Wolves 3 RB Leipzig 0 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis as Rodri
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah. I'm here with Wolves Report. It is Mr. Liam Keane as the rain,
00:15the thunder and the lightning flashes, smashes and pounds behind us at the Chase Stadium.
00:23And that's not all. There is a tornado warning in the area. My first ever tornado warning
00:29mid-press conference, mid-mic zone for you. A little bit crazy, but the most important
00:35thing I guess is, well, first of all, everybody stay safe. And that is Wolves have won. They've
00:39finished off their U.S. stateside tour in style. Wolverhampton 1-3, Harvey Leipzig 0.
00:46And that was pretty much as flawless as you could get. The wind's picking up here already.
00:51Yeah, look, obviously there's going to be lulls in the game because it's a pre-season
00:55game. And this happens in every pre-season game. And it's not unusual. But for the vast
01:00majority of that 90 minutes, Wolves were excellent. They really were. Defensively, pretty solid
01:05I felt for the most part, maybe a couple of small moments, but overly, you know, overall
01:11pretty solid. And going forward, really quite excited having that extra attacking player
01:15on the pitch, having Belagar playing his deeper midfielder, which I don't think will happen
01:19regularly in the Premier League, but so far has done in pre-season. And it seemed to be
01:23working. I'm having to hold on to the tripod. I'll be studying to the tour. So, yeah, look,
01:31I think it was a really impressive performance actually. And taking on a team that did really
01:34well in Bundesliga, were a good side, playing Champions League football and beating them
01:38pretty easily, to be honest. 3-0 didn't really flatter Wolves. It was a pretty solid performance.
01:43Yeah. And look, the headlines are probably going to be with this guy on the left hand
01:48side, who's coming 21-year-old sensation has had a fantastic impact, not just with
01:54his goals, three in total in the States, but just his directness and threat during a 90
02:01minute game or 80 minutes or however, however long he played as the lightning goes off behind
02:05us. Rodrigo Gomez. I mean, look, we don't want to put too much pressure on the kid,
02:10but this is especially with Neto in the second half, having them both on the flanks. This
02:14is pretty exciting, isn't it? Yeah, he looks a real, real good player. It's not just the
02:19fact that he's scoring goals. It's not just the fact that he's going on the outside and
02:23taking players on and direct and exciting and entertaining and electric, but it's that
02:27he's doing every little bit of the game that we want so far. He's defending. He's coming
02:32inside and, you know, linking in tight spaces. You know, his goal today with playing a little
02:37one, two in tight spaces. Lovely, lovely feet. Nice touch. Good finish. The fact that he's
02:42shown us so many different parts of his game and doing all really well can only bode well.
02:47But as you say, look, he's 21. He is going to have, I imagine, a bit of a shock to the
02:52system going to the Premier League because it's a tough, tough, tough league. But what
02:57he's shown so far is showing a player that is the next big thing at Wolves and that's
03:01testament to the scouting, testament to the recruitment and testament to Rodrigo Gomez
03:05himself for being able to put himself out there and so far do really well. Let's hope
03:08it carries on through to the season.
03:11When you do see the likes of Nelson Samedo, Jao Gomez, Pedro Neto come on the pitch, of
03:16course, Jose Sarr, and you see fresh legs, but also quality of what they're producing.
03:21I mean, Wolves could have had four or five and it just gives you a little bit of an insight
03:26and a flicker of what could be if all these guys stay. Let's hope that they do. Let's
03:30hope that they stay for the majority of this season, the whole season and beyond. But it
03:34is exciting at this moment in time. Yes, Wolves need a couple more additions. They need probably
03:38one more centre-back. Gary Neal said that. They probably need one more attacker if they
03:42don't lose anyone. But at the same time, this is pretty impressive, pretty exciting. We've
03:47got one more game to go before they head into Arsenal. This has been good preparation, Lee.
03:51Yes, definitely. And the squad's going to thin out slightly because you're going to
03:53have some fringe players that will move on, some loans, some permanents, you can imagine.
03:58But when the team was announced on Twitter today for this game, there was a few replies
04:01that I thought were quite telling to say this squad looks so much healthier than it did
04:07last summer. Now, obviously, well, last summer and last season, obviously, injuries impacts
04:11that, of course, they do. But the fact that they've got, you know, not just a nucleus,
04:16but an overall pretty decent in-depth squad. And then you have the preparation that they
04:21have had yet. Palace was disappointed, of course, it was. But there was good moments
04:23in that game as well. And to go into hopefully a good performance at Monterrey against Barrio
04:28Balacano and then Arsenal, which, of course, is going to be tough. But to have that momentum
04:32is going to be so key. It's been despite the weather, despite the challenges, despite the
04:35logistical challenges coming over to the States, it's been great for the club to get
04:40closer to supporters over here. And for the team, the preparation, I think, has been excellent,
04:44really. They've maybe done slightly less work, I think Gary said, slightly less work maybe
04:48on the pitch than they would have wanted to because of travel and things like that. But
04:50heat, heat. Exactly. Wolves look fit. Wolves look ready. You look fit. Thank you. I've
04:57been told that before. Pre-tour. Pre-pancakes. And they look ready. And Barrio Balacano,
05:04I think, will be a really good marker, an indicator of where this team's at the week
05:08before the season starts. Yeah. A couple of things to finish off. I asked Gary Neal about
05:12Craig Dawson. He wasn't involved tonight. Hugo Bueno came on towards the end in the
05:16centre-back role. Well, it's like centre-back slash left wing back slash left wing, wherever
05:20we wanted to go. It was basically 8-0 he just played. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Nothing
05:25to worry about there. He just said that he was feeling a little bit tight after the game
05:29in Baltimore with the pitch being relayed, etc. So he said he could have played 20 minutes
05:34half an hour. We didn't want to risk him, but nothing too concerning there. I'm sure
05:38we'll see him on Saturday against Balacano at some point. And also just a word on Jorgen
05:43Strand-Larsen. Another goal involvement tonight. Still yet to hit the back of the net, which
05:47I'm sure he'll want to sooner rather than later. Still positive signs, but he will want
05:51to get over the hump won't he at some stage? I think there's a real desperation for him
05:57and the team to get him a goal. There was a moment in the second half when Neto could
06:00have had a shot, could have played a different pass. And he specifically, at least in my
06:04opinion from what I could see, specifically looked for Larsen and it ended up the chance
06:08fizzling out. For obvious reasons, he's going to want a goal. But does it matter if he goes
06:14and scores at Arsenal? It doesn't matter if he scores in pre-season. The Premier League
06:17is what matters. Now, obviously it'd be great to get the momentum and get the confidence
06:21and score a goal in pre-season. But if the season starts well, we'll look back on pre-season
06:25as a mute point. If it doesn't start particularly well for him, we'll look back on pre-season
06:31and think, was the preparation quite right? Did he get the momentum? Did he get the goal
06:35that he needed? So I think it's going to be more telling really for him probably four
06:39or five weeks into the start of the Premier League season. But right now I don't think
06:43there's anything particularly to worry about. But I think that's just a clear desperation
06:47for the squad really to get him that goal and get him that momentum because they understand
06:51what that does for a striker. But in terms of overseas pre-season and prep in Marbella,
06:57in Florida, wherever they've gone, this has been a success really overall hasn't it? Not
07:01just in terms of playing, but just the whole situation, the environment, the fans. I feel
07:05like it has been a success overall.
07:07Yeah, look, it's not just the way that football is these days. It's a business as well as
07:10a sport. So marketing, commercial departments heavily involved in making this as big an
07:16event as they possibly can. Coming over to the States, obviously Walter's first time
07:19here since 1981, a long time ago. So yeah, look, it's an opportunity to push the brand
07:26out there as well as obviously try and put the football first, which obviously is going
07:29to be Gary Neal's property. I think overall it's been a pretty successful trip. I think
07:33everyone, probably us included, is ready for more sleep and to get back into our own beds.
07:38Not together, me and you, separately.
07:39Well, I'm quite excited there. Wolfhampton Wanderers 3, RB Leipzig, Neal. For all the
07:46post-match reaction, make sure you log on to Express and Star.
07:49He's going to do it.
07:50I'm not. I can't do it in Miami. What are you talking about? Let me take the camera
07:54away. Dog, come!