Walsall 0-3 Wolves
By Tom Bason
March 8 2014
Wolves today moved to the top of League One properly with a 3-0 victory over local rivals Walsall at the Bescot Stadium. Nouha Dicko improved his already impressive goal ratio with a goal in either half, before Bakary Sako wrapped things up mid-way through the second half with a sumptuous free kick.
- Kenny Jackett was able to keep the same starting XI for the fourth consecutive game. Each of those players has played a vital role in the excellent run of form that we have been on recently, but at some point Jackett will need to make a change. I was slightly relieved to see Leon Clarke back on the bench as surely he, along with the likes of Dave Edwards and Matt Doherty will need to be called upon over the March madness that could be the last potential banana skin of the season.
- Given that we have such a settled side, there's not a huge amount to say about the shape of the team. All the players seems to know their role and what it is that Kenny Jackett wants them to do, and are growing as a team. Walsall played a 4-4-2 formation, and pressed high from the start. This was quite effective towards the start as they stopped us passing the ball out from the back. A number of teams have done this recently; pressing high early on and stopping us from building from deep, but tiring later on. There have been quite a few games recently that have followed a similar pattern; a team starts well against us and stops us playing early on, we nick a goal whether through a moment of class or fortune, and then capitalise as teams open up searching the equaliser.
- Wolves has two early chances, both created down the left wing. The first one, Bakary Sako cut the ball back to the edge of the area where Michael Jacobs met it. I think Jacobs' effort took a slight deflection before being pushed away by Richard O'Donnell in the Walsall goal. The second opportunity came after Scott Golbourne and Jacobs combined to win the ball deep in Walsall's half. Again, the ball was pulled back, this time James Henry putting an effort disappointingly wide.
- Chances were few and far between during the entire 90 minutes, but Wolves took the lead through Nouha Dicko. Jack Price moved the ball wide to James Henry, who progressed down the right wing, before sliding in a low cross to the near post. Dicko did well to get across his man and turn the ball in at the near post (I've only seen it the once, and I *think* it was Dicko's goal, but it could have just as easily been turned in by the defender. The second goal again came through Henry and Dicko. This time, a deep Scott Golbourne cross evaded everyone in the middle and was collected by Henry on the right flank. His attempted cross was just as poor as his one at Brentford, only this time the ball bounced out rather than in. Fortunately, the ball seemed to strike Dicko and bounce in, despite the best efforts of O'Donnell in goal who couldn't quite claw the ball out.
- I mentioned earlier how Walsall's early pressing stopped us from passing the ball out from the back, and there were a couple of dodgy moments where the ball was lost cheaply in our defensive third. As a result, Carl Ikeme hit quite a few long balls to Dicko, who won more than his fair share of headers. The problem was that they were fairly aimless flick-ons, and no midfielder was gambling beyond Dicko, and so possession was lost. The third goal came directly from the first header that Dicko managed to direct to a Wolves player, angling a header down to James Henry who was promptly fouled. Sako stepped up, and hit a low free kick that I suspect may have gone through the wall (I was watching from side on though, so didn't have the best of views) and past the keeper, low into the corner.
- It never surprises me how many corners Wolves manage to win in a game, given the width of our midfield and the amount of times the fullbacks manage to hit the by-line. But, we generally waste our corners - pre-season, I thought that Danny Batth would score a few goals from Leigh Griffiths corners, but I'm struggling to remember many chances we've had from corners, let alone actually managing a goal. Statistically, a team has more chance of scoring from open play rather than a corner, so I had no problem with us trying short corners today. The deliveries from these short corners were generally no worse than our normal balls in from the quadrant.
- The major issue I have with Kenny Jackett so far is his substitutions, or lack thereof. With the game at 2-0, and us generally playing in second gear, it was surely a prime opportunity to give a couple of players a rest. Then we went 3-0 up with 23 minutes to go - surely now there was a chance to give someone a break. But it wasn't until the 74th minute that Leon Clarke replaced Nouha Dicko, and another nine minutes before David Edwards came on for Bakary Sako. I didn't understand Jackett's reaction to make a change, especially given we've got a game on Tuesday and then a run where we are playing every 3-4 days. I'd be slightly worried if any of Bakary Sako, James Henry or Michael Jacobs picked up a knock as we don't really have replacements for them at the club. Similarly, Kevin McDonald picked up a knock late on, and my heart was in my mouth. As the heartbeat of the side, we'd miss him massively if he were to get injured. I don't really know why Jackett didn't utilise his substitutions more effectively to protect some of our more important players.
- The full-time whistle was interesting, with Joe Gallen doing his best to keep all the Wolves players in the centre circle. At the same time, a scuffle was going on to our right, involving Carl Ikeme, Aaron McCarey and a couple of Walsall players. Once that was sorted out, the players seemed to embark on a mini lap of honour, all staying together to applaud and receive the applause of the Wolves fans in the two stands.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014:03:15:18:30:37 by toomb.
Perhaps I should make myself scarce more often with three 3-0 wins on the trot!
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