00:00Hello I'm Nathan Judo, I'm here with Wolves reporter is Mr. Liam Keane where it's finished,
00:13pre-season's finished. It is. Pre-season's finished, it's finished,
00:16Wolverhampton Wanderers nil, Celta Vigo won and look this game was free to season ticket holders
00:22Liam and I'm pleased it was free because you won't have paid too much to watch that.
00:25No, and the people at home paying to watch it on their streams as well, not inspiring by any means,
00:32a couple of small okay moments in either half of Wolves up the intensity a little bit, otherwise it
00:39was very much a training game again and this is the game really for me out of all of the pre-season games,
00:44it's the final one but it's also at Molyneux, you're thinking you want to give these fans
00:49a little bit of something and Wolves didn't really offer them anything.
00:52Sardis Vigo scored a very good goal but could have scored before that as well,
00:56then should have scored a second but somehow a player misses it from an open goal from a few yards
01:01and that pretty much sums Wolves up uninspiring and they needed a lot of help.
01:06They needed a lot of help out, one of those players who hopefully will provide that help was Wolves on
01:10debut, 45 minutes for him, left wing back, what did you make of that?
01:14Yeah he took a blow to the head, I want to clear this up first of all because obviously we were concerned
01:17thinking if he's got a concussion here there's going to be a protocol when he's going to miss the Man City game.
01:21Yeah he took about five minutes down here didn't he?
01:23He did yeah and he looked uncomfortable as well but he came off at half-time and of course
01:26that then makes us a little bit more worried. I interviewed the player as well as asking people
01:30at the club, the player says I was always meant to come off at half-time anyway that was the plan
01:34because he's not played for a little while and also speaking to the club they say there's no injury
01:38there's no concussion so he should be fit and fired to play which is obviously very good news.
01:42And staying ahead of Hugo Buena which you would expect that it's going to be his to lose at least for
01:46going to Manchester City. I think so and from what I saw, let's look at both those players
01:51which is a battle really for that left wing back spot, what I saw in Wolfe, of course it's only
01:56the first 45 minutes, I'm going to give a little bit of benefit of the doubt, is a player that is
02:01going to be very steady, I think defensively he's going to be good and strong, he is taller,
02:07he's about six foot or so so all of these things are going to add to Wolfe's defensively going forward.
02:12He's not the fastest, he's not the most dynamic, he's not necessarily going to get you out of your
02:16seat like someone like Ryan Aiknori is, but he did put in a really good cross on his right foot
02:23cutting side so look, is he going to come and score you know five, six, seven, eight goals next season,
02:29I can't see it. Industrious though. And is he going to add something a little bit different,
02:34I think so hopefully. A little bit of grit, a little bit of metal, probably better defensively than
02:37Ryan Aiknori. I think so yeah exactly, and Tom will tell exactly how that's going to work out.
02:41What we saw in Hugo is a player that I think for the big chance, I've not actually seen a replay,
02:46but I've seen tweets and we missed it at the time live, but apparently from what I've been told,
02:50the chance when Giuseppe Santobigo should have made it 2-0. Bueno had a nightmare defensively.
02:56He does occasionally struggle in those areas, but going forward I saw a player that was a lot more
03:01dangerous going forward in my opinion. Look, I've said this from the beginning, I want Hugo Bueno here and
03:05fighting in this team and fighting to get in. I think it adds great competition to the team and it makes
03:10that left side stronger. I'm just not sure that's going to be a reality.
03:13No, but I mean, look, if you look at it at this moment in time, if you do have Wolf as your starter,
03:17are you good enough to have Rodrigo Gomez as your backup? I mean, I'd want to, like you say,
03:20have both of those players battling it out. Almost been a 50-50 battle. I think that raised each other.
03:24Now, I think the problem in the past has been there's been players who are too comfortable,
03:27where there's no one really behind them and so they know they're starting every week. I think
03:32that would be really something that each other would want to happen. Being comfortable leads to
03:36complacency, doesn't it? And that's where mistakes creep in, that's where the team starts to falter.
03:40So yeah, I completely agree. I like Rodrigo Gomez a lot, but he's going to be a bit part of
03:44players and come in and out of the team and that's, you know, the balance wolves and the players
03:47have got to try and strike really. So yeah, frustrating.
03:51In terms of top, are we looking okay? I mean, look at Arias again. Are the fans got to see him today?
03:56A little bit quieter than what he was against Girona.
