Fulham 1 Wolves 4 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judo, I'm here with World Supporter, it is Mr Liam McKean. Liam, I can't
00:14quite believe I'm saying this scoreline, but we will take it baby. Fulham Football Club
00:191, Wolverhampton Wanderers, that's 4, that's 4 gold, that's 4 baby, and boy does it feel
00:26good. It certainly does. We were very confident going into the game. You took the words right
00:31out of my mouth. I think it's fair to say, as with a lot of supporters, we were a little
00:35bit concerned going into this game, and understandably so. You've got one fit senior centre-back,
00:41you've got a kid in Alfie Pond as the only other centre-back on the bench, you've got
00:44Mario Lamina, as good a player as he is as a captain, playing at centre-half, and he's
00:48a central midfielder. Away from home against a Fulham side who are at full strength. Very
00:53good side by the way. Seventh in the league, only lost one at home all season, could have
00:56gone third today with a win. I think a lot of people were a little bit pessimistic. Exactly,
01:00they were a good side Fulham. They started well, started the better of the two teams,
01:04scored a really good goal. Again, born from mistakes from Wolves, 8-0 with an error initially
01:09giving the ball away needlessly. Rodrigo Gomez with a poor touch and gives the ball away
01:13out on the flank of the ball just before the goal. Alex Iwobi, shock, scoring against Wolves
01:17once again as he always does. And look, Fulham were well worth going 1-0 up, I think that's
01:23fair to say. Wolves recovered pretty well from that. They didn't actually create a lot
01:27Wolves until that one moment out of nowhere. And it's a Lamina ball which is absolutely
01:33perfect, it's fantastic. The first touch from Kunja is ridiculous, the second touch is very
01:38fortunate because it bounces off his knee, and the third touch is fantastic with a goal.
01:42And Wolves out of nowhere get back to 1-1. There's not really much in it until half-time,
01:46and from the whistle blown in that second half until the final whistle, Wolves are the
01:51best team in that second half. Fulham had hardly a snip at all, Harry Wilson clipped
01:55the crossbar with a shot from distance, that's about it. Wolves created chance after chance,
02:00scored within eight minutes of that second half. A really nice goal as well with Kunja
02:05obviously at the heart of it, and from then really they looked comfortable, they didn't
02:07concede many chances. It could have been a nervy last few minutes, and it turned out
02:11to be the opposite, an 87th minute and a 95th minute, Kunja and Guedes getting on the scoresheet
02:17and Wolves were well worth the victory. Marco Silva is lauded as one of the best managers
02:21in the Premier League, and fair enough. And yet, against this team today, he had to make
02:27all five substitutions, Anderson came off injured in the 79th minute, they had to pay
02:32with ten men, Wolves didn't make their first substitution until the 85th minute with Dock
02:36coming on. I think that just shows how much Gary Neal got it right today, and he's got
02:41to get credit for that. And actually not making a change until that time was the right decision.
02:45Wolves were very, very comfortable up until that point. 2-1, which you would expect to
02:49be a scoreline that Wolves are very nervy with, Wolves were coasting. To be brilliantly
02:53honest, they really were. As good a side they were, or are, and I've got a lot of credit
02:59and praise for Wolves, I think they're a very good team. They weren't at it at all in that
03:03second half, and Wolves, not only that, Wolves kept them at bay really, they played the game
03:08perfectly, they handled the occasion perfectly, they made sure the crowd and their prawn sandwiches
03:12didn't get involved for a slight little dig. I didn't need to do that, I was out of order.
03:18They made sure the crowd didn't get involved, they won fouls, or were fouled at the right
03:26times, they won tackles, played the ball very, very intelligently around the corners, just
03:31looked after it really well, and just frustrated a side that had a Dama Troy away coming on.
03:38Wolves were still the more threatening, they were the more likely to score, and they did
03:40do that. And we love a Dama Troy away. We do as well. Decent miss though. That was a
03:47Dama Troy away at his... What, is it most a Dama Troy away? Unfortunately so, yeah. Pulled
03:55the play and swung, so I was like, God, if that was a Dama Troy away, come on. For a
03:58split second I thought my mind was on the other side. I looked from the corner of my
04:00eye, I thought, please don't be hit, please don't be hit. I couldn't move. Imagine the
04:03choker taking you down. Something I'd forgotten as well. Look, Wolves were very good, coasting,
04:07Gary Neill got it right, and he made the changes at the right time. And I said to you
04:13during the half, not that I deserve credit for it, but I'm going to take it anyway, that
04:16Matt Doherty was the right change. Take off either Rodrigo or Benegard, go to a five,
04:21have Doherty on that side. He chose Benegard, it was the right choice. Wolves were coasting,
04:25and then he was able to make more changes because they scored the third, and it was
04:29easy for Wolves. But fair play for them doing that, because if you're Gary Neill, you're
04:32under pressure, you need a result, you need to get a draw, you need to get a win. A lot
04:35of people would have thought, wait, you're two on up, go and get Tommy Doyle on, just
04:39secure it, secure it, get three in midfield. But he didn't, because he knew that Wolves
04:42were still very, very dangerous. And so it proved, two, three, four goals. I mean, that's
04:47huge. Even Guedes coming on at the end, like, Wolves finished that game so strongly, and
04:50that's got to give this team, the players and the fans, so much confidence going forward.
