Liam Berry looks at 5 things we learnt from wolves defeat to Crystal Palace
Wolves fail to win their final home game of the season, losing to red-hot Crystal Palace 1-3
Gary O’Neil made just one change to his initial named 11, bringing in Matt Doherty for Hugo Bueno. However, not long after the team was announced, Jose Sa was pulled out of the squad due to illness, which meant Dan Bentley got the call up just 30 minutes before the game, which left a spot on the bench for Tom King.
Ultimately, Crystal Palace’s firepower going forward was too much for Wolves’ defence, and allowed them to leapfrog them in the table, taking us to 13th position ahead of going into the final game of the season at Anfield.
Let’s take a look at what we have learnt from the final game of the season at Molineux.
1. Not the sign off we wanted
Wolves have not won their final home league game of the season since the 2019/20 season, which coincidently came in the form of a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to replicate the same result, but is this showing some worrying signs.
Apart from last season where we had a second half of the season push to stay in the league, we always seem to lose steam going into the business end of a campaign. Is this showing some worrying signs about the fatigue of our players?
2. What do we need?
I think a lot of the talk is about how we need more attackers, and that a striker is pivotal in the summer. However, in my opinion, I think a revamped defence is just as important.
We have conceded 63 goals this campaign going into the final game of the season.
This is the worst we have had since coming back up to the division, and it shows that there may need to be reinforcements brought into to rectify. Craig Dawson is only getting older and with his operation, will he come back as strong as he was? Will we need to replace Toti Gomes and/or Max Kilman?
3. Player’s of the season
As it was the last home game of the season, after the final whistle it was time to hand out accolades to the players.
The supporters player of the season was handed to Mario Lemina, after a great campaign playing all across the pitch, one week playing up front and the next playing at the back. However, the players player of the season was given to Nelson Semedo, who also has recieved great praise for his campaign this year.
It’s interesting to see in a season where we have had more than one player hit double digits in the goal tally, and another couple who hit double digits in goal contributions, that the player of the season awards have been given to players who haven’t found their name on the scoresheet more often than not. It showed how good of a season these two have had to be in with a shout with the individual performers we have had this season, whilst also showing the backbone and experience this squad has.
4. How many hits can we take?
O’Neil in his pre match conference stated the fact the club are going to have to sell to buy in the summer.
Who can we afford to let go, and who do we need to keep at all costs?
Wolves have many top assets who could bring in a large sum of money, but it’s important to keep some of this talent whilst adding to give us the best chance of progression next season. I think one or two departures wouldn’t effect the team too harshly.
As you would guess, Pedro Neto may be one of these who would be let go in order to raise transfer funds, but who else may be poised for a move? Whoever it may be, I think it’s so important to keep the likes of Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes, as they are so crucial to our success this season.
5. Relegation form something to worry about?
In the past 10 games, Wolves have only been able to pick up a win against Luton, losing six and drawing three.
Now the question is, is this something we need to worry about?
The injuries have obviously played a big part, and they clearly aren’t fit enough to be firing the way they did previously this summer. However, I will argue that our squad was still good enough to compete with most of the teams we played in the past 10 games. Let’s hope our recruitment is up to scratch this summer, and come back next season ready to compete again.
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!