'These are two clubs going in completely different directions!' Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis

Express & Star

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00:00Hello I'm Nathan Judo, I'm here with Wolves reporter Mr Liam Keane. Newcastle 3, Wolves

00:15having to 1-0 us, back-to-back 3-0 defeats in the league. What do you make of that? I

00:19mean look, Wolves are beaten by the better side, it's as simple as that. Yeah, obviously

00:22Newcastle have won 8 games in a row coming into this and all competitions, full of quality

00:27and they're two different clubs heading in two totally separate directions at the moment.

00:32Newcastle were a very good value for the win, absolutely deserved it and bizarrely Wolves

00:38had chances still to do something in this game, yet there were far too many individual

00:42performances that were way below par, way off it. The front three that started the game,

00:48all poor, Guedes maybe slightly better than the other two but I mean there's not a lot

00:52in it. Larssen really, really struggled to hold the ball up, I know it's a really difficult

00:57defensive partnership to deal with but he's got to do a lot better than that. And Hwang,

01:03he has an opportunity to react to the criticism, to his confidence being low and we saw the

01:08same player with his head down that just looks defeated at the moment. He has to be taken

01:11out the firing line because he's just not doing it and when you've got a forward line

01:15like that, he's just nowhere near it and you can't defend in that second half and you give

01:19one of the best strikers in European football that much space in the box, you're going to

01:23concede goals and you're going to lose the game. Bizarrely Wolves had chances to get

01:27something out of it but they didn't deserve to get anything.

01:29Yeah look, and the frustrating thing is, especially in that first half, Newcastle of course had

01:35decent possession but their shape for Wolves was good, they were well organised, they were

01:39well drilled and it came from a Wolves chance really, Hwang Hee-chan giving the ball away

01:45that let Isak go and Scorlock, it was a heavily deflected goal but at the same time, those

01:50were the big moments. We took Pereira furious and we said that Hwang would be lucky to survive

01:54half-time and he didn't in the end. Mateus Kuni, you can say arguably Wolves' best player,

01:58he was on the bench today but I don't think you can find excuses because like you say,

02:02it was men against boys, especially in that second half today and Wolves have got to pick

02:07themselves up pretty quickly here. They've got, we know they've got four more difficult

02:11games against four sides they've lost to already this season. Newcastle have done a double

02:14over Wolves, they shouldn't have done it first time round but they have done it and

02:19Wolves have slipped into the bottom three tonight. There will be plenty of people being

02:22concerned again, they will look to the fixture list coming and Wolves are going to have to

02:26start finding some form quickly because the last thing you want to do is get separated

02:31from the next. Crystal Palace have won tonight, those four or five teams around Wolves are

02:36becoming three or four very, very quickly. Yep, 100%. Alexander Isak is good at everything

02:42but one thing he's very good at is running the channel and two of the goals tonight came

02:47from him running the channel. The first one, yeah okay, a lot of luck having the ball popped

02:51back up to him from the Jal Gomes attack and then obviously the deflection from Aint Norrie

02:54but he came onto the ball on the left and came inside. The third goal as he sets Gordon

02:58up, he comes onto the ball from the right-hand side, cuts inside and finds the winger. Wolves

03:04have to defend better than that. Now, in a strange way, Matt Doherty had a really good

03:08first half actually, maybe slightly off his second, could do better for some of the goals.

03:14Agbidu, actually probably slightly better than he was at Bristol City ironically, made

03:18some really good defensive tackles, a brilliant block in the first half, really quick and

03:23athletic in the recovery. But it's that man in the middle, Santi Bueno was shocking today,

03:29particularly in that second half, all over the place. Wolves have to start to defend

03:33them. Totti Gomez is coming back from injury at some point, you know, Vidal Pereira's been

03:37a bit vague on the timescale for that. Dawson was back on the bench today but he struggled

03:41before he was injured and before he was taken out of the team. Wolves have to sign another

03:45centre-back in my opinion, they have to find someone to find that spot or Totti Gomez comes

03:48in and Agbidu goes central but they have to find a solution there because you cannot defend

03:52in that manner. And as you say, because of goal difference, they now slip back into the

03:56bottom three. Ipswich have still got to play Brighton tomorrow as well at home. Wolves

04:00have got a challenge on their hands, the honeymoon period is over. Yes, they've made improvements

04:05to Pereira, the last two Premier League games have shown very little of that, they have

04:09to do more. Like I say, at the same time, Martin Dabrowka made six saves tonight, six

04:13saves. Jürgen Strand-Larsen should have again, but we had a couple of goals tonight, I mean

04:17that one there, I know it's a good save by Dabrowka, but should he be getting a chance?

04:21Should he be getting a chance? Probably not. It's difficult, I don't think Strand-Larsen

04:25is in great form at this moment in time and I think he's a better striker with Kunja next

04:30to him, so we will see. We all know what Kunja did against Chelsea last year, but they're

04:35going to have to rally very, very quickly. No Mario Lamina tonight, the manager said

04:41that he was available for selection, clearly not here, clearly doesn't want to be here

04:45at this moment in time. Things like that have got to get sorted out pretty quickly as well

04:48don't they? So Wolves need to know, and Vito Perot needs to know, what squad he's got to

04:52try and keep Wolves in the Premier League. Yes, and we will ask Pereira about Lamina

04:57in this press conference now as well, we've obviously yet to speak to him as of recording

05:00this video. There's a lot of work to do on this team. You mentioned Larsen, I'm a fan

05:08of Larsen, I really am, but the last couple of games, the last three games really, including

05:11the FA Cup, he's nowhere near good enough. You mentioned the Dabrowka chance in the second

05:15half, the goalkeeper does brilliantly, but as far as I'm concerned, for a Premier League

05:20striker and for someone of his quality, because I think he's a good player, that's a routine

05:23finish. That's a routine finish that he should be taking every day of the week. He'll be

05:28disappointed with his own personal performance, but he's not the only one. Cunha's come in

05:31and done what he can, but it's difficult to turn around when the midfield's being bypassed

05:35and the defence can't defend. He still should have put away a chance by the way. Yeah, you

05:39are, and Stradley has a massive one as well. He's ten yards out, time and space in the

05:44box, kicks it straight at the Dabrowka, either side of the goalkeeper, that's a goal. Obviously

05:47they have one disallowed as well by Villar, Bueno, Handball, a few people think it's a

05:51little bit harsh, neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned really. So you are right,

05:57they have to find more solutions in this transfer window, and Pereira needs to know

06:02what he's got to work with, because they need signings. I don't think it's wholesale changes,

06:07I really don't, if I'm honest. I think they need a forward, I think they need another

06:11forward to this team. Someone to play either side of Larsson, alongside Cunha as another

06:16option. Geddes, I'd say, did okay today, but I think they need another option there. They've

06:21got a problem with Huang at this moment in time haven't they? Yeah, and they need a defender

06:23as I've already said in this video, they need a defender, they need someone else. Okay,

06:29Agbido may come central eventually with Totti back in the team at some point, but I do think

06:32they need another defender to come in there, have some depth and quality depth in that

06:35position. Yeah, they've got time to re-evaluate, they've got time to rest, they've got time

06:39to train, because obviously Chelsea on Monday night, but they're going to have to be a hell

06:41of a lot better than they were tonight. Newcastle 3, Wolverhampton 1-0 for the post-match reaction,

06:45make sure you log on to expressthestar.com.

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