04:54Yeah, and I really like the fourth goal. I mean, the third goal, couldn't you, is a lovely
04:57pass, which I'll go as it's a bloody good strike. Yeah, fantastic strike. He's some
05:01player, he really is. Two great strikes today, I mean, Wobies and Cunha. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
05:05But I really like that fourth goal, because it was ruthless, it was clinical. Larson makes
05:12the right pass, absolutely. He's got a couple of passes to his left, one of them is 8-0,
05:16which he could have gone for. And he makes the right pass, it's pretty straightforward
05:22and standard for Goncalo Guedes, but he still has to finish it, and it's a good finish.
05:26And it's that kind of moment where the Wolves could have easily, at 3-1-0, just taken the
05:30foot off the gas. And to not, and be ruthless and be clinical and be confident, and to take
05:34that chance. I really like that goal, for what it was, rather than the actual finish
05:38itself. And yeah, I mean, fair play to Guedes, coming off the bench and getting his first
05:41Premier League goal of the season. And then you see the scenes afterwards as well, with
05:44all the players waiting, Gary O'Neill, you know, in front of the away fans. I mean, that's
05:48massive and it just shows, there's a few people saying, oh, I might have lost the dressing
05:51room here. I mean, this team, these players, these managers, they're united here. Absolutely.
05:55We've said it from the beginning, as much as the results and performances have not been
05:59good enough as a whole, hence why Wolves were down there in the relegation zone, it's been
06:03very clear, at every stage, even the Brentford game, that the players have been there with
06:08Gary O'Neill, they've been playing for Gary O'Neill, as well as the club and the fans.
06:11And I think that proves it again today. Gio Gomez in that second half, wonderful. Rodrigo
06:16Gomez, I thought he had a, maybe a subdued first half, everyone being slightly kind to
06:22him, but it wasn't a particularly great first half. I thought he was very good second half.
06:25Positionally, in possession as well, I thought very, very good second half. Players coming
06:30off the bench, making an impact. Obviously, couldn't have been the star man. Lamina was
06:34fantastic in the centre back. He had a great game in the back four, which has been his
06:37weakness. Someone said to me, Conor Cody yesterday, from Mario Lamina. He was fantastic, he really
06:41was. Smedo, very good. Ait Nouri, good defensively, albeit, it's not quite there at the moment.
06:50Andre, again, I thought played very well. Look, there's all across the pitch, there's
06:54a lot of positives. It's a big win, it really is. It's a huge win, and also four games unbeaten
06:59now. You go to Bournemouth, you're out of the relegation zone, which is huge. I know
07:03Gary said he doesn't look at the table too much. He wouldn't know where Wolves were today.
07:07And also, you see the players, you see the fans looking out of that relegation zone tonight.
07:12That's huge confidence going into another big, big home game.
07:15Yes, I think a point here would have been a good result before the game, because of
07:20how, because of Fulham, as I say, a good side, it's a tough place to come. And that puts,
07:24I wouldn't say it puts necessarily heaps of pressure on Bournemouth, but it becomes a
07:28little bit of a nervy game. There's nervous energy going into that game.
07:30Would have been a good draw before we knew the situation today, when you see that team
07:34come out, and then you go and win 4-1.
07:36Yeah, exactly.
07:36That's massive.
07:37It's a massive result, and confidence-wise, four unbeaten going into Bournemouth.
07:41Look, you can't take your foot off the gas, because Bournemouth, as much as they're in
07:44a bit of bad form at the moment, have got quality to turn you over.
07:47But it sounds, but let's just enjoy it tonight.
07:49But you can breathe. You can breathe easy tonight, enjoy it. The fans can go home and
07:53enjoy it. And then you prepare for a home game that Wolves will be expected to get points from.
07:57And that should be a confident feeling, a nice feeling, rather than the nervous energy
08:02of, bloody hell, we've got to give them a result here today.
08:03So that's going to bode well for that game.
08:05And then I have to say, look, Everton, West Ham, Ipswich, Leicester take you into Christmas.
08:09Wolves have got a good run and a really good opportunity.
08:11And you've got a chance to push away now from this bottom three.
08:15Fulham 1, Wolverhampton 1-4.
08:16For all the post-match reaction, make sure you log onto.
08:18I'm not going to say it, because it's only the second away win since February.
08:21So I won't go over the top.
08:22Express and start our dots.
08:24Come!