Wolves 2-0 Real Zaragoza

Today was my, and I guess everyone else's, first trip to Molineux of the 2011/12 season, even if it was only a friendly. Wolves secured a 2-0 victory, with goals from George Elokobi and Steven Fletcher.   

- Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about who was guaranteed a place in our starting lineup at Ewood Park next week. I reckoned only Roger Johnson and Ronald Zubar had their places 100% secure, and this made me realise just how deep our squad is now. Today's starting lineup was Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Zubar, Ward, Hunt, Henry, O'Hara, Jarvis, Fletcher and Doyle. But how would that lineup fare against the unused/injured players? Take a team of De Vries, Foley, Craddock, Berra, Elokobi, Kightly, Milijaš, Davis (dare I say Hitzlsperger here?), Hammill, Ebanks-Blake and Griffiths, and it would be an interesting match.

- Has Steven Fletcher seen THIS stat? Last year he was the fifth best striker in Europe in terms of shots to goal (and just edging out Javier Hernández as best in the Premier League), and today it seemed like he wanted to stay there. Twice the ball found him in a shooting position in the penalty area, twice he decline to shoot and instead tried to pass. Saying that, he did register one goal, a fine free kick that, in all honesty, the keeper should have done better with, before hitting the bar with the goal gaping later. 2 shots, 1 goal; keep that record up please Sir.

- The nearest Real Zaragoza came to scoring was a first half counter attack after O'Hara had been caught in possession halfway inside their half after a cleared corner. The goal was only prevented by a terrific Stephen Ward clearance off the goalline, but it was very noticeable just how open we looked on the counter attack. A couple of times in the second half, Zaragoza had chance to penetrate our defence on the counter, but failed due to their wastefulness in possession

- One of the things I enjoy about Mick McCarthy's Wolves sides is his preference for playing two wingers. Today, it was Hunt and Jarvis who started, two players who play in similar positions but have very different styles. In addition to these two, Michael Kightly and Adam Hammill are available, and for me, each offers something different. It will be interesting to see how each is used this season; I suspect we won't see much of Hammill when playing 4-4-2, while Hunt's lack of penetration could easily cost him if going with one striker.

- For someone like me who enjoys seeing different formations, it was lovely to see Zaragoza play with a 3-4-3 formation, not something you see very often in England. This could be the reason why the Doyle/Fletcher partnership did not seem as fruitful as it maybe has in the last few matches; every time they got the ball, they were faced with one direct marker and a covering defender, obviously resulting in them being outnumbered and crowded off the ball.

- In terms of our defence, it was interesting to see Richard Stearman at right back and Ronald Zubar at center half. Is this the thinking of Mick for the new season? Furthermore, Zubar was the left center back, showing the rank that Johnson already has. If he plays, he plays where he wants. Perhaps, if McCarthy is looking for a defender who naturally favours the left side, then it'll be Christophe Berra who starts at Blackburn.

- Talking of which, I fully expect the team that started today's second half to start at Ewood Park. Hennessey, Zubar, Johnson, Berra, Elokobi, Hunt, Henry, O'Hara, Jarvis', Fletcher and Doyle. Unless Milijas comes in for one of the front two, I can't see any other changes.

- I've written about this before, so bear with me if you're getting a sense of déjà vu. Why does Ward sit on the halfway line for set pieces? He was signed as a striker, he started his Wolves career as a striker and he finished last season as a striker. I don't care if he's playing today as a left back, surely he has more value in and around the opposition box than someone like Henry or Stearman? If the ball's going to drop to someone in the penalty area who's relying on instinct to smash it in, I'd far rather it was someone with attacking tendencies.  

- Today's halftime entertainment featured two young six-a-side teams, for something to do with Matt Murray's foundation. One team was wearing yellow shirts and black shorts, while the other team also wore black shorts, but some were wearing white shirts, and other was wearing pink. Who let that red sock lose in with the laundry? If you're interested, it finished 0-0, and the team in white/pink won on penalties.

- When Wolves took the lead, apparently bundled over the line by Elokobi but virtually impossible to tell from the stand, it came about after a bout of head tennis in the Zaragoza box. This was set up by Johnson winning a good header at the far post, and with Berra getting his first goal for the club at Walsall, could this see us add an extra threat in front of goal? It has to be said though, that North Bankers showed their usual lack of enthusiasm in celebrating a goal scored right in front of them...

- One of the more noticeable aspects of the match was the substitution of Johnson for Jody Craddock. Not because of the substitution itself, but because the captain's armband went to Craddock, despite Karl Henry still being on the pitch. Maybe this is because Henry was due to be substituted while Craddock would finish the match, but still, given that his confidence must be pretty low anyway, it would have been a nice touch to pass him the armband. Does this mean that Henry is no longer even second choice for the captaincy?

- I've always been very vocal in my thoughts on Stefan Maierhofer; from seeing his Ewood Park debut through to his immensely stupid red card at Everton, I've never thought he was in the slightest bit good enough to play for Wolves. But, and whisper this quietly, he looked half decent today. He won a lot in the air, although Zaragoza gave up challenging him at the end, and could maybe, just maybe, be used as an impact player this season.