Christmas, Cunha had a quiet start to his life in England, and struggled to make a major impact on the back end of last season. But under Gary O’Neil he has improved a lot of different aspects to his game. He looks more of a goal threat now, arriving in some great areas and taking his chances at a much higher rate than before. Which is great to see!
Hopefully he keeps adding to his tally, and continues to prove a real threat for the opposition back line over the remainder of the campaign.
2. Less is more?
Despite his many plaudits, I still feel that much of Craig Dawson’s brilliance goes un-noticed.
That’s partly down to his simplicity. The way he keeps the game moving at a quick pace is pivotal for Wolves, and he just doesn’t seem to waste much time on the ball. His composure is also a massive plus – he never seems scared when in possession and can easily pick a pass through the lines and take Wolves up the pitch.
He has been a massive signing for us, making a huge impact over the second half of last season, and again now. and for the amount he cost it just makes his transfer ten times sweeter. Talking of that transfer, it’s back to West Ham on Sunday.
3. Pablo Sarabia
After being handed his second start in a week, Pablo Sarabia picked up another assist after making a clever run in behind the defence.
Despite his clear brilliance on the ball, is his play style slowing Wolves down? We seemed to lack energy going forwards, and in a game like that I feel we really needed some more pace in attack. He clearly has something to offer though and has looked more effective in these two home games.
Maybe he would benefit from playing with a classic number nine to land a cross on their head, but unfortunately he was taken off before getting a chance to do so.
4. Finders keepers - Sa or Bentley?
A lot of questions were raised around the goalkeeper situation following Dan Bentley’s great performance against Burnley in mid-week, and him not conceding a goal in either that game or the majority of the one at Arsenal when he came off the bench.
With Jose Sa back in the team, his hesitation did not do him any favours in his chance at stopping the Forest goal.
At least we now have some stiff competition in that area, and maybe we might see Bentley being handed some more game time in upcoming fixtures. Either that or O’Neil sticks with his guns, as Sa has generally produced plenty of quality this season. A tough call. Who’d be a manager?
5. Expectations risen?
Due to the better than expected start O’Neil and Wolves have had this season, have the fans risen their expectations of him and the team?
The past week Wolves have picked up four points out of a possible six, but with performances not as good as previously seen fans have reacted poorly to the draw on Saturday.
The fact we have not played at our best in these two games, but not lost in either is not bad. We know the team can perform, and two games in one week is not easy, there will be some fatigue in the players legs. Obviously we want the performances to be better, but lets see how we fare in the next few fixtures before getting ahead of ourselves.
ARTICLE BY LIAM BERRY
I am a life long Wolves fan that is passionate for the club. I am a sixth form student who loves writing about things I love!
1 Comment