“There has been some positive signs” Verdict on Wolves’ torturous start to Premier League season as they sit rock bottom
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ tortuous start to the Premier League season has its defining image. Captain Mario Lemina collapsing to his knees at full time, head in hands and tears running down his face. They must now come through this run, with togetherness remaining of key importance.
Category
🥇
SportTranscript
00:00So, Charlie, let's start with Wolves. Looking at their worrying start to the Premier League
00:07season and doing some research myself, it was actually the hardest start across the
00:13whole division in terms of up to power rankings. They rank how difficult and easy fixtures
00:20can be and Wolves have had the hardest run in the league. But you also can't get carried
00:25away with looking ahead and thinking there's easier fixtures to come, which there is. It
00:30might be in a couple of months. But that sort of makes having such a bad start also makes
00:36those easier games even more pressured as well. So, it's not been the best of starts.
00:41It's also one win in 15 for Gary O'Neill's side, which is certainly worrying. These are
00:46the facts that the fans have had to deal with. But now that they lose their centre-back in
00:51years to Mosquera as well, it's not looking great for them. How do you sum up the way
00:56they've gone? Because, yes, it's not done well at one point at the bottom of the division,
01:00but they have, at times, played some good football. It's just about holding on to the
01:04leads, for example.
01:05Now, I've been at a lot of Wolves games, covering them recently, and it's just such a weird
01:10story because you're sat there writing a report that's actually quite positive most of the
01:15time. And then there's 20 minutes to go and it's just the capitulation defensively and
01:20it all goes to pot. The fact they haven't got a single win this season in the league,
01:24obviously, they beat Burnley in the Carabao Cup, goals from Gonzalo Guedes, had a decent
01:28game away at Brighton in terms of the second half showing, nearly went through there but
01:32lost three to a late goal. There have been some positive signs. I'm just very surprised
01:37they haven't picked up that Premier League win yet. One draw in their opening games and
01:42bottom of the table, along with Everton, who everyone has been talking about as being one
01:46of the worst teams out there. Wolves are at the exact same level, same amount of points,
01:51same results, same goals scored, same conceded. But Gary O'Neill is right. The fixtures have
01:56been very difficult and things should take an upturn as things get better. I don't know
02:01if it's maybe a little bit of a psychological thing as well, looking at those fixtures and
02:06getting a bit ahead of themselves. And you maybe 1-0 up in the game and 70 minutes in
02:10you're thinking, oh, should we really be in this position? Does that get to the players'
02:13heads maybe? I mean, it's unacceptable if it does at this kind of level in the Premier
02:17League. You get very punished for losing concentration. And unfortunately, it's what's been happening
02:22to Wolves as they're rock bottom. They've had some real terrible fall apart in second
02:27halves of games. I think that Chelsea one in particular, it should have been more of
02:31a wake-up call than it has been. They've not lost 6-2 since then, but still the same kind
02:37of errors are being made and they're so costly. But of course, with Toti Gomez having his
02:41own injury problems, is that going to work? Wolves don't have the depth at the back either.
02:45Obviously, Muscaira is now out for the season as well. It is quite worrying in terms of
02:49that back line. They just need to sort themselves out, keep their concentration, build their
02:53fitness levels up a bit and they should start to improve their results.