Wolves Blog

It's a blog. About the Wolves.

Ben Rasmin

Wolves 1 Olympiakos 0

Blog, Europa League

How are the nerves?

Wolves, as we so often do, did it the hard way.

Man on the spot – the best penalty taker in the world?

Olympiakos’ stand-in keeper may have gifted us the opener, but this was anything but plain sailing.

I’m sure that most of you were thinking we’d stepped into the Twilight Zone when VAR intervened on our behalf and denied the visitor’s a deserved equaliser.

Though the incident did little to abate my frustration with the current incarnation of the system, it was pleasant to fleetingly experience the good fortune usually reserved for the Premier League’s beloved Big Six. 

But after that, we were relying on our own defensive excellence to get us through the tie.

It wasn’t a particularly pleasant evening for Doherty or Vinagre, but their three counterparts in the heart of our defence did a wonderful job of keeping the Greeks at bay.

Not to mention Rui Patricio, who arguably turned in his best performance in old gold (or lime green to be precise). 

The Portuguese stopper had to come to the rescue on more than one occasion, repelling a number of clear-cut chances with the sort of airborne agility usually reserved for Clark Kent’s alter ego. 

And let’s not forget Raul Jimenez, who turned in yet another tireless performance up top. 

Regardless of how the result was achieved, we’re in the last 8 of the Europa League.

Just let that sink in for a minute. 

Four years ago, under the not-so-wily management of Walter Zenga, we were contesting a 2-2 draw with Rotherham. 

And now, after three wonderful years of unforeseen progress, we’re two games from our first European final in 48 years.

Can we go all the way? It’s certainly a tough route to the final, starting on Tuesday against serial competition winners Sevilla.

But, as Nuno put it so beautifully, dreaming is for free.

Wolves 2 Crystal Palace 0

Blog, Crystal Palace

If this had the feeling of a cup final beforehand, it all felt fairly routine by the finish.

Though we were frustratingly slow out of the gate yet again, we got the job done.

Jonny scored the second goal superbly

Our habit of starting games slowly is likely to remain the endearing mystery of this season, as was our inability to beat (or even take a point against) Huddersfield last term. 

But what we lack in the first 45, we more than make up for in the second.

With Traore on song, it proved a tough evening for an already struggling Palace side.

Spare a thought for young left back Tyrick Mitchell, who was given the thankless task of repressing our resident Spanish speedster. 

The rookie had a luckless evening, compounded when he was well and truly rinsed in the build-up to the second goal.

Not that things were much easier for the rest of the Palace backline, who simply failed to handle our slick front three once they got up and running. 

Though there was no goal for Jimenez, it was great to see Podence bag his first in a Wolves shirt. Another bright showing from the January signing suggests he can be a big player for us next season.   

At the other end of the field, Dendoncker once again underlined his importance by effortlessly slotting into the back three. In my opinion, he’s been one of the standout performers since the restart.

And so, with our destiny in our own hands, we turn to a mouth-watering final day fixture at Stamford Bridge.

Life certainly would have been easier had we not slipped up against Sheffield United and Burnley, but it’s hard to have any gripes after another fantastic season of progress.

Come what may, Wolves remain very much on the up. 

Continued success makes it difficult to reflect on the journey we have been on since Nuno arrived, but it’s important we maintain perspective.

It’s remarkable to think that we are in with a chance of finishing above both Arsenal and Spurs, given we were firing blanks at home to MK Dons not so long ago. The fact we still have at least one more European tie to contest is even more impressive.

So, let’s buckle up and see what the crescendo of this rollercoaster season looks like. A little more of what we showed tonight would do the trick.

Wolves 0 Arsenal 2

Arsenal, Blog

I’d begun to forget what it’s like to be annoyed after a Wolves game.

The aching sense of disappointment that follows such a listless performance is something we’ve not experienced on too many occasions over the last three years.

Game over and a deserved Arsenal victory

For that reason, we can of course forgive Nuno’s charges for having an off day.

They have been excellent this season, as well all know. 

And credit to Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, who arrived with a game plan and executed it meticulously.

That being said, it’d be wrong to ignore the clear and obvious failings that were on show this afternoon.

This was probably our worst performance since the early season shellacking at the hands of Chelsea. 

Wolves were uncharacteristically meek in their approach, failing to turn up in the first half and scarcely improving in the second.

Once the Gunners had got to grips with Matt Doherty’s questionable Rory Delap impersonation, they didn’t need to do much to keep us at bay.

With Adama and Raul both off the pace, there wasn’t much attacking impetus on show.  

And though we huffed and puffed at the beginning of the second half, you never really got the feeling that we were going to turn the game on its head. 

With Lacazette’s smart finish ending our hopes of a turnaround, attention turns to a crucial trip to Bramall Lane.

We tend to respond well to a setback, so let’s hope we’re celebrating again before Wednesday’s out.  

Wolves 1 Bournemouth 0

AFC Bournemouth, Blog

We’ve all had to keep ourselves occupied lately.

Whether you’re working, furloughed, unemployed or other I suspect you’ve found things to keep you sane.

Raul of the Rovers (the Rovers in this instance being the Wolves)

One of the things I’ve enjoyed is catching up on the many great Wolves podcasts that are out there. It’s helped keep me tethered to something that quite literally takes up most of my social life.

