Fulham v Wolves match preview with Nathan Judah and Liam Keen
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judo, I'm here with Mr. Liam Keane from Walthamstow Motors Report.
00:16Could have called you a lot worse.
00:18It seems like we've been here a while.
00:20I know, I know, it was a long press conference wasn't it?
00:22And it is absolutely Baltic.
00:24It's freezing over here.
00:26Walthamstow Motors is there, they're about to head to London.
00:29They might be flying, I don't know what they're doing these days.
00:31I don't care.
00:32Carbon footprint?
00:33I don't know, whatever.
00:34As long as I get three points, I don't really care.
00:36Like you say, look, Gary Neal's there.
00:38Let's talk about the team news first.
00:40I guess Santiago Bueno was the main issue, but I guess some potentially good news, would you say?
00:46Yeah, it depends how you read it.
00:48As far as we understand it, it's still kind of touch and go really for Santiago Bueno, whether he makes it or not.
00:52The fact he didn't play for Uruguay,
00:54you'll look at that and think negative, because he's clearly bothered by that injury.
00:58Positive, in the sense that he's not aggravated it potentially and hopefully can be available.
01:02Well he's trained as well, hasn't he?
01:04Yes, according to Gary Neal he's trained.
01:06I do wonder whether he's played a little bit of gamesmanship here with this one.
01:10It's a conspiracy theory.
01:12I could be reading into nothing here.
01:14But he did make a specific point of saying, I don't want to talk too much about,
01:19I don't want to give too much away about injuries.
01:21A follow-up question specifically about Santiago Bueno,
01:24asked about him and he said he's been on the grass and he's going to travel with the team
01:30and will hopefully be available.
01:32He is travelling to London now?
01:36I'm not saying he definitely won't play,
01:38but I don't think it's quite as cut and dry as Gary's making out.
01:41Understandably so, there's not a criticism.
01:43We obviously want the accurate information, but I understand why managers do it.
01:47A lot of them are way worse than Gary at it, by the way.
01:49He may be playing a little bit of games with Fulham there, Marcus Silva.
01:53But we're going to find out, come tomorrow afternoon.
01:57But one player that will be in the squad according to Gary is Hwang Hee Chan.
02:00We expect him to be back for this game and that's obviously good news.
02:03We would probably expect him from the bench.
02:05One of the first subs off the bench, I would imagine.
02:07But to have him back and available and if he gets anywhere near how good he is,
02:10he'll be a boost for Wolves.
02:12So in terms of, let's say Santiago Bueno doesn't play,
02:14do you feel like it will be a back three and he'll try and change it around
02:19and maybe play a Doc or Nelson Samedo or Mario Lamina?
02:23Or do you think it will be that back four?
02:25I think there'll be a temptation to play a five
02:27because Wolves have looked a lot more solid with that.
02:30I think Gary's trying to find the balance between keeping the attacking prowess
02:34and Mateus Kunja free and available and scoring goals
02:36while also not conceding as many as they have them,
02:38which has obviously been a major concern.
02:40I think the predicted team I've gone for could see it potentially being a four
02:44on the face of it with a better guard on the right who will tuck back in,
02:48you know, track back when defending to become a five
02:51with Samedo sort of tucking in next to Dawson
02:53as more of a sort of right-sided centre half.
02:56And then that gives 8-0 a bit of freedom on the left
02:58and allows Kunja to come more central and drift.
03:00I could see that being a potential game plan.
03:02That does lend itself to midfield three, which clearly hasn't worked recently.
03:06But Gary was also bigging up Andre when asked specifically about him, of course,
03:11in that press conference.
03:12I do wonder whether Andre might get recalled in a midfield three.
03:14So he's going to be big at some point in the near future,
03:16whether that be on Saturday or not remains to be seen.
03:18It's interesting.
03:19I thought Gary Neal made a good point as well about how well Fulham are doing this year.
03:22I mean, look, a win and they could go in the top three in the Premier League.
03:25So this isn't by any means a game,
03:28even though the schedule gets a little bit easier on paper
03:31where they should be going there and expecting to win.
03:33They're going to have to play very well to get any kind of points on Saturday.
03:36But you look at the quality they've got across those front three
03:39and obviously with Raul Jimenez leading the line.
03:40And if not, they've got Muniz to come on.
03:42On the wide players, they've got Adamo Traore.
03:44If things aren't working, Harry Wilson.
03:46Harry Wilson is obviously doing very, very well as well.
03:48So they've got substitutes that can really make an impact.
03:51If things aren't working, then they've got replacements who are as good,
03:54if not better sometimes, depending on how they're feeling.
03:56Wolves haven't quite got that, have they?
03:58They've got players who can do a job,
04:00but they haven't really shown that in terms of being out of form or slightly injured.
04:03They haven't got someone, and we've said this recently,
04:06knocking on the door as that first sub who's ready to come on,
04:08who's a nailed-on starter.
04:09Yeah, and that comes down to the conversation we've had a lot recently
04:12about that third attacking player taking that position.
04:15Whether it's a Belaguard, who I still think maybe is better suited more centrally,
04:18a Guedes who's been playing as a nine,
04:20a Rodrigo Gomez, a Forbes, a Huang.
04:22I think the answer to that question is Huang to come in.
04:26But the point still stands.
04:29Do you have a sort of like-for-like replacement that isn't 20, 21 years old
04:33and still getting used to the league?
04:35So as much as there are talented players who I think will do well in a Wolves shirt,
04:38it's clearly not happened quickly for these kind of players.
04:41So I think in time we will appreciate that depth,
04:44and as much as the players are there,
04:46clearly the experience and the Premier League-proven quality
04:51has been lacking a little bit.
04:53And that's going to be the biggest thing for Gary to fix, I think,
04:55alongside the defence, which of course he's starting to make inroads with
04:57and that first clean sheet against Southampton was important.
05:00But finding the balance there is going to be really key.
05:02Mateusz Kunia, as we say every week, is king.
05:06If Wolves, God forbid, lost him to an injury,
05:09it would be a massive, massive blow to this team.
05:11Absolutely, it would do.
05:13Look, big game. Score prediction?
05:15I'll stick with what I said on the poddy, 1-1.
05:17Tough game, Fulham are doing well,
05:19but I think if Wolves can be tight, make it frustrating,
05:22I think they can get something from the game.
05:23Get in, get out, like we are doing today, I'm going to say 1-1 as well.
05:26And hopefully beat Bournemouth next week.
05:28For all the build-up on this one, make sure you log on to Expressenstar.com.