WBA U21s 0-1 Wolves U21s

At the Ricoh last night, Wolves Under-21s defeated local rivals West Bromwich Albion thanks to a first half header from striker Bradley Reid. It wasn't a brilliant Wolves performance, and on balance of play WBA were probably the better team. But, there was only one real clear chance in the 90 minutes, well taken by Reid.

Wolves lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, with a back-4 of (from right to left) Dominic Iorfa, Jamie Tank, George Elokobi and Jordan Cranston in front of Jon Flatt in goal. In midfield, Kristian Kostrna sat deep and Tim Jakobsson given slightly more license to push forward, but not much. Wolves creativity came from the flanks, with Robbie Parry on the left and Eusébio Bancessi on the right. Upfront, Sam Whittall played slightly off Bradley Reid. I suspect Whittall was supposed to be the second striker, but looked like a forward. I guess this is similar to the way that Kevin Doyle and Leon Clarke have played in this position this season. This was a fairly rigid formation, with the only real excitement coming from Bancessi and Parry on the wings. 

In contrast, WBA played an extremely fluid formation. When out of possession they were generally in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but almost seemed to be playing total football when they had the ball. Left-winger Kemar Roofe spent most of the game tucked in, giving acres of space to left back Cameron Gayle who played as a winger for much of the time. There were times in the first half when he was WBA's most advanced player and would have broken the offside trap on a few occasions had the pass been better. WBA's three-man central midfield was fairly loose as well, with Liam O'Neil generally sitting, but Aaron Birch and Mani O'Sullivan taking turns as to who was supporting striker Alex Jones.

The movement of West Brom's central midfield, with Roofe tucked in on the left, allied to the fact that Sam Whittall looked like a striker asked to play a deeper role meant that WBA dominated much of the possession. Jakobsson and Kostrna in midfield were often out-numbered and never really got to grips with their opposite numbers. 

The amount of attacking players WBA had also allowed them to press really effectively, stopping any real hope Wolves had of building from the back. As a result, there were plenty of long balls played into the channel for Reid to chase. By contrast, Wolves dropped into a 4-4-1-1 formation when out of possession, leaving Reid to do an awful lot of chasing by himself upfront. I'm not sure whether this is fair or not, but WBA's defenders looked far more comfortable on the ball than Wolves', but this could purely be down to the lack of pressure when they had it. 

All of Wolves attacking threat came from Bancessi and Parry on the flanks. Sometimes, it can be frustrating when a team's best attacking threats are wingers as it makes any link up play almost impossible. Pretty much the only time in the game Bancessi and Parry exchanged passes was in the build-up to the goal - Bancessi running across the pitch from right to left, exchanging passes with Parry before laying the ball back to left-back Jordan Cranston. Cranston his a deep cross to the far post which was well headed home by Bradley Reid. 

It was noticeable that both of Wolves' best moments came when the fullbacks got forward; In the first minute Iorfa, who is tall, gangly and looks more like a centre-half than a right back, did really well to get to the by-line and put in a good low cross that hit a WBA defender and rebounded into the woodwork. 

Watching Reid, it seemed obvious that he had more experience at playing at a, if not higher level, then a more professional level. He seemed to have more nous than the rest of the players; holding the ball at the corner flag in the dying moments of the game when you got the feeling other Wolves players would have been looking for the second goal. He did a lot of running upfront, working a decent chance in the first half. He exchanged passes with Parry, before cutting inside on to his right foot but seeing his effort blocked. Just before halftime he could have had a second, but dragged his effort wide of the far post. He did have one lovely touch, when a long ball was fired into him and he laid the ball off first time into Whittall's feet. Whittall, unfortunately, struggled to really get into the game, especially in the first half. 

But, those chances were few and far between, and while Wolves looked dangerous on the counter-attack, most of the play was in our defensive half. Albion's midfield dominated the game, but struggled to really create any chances of note. I can't really remember goalkeeper Jon Flatt making a save. George Elokobi and Jamie Tank were excellent at the back, in fact I thought the entire defence generally did well as a unit. For all WBA's intricate build up play, they never really looked like penetrating a defence that was solid and well organised. Elokobi and Tank were thoroughly dominant in the air, and considering it isn't their speciality did well when the ball was on the ground. WBA's best moment of the game came as left back Gayle got forward, exchanging passes with Kemar Roofe and Alex Jones, but seeing his right footed shot deflected into the side netting. 

Five minutes into the second half, Bancessi was taken off, with Jim Kellerman coming on (it's a pity WBA no longer have Pele - it would have been fantastic to see Pele and Eusébio on the pitch). Kellerman sat on the right but didn't have the same sort of attacking threat that Bancessi carried. Bancessi was the pick of the Wolves team (with the possible exception of the solid Jamie Tank), but I think he was brushed off the ball too easily to yet be ready to be challenging for a spot in the first team. 

It was the second time I'd seen Robbie Parry play; on both occasions he'd played down the left hand side, but is clearly right footed. This time, he wasn't quite as effective, but looked as likely as anyone to create anything. He played a small role in the goal, and it was his pass that led to an effort from Reid. Knowing he's a right-footed left winger, Wesley Atkinson (WBA's right back) looked to send him down the line every time. While he was happy to send in a cross with his weaker left foot, he never actually beat the first man. Then again, none of his crossing when cutting inside onto his favoured right foot was particularly effective. He did, though, whip in a couple of excellent corners with pace towards the near post. 

Jon Flatt in goal had a reasonably quiet night in terms of saves, but dealt reasonably well with all Albion's crosses. He does need to work on his kicking though (something that was evident the last time I saw him); in the first half he sliced a kick high and out for a throw in, and in the second half he tried a low trajectory drop kick, only to see it rebound off an Albion player, and fall into the path of Kemar Roofe through on goal. This was easily Albion's best chance, but instead of finishing past Flatt, Roofe decided to try and lob him. Flatt stood his ground and easily caught the ball at his head. Flatt looked to throw out every time he had the ball, which coupled with Albion's high press meant that it was often the defenders who were playing the long ball forward from quite a deep position. WBA's goalkeeper also favoured the throw, and almost used it on good effect. Jack Rose has a monster throw, easily reaching the halfway line to set up counter attacks. This was obviously something Wolves were aware of, as every time he had the ball a Wolves player was trying to block his way, by foul means as well as fair. 

Kenny Jackett, Joe Gallen and someone I didn't recognise were sat just to my right. I barely noticed them speak all night, Jackett and Gallen happy to sit back and watch the game. If I'm being honest, I doubt that there was anyone in the Wolves line-up who really caught the eye as being ready for a first team place, and I probably include George Elokobi in that. He didn't have a bad game, but equally, apart from his talking as captain, didn't really stand out. I say that, but he did look quite out of place during the warm-up, looking like a man who has gone for a kick about with a load of kids ten years his junior.