Probably a fair result on the balance of play wasn’t it?
I thought Wolves came out fighting and enjoyed more of the play in the first 45. Once again though, the major talking point is about a decision that didn’t go our way. There was one person inside the whole of Molineux who couldn’t see Doyle was being wrestled over by Dunne, but unfortunately, he was the man with the whistle. That being said, Doyle was far too honest and I’m a big believer that if you don’t go down in the box, you won’t get the decision. And so it proved.
SEB - Off the mark with a pressure penalty
Villa are obviously at their best when breaking on teams and you can see they’re always trying to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. I thought Wolves did a good job of keeping their shape and making life difficult for their best players to find space. The back four were all excellent, as were Henry and Castillo in front of them. More on that later.
By the end though, we were glad to get a point. Villa moved players around in the second half and enjoyed far more of the ball. So when we went a goal down with ten minutes left, I was struggling to see a way back for us.
But the one moment of real quality got us the penalty, when Milijas engineered that clever backheel and Kightly turned his man, forcing Sidwell into the challenge. And when the chips are down, there’s still only one man I’d want standing over the ball. I know SEB missed two pens last season, but I’d always back him to find the net. That was a pressure kick and the manner in which he slammed it home tells you all you need to know about our number 9.
So honours even, despite a late surge and some aerial bombardment from Wolves.
For me, the stars of the show were the back four or back six if you count the two holding midfielders. Berra and Craddock were big and strong against Carew, Elokobi defended well (but was once again poor in possession) but the real star of the show has to be Zubar. That’s the first time I’ve seen him play and boy did he impress me. Good in the air, decent on the deck and incredibly energetic. I bet Ashley Young will be glad he doesn’t have to come up against him every week. That’s only his second proper start, but if it’s a sign of things to come, I’ll be very happy with that bit of business.
On the way to the ground, Ben caught up with me and said Castillo was playing. This pleased me a great deal and I think his performance showed why. He’s just brilliant at breaking up play and destroying opposition attacks. I like the balance he brings to our side and alongside the quite magnificent Karl Henry, he provided the support our back four needed.
I was also happy to see a much brighter performance from SEB. I’ve already mentioned his penalty, but I thought his overall game was impressive, holding the ball up well and bringing others into play. Goals will come if carries on in the same manner and hopefully the dream partnership he shares with Doyle can fire us to safety. I’m confident in that respect.
As you can probably tell, I saw a lot of positives once again from Saturday’s performance. But I’m not deluded, we need to start putting some wins on the board. And with three horrendous fixtures to come now, that won’t be easy. I think we need to get something next week at Stoke and then beat Blues at the end of November. Sandwiched in the middle are games against Arsenal and Chelsea, which are likely to add nothing to our points tally.
It’d be boring if it was easy though.
Ben’s Player ratings
Hennessey: His performances are now starting to match his 6ft 5in frame. More commanding, visibly more confident, and more reassuring to see him in this form. No chance with the goal. Keep it up Wayne! 7/10
Ronald Zubar: One of many huge positives from the game. Big, strong, quick, good on the ball, and barely gave Ashley Young a sniff. Being hyper-critical, could he have cleaned out the ball on the touchline in the build up to Villa’s goal? A fantastic display none-the-less begging one question: Where’s he been all season?! 8/10
Christophe Berra: Berra looks to be relishing the rigors of the Premiership and stood up to Carew and Agbonlahor well. So much so that Carew was subbed early. Another contender for man-of-the-match with a performance full of strength and honesty. Seems to be enjoying Craddock’s company alongside him too. 8/10
Jody Craddock: Like Berra, displaying the heart of a lion, and the presence of a giant. Say what you like about Jody, but he bleeds for the cause and stands up to anything thrown at him. As Joni Mitchell once sang: “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” and we sure have missed him when he’s not been around. A leader. Could he have got closer to Agbonlahor for Villa’s opener though? 8/10