03:58Yeah, for sure. Definitely quieter, but you've got the situation where he's still, I think,
04:05getting to grips with what this team needs and what Vito needs of him. He saw a great cameo,
04:10if you will, for 25 minutes or so off the bench against Girona, but what I think he'll be
04:16is a player that isn't going to necessarily score you the goals that couldn't have scored. I don't
04:19necessarily think that's true, but will he bring experience, numbers and that sort of senior
04:25player in those forward positions? I think so. Yeah, so I think he'll be a good player for
04:28Wolves, but as I continue to say, they need some sort of additions, but particularly in that forward
04:34area as well. I was going to mention Jorgen Strand-Larsen, but he was walking right behind
04:37the camera, so I didn't want to mention too much, but in terms of him, look, he's the main guy,
04:40he's the man up front, he's the number nine, but looked isolated at times for me today and that's
04:45going to be, I guess, whether they need to bring someone else in or whether it's Marshall
04:50Minetsi or whether it's a fair Lopez, but someone needs to play tighter, I think, to Jorgen Strand-Larsen.
04:54Listen, you cannot have him isolated in this team. We saw his best run of goals was when
05:00Marshall Minetsi was very close to him, playing very close. Great work off the ball as they're
05:04going in the tunnel now, but I just wonder whether they've got that player at this moment
05:08in time because he didn't look himself today. Yeah, one thing I will say about Larson is
05:13I think he's getting better at holding the ball up. I said that to you during the game,
05:16I think he's winning his headers more, I think he's holding the ball up a lot better. Look, we're not
05:20playing Premier League sides as well, so that's important to mention, but I do think that's an improvement from him.
05:24And to be honest, all the things you said there, I don't disagree with, but I also don't think a lot
05:27of it is his fault. No, it's not his fault at all. I'm not saying there's people around him, but
05:30you know, it's fine holding the ball up and waiting for Bors, but you're going to get crosses from
05:33Kijana, Hoover and Wolff. You're going to get them, you know, on your head, I don't think you have,
05:37so you've got to come back into play a little bit. Bors' crosses have been poor, actually,
05:40and particularly again today as well. And they're playing very narrow, and they're not quick,
05:43they haven't got a lot of pace in this attack at this moment in time, so it's very much pedestrian,
05:47very much predictable, and that's what we're worried about. Yeah, no, I completely agree. I do think the
05:50third Lopes, albeit, is he someone that I think is the answer to play week in, week out? No,
05:55I think you need further additions, but I think he is someone that took up some really good positions
05:58again today. That final pass and the final shot, yeah, maybe there's an improvement to be had,
06:04but I do think there's a player in there that could be really important for us next season,
06:07with time. That's a really important thing to mention as well. But you're right, the team needs
06:12additions. Right wing back is a must. Another sentiment fielder is a must, albeit not the priority in
06:17comparison to other positions, because they've got two fantastic ones already. Left centre half is
06:22one that they want to do. Again, not a number one priority, but it's a more depth issue. And
06:26alongside right wing back, the other priority for me is another forward, without a doubt, and
06:29potentially two, depending on... I'm not saying Wolves will get two, because we know they want at least
06:33one, but in my opinion... Gets gone if one goes as well. Exactly. In my opinion, potentially two is
06:38going to be needed. I thought Sasha did okay when he came on, by the way. Yeah, he did. Again, I don't think he'll be... No, I agree.
06:43And also, I'm not sure I'd want him as your next in line as well. I think Wolves need further depth in
06:48there. But yeah, it's worrying because it was uninspiring. It really was today. The fans will
06:54look at that and say it's not good enough, and they'll be bang on to say that. Well, look, we've
06:57had six games in pre-season. We've watched all of them, winless, and that's not the be-all and end-all
07:01by any means. It's the performance. But you look at the performance, and we're worried. The fans are
07:06worried. I think Vito's probably worried. We're worried, and quite rightly so. Because you've got Manchester City
07:11coming here in seven days' time, and you look at that performance today, and of course,
07:15of course, they'll be better. Of course, the intensity will be up by two or three or four
07:19notches. They will have to be. But at the same time, they're not good enough at this moment in
07:23time. You look at this squad, you look at the players, and this is a team that are going to
07:26struggle mightily in the Premier League. I agree. I do think they'll step it up in the Premier League
07:31in comparison to pre-season, because that's a natural step to make anyway. Of course. But is it going to
07:34be enough to go and beat Manchester City? And get results in the Premier League. At the moment,
07:38there's no way you can confidently say it will be enough. They need help. They need the
07:42signings. The performances have been worrying in large parts. I mean, the second half against
07:48Lon, for example, really worrying. The start of the second half against Girona, really worrying.
07:54There's been okay bits in there, but that's as far as we can go in terms of positives.
07:58And it's not the results in pre-season. It's the performances, as you say.
08:02Put those winless and six to one side. The performances we're talking about have been
08:06way below par. And this is against teams that would struggle in the Premier League as well.
08:10So Wolves have got a lot of work to do. Upstairs, boardroom, and bringing players in.
08:17Vito's got his work cut out as well in getting a tune out of them. As I say, they'll be better
08:21once the season starts, and they have been so far. That's just naturally how pre-season
08:25and the season's going to work. But they need to be a lot better if they're going to get anything on
08:28Saturday and going forward.
08:29Well, it was Nils, El Tavigo 1. For all the post-match reaction, make sure you log on to ExpressenStar.com.
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