Wolves 1-0 Bolton Wanderers
By Tom Bason
September 20 2014
Wolves took home the three points today to move into third place in the league, albeit slightly fortuitously. Nouha Dicko gave Wolves a half time lead, but Wolves were grateful for Carl Ikeme's penalty save to secure the win.
- Given the reaction to Leon Clarke's performance against Charlton Athletic on Tuesday, no one could have been surprised that Nouha Dicko returned upfront, despite both of them looking better when paired together than they perhaps have done on their own. And with David Edwards returning to the starting XI, the smart money was always on George Saville dropping to the bench. The major surprise was the inclusion of Liam McAlinden on the bench at the expense of Michael Jacobs. At the time of writing, it’s not known whether Jacobs was injured or just left out. Bolton lined up in a pretty unremarkable 4-4-2 formation, with quite an aggressive pairing of Jay Spearing and Owen Garvan in the centre of midfield. Former Wolves striker Craig Davis was upfront, while Mark Davies had to settle for a place on the bench.
- Bolton started the game the better, winning a corner in the first few minutes. Chung-Yong Lee was the pick of their players, drifting inside to cause problems. Bolton had a great chance to take the lead as a loose ball was won in the centre of midfield, and Garvan was able to break forward beyond our midfield. Craig Davies pulled Danny Batth wide, and then was able to create the space to shoot, but it was straight at Carl Ikeme. I think that so far this season our biggest defensive issue has been opposition midfield runners breaking beyond our midfield. Playing two ball players like Kevin McDonald and Lee Evans together is great when we've got the ball, but they could perhaps be more aware of what's around them when the ball's lost.
- But we recovered from the poor start and were generally able to assert our dominance. Much of our game plan seemed to hinge on Lee Evans receiving the ball just to the left side of midfield, and pinging a ball out to the right. With Lee playing slightly inside, one of Matt Doherty and James Henry were generally available and made great inroads down the flank. As usual, the balls into the penalty area weren't of a great quality, but it was one of these that lead to the goal. A Doherty cross was deflected and spun towards the neat post. I'm not sure how much of a touch Dicko got on the ball, but it deceived goalkeeper Andy Lonergan and bounced in.
- While Kenny Jackett changed the game positively on Tuesday with a half time substitution, today's change arguably made just as much a difference. Dicko had been feeling his hamstring towards the end of the first half and was replaced by Clarke. While Dicko hadn't had his best game in the first 45, he was so much more effective than Clarke in just about everything that he did. The team just didn't click on the second half, and I don't quite know how much of a coincidence that in the last two games, we've played two halves with Clarke upfront by himself and the whole team were poor. Saying that, in the first half part of me was wishing Clarke was upfront to get on the end of some of the crosses being swung in. Instead, in the second half Clarke was very much feeding on scraps and loose balls. I also couldn’t quite work out whether players were deliberately not trusting him with the ball, and taking a different option. I wrote after the Fulham win that the players trusting each other is vital to the game plan, with every player needing to be happy to receive the ball under pressure, and be able to use it.
- So while we were very good in the first half, we didn't turn up in the second. We didn't get to grips with the midfield, and Bolton pretty much dominated the entire 45 minutes. They had a fantastic chance to equalise when Danny Batth brought down Jermaine Beckford in the penalty area. Batth has struggled against pace before, and it was all too easy for Beckford to elude him with a step over, and draw the tackle. Fortunately Ikeme was able to make a good save from Garvan's spot kick, and was up again quickly enough to gather a weakly struck rebound. If that was a warning sign, then it really wasn't heeded. Bolton continued to press, and after Ikeme blocked Liam Feeney's when one on one, he was also relieved to see Lee hit a shot straight down his neck.
- Kenny Jackett made a couple of changes to try and stem the tide. Firstly Dave Edwards was taken off for George Saville, with Lee Evans moving slightly further forward. Again, we perhaps had the issue of two ball players in midfield, and Evans failed to have much of an impact from that advanced role. When we didn't have the ball, much of the game was played behind him, and on the few occasions we actually had possession, he seemed intent on playing the killer ball to wrap up the victory. Incidentally, this is something that has noticeably changed in Bakary Sako's game of late; there have been a few times in recent weeks when I thought he'd shoot, but instead chose to cross or pass. The third and final change saw Tommy Rowe introduced for James Henry, with Sako switched to the right. I got the feeling Rowe wasn't quite in tune with the rest of the players. I'm not quite sure whether he was lacking match sharpness or just isn't used to playing in this system, but something didn't seem quite right.
- I wrote after the Rotherham match that we'd play worse than that and win. Well today was that occasion. I think the main worry was our lack of scoring chances in the first half when we were on top. For all our possession and attacking intent, it took a slightly fortuitous goal to give us the lead. People talk about needing that striker, but I'm not 100% that's the issue. It's not like Dicko is missing chance after chance. Sure I'd like him to be able to hold the ball up better, but I'm not expecting us to have Diego Costa upfront. I still think the midfield balance isn't quite right, and have reservations about David Edwards’ role in the team. It worked last season because he was playing deeper, and both he and Evans would break forward. But when the onus is purely on Edwards, he hasn't quite got it. He reminds me a little of Tim Cahill at Everton who will finish chances, but won't create them, and if he wasn't scoring goals, he probably wasn't worth his place in the team.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014:10:02:08:18:12 by toomb.
