Wolves in USA - Miami, Momentum and Messi
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah, this is Wolverhampton Wonders reporter, it is Mr. Liam Keane.
00:16We have moved away from Marbella, we have gone very briefly back into the West Midlands
00:20before flying across, flying across the Atlantic and we are here at Florida Blue, into Miami's
00:27Training HQ and behind us, the beautiful Chase Stadium where Wolves will be playing
00:33RB Leipzig in the third game of their US pre-season tour.
00:37Mr. Liam Keane, it is hot and humid baby.
00:41Oh yeah, we are slightly fortunate that a couple of times the clouds are coming across
00:46and the direct sun at times is not too bad, it's just come across now and I'm starting
00:50to not sweat as much.
00:51A little breeze, but the humidity absolutely kills you doesn't it, I mean watching the
00:57players out there as well, some of them are like, better them than me, put it that way.
01:03Yeah look, the players came across, Gary Neal was out there with his cones, with his sticks,
01:07he was organising everything, players would come across, we sat down, they were right
01:10in front of us, day one, you can't ask for better than that and just watching them like
01:15you say, the heat was there, but they're ready to go, they're ready to work and that was
01:18a decent session they put in there.
01:20It was absolutely, a bit of warm up stuff as you say, right in front of us, I mean two
01:23yards in front of us, so we were basically in their way when they were trying to warm
01:26up.
01:27You can hear that elbow doing that at one point.
01:30And yeah, a little bit of that work over there, as you say, great to get a bit of an insight
01:35after Marbella with the training sessions as we went to there.
01:38And then obviously once you get into it, started doing a bit of ball work, played a lot through
01:42the thirds, working on shape, attacking phases of play, everyone in one half of the pitch,
01:48we moved over to the far side over there, we moved around and followed them, doing a
01:52bit of 11v11 and there was, with the two 11s work on, one pressing, one playing out from
01:57the back and then letting them play a little bit as well.
01:59So yeah, trying to find the balance between it being a light enough session because they
02:02flew yesterday and it's a long flight and it's tiring, especially if you get a five
02:06hour delay like we did.
02:07And also...
02:08The lounge was nice though.
02:09The lounge was lovely.
02:10A couple of drinks here?
02:11A couple of 10am tipples.
02:12And then yeah, finding the balance between having it light enough so it's not too heavy
02:13on the legs, but also getting enough in there because they've got games coming up and they've
02:14got to be ready.
02:15Yeah, and it was interesting, look, it's very early days and we're not reading too much
02:16into things, there's a lot of plans and there's a lot of things that Gary Neill is trying
02:17to look at and see, some will work, some won't.
02:18Now I just thought it was a bit interesting, especially when they were in front of us,
02:19working on those back fours and playing it out, there were almost two teams weren't there,
02:20there was that first team and then there was that second team and then there was that third
02:21team and then there was that fourth team and then there was that fifth team and then there
02:22was that fifth team and then there was that sixth team and then there was that seventh
02:46team and then there was that eighth team and then there was that ninth team and then there
02:49was a second back four, which consisted of Hugo Bueno, Santiago Bueno, Jose Mosquera and
02:54Matt Doherty.
02:55Anything to read in between that or do you think they might just be trying to see what
02:58works and what doesn't work?
02:59Yeah, I think they're definitely going to be trial and testing a few things, I think
03:02that goes without saying.
03:03Course Nelson Samedo is about to come out.
03:04Exactly, that's the nature of pre-season obviously.
03:07It's different because it's not a game environment, so you're trying to analyse something that
03:10is purely a training environment and obviously in the first half against Como in the only
03:14game we've seen so far, that we were at obviously, is Pedro Lima on the right, Hugo Bueno on
03:19the left, Nae Norris, so a slightly different dynamic really there with those kind of players.
03:23But to see those two players, two very attacking players in a four, and it was more of a traditional
03:27four wasn't it from what we saw, could lead us to believe that they're going to stick
03:32with the four going forward, but interesting to note, especially in the 11 side over here
03:37on this side, the midfielder or one of the midfielders is dropping in very, very deep.
03:43As the two centre-backs almost shift to the right, one midfielder was dropping in, I saw
03:47Tommy Doyle do it quite a lot, Lamina did it quite a lot, dropping in, almost making
03:50a three there, and then you've got a ten dropping in a little bit deep into midfield, and then
03:54it becomes almost a five doesn't it, so it's definitely not as cut and dry as everyone
03:58would like to believe.
03:59It's not like we're playing a back four, that's it, it's very interchangeable.
04:02Yeah, interesting, good point there as well, you saw Gary O'Neill at the end of the training
04:05session with his armourer Mateus Cunha, he's going to be integral I think, it's the way
04:09they want to play this year, whether it's him dropping back, now you've got Jorgen
04:12Strand-Larsen up there at the top, can he drift to the left, can he come in behind,
04:15I think it's going to be massive, I think they're going to actually build it around
04:18Mateus Cunha this season, I really do, I think he's going to be massive into how well Wolves
04:22do, no pressure on him at all.
04:24Look, a couple of players I want to discuss, one who wasn't here, Juan Hicham, wasn't at
04:28training today, another one who is here, with perhaps didn't spec, and that's Gonzalo Guedes.
