Wolves 0 Rayo Vallecano 1 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah. I'm here with Wolves Report. It is Mr Liam Keane. Liam, final pre-season
00:13game of the season at Molineux. Defeat for Wolves, 1-0, Rayo Vallecano victory. What
00:19did you make of the game? It was a little bit disappointing, wasn't it? Yeah, I think
00:22the first probably, well, they scored in the 13th minute, so I'll probably say the first
00:2712th minute, basically, was the Wolves' decent performance. Rodrigo Gomez getting forward,
00:32putting lots of space on that left-hand side. Wolves interchanged it quite nicely, quite
00:36aggressive. And then Rayo Vallecano's score, an excellent goal, half-volley, lovely, lovely
00:41finish. And from that point on, Wolves never really regained their momentum, they never
00:44really got back into their stride. They sort of got over the line at half-time against
00:49the Vallecano side that were quite direct, that weren't really causing a lot of problems.
00:53In the second half, albeit it was a lot of Wolves' control, Wolves were probably a better
00:56team overall on the balance of the whole game, but unable to really cause Vallecano a lot
01:01of problems. They had one big chance, Guedes going through and didn't quite pull it off.
01:05It was just a little bit disappointing, and flat is the right word. They just sort of
01:09fizzled out, really, from the first 12 minutes until the rest of the 90. Yeah, look, main
01:15takeaways, not really tactically, but maybe just personnel today. We know they're going
01:21to play a four. They did play a four. Matt Doherty started the game, which probably gives
01:25you an indication, with Nelson Samedo missing the first three, that he's probably going
01:29to get the nod. Gary Neal's going to go a little bit more experienced. And I guess the
01:32other talking point, to a certain extent, was that he stayed with the back two of Totti
01:37Gomez and Yussi Mosquera. Yeah, I think Dox, obviously, clearly going to have to share
01:41with Samedo suspended. I think Lima was definitely in with a shout at one point during pre-season,
01:46but probably a smart decision, really, that you ease him in. He's 18, he needs time.
01:52Physically, both tactically, mentally, the whole picture, really. He needs a little bit
01:56of time. Just get used to what top-flight Premier League football is like. So that seems
02:01to be the decision that's been made, certainly. We've then got Gerson and Totti, which we
02:05expected, but it's also a big decision, isn't it, to play those two? We'd give them the
02:08full 90 today. Santi Bueno and Craig Dawson didn't play at all. And it looks like it'll
02:14be those two going forward. However, Gary has hinted in the past, hinted again today
02:18after the game, that he may go with a five for Arsenal, he may go with a four. There
02:22might be an extra defender thrown in there. You'd imagine it'd be Dawson if there is.
02:28And if it's a four, it's going to be those two. If it's a five, Dawson's in. It's probably
02:32about where we're at, which is a big decision. And then the situation is fluid, and it will
02:35change. I don't think they're going to be a back four all season. I think sometimes
02:38it will go for a back three. You just wonder, Gary O'Neill wasn't particularly happy with
02:42that performance today. He has very high standards. Whether he's watched that, there is still
02:47some work to do in that centre-back pairing. Whether he might just opt, like he has done
02:51with Matt Doherty on the right-hand side, to go for that little bit more experience.
02:55Whether that be in a two or a three at Arsenal, which is one of the toughest places they're
02:59going to go to all season. Yeah, that's the big decision to make, probably across the
03:04whole XI really, isn't it? Because there were moments today, and I think moments we've seen
03:10in pre-season, where Mosquero's been very good, but then moments he struggled with the
03:13ball at his feet. And he did struggle with the ball at his feet today. A few errors,
03:17misplaced passes. And against Arsenal, you'll kill yourself doing that. It's going to be
03:21really difficult. So I think it's going to give Gary Stiglitz an answer to making that
03:27decision, because he's clearly backed these two. But you go into Arsenal, and a five is
03:32very tempting, because of the situation you're up against, because of the team you're up
03:34against. So if you were to put me on the spot right now, I think he goes with a five. And
03:41I think Dawson comes in. But I'm really unsure about that. I'm going to say he plays a four.
03:49I almost went four as well. And it's Totti and Dawson. Wow, I didn't expect you to say that.
03:56Maybe. I think he knows he needs to score goals there. He needs to score goals there,
04:00and you're going to have to score a couple for you to be in the game. It'll be interesting
04:04to see. I guess one bit of good news, and a story that I think will already be out for
04:08yourself, is that Mateus Cunha could be in the squad. Yeah, it looks like he's recovered
04:13pretty quickly from a hamstring strain, because he went away to Brazil, hadn't trained a lot.
04:17They're hoping to get him back on the grass on Monday, then have him back in hopefully
04:22full training later in the week. And that will hopefully give him, probably not a start,
04:25but some minutes at Arsenal, provided that the week goes well. But the week has to go
04:29well, doesn't it, for that to happen. So yeah, it's definitely a big development, because
04:33we weren't sure whether he was going to be available. We were waiting to hear a bit more
04:37on that, because of him going away to Brazil. So to have him available would be a big plus for us.
04:41And I'm pretty sure we won't get a nod yes or no when we come to the press conference on Friday,
04:45because I'm sure he'll want to keep Arsenal guessing as well. Because Mateus Cunha, let's
04:49be honest, is integral. We saw him and Jorgen Strand-Larsen, who we'll come on to in a little
04:53bit, superb in that West Ham 30 minutes before he came off. And you've just seen today, I think
04:59they miss Mateus Cunha, they really do. They miss him coming from deep, linking that midfield,
05:02licking that forward line. Rodrigo Gomez can then hug the left, and he can come in late.
05:06He can't quite do that. I know he mixed it with Juan Hichan today. If you've got Mateus Cunha
05:11inside, then Wolves are a better side overall, aren't they? Yeah, absolutely. He's one of their
05:15best players, and you take him out of the team and you are weakened. I'm a big fan of Juan Hichan.
05:21I don't think he's quite found his place in this side of the XI yet. He's replaced Cunha in that
05:27role, but he's a slightly different player, plays it differently, plays it probably more as a two
05:32up front, that is, rather than Cunha, who's a little bit deeper. You lose one of your good
05:37players like Pedro Neto, and Wolves are going to be hindered by that. The good news is, he looks
05:43like he's going to be available quicker than first four, and that means that all of that work that
05:48had gone into pre-season about changing the shape, bringing him in, isn't going to go to waste. He's
05:53going to be able to slot back in and hopefully start perhaps the Chelsea game or the Forest game
05:58after that. Not to be today, but it's only pre-season, and we'll see you all next week for the big one.