Wolves 0 Nottingham Forest 3 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Tudor, I'm here with Wolves Report. It's Mr. Liam Key. Liam, Wolfhound
00:13to Wonder is nil, Nottingham Forest three. I think there was a harsh scoreline at the
00:17end, but at the same time, was that just a classic case of one side taking their chances
00:21and the other ones falling short when it mattered?
00:23Yeah, look, Wolves, if they take their chances in that first half, it could be very different.
00:27Equally, if you make those mistakes defensively and you hand opportunities to the other team,
00:31you've got to struggle in the Premier League to get results and get points. So we've seen
00:34lots of good things in these first three games under Vitor Pereira and we saw, not necessarily
00:38from the managerial point of view, but some of the glaring negatives from this team where
00:43they need help. Not only are they struggling defensively this season already, but they
00:47then add injuries and illnesses and things like that on top of it. And this looks like
00:52a struggling defence, doesn't it? The first goal is poor from a Premier League team's
00:58perspective to allow one pass to bypass both midfielders. Santi Bueno doesn't seem to be
01:05aware of where he is and it's an easy bit of quality and a bit of finish from Gibbs
01:09White. The second one, after Wolves had so many chances to get back into it, I think
01:15for Matt Doherty to allow that ball to bounce, I think he believes they're playing an offside
01:21trap, I think, and Santi Bueno doesn't play that. It's onside, it's absolutely battered
01:26by Hudson-Ledoi and then Santi Bueno completely loses Wood. And the third one is nothing really
01:31after a second half that was completely dead. Wolves never got back into the game at all.
01:35And like you say, the frustrating thing is, is between that and one Gibbs White opener
01:40and Chris Wood's second goal for Forest, Wolves were not just the better side, but
01:46created the better chances and should, if not, well, they could, if not should, have
01:50been ahead going into that half. Because, I mean, Jürgen Strang and Larsson another
01:53night, could have got three or four tonight and there were other players as well, but
01:56I think Larsson will look at that. Two fantastic chances in that first half and he's got to
02:01score both of them really. No, 100 per cent. The first one is, they sort of whang pounces
02:06on loose balls and he charges forward. We couldn't see originally from, with no replays
02:11here, but we managed to catch one just before half-time and see how big a chance it is for
02:15Larsson. I mean, he's three or four yards out and it should be a tap-in and he managed
02:19to keep it straight at Murillo. And the second one is a wonderful cross by the way from Rodrigo
02:24Fernandez, who was Wolves' best player tonight, I thought. Yeah, I think so, yeah. Faded last
02:2720 but so did a lot of them. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Whips in a wonderful, wonderful cross and
02:32Larsson, I know it comes at him quickly but it's ahead of him five, six yards. It's a
02:37point blank. He's got to get, well, he does hit the target, but he's got to score. He's
02:40got to score. Hits Sal in an awkward position on the arm. I think he gets a little bit unlucky
02:44that that maybe doesn't go through the goalkeeper as well, but he has to score that. And if he
02:47does get either of those chances, it's a very different game. The second goal completely
02:51killed it as a contest really because Wolves had no real answers in that second half.
02:56And we've seen Nassim Farouk start to play for quite a few years here, at least a couple
03:00of the glory years, because that's exactly what Nuno Sforesai do. They get you on the
03:03counter and they take advantage. And look, they're in great form, the play's in great
03:08form, supreme confidence. And they don't miss when you're third in the table. I don't know
03:11whether they're second tonight or not, but that's a team full of confidence and they
03:14put away their chances. Frustrating really. And I guess from my point of view, Liam, you're
03:17looking at that second half and he made changes and no one really came on and did much, I
03:21didn't think really, added to the game. But 2-0 down, he wanted to have a bit of a go
03:25and he just didn't do much second half really. I think one shot on target in the second half,
03:29not enough when you're chasing the game. No, I think if it's 1-0 at half time, it's
03:32probably very different in that second half, but that's not an excuse for not coming out
03:35and performing. The crowd were flat, but understandably so at 2-0 and the players have got to give
03:40those fans a reason. The woodcut was a hammer blow at the end of that first half, wasn't
03:44it? Yeah, it really was. But it shouldn't be used as an excuse to come out in that second
03:48half and be so lacklustre, lacking any real tempo. As you say, the substitutes didn't
03:53make any difference. I could go through all of them really and you didn't really see any
03:58impact. So all of those things combined resulted in a pretty dire second half. Yes, we did
04:02have a lot of the ball, a lot of the ball in Forrest's half and Forrest's box, but we're
04:07nowhere near really scoring. And then obviously they get a late third, which doesn't really
04:12count for much. It just adds to the gloss for Forrest and the poor nature of the result.