04:32Yes, well with Juan first, nothing to be concerned about, wasn't at training today, will be training
04:38tomorrow, all good, no conspiracy theories, and then Guedes as you mentioned, not someone
04:45we expected to be there, Pedentz with a calf strain hasn't travelled, but as I've said
04:50in my written piece as well, we're fully expecting Pedentz at the moment to still be moving on,
04:53I think that's the high likelihood, and regardless of the fact that he's been replaced by Guedes
04:59on this trip, Guedes is also pretty likely to go.
05:03But does it mean that he definitely will, if the player turns around and says he's a
05:07changed man and wants to stay, who knows, maybe he will stay, but we've been very critical
05:11of the way he acted when he was in a wolf shirt, back in 2022, he's going to have to
05:17do a lot I think to change the opinion of him, and he's going to have to stop missing
05:21from two yards out in training as well, so that was a little bit of a dick, that was
05:28actually slightly out of order to be honest, but I thought it would be funny so I did it.
05:33That's kind of my line, I love it.
05:35I've got nothing against him personally, of course I don't, but his attitude was...
05:40Big fan of you.
05:42His attitude was terrible when he was here before, so fair play to him if things change
05:48and he stays, he's clearly a talented footballer, and if it goes well I'll be the first one
05:52to hold my hands up and say well done, but I just find that unlikely.
05:56You've got to say unlikely, and you know Gary Neill was quite critical and backed himself
05:59with some of the decisions he made last season of letting players go on loan and the group,
06:03and he's very important on that group, and I think there's going to have to be a lot
06:06of, not backtracking, but showing that you've changed, showing that you want to be here
06:11in order for that to happen, and like you say you think it's probably a bit of a long
06:14distance and if Daniel Pedence was fit you probably would expect Daniel Pedence to be
06:18here and maybe Gonzalo Guedes not to be, but he's here and he's got a chance and let's
06:21see what happens.
06:23Two other people I wanted to mention, a former Wolves player was watching from the sidelines
06:27as well, Mr. Leo Campagna.
06:28Yeah, a good friend of yours, you look kind of similar actually.
06:31Wow, well he's got bleached hair.
06:32Well not the hair, not the hair, yeah.
06:35And yes, he was over there chatting with Matt.
06:36Similar ability on the ball.
06:37Absolutely, yeah.
06:38I don't know if that's a compliment to you or a dig at him, he's as good as one of the
06:43two.
06:44Yeah, he was over here chatting with a couple of the Wolves staff, some of the backroom
06:47staff that remember him or know him from his time at the club.
06:50So yeah, it was a nice one to come over and have a look.
06:52I think there was one or two other players who would have known him, but obviously the
06:56squad has changed a lot hasn't it?
06:57It's changed a lot, yeah.
06:58It's evolved.
06:59Yeah, exactly, exactly.
07:00And I think there was someone else lurking around the stadium somewhere.
07:05You've got your top players at Wolves, you've got your people who are going to be playing
07:09consistently every week.
07:10You've got your top journos here.
07:11You've got your...
07:12Where are they?
07:13One second.
07:14Who are they?
07:15Superstar.
07:16You've got your backroom staff, you've got everyone here, and then you've got your lowest
07:22of your lows, someone who I think...
07:23Bomb feeder isn't he, big time.
07:27He would get in the 21s I think, maybe.
07:29Maybe.
07:30Maybe, Ben, you'll have to work his way up.
07:32Yeah, I think if you put a bit of effort in he'd be alright.
07:34I cannot confirm or deny, but I am confirming it, there has been a Lionel Messi sighting
07:38here today.
07:39He's in the building.
07:40Look, more to come.
07:41We've got 13 days of this, so we might get edge closer and closer and closer until we
07:44both get wretched and tasered, but we'll try it because anything for decent content.
07:48Look, we're going to be back at training tomorrow, we'll have the second video, and then we'll
07:51be on a flight across to Jacksonville.
07:53We'll be there for two nights, and of course watching Wolverhampton Wanderers against West
07:56Ham United.
07:57We are buzzing.
07:58This content is going to be very, very exciting.
08:00We're also sweating profusely, but that's fine, if we're in 4D it is what it is.
08:04£2.
08:05Look, if you join today, you've got a full month, you've got all the coverage, it's £2,
08:08it's 6p a day.
08:09Why would you not be on it?
08:10And, without giving anything away, there's a, you know, one little surprise for maybe
08:17two surprises for the next swap, because as I say, if you sign up now, you don't just
08:24get the US tour, you get the whole month, so it'll be once a season underway and everything
08:27as well.
08:28Oh yes, I didn't think of that.
08:29And coming back end of that there might be one or two little surprises as well.
08:31I'm saying three surprises though.
08:32There you go.
08:33I don't want to leave you on tenterhooks, but maybe just keep an eye out if you do subscribe.
08:38Right, I'm taking you to Dunkin' Donuts for a nice coffee and you've already had a Twinkie
08:41so you're going to be four stone heavier by the time we get back home.
08:44That's it.
08:45Make sure you join us for ExpressingStyle.com for all the latest on the US tour, baby.