Away-dayer Stu Hall gives us his thoughts on Wolves win against Brighton on New Years day.
Little over a week ago this team of players looked certain to be heading into a relegation battle.
Confidence at an all time low, leaking goals and not scoring them up the other end is a recipe for disaster.
Now here we are; 3 wins out of 3, no goals conceded and 9 points better off.
Of course though, statistics don’t tell the full story.
Against Reading it was very much a backs to the wall, hold on for dear life performance which thankfully worked.
Charlton on Monday featured a first half that would cure insomnia and a second where Wolves dominated the game against what was, admittedly, a terrible side.
Now to Brighton who have started to wobble a bit in terms of results compared to what they were like earlier in the season.
Nevertheless, the Amex is a difficult place to go and Brighton are one of Wolves’ bogey teams.
To say this was a smash and grab would be an understatement.
Brighton were absolutely dominant from start to finish, yet somehow they couldn’t break down the 10 men wolves had behind the ball the majority of the game.
The own goal was laughably bad with Wolverhampton-born Goldson sticking his leg out to intercept another dangerous cross from Graham only for the ball to go into the net.
The amount of shots Brighton got off was frankly ridiculous, even if some were from long range.
A team with aspirations for the top half of the table, let alone the play offs can’t play like this every week.
Ikeme pulled off superb saves from Murphy in the first half and Wilson, Stephens and Dunk multiple times in the second half yet it was Ebanks-Landell who excelled in being an absolute colossus at the back.
Not since the days of Paul Butler have i seen a performance of such grit and determination and deservedly got man of the match.
Iorfa too had a decent game after his recent wobbles and Doherty still out of position at Left back looked more composed as well.
For a defence that has been much derided over recent weeks, this was a very impressive 3rd clean sheet in a row.
Midfield however is where Wolves were once again poor.
Coady is not Jack Price. He can’t play that role and is wasted there.
Yes he played well in the 2nd half at Chalton but that was against a rubbish team who had pretty much given up.
Against better players he was shown up again.
Edwards was even worse and yet continues to be picked every week.
Jordan Graham showed flashes again but as with Afobe, was isolated for much of the game.
One positive from an attacking point of view was the return of the forgotten man Bjorn Sigurdarson.
Even though he was out of position on the right wing rather than through the middle, he showed some of the potential he had when he first signed hasn’t left him.
As welcome as a 3rd win in a row is, it has to be said this type of football is horrendous.
It is Gary Megson/Tony Pulis personified and is not pretty to watch.
Against teams who are in form this will not work and hopefully this was just a reaction to needing to get points on the board rather than a change of long term strategy.
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