Liverpool 2 Wolves 1 - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Julo, I'm here with Wolves supporters, Mr Liam Keane. Liam, Liverpool
00:132, Wolves 1 at half time, Liverpool 2-0 up and coasting. Thought it could have been a
00:17bit of a cricket score, you come the second half and Wolves probably sadly aggrieved haven't
00:21come away with a point today. Yeah, there's no shame in losing to this Liverpool side,
00:26they're a brilliant team. If you are going to lose the game it's about losing it in a
00:30certain manner. Now Wolves don't want to lose of course, but they went out on their shield,
00:34they fought in that second half, they were far better quality wise on the ball, the changes
00:38I thought made a big impact. Manezzi did relatively well, made a few runs, has to score that big
00:42chance though. Belagard I thought was very good in that second half, made a big impact
00:46when he came on. A player like Kunio who obviously is the taliban of his side, was much better
00:50in himself in that second half, a bit of individual quality for the goal. Wolves had one or two
00:55chances to nick a point there at the end, Liverpool were hanging on and Wolves should
00:58take a lot of credit and a lot of pride from being able to run them that close. What is
01:02the difference between the two halves? Because it was so stark, was it just that maybe Vitor
01:06Pereira got the team wrong today and then the likes of Guedes and Strabi, this wasn't
01:09the game for them because you said the substitute didn't make such a big difference, or was
01:12it just a bit more belief, was it they were relaxed, they were 2-0 down almost so they
01:17could go forward a little bit more because they gave Liverpool probably a bit too much
01:20respect in that first half? Yeah I think so, it's a combination of all of it. I don't think
01:24Guedes and Strabi are covering themselves in glory whatsoever, you've got defensive
01:28errors and mistakes and comedy of errors that result in the two goals as well. They do have
01:34a third penalty, or second penalty rather, would have been a third goal if it had been
01:36scored which was of course chalked off by VAR. Wolves were, I think showed a bit more
01:43character, a bit more belief, it also married with the fact that Liverpool were reverting
01:49to their shad a little bit and once that goal had gone in and there was 23 minutes of normal
01:54time still to play, another six minutes of early time on top of that, and it just ramped
01:58the pressure up a little bit. This Liverpool side who obviously are fantastic and have
02:01been brilliant all season, have wilted a little bit in the last couple of games and you could
02:06see a little bit of that sort of character, that mentality, starting to wane a little
02:10bit and Wolves took advantage of it but not without, just without taking that final step
02:14and just getting that goal. But it was a performance I think in the second half to be pretty proud
02:18of, you've got to now take the positives from that into a much bigger game in the course
02:22of Wolves' season away at Bournemouth next week.
02:24Yeah of course, but there will be a frustration, I'm sure that Vito Pereira will talk of a
02:28frustration of not coming away with a point today, there were definitely points left out
02:31there. Simon Hooper's performance, the referee today in the first half was debatable at best,
02:37but Canarta had taken off at half-time because I think everybody thought on the ground he
02:41was very fortunate to have not had two bookings. I feel like every decision that he made he
02:47got wrong almost in that first half and he tried to even the score up and it just wasn't
02:51the right way to do it. At the same time, Wolves continued two goals and both really
02:56poor defensive errors.
02:57Yeah, and unfortunately in particular Emmanuel Agbadoo is involved in a lot of the poor moments
03:06for Wolves today. Now he's been a brilliant signing since arriving in January, we've been
03:10nothing but positive and giving him a great appraisal of what he's been able to do. That
03:16was his poorest performance by some distance I think in a Wolves shirt. Now, in particular
03:21again that penalty as well, regardless of the second one which doesn't obviously get
03:25him to overturn. I know mistakes happen, but it's a relatively simple clearance and to
03:33completely miss the ball and then that Laudy has a good route. Jose Sardar doesn't put
03:36himself in glory either, but those kind of mistakes are going to cost the team and Liverpool
03:41to your luck, they deserve to be leading that game, of course they do. But if you don't
03:48give them those chances and hand them on a silver platter to them, Wolves have an opportunity
03:51to defend something. So that was the most frustrating part of it really, is just very
03:56easily giving Liverpool the advantage and from there you give yourself a mountain to climb.