George Elokobi: My mate reckons he’s lost weight. I just think he’s wearing a bigger shirt! His chest thumping antics at the final whistle showed us how much the performance meant to him, and he deserved his rousing send-off at the final whistle. Kept Milner quiet which is no mean feat, was tigerish in the tackle, and typified the team’s display with a whole hearted display. His distribution still needs work, but we’ll forgive him that for now. 7/10
Michael Kightly: Best display for us since coming back from injury. Full of industry and great to see him back. Not as much chalk on his boots as usual, but offers us something that we have missed… A genuine outlet. Great control, neat touches and won us the all important penalty. Getting back to his best. 7/10
Karl Henry: Oh Karl Henry! His first half performance was the best 45 minutes I have ever seen a Wolves midfielder play in my lifetime. Phenomenal gut busting display. Won every tackle, never mis-placed a pass, and made Villa’s midfield 2 of Sidwell and Petrov look distinctly average. I wouldn’t swap him for either of those two. Deserved his MOM and I’m so close to giving him a 10/10. Shame he only ever passes backwards and sideways like a crab eh? 9/10
Segundo Castillo: Can’t be a coincidence that Henry has his best game in a Wolves shirt when the big Columbian is alongside him? Henry must love it when Castillo is in the team. Destructive, tough as teak, and never gave Villa a second. They must be sick of the sight of him. First time I have seen him and he looked far more perceptive than I imagined he would. Seemed to read the game excellently. It meant he didn’t so much have to win tackles, as he had already nipped in to get there first. Could be our most important signing behind Doyle. 8/10
Dave Edwards: Is there a more selfless, willing player than the Shropshire Lad? A few round me had him as their MOM, and can see why. When we’ve narrowed our home pitch and Edwards is playing on the left, you’re naturally going to lose the shape of 08/09. But that’s exactly what we wanted on Saturday, as we suffocated the life out of Villa. Thanks to Dave and others, we keep hearing the opposition droning on about being well below par. (EG Sunderland, Fulham, Everton and now Villa) Funny that. Naturally tired near the end and subbed. 8/10
SEB: So thrilled to see him bang that penalty in. Another huge, huge positive was seeing him open his account. Hope it will be the start of many. He was direct, strong, and stood up to Villa’s brute force at the back very well. Always showed for the ball, wanting to get involved and looks to be getting back to something like his best. Also showing signs of a promising partnership with Doyle. 7/10
Doyle: I love him. Almost as much as Richard Dunne loves referee Peter Walton, who should have sent off the big oaf in the first 5mins for a desperate couple of challenges on him in the box, let alone give us a penalty. Holds it up brilliantly, great first touch, and superb movement. Also far stronger than many would think, as shown by the tussle with Dunne. He already looks a steal for £6.5million. Always seems to have more time on the ball somehow, the sign of a class act. 8/10
Subs:
Nenad Milijas: Made an impact from the bench, instrumental in winning us the pen. Good touches and great set-play delivery 6/10
Greg Halford: Made one crucial block late in the second half which surely denied Villa a winner. His long throws also caused some panic . 6/10
Chris Iwelumo: Welcome back big man! Got some time at the end to rough up the Villa defence. Won some flick-ons and reminded us of what we have missed. Could be useful at the Britannia. 6/10
And finally, the fans:
It’s atmospheres like Saturday that are conveniently forgotten when the Express & Star need to find an excuse for a poor display. That fabled ‘Molineux Factor’, those fickle supporters who always get on the team’s back after 15 mins… You know, the ones who are to blame for Keogh not scoring more, or Lee Naylor being no good.
I wonder if the club’s PR machine, the local rag, or Jez Moxey will make reference to those nasty fans after Saturday? I doubt it. They sang for 90mins, belittled Villa’s pathetic repertoire and produced a display as impressive as the team. Fantastic, witty array of songs, awesome noise, and a deafening song or two for Big Mick from the South Bank. A day when I was as proud to be wearing my Wolves shirt and will refer to the next time some t**t blames me and everyone else for a defeat.
Spot on Thomas – exactly the way I saw it mate. One point i would add is that we are just missing that extra bit of guile, the killer pass in the final third.
The best defensive wolves display for quite some time. Castillo and Zubar have become real assets and I think that David Edwards is playing fantastic at the moment. A solid performance from everyone and I can’t real fault anyone. Big Chris looked really up for it when he came on and I look forward to seeing him in action once again.
