'Back to square one': Liam Keen analysis as Wolves' wait for a Premier League win goes on

Express & Star

Liam Keen gives his take on Wolves' defeat on the road at Sunderland - as the wait for a league victory goes on.  It was a tough start in the North East - as they fell behind in the opening quarter of the game.  Wolves had chances as they pushed to get back in the game - but a late own goal finished them off at the Stadium of Light.

Transcript

00:00Hello, it's Liam Keane here from the Stadium of Light, running solo today.

00:07And a lot of those Wolves players and those individual performances were certainly solo and not as a team.

00:14It's a déjà vu situation for Wolves, nowhere near good enough once again, unfortunately.

00:20Coming into this game, my thoughts were, look, Wolves have improved and played better,

00:24again, for the likes of Everton in the Cup, Spurs and Brighton in the last two league games.

00:28But for me, the making of this team and how they were going to move forward with those marginal improvements

00:34was how they were going to react today.

00:37This, for me, was a game that was going to show exactly where they're at.

00:41And they're at square one again.

00:46They started OK the first five minutes, if I'm being polite.

00:52But after that, Sunderland dominated possession, had a 10 to 15 minute spell or so,

00:57where Wolves could barely get out of their half, couldn't get a kick.

01:01And they conceded a really, really poor goal.

01:05It's a good finish, maybe slightly fortunate it goes through Sam Johnson's legs.

01:09But really, for me, the blame is up to the goalkeeper, not necessarily the goalkeeper.

01:13Matt Doherty loses the goal scorer, Mukulele.

01:16Obviously, it's a really easy one-two pass with Trey Hulme, something that should be so avoidable.

01:22Minetti also lets the player run off him.

01:24It's so avoidable for a Premier League squad, a Premier League team.

01:29And unfortunately, from a Wolves perspective, it was the goal that essentially decided this game.

01:34I think that you get through that first half and it was what it was.

01:39It was uninspiring.

01:41It was disappointing.

01:42But Wolves were far better in the second half.

01:44They came out, they reacted, they created chances.

01:45But within that possession and that sort of dominating the ball and those chances, if you can call them that,

01:53was there anything that was clear-cut?

01:55Was there anything that was really cutting edge?

01:56Was there anything that was going to break through the lines and really put something under a lot of pressure?

02:02Not really.

02:03There's a lot of hopeful crosses, a lot of players that were isolated, a lot of players not performing.

02:08Jao Gomez nowhere near good enough today.

02:11Jorgen San Larsson is a passenger at the moment.

02:14And both supremely talented players, but not playing anywhere near their best.

02:18You've got players like Rodrigo Gomez and Hugo Buena down that left side

02:21who I thought were probably Wolves' two best players today.

02:24Rodrigo Gomez ends up coming off.

02:27It's frustrating because the game was there for Wolves to get a result.

02:31And it sums Wolves up, really, that they go and concede an own goal in the fashion in which they did.

02:37Really poor corner.

02:38I think it was Hugo Buena's corner, actually.

02:40You know, I thought he played well today.

02:41Really poor corner.

02:42I think it's fair.

02:44Lopez is attempting to keep the ball alive, attempting to make something happen.

02:48And they lose the ball and Sunderland break forward.

02:50And the cross is actually really tame.

02:52It's going nowhere.

02:54And Krejci slides in to anticipate it.

02:56And wrong foots Sam Johnston.

02:58The goalkeeper's not at fault for this, I don't think, in my opinion.

03:00But wrong foots Sam Johnston.

03:01And he goes in the back of the net.

03:03Krejci, you know, it's harsh on him because he's been an individual performer that I think has done well.

03:07Didn't particularly do anything wrong today, but overall has done well.

03:10And it's harsh on him, but it sums Wolves up.

03:14It sums them up.

03:14They are error-strewn, weak in mentality and conceded a really, really poor goal.

03:23Sunderland, you know, maybe edged it overall, but weren't particularly outstanding.

03:28They didn't have to work particularly hard to get the win.

03:30And that is a massive criticism of the way Wolves went about this game.

03:33For me, it is not only frustrating, it's verging on unforgivable the way that Wolves went about it.

03:40Particularly in that first 20 minutes.

03:42That first 20 minutes was so incredibly poor that any...

03:46I'm frustrated and I'm paid to be here.

03:48Any fan that is paying to come here and travelling all this way can only be absolutely furious.

03:54And the fans were furious at the end.

03:55From the view we have for the press box, it's very high up.

03:57We can only see a very small selection of the away end from where I was.

04:00But that small selection I could see were making their feelings known to the players and the staff as they approach the away end.

04:06And rightly so as well.

04:07That's exactly what they should be doing.

04:09And no surprise at all, really.

04:11Because that performance was not good enough.

04:14The second half, yes, was better.

04:15But the overall performance was definitely nowhere near good enough.

04:19And Wolves have lost 6-8.

04:21Got two points with two draws.

04:23Wolves, yep, probably should have won those two games.

04:25But this is where Wolves find themselves.

04:28And we now go into the following week at home to Burnley, at Molyneux.

04:35Everyone will see this as a must-win game.

04:37Wolves have to do something to turn the tide.

04:39They have to do something to turn it around.

04:42And I'm really concerned where the goals come from in this side.

04:45At the moment, there is a real lack of inspiration, ingenuity, creativity.

04:50And game management.

04:54Moving forward, something has to change.

04:56Whether that is the Burnley game and a result.

04:58Whether it's something beyond that.

04:59So, we will bring you all the latest.

05:02We will be speaking to Vitor Pereira very shortly in the press conference.

05:05For the latest, keep it to date on expressionstar.com.

05:08So, we will be speaking to Vitor Pereira.

05:10So, as we talk about this, it doesn't look at all the Staples

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