Wolves 5 Millwall 0

September 21, 2011 By

If Carlsberg did football matches, then they’d be hard pushed to beat what Carling hosted at Molineux last night.

A stunning free kick, a goal of the season contender, a Roy of the Rovers story and most important of all…

…A couple of performances that simply can’t be ignored when selecting the team for Saturday.

Who's following me to Anfield then?!

While it will take a bit longer yet to completely erase the memory of Saturday’s no-show, this performance went further than most could have imagined in easing the pain.

It wasn’t so much the scoreline either, but more the sight of Dave Edwards,  Adlene Guedioura and Adam Hammill, who simply have to feature at Anfield at some stage.

In a perverse way, the only negative was in the overall positive itself.

Namely, that we looked fluid, creative and largely elusive for Millwall as we drifted ‘in behind lines’ and interchanged frequently, making you wonder what could have been if we’d have showed similar aptitude three days earlier.

The static, rigid, clueless defeat against QPR was a world away from what we saw last night, albeit against a limited team, featuring the lumbering Darren Ward in a statuesque testimony to a bygone era.

Adding some of our bigger hitters to a similar 4-5-1 set-up will surely hold us in better stead for the Premiership tests that await, particularly if Fletcher is out and the new-found midfield options available to us.

For most reporters inside Molineux, the match report will be the easiest they will have to write all season.

The game was over after six minutes.

What will be more difficult to decipher is whether Mick will want to play any of last night’s star turns on Saturday.

So without further ado, here is a Wolves Blog perspective, starting with the question: “Should he be involved on Saturday?”

De Vries: No. But like Hahnemann before him, I wouldn’t be the slightest bit worried if he did. Looked very assured and commanding.

Doherty: No. But looks a whole lot more assured than the last time I saw him v Doncaster (away) in the cup. Didn’t put a foot wrong and just been rewarded with a contract extension. One to watch.

Elokobi: No. Good on George though. An imposing performance and always showing for the ball which after Saturday’s shocker, deserves credit. Rewarded with a goal and a quite brilliant block to deny a near certain goal at the 2-0 stage.

Berra: YES! As per most of the season, Berra looked commanding, if largely untested. Vocal too, which was nice to hear.

Stearman: YES! He’s an uncompromising, pacy defender and looked assured at centre half. Will revert to right back and he won’t let anyone down.

Hunt: No: But off the bench for me. Waspish and committed from the very first whistle, but I wouldn’t start him.

Hammill: YES! Here’s why I wouldn’t start Hunt. What has Adam got to do to get a start? Brilliant free kick and even better than that, a direct performance full of attacking intent. Plus, the added spice of a game against his home town team means he should start – if we are playing this system.

Guedioura: YES! Yes, yes and thrice yes. Not just for his wonder-goal or equally impressive run and cross for Elokobi’s goal, but for his ability to make more correct decisions than anyone else, his presence and eye for a pass. Either in a 4-5-1 in the middle or if Fletcher is fit, in a 4-4-2 as a narrow ‘wide man.’ He has to play!

Milijas: No. He looked neat and tidy, sitting a bit deeper and marshalling the midfield, but didn’t catch the eye enough to suggest he should get a game at the scene of his finest hour in a Wolves shirt.

Edwards: No. But off the bench, definitely. If Mick does play him off Doyle on Saturday you won’t hear me complaining. He was brilliant last night. So energetic, lively and difficult to mark. To start him at Anfield after so long out just feels a little bit ‘in at the deep end’ in my opinion.

Vokes: No. Looks cumbersome and one-dimensional. Possibly an option off the bench but doesn’t appear to be the answer we are looking for.

And a final mention for James Spray: Please keep him in and around the squad Mick. Please don’t loan him out to some fair to middling League 2 side before he vanishes off the face of WV1. He looked quicker and generally more lively than Vokes and if either of the two were to be farmed out, I’d prefer it to be Sam.

Man Utd 3 Wolves 2

October 27, 2010 By

I’ll keep this short and to the point.

A highly irritating defeat, given the overall balance of play and the chances we created but you simply can’t afford to be profligate in front of goal at Old Trafford and expect to get a result.

Big George scored his first goal for Wolves

With that said, rather than go into detail, here are just one or two thoughts on each player’s individual performance:

Hennessy – Handled and kicked well throughout. Wasn’t at fault for any of the goals, but will be disappointed to have shipped three in the second half.

Foley – A brilliant performance both defensively and going forward, capped with a neat finish for the second goal.

Berra – You know what you get from the Scotsman. Good in the air and largely reliable but his lack of pace sometimes gets him in trouble.

