Wolves v Leeds Match Report: Bright Start, Soft Goals, Toxic Atmosphere

First half

What started as a decent spell for Wolves, with quick touches and free passing, began to derail when Leeds created chance after chance. They targeted Wolves’ right-hand side, where there were clear weak links, and capitalised.

Wolves got off to a good start, playing attacking football with quick touches and creating space. The move for the first goal was good play, and the pass by Fer and finish by Krejci were great. But as Leeds constantly pushed for an equaliser, Wolves seemed to fall apart. Bad positioning by Rodrigo and sloppy marking by Mosquera and Agbadou left Calvin Lewis with a relatively easy header, even though José Sá started to come and then floundered back to his line. Some say Sá should be coming for crosses like that and getting off his line more, which is one of his weaknesses.

Leeds kept pushing and found gaps all over the pitch. Agbadou looked a shadow of himself compared to when he first arrived last season, and the back three looked like they had no communication and can’t play together.

Leeds then scored a good goal with a great strike from a free kick, but we can question whether it was actually a foul or if the players just ran into each other, which I think was harsh to give. Then came Sá’s positioning. The wall was correct, but Sá seemed too far to his right when he should have been a foot further left. It was odd positioning when he wouldn’t have been able to see the ball.

Leeds again quickly turned defence into attack. In a flash, Agbadou was out of position, and the strike was one Sá really should be saving. Wolves were 3-1 down at half-time, boos rang around Molineux, and fans started pointing at Fosun.

Second Half

The second half began with three changes that didn’t make much impact. There were a few decent chances for Wolves, with Munetsi having a good chance he maybe should have done better with, but Leeds closed the door. I doubt they will have an easier win this season, as Wolves made it too easy and left gaps everywhere.

Rodrigo at LWB doesn’t work. He’s a winger, and his instinct is to go forward. That showed today, with him pushing up the pitch too much and being out of position.

Tolu, even though he’s new to the league, didn’t have much impact. He stayed too central rather than trying to split the defence or pull defenders away, and the one time he did, Wolves scored with a big gap in the middle.

Wolves fans turned on Fosun, and it got toxic straight after the second half. You can understand why, when they sold three of our best players and replaced them with three or four average players. Sending Forbs and Sasa out on loan leaves us with only two regular strikers and a guy new to the league who will need time to adapt.

You can see it’s going to be a long, hard season again. From yesterday’s game, Wolves fans have had enough of what Fosun are doing to our club. Their time has run out, and Wolves fans aren’t having it anymore. You can’t keep doing this season in and season out and survive. It doesn’t look great, as we’ve played teams we should be picking up points against but still sit on zero points.

Vítor’s formation isn’t the problem. Against Leeds you should be attacking, and that showed with his team selection. What did show is that the back three can’t play together, Rodrigo can’t start at LWB, and maybe we should start playing two strikers together to help create gaps in the opposition.

Either way, Vítor needs to get Wolves playing and picking up points fast, otherwise Wolves will be in big trouble. With tough games coming up against Spurs, Brighton, Sunderland, and Burnley, if we play like we did in the last 65 minutes, I’m not sure where those points are coming from.