I saw a fantastic Wolves display with plenty of possesion but without carving out a real goal scoring chance, but apart from their goal Villa didn’t either. I for one thought that out keepr would have been called into action a lot more than he was. Which is testement to how well our back four played.
I agree with Matt, we do lack creativity, but I think we have to sacrifice that in order to make ourselves hard to beat. Villa are a bonified top 6 team that we made look very ordinary on on the back of these two results I really do believe we can compete and survive in this leauge (So does Alan Hanson).
Well done boys!!!
I do agree with both of you about this attacking, creativity issue.I know it’s early to be thinking about January transfers, but if we can stay out the bottom three until Christmas then sign a experienced creative player in that window then I’m sure we can survive.
Also Thomas, what’s this little grey man doing next to my name?
I agree with the creativity issue, but like Pete says, we have to sacrifice that bit of quality that players like Milijas and Jarvis can provide in favour of being more solid defensively.
As this match showed, the option is always there to bring these players on from the bench to change the game.
Hallam, I’ve been messing around with a few things this morning, hence why the little grey man appeared, but he should be gone now. A work in progress.
i just wanted the players to have a shot from outside the box. that was all i could fault really. have a pop and work brad friedel. the first 45 we were brilliant but jsut literally had nothing to show for it!
I think we have the creativity but maybe lacking the belief, which is probably why, as Sam mentions, we never seem to want to take the shot on. We are holding our own at the moment and the wins will come starting this week against Sjoke Shitty – who had their usual less than 30% possession but won the game against Spurs. This was a good result for us and I feel thay may be over confident and dismiss us too lightly. Then onto Chealski and Arsenal. I just have a feeling we will nick a win against one of these teams, as unlikely as it sounds! My fingers are crossed!
I’m gonna play Devils’s Advocate…. that’s the last of the ten “easy” games start to the season. We have 9 points, ergo, by average, we will finish with 34. That won’t be enough to keep us up. The decisions that went against us …Sunderland, Pompey, Villa… could have cost us 6 points, and PL football again next season. Time to stop being Mr nice guys and hit the deck when fouled.
Dazza – How do you think that Everton and Villa are easy games? Two top performances and two decent results. Also 34/35 points was enough to keep Hull up and also Albion a few years back.
Good performance by the boys. It looks as if we are going to need something from Stoke though with two of the big four on the horizon, and they just got a great result at spurs (like it or not jed). I predict after the game against Chelsea that we’ll be in the bottom three so the home games that follow will be vital must winners.
But i’ve seen enough in the last two games to believe we will stay up!
Thanks for the reminder Rich! :’(
I like the realisation here that we need to sacrifice creativity for solidity. It shows an intelligent lack of naivety, and also shows an awareness that more solidity is required for certain gaimes than others. My thoughts (which I’ve shamelessly stolen from 606) is that if we want to ratchet up the creativity, why not play Milijas on the left (not as a winger, as a left midfielder) to spray his passes without disrupting the fantastic partnership of Castillo and Henry (who I’m gladder all that time that I paid the extra 8 quid or whatever last year to put his name on my shirt).
I don’t think we can afford creativity down both flanks (esp as we don’t play a target man striker) all of the time, but with Miljas for Edwards (or as an impact sub) we could become devastating going forward.
t’OM- Leave Edwards alone. He’s been quality this season. Better than Milijas who, to me, seems verv lazy and I would pick Edwards over him everytime.
I would love nothing more than to turn over Stoke next saturday. But being the fool I am I’ve booked a driving lesson for half 4 so I can’t listen to or stream the game ! I might try to hide myself from the results until MOTD.
Hey, I’m a massive fan of Edwards, don’t get me wrong. A bloke I play (played before I did my ACL goalkeeping) cricket with knew him when he was at Shrewsbury and apparently he’s a really nice guy as well as a cracker of a footballer.
