Wolves 2 Bournemouth 4 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah. I'm here with Wolves reporter, Mr. Liam Keane. Second time doing
00:14this. Unfortunately, the camera's packed in today. I think everybody's packed in after
00:17watching that display. Look, Wolves 2, Bournemouth 4. Liam, for as good as Wolves were, and Gary
00:22Neal was last Saturday, a week's a long time in football, and they were equally as bad
00:27this afternoon. Yeah, I think it's only fair that the first thing we said after the win
00:32over Fulham, alongside a lot of things about Matthias Cunha and all the other players that
00:36played fantastically well, was that Gary Neal got it right. The first thing to say after
00:40this loss, in my opinion, is that Gary Neal got it badly wrong today with that start in
00:44XI. I have asked him in the press conference. Look, we've backed Gary Neal, given him a
00:50lot of credit. I do think there's still plenty. They've gone 4-1 beaten before this game.
00:53I think there's lots of credit there still to give him. And I've asked him in the press
00:57conference. I think it's only fair to say, first question, did you get it wrong today?
01:01Do you think you got it wrong? He did sort of say, look, it was difficult to change it
01:05after that kind of win over Fulham, which I do understand. But then sort of said, in
01:10hindsight, we'd have done things a little bit differently. And I think that's a relatively
01:13fair response. Look, neither of us thought that Mario Lamina was going to play at centre-back
01:18today. I thought it was obvious that Dawson would come back in. I'm really surprised he
01:21didn't. To have made that an error initially, and then to go on to make so many mistakes
01:29on the pitch, have a decision with the start of XI exacerbated by individual errors on
01:35the pitch, made it a terrible, terrible afternoon. And after 57 seconds, Wolves were all at sea,
01:39all over the place.
01:40Well, it was just a dreadful start to the game, all-round, wasn't it?
01:43It really was.
01:44A hat-trick of penalties, the first time in Premier League history. And all, for me, and
01:49I think for you as well, no-gone penalties, but just calamitous errors from front to
01:53back today.
01:54Yes, the first one was really clumsy from Totti. Not a load of contact, but enough really
01:59for Evan Ilsen to go down, looking for the penalty as you'd expect him to. And it's needless
02:06and clumsy in the area to do it. The second goal was really poor from Wolves' point of
02:10view, played through the midfield, which was bypassed horrendously today. The third one,
02:15Jose Sarr making a terrible, terrible error. Really, really bad with the ball at his feet
02:20on that particular occasion. And Wolves got themselves back into it at 1-1, get back into
02:26it at 3-2. Molyneux's up for it, the crowd are ready to go. And it's a terrible backpass
02:32from Craig Dawson. It's a really poor pass from a player who's normally so reliable and
02:34so good.
02:36And then Jose Sarr clatters Evan Ilsen on his heels. I do think Dawson's more at fault
02:40than Sarr is, but Sarr's on his heels. Clatters Evan Ilsen. It's a third penalty. It's Kluivert's
02:46hat-trick. It's 4-2. And Wolves were deservedly beaten today. Just nowhere near good enough
02:52and handed, on a silver platter, goals to a Bournemouth team that deserved to win and
02:56are a very good side, but didn't have to do a lot to win the game.
03:00They didn't. Just so many errors from front to back really weren't it. And I guess one
03:05good thing is Jorgen Strand-Larsen, I thought, was excellent today. He took his two chances
03:09very, very well. And he's going to be important going forward. At the same time, it must be
03:12Mateus Cunha who's arguably the best player in the Premier League at this moment in time.
03:15And he was kept very quiet, wasn't he, throughout?
03:17Yeah, there's an argument to say that if you stop Mateus Cunha, you stop Wolves. And to
03:22some degree, I can understand and agree with that, because I think Wolves are very over-reliant
03:25on him. But they have proven today that when Larsen is a handful, which he isn't always,
03:29but he can be, and I think he's had a relatively good start to his Wolves career, scores two
03:33really good goals, puts himself about, looks a threat at every opportunity. And Wolves,
03:37without those errors, crazily, probably get something from the game today. They scored
03:43two good goals. Yes, Bournemouth deserved it. But the errors on the pitch, exacerbated
03:48by, in my opinion, the error with the starting XI, handed Bournemouth the game. So I think,
03:54look, Larsen's performance is a positive. It's probably the only positive you can take
03:58from it. And Cunha, unfortunately, was way below his standards. Not just marked out of
04:03the game by Bournemouth, who did very well in containing him. But when he did get on
04:07the ball, he didn't look sharp. And I just think it wasn't his day. And you're going
04:13to find those days. And unfortunately, that comes back to the question of consistency.
04:17If he wants to get to the very, very highest level, whether that's with Wolves or elsewhere,
04:20he's going to have to be a bit more consistent.
04:22Yes, and look, consistency. We've been looking about this third attacker, isn't it? We had
04:26Belaguard, we had Rodrigo Gomez today. I thought both flattered to deceive, really. I know
04:29that Belaguard put in a great cross for your own Sean Larsen's opening goal. But at the
04:33same time, you look at the bench today, you look at the plays that are coming on, no-one's
04:37really taking their chance, are they?
04:38Yes, and I think Gary sort of hinted at that in the press conference to say that some players
04:43have, some haven't. But if you want to impact this start on 11, you've got to make an impact
04:46off the bench. Kwang, albeit a second minute, came on very quiet when he came on. Frustrating
04:51the crowd, really, when he did. Guedes gets a good assist, does OK. Forbes, I forgot he
04:57was on the pitch for 20 minutes when he first came on. And then he had a few touches towards
05:01the end and didn't do a lot with it. Obviously Dawson comes on, we were talking about it
05:06before, gets a booking straight away, doesn't he? A really poor booking, coming in cold
05:10really. And he looks like a 34-year-old coming in cold that should have started the game,
05:14should have had an opportunity to warm up and start the game and played. Gives a booking
05:18away, gives the back pass away and in turn, gives the game away.
