DAVE PORTER EXAMINES THE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM VITOR PEREIRA'S FIRST WIN FOR WOLVES AGAINST LEICESTER
1. PRESSURE RELEASE
Wolves had to win this game. Any other result would have seen them cut adrift, facing a fixture list that, on paper at least, looks like a level up from the previous four matches, which had amassed zero points. Despite the daunting task, Wolves looked like a team with the valve released. Like waking from a nightmare, the team seemed to have shed the burden they had been carrying, allowing them to play with a freedom not seen during the final turbulent and ultimately crash-landing days of O’Neil’s reign. Smiles on faces, both on the pitch and in the stands, have been a rarity, but if you looked closely enough, even the usually stone-faced Guedes had something close to happiness. Wolves will hope that the worst of the storm has passed and, while they survey the damage, they have the materials to make some emergency repairs before the cavalry arrives in January.
2. THE COMPETITION IS POOR
As much as the result was important, what Wolves can probably take most confidence in is that the teams around them are very poor. Leicester gave one of the worst home performances you will ever see here. Three very poor goals conceded, and it could easily have been more. Wolves this time looked like a team way above the standard of their opponents and with the capability to move up through the gears should they need to. As much as the win was a sign of the quality that Wolves have and the confidence that they will take from the game, it was at least equally damning to Leicester. Punctuated perhaps by Matheus Cunha standing still on the halfway line for what felt like an age with barely a Leicester player willing to offer any approach. Wolves didn’t just win this game; it felt like a dagger put into the heart of any self-belief that Leicester may have had that they really belong in this division. Wolves stand out from the rest of the teams at the bottom. They have quality and can score goals. Ipswich look hardworking but limited, and Southampton are struggling. Wolves will feel that there is enough in their team, with some additions in January, to accumulate enough points to catch and put some distance between them and their relegation rivals. Wolves need to take care of their own results, of course, but it helps that the competition looks very poor indeed.
3. PLAYERS TAKING THEIR CHANCES
Players left in the cold were entrusted here to make their mark, and they took that opportunity. Rodrigo Gomes and Guedes, in particular, seized their chances. Gomes was hardworking and industrious, with bags of energy. Guedes, despite losing the ball cheaply on a few occasions, was a constant menace to Leicester, who really couldn’t get to grips with him. This was Guedes’ best game in a Wolves shirt by a distance. A goal and an assist were just rewards for his efforts. There remains some room for improvement; Guedes was a major difference between the teams, but somehow made the difficult look easy while the basics at times showed unmistakable signs of rust. There is no criticism here today, though. He looked like a player who had the trust of his manager and wanted to justify that faith. Wolves could yet see a very timely return on the heavy investment that looked all but lost.
4. VITOR THE VICTOR
Wolves had struggled to settle on a formation. The term “hybrid” has been tolerated as an overused synonym for unorganised for far too long. Wolves looked back to something slightly more orthodox already. The emergence of Rodrigo Gomes feels important. Gomes seems to have boundless energy and was able to cover the left side of the pitch in its entirety. With pre-match talk of Rayan Aït-Nouri being utilised more offensively in training, this may unlock an option or at the very least allow Aït-Nouri to take up the attacking gap that is likely to be left by the almost certainly suspended Cunha. Today, though, Wolves kept a very poor team comfortably at arm’s length and looked like players who understood the job being asked of them. Vítor Pereira has had a dream start in the Wolves hot seat. There will be tougher challenges than this one to test his managerial acumen, but this felt immediately more settled, more familiar, and something to build upon.
5. SA IS THE NUMBER ONE
Whilst not required to do anything miraculous, José Sá looked like a keeper with the confidence that he has been told he is Wolves’ number one goalkeeper. That may only be because Vítor knows Sá and they share a nationality, but Sá today looked like a keeper who had ultimately won the war of the number ones. It has been some time since Sá came for crosses and looked as assured. The battle of the goalkeepers has been an unhelpful side plot to the troubled season, but it feels like this one has, for the time being at least, been settled. Johnstone will not be happy, but this story has been allowed to run for far too long and it needed resolution. It now has it.
6. A WELCOME EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Defeat today was unthinkable. Wolves have been through a succession of must-win games and lost them all. Wolves were almost dead and buried; they needed the defibrillators to bring them back to some signs of life, and now you can hear the sounds of the heart machine. The beeps have returned. Wolves remain in need of intensive care, but they now have signs of life. Being a Wolves fan has felt torturous for a long time now. Events off and on the pitch have seen universally poor decisions being made, and the supporters punished at every turn. For today at least, in front of an extremely vocal away following, Wolves have pulled something out of the bag. We are a few days away from Christmas, but the Christmas festivities will feel a lot easier to enjoy after this game. It’s a Christmas present delivered early but one that was way overdue. Merry Christmas
ARTICLE BY DAVE PORTER
Wolverhampton born, East Sussex based supporter. Old enough to have seen the descent to the bottom, young enough to not have experienced the days my friend. Not many Wolves fans to celebrate or commiserate with round these parts, so had to find an outlet to discuss the enormous highs, crushing lows and share the frustrations that only come with following Wolves.