I’m just saying that he is more graft than guile, and thus should be used to shut games down rather than open them up. I think we should be shutting down at least one flank at least 2/3 of the time (when Edwards should start), however, if we want to open games up, Milijas on the left might be the options. Against the top teams (inlc Villa) and away from home I’d be starting DE.
t’OM.
I played cricket once!
Thanks for that EmeraldPete. I’ve played cricket for quite a while, at a decent level, and will play again when my knee is fixed. Why I thought it is relevant is Hallam thought I was having a dip at Edwards, however, I was trying to point out that I have a soft spot for him through a (rather tenuous) personal connection and thus wouldn’t have a go at him.
I shook Mike Gattings hand once if that counts! He didn’t mention Dave Edwards though.
I know George Friend’s brother. Surely this counts in some way?
But regarding Edwards I do see where you’re coming from just to me I’d rather have him instead of Milijas in the team every day of the week.
Or maybe it’s just Milijas is yet to impress me…
By advocating more guile and creativity i didnt mean breaking up the partnership of Henry and Castillo which I believe has been the bedrock of our best performances. Neither would I look to play two out and out wingers like last year – to me this would be pure suicide.
Against some teams it may be worth looking to Millijas who i believe possesses that killer pass, or at the very least as an impact sub with 30 mins to go. So who would he replace? To me its between Edwards or Kites. Jarvis at the moment needs to work on that end product.
Dave Edwards is an enigma to me, havent quite made up my mind about him. Some games he runs around like a headless chicken and offers, well not a lot. He’ll then comes on and make a big impact as a sub. He does some things well and then other simple things not so well. Cant argue that he has a great engine, puts a foot in well, breaks away with ball and takes the pressure off the defence. But he doesnt possess the guile and skill to create chances for Seb and Doyle which arguably we need the most.
Kites is coming back from injury, isnt 100% but I question whether he is equipped to make it in the big league. Needs to develop a trick or two to beat his man. Also tracking back with midfield runners is not his strong point.
MM needs to rotate and find the answer – in this league the right subs cn change games.
Matt- How can you question Kightly? This guy has been our best player for the last 3 years. I think he’s looked ok so far and is not yet 100%, he provided the spark that forced Sidwell to chop him down on saturday. Lets not forget he was playing in the conference before we picked him up. Class act, has to play, no question
Cheap shots aside, do we agree then with the proposition that a midfield 4 of Milijas – Henry – Castillo – Kightly is desirable if we want to open sides up, or the option of replacing Dave Edwards with Milijas if we are chasing a game?
Rich
Happy to discuss the merits of Kites with you a bit more. Dont get me wrong I am in no way shape or form saying the lad is a bad player, far from it.
Personally I dont think he has been our best player over the last three years because he has hasnt played three full years with us yet, he hasn’t won any player of the season awards, SEB and Foley were IMHO better by quite a distance and he hasnt played as many games due to injuries.
I acknowledged that he isn’t fit but also understand that this is a guy that has come from non-league football, made great strides but also has a lot to learn and develop in order to compete in the big league. I simply stated two areas where there is a need for development.
I would argue that the spark you refer to against Villa was in fact the lovely backheel into Kites’ path which forced Sidwell off balance and subsequently to lunge.
Kites is a young player adapting to the new league, trying to get fully fit so question marks have to surround him as to whether he can make the step up – I sorely hope he does.
t@OM – I think we can afford to rotate Javis, Kightly, Millijas and Edwards throughout the season dependant upon who provides the form and who we play against – each one offers something different.
One thing for me is vital and that is Henry and Castillo stay put and continue to show the form they have done this season.
Matt- Sorry mate, i think i may have been a bit forceful with my opinion. Sure, it was a lovely back heel but Kites burst onto it and had Sidwell panicking. He may not have been good for a whole season, but for me the best under Mick’s whole reign closely followed by SEB and Foley.
I would point to the example of Ashley Young. Eyebrows were raised when Villa splashed 11 million on him from Watford, but he’s been worth every penny. I’m hoping Kites will do similarly.
It seems the general consenses it that we shouldn’t play with two wingers. If this is the case surely we need one player on a flank – be it left or right – that someone can create that spark and force the oppo – ie Sidwell – to act
Rich – no worries.