The Joe Edwards debrief – Wolves 0 Watford 2
Wolves were made to pay for some slack defending as Watford ran out 2-0 winners at Molineux.
The result saw them drop two places to ninth in the Premier League table.
Time for change
One loss does not call for wholesale changes, but having two or three different faces in the starting line-up at Brighton this weekend would not go amiss.
Wolves managed to set a Premier League record by naming the same starting XI for the first eight matches of the campaign and it served them superbly.
The ninth match proved one too far, though.
They were out-fought and out-thought by Watford, who had made four switches from their 4-0 loss to Bournemouth before the international break.
Nuno admitted some of his players may have got too comfortable so now seems as good a time as ever to give those who have done well as substitutes over the past several weeks a chance to shine.
Ivan Cavaleiro and Adama Traore are the prime candidates to enter the fray, for Diogo Jota and Helder Costa.
Cavaleiro has the ability to turn a game on its head at any given moment while Traore, as the club’s biggest-ever signing at £18million, should have the opportunity utilise his frightening pace from the off sooner rather than later.
Ruben Vinagre threw his hat into the ring too on Saturday. He was composed after replacing the fatigued Jonny Castro Otto.
Need for goals
Bringing in those players could well be what solves the goals conundrum.
Wolves have now scored nine goals in as many games. That is not catastrophic, by any means, but there is certainly room for improvement.
As it stands, Raul Jimenez is the only player to have scored twice. Willy Boly, Joao Moutinho, Matt Doherty, Ruben Neves, Traore, Cavaleiro and Jonny have one each.
While out-and-out No.9s seem to be a dying breed, you are always looking for one or two to notch at least 10 times by the end of the season – or four or five to finish high in single figures.
And that is where Cavaleiro and Traore come in. Both of them will fancy their chances of topping the scoring ranks, if they get enough starts.
Jimenez is as much a creator as a scorer of goals, as is second-choice centre forward Leo Bonatini, so those wide men may have to step up and take the mantle following the barren runs for Jota and Costa.
Then, if that does not end up being the case, it is something worth looking at in the January transfer window.
Vibrant Vinagre
There were question marks over Vinagre at the start of the campaign in terms of whether the Premier League was too much too soon for him.
After all, he did not feature that much in Wolves’ title-winning Championship term – 11 appearances, none after the 1-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday on December 15
A fair chunk of the summer was spent chasing Man City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko as well. A £16m fee was agreed with City and, at that stage, the Molineux hierarchy may well have been thinking of sending the Portuguese youngster – after snapping him up on a permanent basis from Monaco – out on loan for the season.
But, as it turned out, Zinchenko turned down the move and Vinagre was left to fight with Jonny for the left wing-back berth.
And he really staked a claim on Saturday. Vinagre nullified the threat of Kiko Femenia and Will Hughes, who troubled Jonny so much in the first half, while also displaying an eagerness to break forward and get crosses into the box.
He has a maturity beyond his years, as evidenced in his recent promotion from Portugal’s Under-19s to their U21s set-up.
On a five-year contract, Vinagre is seen as one for the future. But he has a fair amount to offer here and now.
Midfield muscle
When Joao Moutinho arrived to partner compatriot Ruben Neves in the Wolves midfield, naturally, we were all excited.
Both are exceptional passers of the ball, truly stylish footballers – Moutinho a player who has won many trophies, and Neves one who has the potential to achieve even greater things.
But there was one concern. Would they have the physical prowess to cope week in, week out in the top flight?
And they were overrun for the first time on Saturday.
Moutinho and Neves showed flashes of quality but, in the main, were dominated by Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue. Doucoure and Capoue were quicker and stronger than the Portuguese pair throughout the whole 90 minutes.
Let’s hope it was just a one-off.
Onto the next one
Speaking of one-offs, fingers crossed this game just gone, come the end of the season, will merely be remembered as a bad day at the office – one that Wolves quickly recovered from.
History suggests they will come up with a response straight away too. Nuno is yet to suffer back-to-back league defeats as Wolves chief.
Last season’s 2-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest at Molineux – which panned out very similarly to the Watford encounter, with two quick-fire first-half goals – was followed up by three triumphs on the spin.
A repeat of that is a huge ask with games against Brighton (a), Tottenham (h) and Arsenal (a) coming up.
Realistically, most fans would probably be happy with a return of four points from those three matches.
Final word
Star man: Ruben Vinagre
The boss: Lacked a Plan B
Fans: Frustrated
Magic moment: Bully and young Zac Oliver on the pitch pre-match
In a word: Overrun
Picture perfect:
