Spurs 2 Wolves 2 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judo, I'm here with Walter Pollard, it's Mr. Liam Keane. Liam, Spurs
00:132, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2, for me, without a fight back, that's a good point, we'll take
00:18that. Yeah, I think so. You won the last two, obviously, the first two games in the Vitor
00:23Pereira, and there's lots of supporters hoping, wishing, confident, excited. Don't fall over.
00:29I'm getting a third win, but regardless of Spurs' difficulties with injuries and defence,
00:34they're very good going forward, and they're still a good side. We know how many goals
00:39they've scored this season, and they're going to be a threat. So to come here, get a point,
00:42and be behind and get the point, I know you went 1-0 up, but to still come from behind
00:46later on and get that draw, I think it's a really important draw. It shows a lot of character,
00:50a lot of fight from this team that are together, are pushing in the same direction, and to
00:55end the year undefeated in the Vitor Pereira in these first three games, I think is a fantastic start.
01:00Three changes with various different amounts of success. Let's talk about the good first,
01:07Wang He-Chan Ng, who scored that goal at the end against Manchester United, and what a
01:12fantastic free-kick, well worked, and a brilliant movement, and fair play, he's making the right
01:16decisions at the right times. He is. It was a brilliant set-piece, straight off the training
01:20ground, it's a wonderful finish, just off the post, really difficult for the goalkeeper
01:25to get to, really impressive, and the relief on his face was really nice to see. The fans
01:30backing Wang, who has had a lot of stick this season, it was a big goal for the club and
01:35the player, so a really nice moment for him, and hopefully with Cunha again, a band that
01:40we're expecting to come eventually, for him to be in some good form is only going to be
01:45good news for us. And then the frustrating thing is, so soon afterwards, those same old
01:50errors, those ugly errors, re-the-hits. Yeah, 17 goals conceded from set-pieces in 19 Premier
01:56League games, it's obviously a major issue. Now, they managed to stop that in the first
02:00two games in the Pereira, this is a wake-up call, as it should be already for the stats
02:05this season, but his team is still not out of the woods when it comes to those kind of
02:08issues. So yeah, it's a very simple corner, he gets the run, Bente Cordes gets the run
02:13on Andre, Dawson very flat-footed, then loses the race to get to the ball, really, and it's
02:19a good header and a good goal. The second goal as well, disappointed really in the manner
02:22in which it happened, obviously the penalty save is massive, so Xar obviously does very
02:26well with that, and it's a shame that they concede in the time they do, just before half-time,
02:33it's a poor goal to concede, Dawson again not in the right position, Rodrigo Gomez and
02:36Andre both step off, or Johnston rather, and it's a very easy goal for them. So for Wolves
02:41to overcome that, that's what I meant, for Wolves to overcome that, and a pretty flat
02:48second half really, and get a point in the manner in which they did, I think is a brilliant
02:52point. Like we say, making changes, Huang who did the business, and if you're not doing
02:55the business then you're off, and Belagard got the call today and had a poor 45 minutes,
02:59and then you replaced. And it's looking like, even though it's the same players, the substitution,
03:04the timing of them, some of the players that are coming on, I mean Gonzalo Guedes, I thought
03:08had an excellent substitution impact again, yet again today. Whether he's starting, whether
03:13he's on the, whether he needs a Portuguese coach, I don't know, but he looks like a different
03:17player this moment in time. Yeah, and we're yet to speak to Vitor Pereira today, we know
03:20the press conference will be coming up pretty soon, so obviously we'll ask him about the
03:24thought process in making those changes, but whether it's the fact that it was a second
03:28game so quickly after Boxing Day, I'm sure that would have played a part, but Larsson
03:32and Guedes both coming on and making the difference. Guedes, completely agree with you, thought
03:35he was fantastic when he came on, Larsson, put himself about, scores the goal brilliantly.
03:39Fantastic stride. It's an excellent ball by the way from Make Norway first of all, reverse
03:43pass, really intelligent. Larsson makes a good run, but it's a really tight angle. On
03:47his weak foot, to get that into the roof of the net, it's a fantastic finish. His seventh
03:51goal of the season by the way. Sneaking up on you. Exactly, it's been a few weeks since
03:55he's scored, but that is a really good return from a player who's never played in the Premier
04:00League before, so yeah, the way the Wolves get back into it is more pleasing than anything
04:04really, and as you say, with those changes, I think Bellegarde may be waiting for his
04:08next start for a little while. And look, at the same time, they could have gone and won
04:12it. Matt Doherty was a good save really, by Forster in the end. It was end-to-end.