On a slightly different note, I was apparently sold a ticket in the North Bank for a seat belonging to a season ticket holder. When he turned up with his grandson and found me sitting there he, understandably, wasn't too pleased. A steward was called who checked our tickets and found me a seat in the row behind. The guy started complaining and got more and more uptight that the club had tried to sell his seat and said he wanted to complain to Morgan. Just before the game started, he and his grandson were whisked away and not seen again. I could have had his seat after all.
Quote:an angry wolf
Perhaps Tom you can update us on the fans parliament as there is little point asking for questions to pose if there is no feedback?
I can't do this until the official minutes are released by the club. Wrote my notes up last night, ready to go as soon as the club's are
toomb's twitter
Morgan and moxey can tek the @#$%& with so many empty seats.
Quote:an angry wolf
why can't you say what happened before the club issues its notes? I thought you attended in person
I do attend in person, I drove an hour and a half to get to Compton on Thursday night.
The club request that nothing is disclosed until the official minutes are released
toomb's twitter
WE might get to see how things look on Saturday I'm sure McDonald picked up a knock he looked a bit slower all game and with Dicko out I would have no confidence in Clarke leading the line.
Clarke seems to have a knack of arriving to every ball/situation a split second too late so he never ends up with a clear cut chance.
The fans are trying hard not to ruin the good vibes by letting their feelings be known about Clarke but it wont last long.
Everyone close your eyes and wish very hard for a premiership striker to come here on loan there has to be some Man u wonder kid available now they've spent billions on players.
Quote:an angry wolf
so the club won't allow fans representatives to report on what's been said until they publish their own version of politically correct jargon including the usual phrases not limited to building plans, in the market for players etc... how bizarre. If that's the case why do fan reps bother to attend at all as they could just email questions in not being allowed to report what went on.
To be fair angry, if the questions were just emailed in, a lot of the tougher ones would just be ignored or it would give them chance to think of a PR-type response.
Quote:an angry wolf
so the club won't allow fans representatives to report on what's been said until they publish their own version of politically correct jargon including the usual phrases not limited to building plans, in the market for players etc... how bizarre. If that's the case why do fan reps bother to attend at all as they could just email questions in not being allowed to report what went on.
My Fans Parliament notes are now up: http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s115/st187254.htm
toomb's twitter
Quote:petewolf
just got back from the midlands where i went to see family and also went to see the wolves bolton game.i thought the first half we played ok probably just about deserved the 1 - 0 lead but i dont agree with kj that we played really well and created loads of chances. evans played well, henry also, dicko always looked a threat. this all changed in the 2nd half where bolton were by far the better side, we were hanging on towards the end,i was glad when it was all over. even though dicko dident have a lot of chances in the first half, he chased everything, always put there defence under pressure and always found space, when clarke replaced him this all changed, HE WAS F#CKING USELESS ive always thought he was bad, but not that bad, he dident find space/ dident chase anything/dident have a f#cking clue, he would start to run, then just give up, there was no movement from him, he looked like a little boy lost with his head down all the time, i nearly felt sorry for him. i dont agree with toomb at all, weve got to get a striker in, or if dicko's out play van la parra up there instead my honest opinion is, clarke looks shot
I didn't say we don't need to get a striker in, I said that this isn't the only issue. I think that for the amount of possession and attacking intent we've had, we haven't created a lot of chances, and this isn't necessarily down to the strikers
toomb's twitter
An injury to any keep position thru the spine would be quite damaging right now: Ikeme, Stears/battman, Ronald or Dicko.
Attack is the one that worries me most as the alternative options (Clarke and McAlindon) simply aren't an alternative to our first option. Equally if we go 2-up, these boys don't offer anything for the opposition to fear.
Quote:petewolf
you said i ime not 100%, well i am
You're 100% sure about what? That the only reason we're not scoring more is because of the strikers? You said yourself that Dicko didn't get many chances - could this not be because they're not being created?
toomb's twitter
Liverpool aren't a worse side than last season, but Suarez was always sniffing out defenders.
Equally, why was it that LC was scoring for fun at Cov, and yet he looks the complete donkey that left us all those years ago.
Answers on a postcard to KJ!
Not saying that I want us to play 2 upfront, but I think this might be why Clarke looked so good alongside Callum Wilson last season, and has struggled on his own here. Don't forget that when he signed he was playing just in behind Dicko - it's likely KJ wanted those two to play together, not one or the other
toomb's twitter
Quote:toombQuote:petewolf
you said i ime not 100%, well i am
You're 100% sure about what? That the only reason we're not scoring more is because of the strikers? You said yourself that Dicko didn't get many chances - could this not be because they're not being created?
ime 100% on, giving the other teams a threat,working your b#llocks off giving the other team something to worry about, even if the chances are not being created for you , clarke dosent do that, dicko does, the threat went when he went off.
Quote:toomb
. Similarly, I actually thought that Clarke and Liam McAlinden looked our most promising strike pairing we've seen in ages.
Quote:petewolf
ime not sure if your defending clarke toomb, or defending the club for not getting a decent back up to dicko, the way i look at it is you defend from the front as a team, even if your not attacking, clarke dosent do that, and going forward he's worse
I've said all along we need a striker. Just saying that Clarke has looked poor when on his own, and has looked decent when in a pairing
Quote:an angry wolfQuote:toomb
. Similarly, I actually thought that Clarke and Liam McAlinden looked our most promising strike pairing we've seen in ages.
This was obviously from a sample size of very little data
toomb's twitter