04:01Marcel Monezzi looks like a hell of a player. His second substitute appearance and he plays
04:08anywhere from a six to a number nine. He's all over the pitch and I don't want to knock
04:14him because I feel like he is incredibly exciting, but what a chance second half. And you look
04:20at his chances he's had over the two games, Blackwood and Liverpool, he probably should
04:24have had at least two to three goals in this team and 2-1 at the start, it's a different
04:31game isn't it? And look, you've got to bury those chances. As exciting as he is, as good
04:35of positions as he gets himself into, you've got to finish it off.
04:38Yeah and that's with pretty much the whole of the half still to play. If he scores that
04:41Wolves are in a great position. I don't know quite how he hasn't scored it, I know bearing
04:47down on Alisson is not an easy thing. It's a massive chance though, isn't it? But he's
04:53entertaining isn't he? And he's exciting. And he made a lot of really good runs and
04:56couldn't you have said much better in that second half? Started to pick him out, started
05:00to find the passes. It's still remarkable to me that he's playing there as a number
05:04nine pretty much at the moment. And of course that won't be the case once Larsen's back
05:08and Banks is fit and the players are back from injury. But to have a different kind
05:13of player, a different option, someone that Wolves haven't really had for a long time,
05:18will add something to this team. So I'm quite excited to see how he gets on. But you are
05:22right, you have to score those chances. The Premier League's ruthless and he'll know that
05:26and he'll learn that. You have to take those options.
05:28So you mentioned the likes of Jorgen Straun Larsen potentially coming back at Bournemouth,
05:31that's what Peter Pereira said. You and Martial Manezzi I'm sure will be pushing for a starting
05:36spot sooner rather than later. Which means the likes of Guedes and Sarabia, this was
05:39a big chance to win. They're probably going to have to wait on the bench for quite a while
05:42to come. Up top they're looking good, they're looking OK with Banks coming back as well.
05:47But at the back, we'll have to see what it is because Agbidou came off and didn't look
05:51great did it? No, we saw him come back out, he obviously went off and had a shower, everything
05:55got changed, come back out towards the end of that half and sat on the bench. He did
05:58look a little bit uncomfortable, limping a little bit. It's hard to say what it is until
06:02obviously we get the details but regardless of his performance, which wasn't good, he
06:07is a very good player and to lose him will be a blow. Now I'll give Sandy Brennan some
06:11credit in it. I thought he did relatively well when he came on in that second half,
06:13didn't really do a lot wrong. Apart from his first touch. Apart from his first touch, that's
06:16fine. He didn't do a lot wrong. At the same time, the way the game was going, Wolves were
06:22sort of coasting and dominating possession and it would have been difficult for him to
06:26do a lot wrong but credit where it's due, he did relatively well and they're going to
06:30need him or Giger to perform because if Agbidou's out for, whether it's six days or whether
06:36it's four weeks or whatever it is, they're going to need someone to come in and perform
06:40and he's going to be a big mess.
06:41They've got a difficult game away at Bournemouth, of course they are. Bournemouth are absolutely
06:45flying but at the same time, it starts a run of games where Wolves should be competitive.
06:50As they were today in every game, they're looking to start picking up points sooner
06:53rather than later. If they play like they did in the second half, Liam, they should
06:57be fine this season, shouldn't they?
06:59I think so, I do. There are players to add to this as well, which we've discussed with
07:02Larssen and Hwang and the players coming back to be available. They've got options. I think
07:07defensively they've been a lot better up until some of the mistakes today with Totti coming
07:11back in and Agbidou, his general form. He's still got Giger to add to that. I think Matt
07:14Docherty has been very good. I thought he was one of Wolves' better defenders today
07:17again. So I do think this team has got enough to stay up. I think the window is out. However,
07:24there's a long way to go and you've got to pick up points and you can't miss opportunities.
07:29This was an opportunity today, considering how Liverpool played in that second half and
07:32the opportunity in front of them to get that equaliser. You can't miss too many more of
07:35them if you're going to stay up.
07:37Liverpool 2, Wolves 1. For all the post-match reaction, make sure you log on to expressandstart.com.