04:16I mean, they could have lost this game as well, so I think, in all, I think it was a
04:19good result. Rodrigo Gomez, Carlos Forbes, I thought probably had his best cameo in a
04:23Wolves shirt as well. He looked threatening as well. They're looking good at the right
04:26time, and the most important thing as well is that gap's just slightly getting bigger
04:29and bigger. Southampton losing to the Apes, Leicester losing to the Apes, which obviously
04:32haven't played at this moment in time, but it's all looking good, isn't it, going into
04:35the turn of the year, when it was so much doom and gloom, what, ten days ago? Yeah, it
04:39is. The timing of the change is massive to that. The fixtures that they've had have been
04:44important to that as well. That's not to take any shine away from them, but they were also
04:48favourable fixtures for a new Wolves manager coming in, and you've got over that initial
04:53nervousness around how the team are going to perform, because the Leicester win, as
04:57I say, didn't really get out of first gear in that game, but scored three good goals
05:01in clinical, but then performed very well against Manchester United. The performance
05:04here was probably a bit mixed. Definitely not bad, but there were poor moments within
05:09it. Of course, the goals they conceded. So the Wolves have got over that, got through
05:13three games, undefeated in those three games, and picked up a really important seven points,
05:20puts them in a really good state going into 2025. There's lots of work to do, lots more
05:24to do, but they've made a really good start. And look, I know we have to talk about it,
05:28and it hasn't come yet, and it will come eventually, but this Cunha ban, but you've got the likes
05:32of Guedes who's coming to form, Rodrigo Gomez who looks like he's got a spring in his step.
05:36You've got Hwang scoring now, you've got Strang-Larsson scoring now, so there are players that you
05:40can go to that can be trusted to go in and pick up points, and they'll desperately need
05:45points. They can't just lose the games that Cunha's going to be out for, and they've got
05:49Forrest, I know it's going to be a difficult game. Forrest has gone to Everton as well
05:52and won today, and they're flying high, but that's a winnable game for Wolves. Cunha,
05:56yes, or Cunha, no? No, 100%, especially at home as well. Now, obviously Cunha came off
06:01at half-time as well. As I said, we had to speak to Pereira. It looked like he may have
06:05had a strapping around his leg, so it may be an injury, so regardless of this ban, he
06:09may be unavailable anyway. But there's options there. There is options, and Wolves are going
06:13to need options, because we know how important a player he is. I mean, when the goal did
06:16go in from Larsson, Cunha didn't look very injured as he was celebrating in the Wolves
06:20technical area, and Vito Pereira was sprinting down the touchline, Jose Mourinho-esque, right
06:24in front of us. I love it, I love it. So yeah, they're going to need options, because Cunha
06:29is so important to this team. And he was brilliant in that first half. He was, he was really
06:32good in that first half. But Wolves players, as you just said there, with Guedes, Larsson,
06:35Huang, are coming into form at the perfect time. We're expecting this ban to be pretty
06:40imminent. We're expecting it to be at minimum three games. So it's going to be really important
06:46that these players take on that responsibility. And of course, before this Forest game, that
06:50will be January 1st. That means the transfer window will be open. Wolves will be available
06:54to sign a centre-back. We all know it's going to happen. We all know, well, hopefully it's
06:57going to happen. I mean, goodness me, I don't want to be on February 3rd on deadline day
07:01going, oh my goodness. Well, you know, they've got a bit of time. You don't expect them to
07:04be in before Forest, but then you've got the FA Cup game. So not another league game until
07:09January 14th or 21st. So they've got chances, haven't they, to time to get this appointment
07:14right. But Craig Dawson came in today, Totti Gomez injured, didn't have his best game.
07:18And you do feel that a strong centre-back presence that's needed in this team. And if
07:22it is, then it should be okay. I think so. Santi Bueno, I think, has been relatively
07:26consistent since Pereira's come in. But we know there's mistakes in him and he has had
07:30times when he struggled. So I think a much more solid defender is the way to describe
07:36it. A leader, someone who will come in and dominate that area, the six-yard box. Dawson
07:44didn't have his best game today. Totti has been better, but again, he's had mistakes
07:48in him. I think Matt Doherty's sneaker has been very good, actually, under Pereira. So
07:52credit to him. And he has played in a couple of different positions, went over to the left
07:55late on in this game today. But they need that centre-back still. They really do. And
08:00just to have a bit more competition in those areas.