Mouyokolo – Good in the air, a nice turn of pace and some clever distribution. The first time I’ve seen this guy properly and he was impressive. Could he challenge Stearman for a place on Saturday?

Elokobi – I think big George can be pretty pleased with his effort. Bebe stumbled his way passed a few times, but on the whole, our giant full-back came out on top. Timed his run perfectly to power home his first goal for Wolves and must surely be pushing Ward hard for a game at left-back.

Hunt – In his first competitive start, Hunt was pretty slow to get going and had an appalling first half hour. Looked sharper in the second half though and came close to giving us the lead, but could only hit the top of the bar from a glorious chance. Could and probably should start against City on Saturday.

Mancienne – On the huge Old Trafford pitch and with only Jones for company in the middle, the Chelsea youngster struggled to anchor the midfield as well as he has in previous games, but probably did as well as he could have under the circumstances.

Jones – Hit and miss from David Jones for me. Picked out some clever passes and was often the player giving Jarvis the ammunition to cause havoc, but he does have the tendency to dawdle on the ball and lose possession in his own half. Certainly looks more comfortable in a five man midfield than a four.

Jarvis – Man of the Match and not just for Wolves either. Easily the most dangerous looking player on the pitch and caused United all kinds of headaches with his pace and trickery. Sir Alex even sent Gary Neville on with obvious instructions to stop our winger getting in behind, but Jarvo just dropped his shoulder and sped passed the veteran without breaking sweat.

Fletcher – Sorry to say it, but Fletch really irritated me throughout this game. Aside from the intelligent flick inside for Foley’s goal, he was largely anonymous and nothing he tried seem to come off. At such an early stage, you’ve got to be willing to put it down to a bad day at the office, but for a £7 million striker, he must do better.

SEB – In stark contrast to Fletcher, SEB really impressed me. Had his work cut out against Chris Smalling but held the ball up when he could, picked out his passes and came within a whisker of finding the back of the net, first with a fierce drive that was blocked on route to goal and then with a sweetly struck effort that flew agonisingly wide with the keeper rooted to the spot.

Mick McCarthy - I applaud Mick for putting out a strong side and giving United a real game, but the substitutions towards the end defied logic. Surely Jarvis and SEB could have managed five minutes more to see if they could win us the game inside the 90 minutes. Fair enough, take them off if we’re into extra-time, but I think I speak for the overwhelming majority of Wolves supporters when I say I’d have liked to have seen those two players given the chance to finish the job.

Man Utd Vs Wolves Preview

October 26, 2010 By

When it comes to the League Cup, I’ll hold my hand up and admit I’ve been a fair-weather fan.

I didn’t go to our extra-time wins against Southend and Notts County, nor did I even bother doing a match report for either.

Danny Wellbeck scored the only goal in last season's tie

But now Wolves are heading to Old Trafford competing for a place in the quarter-finals, things have got that little bit more interesting.

So yes, I’m crawling out of the woodwork.

In fact, we all should be, considering Wolves haven’t made it to the quarters since Coca-Cola sponsored the competition 15 years ago.

Come, join me.

Realistically though, what are our chances against the only side in England yet to have been defeated in any competition thus far?

Well, United will be fielding a second-string, so if Mick picks a decent eleven, there’s every chance we could, at the very least, give them a run for their money. He’s been quoted as saying:

“It’s a full strength team that’s going out. There are a few changes from Saturday but it’s a first-team that’s playing – nothing in any shape or manner of a reserve team by any stretch of the imagination.”

I won’t hold my breath, considering he said the same thing last season after he’d changed all 10 outfield players for the league game.

This is something like the team I’d expect to see:

Hennessy

Elokobi
Mouyokolo
Stearman
Foley

Mujangi-Bia
Mancienne
Edwards
Hunt

Fletcher
SEB

Mick is bound to give Hennessy, Elokobi, Mouyokolo and SEB a run-out. Mancienne will be fresh after his weekend off, so he’ll almost certainly play and the remainder are those who either need a game to regain fitness or simply have to play as there’s nobody else.

I wouldn’t expect to see the likes of young Danny Batth starting at Old Trafford, but he and other youngsters could be named amongst the substitutes.

Perhaps Mick will surprise me by picking a stronger eleven, but I imagine he’ll consider Saturday’s home game against City the priority and rest the likes of Doyle, Jarvis and Milijas.

As for a prediction, I feel we’ll probably come up short, as United always seem to find a way of winning these games. Last season, even with a man advantage for nearly the whole game, they still beat us comfortably, which was highly depressing.

I’ll go for 3-2 to United. (This doesn’t count towards the Prediction League by the way. That’s only for Premier League games.)

If you’re making the trip to Old Trafford, have a great time and get behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.