As well as the expected chat about our top four prospects, many of the episodes I’ve listened to have harked back to yesteryear and allowed me to broaden my knowledge of all things gold and black.

And there was something refreshingly throwback about aspects of our performance tonight.

Our winner was almost Roy of the Rovers-esque in its simplicity, with the buccaneering Adama laying it on a plate once again for an imperious Jimenez.

The way that the former had swashbuckled through the Bournemouth team in the first-half was more akin to a kid in a playground, as was Neto’s attempts at scoring a late wonder goal.

Each instance showed that Nuno’s team, while one of the most well-regimented in the league, is not one to over-complicate things for the sake of being clever.

Put simply, they get the job done.

And that’s what they had to do tonight against a dogged but ultimately uninspiring Bournemouth team.  

Let’s be frank, this was a dull and mostly uneventful game of football and no amount of spin could make you believe otherwise.

Mind you, BT Sport’s simulated crowd noise did temporarily make me question it by piping in the most raucous Bournemouth crowd I’ve heard! 

But we’ve crucially found a way of winning these sort of encounters, with one after-game tweet noting that we have now taken 26 points from games against the bottom six (as opposed to 14 last season).

Such habits point towards a team capable of maintaining, or perhaps even bettering, its current lofty position in the table.

We all know that we’ll hear no such talk from the gaffer though, with eyes swiftly turning to Villa Park.

Wolves 0 Leicester City 0

Blog, Leicester City

Perhaps it’s fitting that we endured a game as maddening as this in the week we announced plans to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this blog.

After all, chronicling the trials and tribulations of this great club can so often be a test of one’s mental and physical resolve. 

Asking the question – the skipper wasn’t happy

And there’s no denying that this was one of the most frustrating fixtures Molineux has hosted for some time.

Putting the elephant in the room to one side for a moment, it was a game we should have won comfortably.

Leicester, barring a few neat passages of play in the first half, didn’t look like a team befitting of their lofty league position and were there for the taking. 

Neto, Dendoncker and, above all else, Jimenez should have put the Foxes to the sword.

With the front three of Barnes, Perez and Vardy virtually non-existent throughout, a routine victory should have been enjoyed. 

And yet, we did score. 

Willy Boly’s first-half strike was legitimate in the eyes of every spectator other than the cack-handed officials at Stockley Park, who reared their ugly heads once again to remind everyone of just how inept the Premier League’s incarnation of VAR is. 

At this point, I’m convinced that we have been served up this farcical version because it does exactly what it did tonight – give dreary television pundits, headline-hungry journalists and the football Twitterati something to debate. 

Football has become so beholden to its cash cow that it has blithely forsaken the people whose ardent support earned it the moniker of ‘the beautiful game’. 

Amazon, BT, Sky Sports and the rest of the ‘sports entertainment’ mafioso care not for our ire – in fact, they revel in it.

To them, tonight’s result is ay okay. Something for people to chew on until whatever controversy tomorrow’s fixtures bring. 

Will we still have the heart to blog about this in another 10 years’ time if this is the way football is going? 

Probably. After all, we’ve seen worse over the years. 

But that doesn’t make this bitter pill any easier to swallow. 

We should be celebrating a win. Instead, we’re cursing a referee in a broom cupboard. 

Wolves 1 Liverpool 2

Blog, Liverpool

That was tough to take.

For the second time in less than a month, we went toe-to-toe with the world champions.

Traore laid on the goal and was a constant menace to Liverpool’s back four

And while there was thankfully no interference from VAR on this occasion, this defeat feels even crueller. 

We were good value for a point in the reverse fixture, but nothing more.

Tonight, Wolves could and arguably should have won the game.

Call me biased, but I don’t think I’ve seen a side dominate Liverpool like we did in the second half. 

For a good period of the game, Jurgen Klopp’s side were hanging on for dear life. 

It’s easy to see why the Reds have conceded only 15 goals this season, but our front three had their back four on the ropes for much of the game. 

Not even the imperious Van Dijk could keep up with our dynamic trio, who reaped havoc under the lights of a misty Molineux.

Pedro Neto continues to dazzle, whether out on the left or playing off a front two.  

At 19 years of age, his talent is precocious but there’s no doubt we have a hell of a prospect on our hands.

I rate Alexander-Arnold as the best right back around, but our teenage starlet has had the better of him on two occasions this season.

Similar can be said about Traore, who absolutely terrorised the equally lauded Robertson all night long.

At this point, so much has been said about our buccaneering Spaniard that it seems an exercise in folly to offer up any more superlatives. 

But it’d be wrong to let a performance like that pass without stating the obvious, which is that on current form we have one of the best attacking players on the planet.

There is just no stopping Adama when he is at full pelt. He is a total one off, and we’re lucky to have him. 

Perhaps nobody is more grateful than Raul, who once again reaped the benefits of our wing play. His goal is even more impressive when you watch it on replay, another fine example of how to start and finish an attacking move. 

So, how did we end up on the losing end of this fixture?

I guess the defending was slapdash for both goals. But this Liverpool team, though not on top form tonight, is one hell of a side and seem to always find a way of winning.

We shouldn’t be too despondent on the back of a performance like that. 

The media will continue to describe us as a plucky underdog, but we know the real story.

This team is the real deal, and they’re only going to get better.

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