Wolves 1 West Ham 0 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judo, I'm here with World's Reporter's Mr Liam Keane, baby.
00:14Wolverhampton 1-1, West Ham 0, not a classic, not one that we're going to remember for many
00:20years to come, but we don't care.
00:21The most important thing was three points and look, you could see by the celebrations
00:25at the end, on the touchline, on the bench, amongst the fans, you feel like they're nearly
00:30there now, don't you?
00:31Yeah, the biggest worry coming into this game was complacency and Wolves started a little
00:37bit like that, quite flat, the crowd weren't really in it, luckily for Wolves, West Ham
00:42also weren't really in it, really poor first ten minutes and then the game started to come
00:46alive a little bit, Wolves edged the first half and took their one chance, but West Ham
00:50also had opportunities, obviously Manezzi should have scored that second one off the
00:54crossbar as well, but Wolves take a deserved lead into half-time and it's about how they
00:58are going to react to what is inevitably going to be a second coming for West Ham.
01:02West Ham were a lot better in that second half, made a triple change at half-time, changed
01:05formation, Wolves stood firm defensively, rode their luck a tiny bit, a tiny bit as
01:11well, Totti Govers makes a major error in the 89th, 90th minute there and Sucek has
01:16to finish, it's five yards out and he manages to put it wrong side of the post.
01:19It wasn't his first error today by the way.
01:20No, a player who has been excellent under Vito Pereira, possibly his poorest game under
01:25the new manager I think today and Wolves unfortunately got away with it, missed obviously the Manezzi
01:31chance right at the end as well, the second chance, missed that, but the crowd were in
01:35it then, the crowd were with the team, the players were fighting, Vito Pereira was kicking
01:39and heading every ball with them and Molyneux was as loud as it's been all season for that
01:44last five minutes there and then the players needed it and it was a monumental win.
01:50We didn't see it coming, we thought a point, and it would have been a good point to be
01:52honest, it was probably more likely today, but that gives Wolves such a massive reading
01:56space going into Ipswich the weekend.
01:58Look, Mateus, couldn't you get suspended and we all think, my goodness me, is there
02:02another twist in this horrible season and yet they've put together, over these last
02:06three games, their best run this season, seven points from three, Jurgen Strang-Larsen, three
02:11in two games now, double figures in the Premier League this season, maybe they needed this,
02:19maybe not this, you know, a talismanic strike away, you're looking for something, he's a
02:23brilliant player, Mateus, couldn't you, but it feels like they are playing a little bit
02:27more as a team and someone like Jurgen Strang-Larsen, I think, is reaping those rewards.
02:31Absolutely, he got amongst it today and he had to feed off scraps at times as well, he
02:37takes the goal really nicely, he does take a nick off Kielman on the way through, cheers
02:41Max, he got a nice reception by the way, which I think is deserved as well, which I'm pleased
02:45to see. He takes a nick off him obviously, which obviously, sort of half-wrong foots
02:51Arreola, so there's a tiny bit of luck in it, but it is also a nice finish, he catches
02:53the ball nicely and I'm really pleased for Larsen because he had a little bit of stick-up
02:57until that Sam Hamilton game, got a double there and his first season in the Premier
03:01League, to have made it ten Premier League goals, I think is a really, really good result.
03:06With eight games left, and if he adds anything more on top of that, I think it's a really
03:10good first season.
03:11And yet, I would say the best bit of quality in the game was shortly after with Gial Gomez
03:15unbelievable run, obviously signed his new contract as well, which is fantastic news
03:19today, brilliant, we'll talk about that in the podcast later on tonight, that we're filming
03:22and recording as well, late night love baby. Brilliant run and deserved better didn't it,
03:27I mean, Marcello Manezzi would be disappointed that he hasn't hit the target, that hits the
03:31target, it's a goal.
03:32Yeah, I mean, it's off the underside of the bar as well, it's an inch away, I know he's
03:37slightly leaning back, he comes at him quickly, but he's got to hit the target I think, but
03:41that one at the end is even worse, it's even worse in my opinion, I mean, I'm a fan of
03:46Martial Manezzi, I think he's got a lot to offer, he still just needs to find that, it's
03:51just that final call percentage isn't it, finesse is the right word, yeah, he's missing
03:55that final ball, that final touch, that final shot, he's not quite, he could have had two
03:59today easily, but he's still adding something to this team, and you're right, they're playing
04:04as a team, that's the key word, they're not a group of individuals anymore, Belagard who
04:09didn't score or assist today, but I thought was really good, a really good again, and
04:13he's consistently been really good, he gets amongst it consistently, looks after the ball
04:17really well, makes intelligent runs, is really neat in possession, all of these things he
04:21wasn't for a long time in a Wolves shirt, and now he has been for, what, seven, eight
04:25games in a row now, so yeah, the Wolves are going in the right direction, and now with
04:28this win, they are very, very close and mathematically secure in their place.
04:31Yeah, and start to look up the table a little bit, we've talked about it, you know, you're
04:34flirting with potentially looking at 40 points this season, if they get 40 points from where
04:37they were, that's a fantastic achievement, they're only five points away from West Ham
04:41United, Spurs and Everton as well, so you can start to put a bit of a run together,
04:44you go to Whipswitch on Saturday, yes of course, you don't want to get beat, you don't want
04:47to give them a, you know, sneak back into the race or give them even a glimpse, but
04:51at the same time, you should probably go there now, full of confidence, looking to win again,
04:55make it three wins from four.
04:56Why not?
04:57I think the first priority is you go there not to lose the game, but you are right, there's
05:01no reason Wolves don't go there and puff their chest out a little bit, and say look, we're
05:07going to go there and win this game.
05:09I do think, yeah, not losing the game is still a priority, but you are right, you are right,
05:13Wolves have got the quality, they've got the consistency, they've got a team that's played,
05:17a side of Everton that's started the last three games in a row and is now performing
05:21as a group.
05:22Consistency has been key, hasn't it?
05:23It has been, it has been, and particularly when you've got, you know, Rodrigo Gomez
05:28and Guedes missed out today, you lose two players like that off the bench, all of a
05:31sudden your options are limited as well, you've got, you know, Forbes and Ling on the bench
05:34and people like Troy just come on towards the end as well, which is nice, because sometimes
05:42they're going to need those legs in there, and he offered that right at the end, and
05:46Wolves are almost there, they're almost there, it feels good to not be too concerned, but
05:51as we said before this game as well, it is mathematically secure, just, yeah, don't count
05:56your chickens just yet.
05:57Wolves 1-1 West Ham United 0, for the post-match reaction make sure you log on to expressionstar.com