05:22Yes, a really bad day at the office, of course, for Jose Sarr as well. I mean, he looked distraught
05:26coming off the pitch. And he looked very frustrated and angry coming off the pitch at the end
05:31of the first half. Really ugly scenes going into the South Bank and a fan getting removed
05:36by security, I think, was the result.
05:38Yes, obviously 3-1 down at half-time. Sarr's had, obviously, that massive clanger with
05:43the second penalty and the third goal. And he's gone into the South Bank, he's gone over
05:48the hoardings, the stewards and security are holding him back from getting into the crowd
05:51and he's pointing furiously and shouting. One fan is then subsequently dragged out by
05:57stewards and leaves the stadium. We've got no idea what was said. We've asked Gary about
06:01it. He wasn't even aware of the situation, according to him, in the press conference.
06:05Didn't want to comment on it at all. It could be something absolutely abhorrent that the
06:10fan has said. And obviously, we need to hopefully try and find out what was said. But if it
06:15was something as simple as criticising his performance, Sarr probably has to have some
06:19thicker skin than that.
06:20But I can't criticise him too much without knowing exactly what was said. But what I
06:23can say is that it's not a great look to have fans reacting like that, to have JJ Sarr
06:29reacting like that, more importantly. And to the credit of the rest of the South Bank,
06:32they were with Sarr and against him getting removed. So credit to the rest of the fans
06:39that were in that area at that time. But it's just a terrible look.
06:43And then towards the end of the game, Bournemouth fans singing, Gary, Gary, what's the score?
06:47Some Bournemouth fans in the South Bank joining, followed by some Bournemouth fans. Again,
06:51not a lot, but still somewhat audible. Singing, you're getting sacked in the morning. There
06:55wasn't a lot of chants at full time. There was a lot of booing. There was lots of very
07:01frustrated and angry fans. There was no sort of collective chant. But Wolves, well, Molyneux
07:06was ready to go today and it didn't. I don't think Gary Neal will be going anywhere. But
07:12that is a big blow. It's one step forward and two steps back after a fantastic win over
07:16Fulham.
07:17Yes, and like you said, I mean, absolutely perfectly put because it was looking great.
07:21They're outside the relegation zone. Crystal Palace is late. Equalised today means that
07:25they're back in the relegation zone and they've got two tough away games now. You go to Everton
07:28without a suspended, now Nelson Sameda, which you cannot do after the first minute of the
07:32game. You're nowhere near the game. Totti's given away the penalty and yet you're the
07:36one at right back coming across and getting booked for dissent. You cannot do that. Gary
07:39Neal was very frustrated, I think, after the game and you can understand that. They've
07:42tried to change that. They were quite whiny at the start of this season and they've kind
07:46of got better at that. But at the same time, that's cost your number one right back, I
07:51guess, the opportunity to start or to play in that game. And that's going to be a tough
07:54game going to Goodison Park. And look, you're not back to square one. You've had four games
07:58unbeaten, but this was a great chance. I think everybody coming to the stadium today thinking
08:01they could win three wins on the bounce. They could really get themselves out of that danger
08:05zone. And now you kind of get back into it. You suck back into it and you can be very,
08:08very quickly.
08:09Yeah, and it's the manner of the loss as well. You're right at four unbeaten, two wins on
08:14the chart. You don't go back to square one with this loss by any means, but it's the
08:18manner of the loss that is most frustrating. If Wolves had lost 1-0 here today in a scrappy
08:22game, it's a very different outlook at the end of it. The manner of the starting XI again,
08:27I'll come back to the individual mistakes and really Wolves' inability to control their
08:33emotions, control the game. Once the game gets away from them, they really struggle
08:37to get back into it. So yeah, look, you go into Goodison now on Wednesday, which is a
08:41tough place to go. I think Wolves have got more quality than Everton. I think they're
08:43a better side than Everton, but it's a tough place to go. It's a difficult atmosphere to
08:49deal with. They're going to be physical. They're going to batter you with set pieces.
08:54And those are the things Wolves have struggled with this season.
08:56And you can bet your bottom dollar that Santiago Bueno and Greg Dawson will come back into
09:00probably a back three.
09:01It's got to be, hasn't it?
09:03You can't concede six at home to Chelsea, five away at Brentford and four at home to
09:06Bournemouth. You've got to shore it up and go into Goodison Park, which, by the way,
09:10there are very few goals scored at Goodison Park this year. They're quite good at home,
09:13but there's a lot of nil-nils going on. They've got to, they cannot concede one or two goals.
09:18They've got to start from the back, I think, and move forward and hope that their quality
09:21up front is better than Everton's, which it is, but they've got to show it.
09:23Yeah, no, spot on. Leaking goals is clearly the problem. It has been all season. And that's
09:29what concerns me a little bit going to Everton. Wolves are more than capable of going there
09:31and winning that game. But if they're not at it, and I mean, it's not a back five and
09:37those centre-backs coming in, as you just said, or at the very least two actual centre-backs
09:41playing in a back four, and I do think Lamia's time will be back in midfield going forward,
09:47then Wolves can get turned over there with this physical battle. It's more than possible.
09:53It becomes a big game now and it becomes an opportunity for these players and Gary Neal
09:57to bounce back and use this as an opportunity to prove a few people wrong, because they have
10:02done that this season. But that was up there with those games you've spoken about, Brentford
10:06and Chelsea. It's maybe not quite as bad as both, but we're splitting the hairs really,
10:10because it was a pretty shocking performance.