Wolves nowhere near good enough to stop Reds

Wolves produced one of their worst performances of the season to gift Liverpool an easy success at Molineux on Tuesday evening. Somehow the scores were stilll level at half time and we hoped Wolves would come out after the break with some new vigour to wrestle the initiative away from their opponents, but things just went from bad to worse as the Reds won in a canter after an insipid display from the men in old gold. With Henry serving the first of his three match suspension the only change to the line up from the Villa game saw Eggert Jonsson come in for his league debut;

Hennessey
Foley, Johnson, Berra, Ward
Frimpong, Jonsson
Kightly, Edwards, Jarvis
Fletcher

There was almost an early opening for Liverpool when Kuyt couldn’t quite get his shot away after a knock down by Carroll but Wolves also pentrated their opponents defence when a good ball from Foley just eluded Dave Edwards. Foley rescued Wolves when his challenge stopped Bellamy breaking through before Hennessey saved an Agger header from a Bellamy corner and then there were appeals for a Liverpool penalty when Frimpong appeared to push Adam as he bore down on goal. Bellamy twice brought good saves from Hennessey and the Reds were dominating possession and were often gifted chances to put Wolves under pressure by poor passing from the hosts who were also getting caught in possession. Liverpool seemed to have time on the ball all over the pitch whereas Wolves never seemed to be able to find space. But there was almost a goal against the run of play just before the interval when Kightly played a one two with Fletcher before shooting just wide.

Wolves were grateful to go in level at the break but it didn’t take Liverpool long to make their superiority tell in the second half. A cross whipped in by Adam was turned in by Carroll. The lead was increased nine minutes later when Bellamy was allowed to run 40 yards unchallenged before shooting past Hennessey with the keeper getting a hand to the shot but unable to keep it out. Kuyt forced a good save out of Hennessey before adding Liverpool’s third with a cross shot 12 minutes from time. Wolves had not had a shot all half as Liverpool controlled possession and completely dominated the half. But out of the blue substitute Ebanks Blake smashed a 25 yard shot against the post late on with Reina well beaten.

Hennessey – made a string of fine saves to keep the score down but might feel he could have done better with the 2nd and 3rd goals
Foley – not his best game with some poor passes and caught in possession a few times, and was constantly troubled by Bellamy in the first half
Johnson – made some good defensive challenges but his passing out of defence often gifted the ball back to Liverpool
Berra – probably the best of the defence but thats not too much of a compliment on the night
Ward – did some good play going forward and linked well with Jarvis a few times but another to be caught out defensively at times
Jonsson – looks a steady enough player but not able to make a great impact on the game
Frimpong – not up to the standard of his previous games but still probably Wolves best player
Kightly – got little change out of Enrique and another to get caught in possession a few times due to poor concentration
Edwards – made some good runs and put his usual shift in but doesn’t possess the passing ability to trouble a team like Liverpool
Jarvis – linked well with Ward on the left a few times but not able to unduly trouble the Pool defence
Fletcher – one of the better players but faced a thankless task as Wolves rarely got good possession in the Reds half
Ebanks Blake – worked hard when he came on and went closest to scoring for Wolves
Hunt and Milijas were used as late subs

It would be wrong to have a great expectation that Wolves should be beating teams of this standard but in front of a Molineux full house it was disheartening to see Wolves falling so far short of their opponents technically and in terms of organisation. There was never really a time in the game when Liverpool looked troubled or put out of their stride and they were very comfortable winners. Where to now for Wolves who lie in 19th place and the teams directly above them can add to the pressure when they are in action on Wednesday. There was negative reactions towards McCarthy after the game and he remains odds on to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job. And also some bad vibes towards chairman Steve Morgan because of the lack of spending by Wolves in the transfer window.

In January, Wolves had brought in Jonsson from Hearts and Frimpong on loan from Arsenal, while selling Keogh to Millwall for a nominal fee and letting a few players go out on loan for the rest of the season with Vokes joining Brighton, Guedioura to Notts Forest and young full backs Doherty and Reckord joining Hibernian and Scunthorpe respectively. But there was a lift for Wolves in the dying minutes of the window when they agreed a deal with Spurs to take the highly rated defender Sebastien Bassong on loan for the rest of the season.

Category: Team News