5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM WOLVES V SOUTHAMPTON

Well they really needed that. A first win of the season, and first since a scrappy 2-1 win over Luton way back in April. Irrespective of the performance, good and bad parts of it, the points are vital and will no doubt provide the players and fans alike with a great sense of relief and of things to come. We’ve seen this side play some excellent matches and not get the fruits of their labour, yesterday was far from their best but still enough to secure what they needed – something to build on. Mentally for the lads, that win will be invaluable to prove to themselves what they are capable of. It could well have been a case of heads dropping, performance levels starting to truly reflect the league position and overall getting rather dark for the side, but they are refusing to give in and finally got something for their efforts!

Well, I’ll give you three guesses of who I’m talking about. Matheus Cunha has been a shining light in a poor start to the season for Wolves and has become the one we look to for inspiration whenever the chips are down, consistently scoring and assisting like he did yesterday. After the last few years of transfer windows, losing the likes of Adama Traore, Raul Jimenez, Diogo Jota and more recently Pedro Neto and Matheus Nunes, Cunha has played astonishingly well in their absence. It was a vintage performance yesterday; every time the ball finds his feet and he gets his head down, Molineux bounces with the belief that something will come from it. First, that driving run through the centre and perfectly weighted ball for Sarabia to finish and then that strike speaks for itself. The confidence in his own ability to even take on that shot speaks volume about him as a player and shows that (hopefully!) he will go from strength to strength.

At face value, 1-0 victories in both halves looks comfortable for the victors, but as we know, it is never that simple for Wolves. After the early goal, the rhythm of Wolves’ play seemed to hollow out, instantly reverting to a low block as though we’d scored in the 94th minute and were fighting for our lives. This has characterised our play all season and has been one of the major criticisms fans have levelled at Gary O’Neil; a reluctance to play like a winning team and instead relying on a shaky defence to defend a fragile lead. We’ve seen the shortcomings of this in multiple games this year, notably the losses against Villa and Newcastle, so you would presume that this tactic would have been abandoned and especially considering the strength of our midfield and attack we would go for much higher pressing football and aim to dominate possession. However after a first half Wolves fans would have come out of with significantly shorter fingernails, the second half brightened up a bit. Whilst still dropping deeper in parts, there was much more effective high pressing, eventually forcing a dodgy kick from Ramsdale which led to Cunha’s magnificent second. Whether you accredit the changes to O’Neil’s tactical changes or Ruben Neves’ mere presence is up to you…

Whilst Cunha will quite rightly take the headlines, other players were fantastic. Joao Gomes was truly at his best with some vital tackles and interceptions, brilliant driving runs and insistence on taking the game to Southampton, often the one to lead the press. Similarly, Nelson Semedo was his typical reliable self at right wing back, completely nullifying any attack that came down that side and being the calm head to slow down play with possession and steady the ship. The entire defence had what I would call their best game all season as well, playing out from the back fairly comfortably and far more effectively than previously and dealing with any of the attacks that came their way, limiting them to no shots on target all day despite dominating possession. Bellegarde impressed after coming on, winning some free-kicks in dangerous areas and giving the attack a dimension Sarabia often doesn’t.

Now there can be no excuses.  A win on the board, some newfound confidence and a run of far more favourable fixtures than the first quarter of the season. Until Manchester United on Boxing Day – and maybe including them depending on Amorim’s effect – we have to play a few currently overperforming sides such as Fulham and Bournemouth and sides around the relegation zones like we are that are must-win games. We need to press on from here and string together some good results and performances so that we aren’t trying to claw our way out of the relegation zone by January when some reinforcements can be brought in. COYW!