Wolves 3-3 Brighton
image via @BrumJC
By Tom Bason
November 10 2012
10 man Wolves today fought to earn a point in a lively game against Brighton and Hove Albion. Bakary Sako gave Wolves the lead before Craig Mackail-Smith equalised. Wolves’ captain Karl Henry saw red on the stroke of half time, but it was Wolves who took the lead on the hour through Tongo Doumbia. But again Wolves couldn’t hold on with Will Buckley levelling the game, and Stephen Dobbie seemingly wrapping up three points for Brighton with a hotly disputed penalty. But, Wolves showed great character and Roger Johnson’s first goal for the club settled the match.
- As normal, Wolves lined up in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake returning to the starting line-up ahead of Björn Sigurðarson and Dave Edwards selected ahead of Tongo Doumbia. It is frustrating at times that our line-up and system is so predictable. When Ståle Solbakken was appointed, I was looking forward to seeing a little more tactical flexibility, yet aside from the away win at Blackburn, we’ve played the same system every game. This could just be due to a lack of options at Solbakken’s disposal, and hopefully Ståle will be able to strengthen in the key areas in January.
-During the first 15 minutes, I was trying to think of words to describe the Wolves performance so far. Energetic, inspiring and penetrative were all adjectives I immediately discarded, and settled on turgid. Brighton’s five man midfield dominated early on as the Wolves players really struggled to get into the game. But, on 22 minutes, Sako opened the scoring after a lovely one-two with Kevin Doyle. It was the first time in the match, and indeed possibly this season that a midfield has really looked to get beyond the strikers into the penalty area. Everyone knows that Doyle has not got the goal scoring instinct of some other forwards, but he is good at linking play, especially with midfield runners. Too often this season he and Ebanks-Blake have been isolated – Doyle works best with his back towards goal bringing the midfield into play. But he can only do this if the midfield shows willing to get forward.
- I mentioned Brighton’s five man midfield, which it definitely was when there were out of possession. But, their transition play was excellent; as soon as Brighton won the ball back they got players forward around Mackail-Smith. Until his injury, they tended to bring the ball out of play through Wayne Bridge, who as a player with 36 England caps, 316 Premier League appearances and nearly £20 million in transfer fees, is always going to have a touch of class at this level. He used the ball well, but equally as important was the movement of the players around him – at one point he strode forward down the left and Brighton had five players in the Wolves penalty area. In contrast, a couple of minutes later, Jermaine Pennant had the ball in a dangerous position on the flank but had just two Wolves players to aim at
- Brighton’s tendency to get players forward was demonstrated in their first equaliser. Although Sako was clearly culpable, with his under hit pass to Stephen Ward being intercepted, I’d like to see again just how much space Mackail-Smith had as he swept home from just inside the penalty area. It was an excellent finish, but he appeared to have far too much space to pick his spot. To compound the disappointment at the equaliser, Karl Henry was then sent off. In fairness to Henry, he had gone 22 league games since his last stupid red card and so was probably due one. While this red card wasn’t quite as ridiculous as the one against Aston Villa, it was clearly borne out of the frustration of conceding. It wasn’t two footed, it appeared to be studs up and using excessive force. Given that we’d just conceded, and the ball was on the halfway line, it was an absolutely idiotic thing for Henry to do, and I hope Ståle tells him so.
- With Wolves down to 10-men, and Doumbia introduced for the ineffectual Ebanks-Blake, the impetus was with Brighton. I was impressed with the way Gus Poyet pushed his fullbacks wide and forwards, effectively leaving two defenders back with Doyle and everyone else attacking. When the opposition have two very attacking fullbacks, there are two options for a manager: 1) play more defensively minded wide midfielders to cover the defence or 2) use your wide men to attack and give the fullbacks something to think about defensively. Ståle chose the second option, bringing on Sigurðarson for Pennant, trying to use his pace to force Inigo Calderon further back. This obviously had some effect as firstly Sigurðarson intercepted a loose pass, setting up an attack from which Doumbia put Wolves 2-1 up, and then Calderon was switched to right back. Pennant, incidentally, was not impressed at being taken off, throwing up his arms in frustration when he saw the number 20 on the fourth official’s board. Brighton’s willingness to attack directly led to their equaliser as well, leaving three men on the halfway line for a Wolves corner. With Roger Johnson temporarily finding himself as a right winger, Brighton counter attacked quickly, with Liam Bridcutt slipping through substitute Buckley to fire past Ikeme.
- The penalty decision that appeared to have given Brighton the win looked a shocking decision, with the ball being fired into Christophe Berra’s arm. He appeared to have his arms by his side, although I’ve only seen it once and could well be wrong. I don’t think any Wolves’ fans could argue with Henry’s sending off (except the loud mouthed idiot behind me who spent the entire first half either talking about buying a half season ticket or discussing Andy Carroll. From the club’s point of view, I hope he buys one – just please not right behind me), but the penalty decision appeared to be a shocker.
- In terms of atmosphere, and supporter attitudes, sometimes a hard-fought point can be far more valuable than an easy win. As Bill Howell pointed out on Twitter, had we drawn the game playing like we had in the first half, there would have been boos at the final whistle. I’d even go so far as to say that had we played the entire match playing like we did in the first half and somehow won, the fans would be feeling worse than they do now with two fewer points in the bag.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:11:17:20:49:30 by toomb.
Quote:4 points is a big gap in this league when its only 1 point per correct result so its 12 in real money.Fat bloke behind you
Now updated - but only four points behind - nothing at this stage .However even whitmore is off the mark so need to get that crystal ball out.
How many times do people in the league correctly guess exactly the correct score.. hardly ever. You're miles behind fatty
. As you are "only" two points from the bottom I'd focus on that if I was you instead of trying to catch the reigning champions 
16 gone - 30 ish to go i am relaxed - its a marathon not a sprint.
Quote:Fat bloke behind you
On your view you are miles behind the top so guess you dont think you will repeat the fluke last year .
16 gone - 30 ish to go i am relaxed - its a marathon not a sprint.
No fluke about finishing top of the league after 38 games.. the best team always wins the league fatty but you're right I am a mile behind at present.. fortunately my team is climbing, yours is sinking like the titanic! I was going to sing you're going down with the whitmore but after his surge in form it looks like ur going down with the lupine..2 poor devils