04:17But at the same time, you look at it and Nottingham Forest, they're going to get the flowers and
04:21quite rightly so. They're having a fantastic season and this is a great result for them
04:24tonight. But what a great game for them to come here for. You're missing your best player,
04:28Mateus Cunha, who, as we saw tonight, just missed it all over the pitch really. And then
04:33you're struggling defensively. Of course, we've got one coming in, but you lose your
04:37captain, Nelson Tomedo. You lose Greg Dawson, both through injury. And you've got Pedro
04:42Lima starting his first Premier League game. You've got a back three that includes Ryan
04:45Agnori, Santiago Bueno and Matt Doherty. I mean, if you're ever going to play Wolves
04:51on a night, this is the night to play them.
04:52It's not a Premier League back three, is it? Doherty's been in fantastic form of late.
04:56It was probably his poorest game of his recent starts tonight. Not quite up to scratch. Santiago
05:03Bueno was really struggling defensively and physically against Chris Wood. He actually
05:08improved in that sort of latter half of that second half. But for both goals, I don't think
05:13he covers himself in glory. He doesn't do particularly well. And Agnori, obviously,
05:16is not a centre-back. So you look at those three as a back three.
05:19Against a side that are flying.
05:21Exactly. And regardless of how well Rodrigo Gomez did, I thought Lima did relatively well
05:26without being outstanding. Regardless of those two, having a back three like that is unacceptable
05:31at this level. Now, obviously, injuries are going to have an impact. Of course, they are.
05:35But Wolves bringing in this signing, it's going to be massive because they just need
05:41an out-and-out centre-back in this formation and a bit more depth in that area.
05:46At the same time, look, they've got a game on Saturday, but Premier League survival,
05:49of course, is the priority. I think we'll go there to Bristol City. I don't think a
05:54cup run is the top of the priority list this season. And we'll see what team he plays.
05:59But the most important game, of course, is Newcastle United on that Wednesday night.
06:03What you have got, and the good news is, is that Wolves are halfway through the season.
06:06They're still not in the relegation zone. And yet it's been an absolute disaster.
06:10So, hopefully, we're looking at a second half that's going to be better. You've got Matthias
06:13Koenig to come back into that side. We'll see how bad the Nelson-Samedov situation is.
06:17And potentially a new signing, a centre-back as well. So, there are positives. And Andre
06:21as well, of course, who missed the game tonight. I think they missed him. I thought I had a
06:25disappointing game from his point of view. So, the team that we'll see at Newcastle will
06:29be probably a lot different to what we saw tonight. And I think they'll probably carry
06:33a lot more attacking threat and defensive stability.
06:36Yeah, I think so. And that's the beauty of having a January chance at Window, which they
06:41desperately need. And being able to hopefully get some players back. As you said, we don't
06:44know yet the extent of the injuries to Dawson-Samedov. We're going to speak to Vitor Pereira and
06:48hopefully get some sort of timeline there. Totti Gomez is about one or two weeks away
06:53now. So, hopefully, not too long to wait for him either. Maybe that chance again, maybe
06:58the week after. So, with these players coming back, it does look like a very different team.
07:03And with January, of course, adding to that. I mean, having Kunja back is going to be massive.
07:08Because not only is he an attacking threat, and yes, he is emotional. We know what he
07:13can be at times, hence why he's banned right now. But he is also a bit of an eagle on that
07:17pitch. And I think Wolves are missing that at the moment.
07:19Wolves 0, Nottingham Forest 3. For all the post-match reaction, make sure you log on
07:22to expressandstar.com.