Football Manager Blog | Football Manager Guru | Wolves Kick Starts 2010

As we step into the new year, Wolves are looking stronger at the back with the arrival of Shevchuk, who has been putting in consistent performance at the left back role ( goodbye, Michael Ball). And as we approach 2010, there were times here the media  would point out the fact that there is good dressing room harmony in the Wolves dressing room. And I guess it comes down to the squad finally gelling well together, and the new signings like Enyeama, Krivets and Fonseca settling in.

This post is probably the lengthiest post I will ever make, largely due to a few unbelievable matches that set me on an emotional rollercoaster ride (like the 5-5 draw against Aston Villa). Grab your popcorn and your drinks as this will be a long and entertaining ride. Let’s get right into the action.

The first game saw us host Arsenal at home, and we were tipped to be beaten by Arsenal, I guessed we had different plans, because we absolutely dominated the first half and Arsenal had no reply to us dominating the midfield. Karl Henry and Hasebe worked hard to close down the Arsenal midfield to give them no space and time when on the ball. As a result we limited Arsenal to only ONE chance in the whole of 1st half, and it was not even on target. Wolves had 5 shots on goal, and 3 on target.

At the 56 min mark, Berra scored for us from a corner to give us a slender 1-0 lead. A chance to beat the big 4 was here, and I could sense it in the air. Arsenal was being outplayed at the moment. I did not park the bus in front of the goal though, I have learnt my lesson that my squad’s strongest form of defence is to apply pressure on the opponent’s goal, and keep the ball in their half for as long as possible.

As Arsenal surged forward in numbers in search of the equalizer, my side extended the lead on the counter, when pacy striker Ebanks-Blake latched on to a super 70-yard pass from Enyeama. (Enyeama has either 17 or 18 for kicking by the way). Arsenal left too many upfront and we exploited that weakness. I knew it was a right decision to start with Ebanks-Blake upfront rather than Doyle who was much slower a striker.

Van Persie made things interesting when he pulled one back for Arsenal to make it 2-1. However, Fonseca soothed our nerves immediately, responding with a powerful finish that resulted yet again from another counter attack. 3-1 in favour of us. Berra then scores again from yet another corner to make it 4-1 before Arsenal could even regroup. We were leading 4-1 now and I was pretty confident of a win.

In the 86 mins, Eduardo scored nothing but a mere consolation goal and the match ended with us winning 4-2. Berra was man of the match, and deservedly so with the rating of 9. Wolves have beaten a BIG 4 team convincingly!

Take a look at Enyeama’s distribution throughout the match, the longest of which resulted in Ebanks-Blake being through on goal to score for us. What a pass.

Shevchuk also performed admirably, this is his first big game since I bought him over for 450k to fill the left back slot and he performed admirably. He won 7 out of 7 tackles down the left and was proving to be a rock on the left.

And of course the fans had every reason to be happy with the team’s performance. Well done, Wolves.

After the Gunners game, I took a quick glance at my fixture least. It was not going to be an easy week starting on 23 Jan. I play Chelsea twice in 4 days and followed by hosting Man City at the Molineux stadium.

As a result, I decided that the best thing to do, was to play my 2nd stringers against Chelsea in the FA cup for the first meeting with them because I felt the Premier League was more important to us, and winning the FA Cup is probably a pipe dream at out level. Furthermore, Enyeama was away on African Nations cup duty with Nigeria. Chances of getting anything of the game looks slim. I am even surprised we managed to score 2 goals against a full strength Chelsea team with Drogba, Lampard etc.

In the 2nd game against Chelsea (Premier League), I played my full team against them, hoping to get at least a point out of this difficult tie. In the first half, we had 1 more shots on target than Chelsea and we were just about evenly match with Chelsea having the home ground advantage.

However, this joy was short-lived, when Chelsea scored the first goal, and my stand in keeper for Enyeama (African Nations Cup Duty), Matt Murray, was starting to play really badly and the other 2 goals were conceded due to his goalkeeping error. It was a night I wanted to forget.

League leaders, Man City, paid a visit to Molineux next. Enyeama was still away on international duty, and my side was eager to put the bad Chelsea performances behind them and return to winning ways. This was evident when Fonseca breaks into the box and cuts the ball back to Krivets to score in the 3rd min. Within 5 mins, Fonseca doubles the lead as he was set through on goal by Stearman, our right back.

At this point in time I thought it was probably another chance of an upset, when Otamendi threw away a golden opportunity by getting himself red carded with a reckless two-footed tackle. I was really angry at him, as this is his 3rd red card of the season. Probably a lengthy ban coming up. Otamendi might be a brilliant defender, but his hobby as a red card collector can be detrimental at times like these.

I had no choice but to take Ebanks-Blake for Zubar who filled Otamendi’s spot alongside Berra. We set out to stall the game with maximum time wasting and attempting to retain possession but Tevez eventually pulled a goal back for them to reduce our lead to 2-1. Onuoha then scores a powerful effort after dribbling past Zubar and being through on goal. If Otamendi and Enyeama was around he might not have scored as easily.

Bad mistake by Otamendi, and we could have won. What a waste.

To make things worse, Hasebe sustained an injury during the match and will be out for 10 to 12 days.

In addition Otamendi was given two more match bans, making his total match bans from his red card a total of 5 games. What a bad week it is turning out to be.

In the next game against Hull,  I had problems filling the even the substitute benches. Otamendi was suspended, Enyeama was still away on international duty, and Hasebe was injured. But I guess this is soccer for you. Ebanks-Blake broke the deadlock in the heavy rain, 14 mins after kick off. David Jones played him through on goal.

Hull City equalised with a quick counter via Ghalas. At half-time, the hair-dryer treatment was dished out and I made it very clear how disappointed I was particularly with the uncreative midfield and strike force. Ebanks-Blake responds in a positive manner by scoring a goal after half time. We lead 1-2.

Zubar, who was standing in for Otamendi, gave away a penalty after a reckless tackle and we paid the price when Hull equalized after converting the penalty. To our relief, Ebanks-Blake who was having a great game, set Krivets through on goal and Krivets scored the goal that won the game for us with a calm finish. We leave today with a 3 points, something to be happy about after disappointing games against Chelsea and Man City.

The media raved about Ebanks-Blake after the win, and it is ironic how I used to consider him my 3rd choice striker behind Doyle and Fonseca.

The next game against West Ham saw the return of Enyeama (I was delighted when I saw Nigeria being eliminated from the African Nation Cup lol).  I know the midfield is probably a little tired from playing so many games in a row, but what choice do I have, Hasebe is still injured, which means Karl Henry had to play anchorman while Jones and Milijas started in midfield. They probably wont play at their peak, but I was hoping the return of Enyeama together with the home ground advantage could lead us to a win.

Fonseca scored with a header in the 13th minute. Milijas doubled our lead with his trademark long range effort shortly after. Berra scored before half-time from a nicely delivered corner and since we were 3-0 up at half time I thought it was a great time to rest some tired legs. Stearman and Jones were subbed off for 2nd stringers. I also gave new signing Sergio Canales a chance to play in the 2nd half. Kevin Doyle made it 4-0 shortly after the break, and wonderkid Canales attempted a cheeky chip over the keeper which was saved in the end.

Against Wigan, we conceded really early on at the 5 mins mark. Krivets equalised only after 25 mins with a long shot. At the 30th min mark, Krivet doubled his tally after Berra set him through on goal. He played a through pass from defence! What a beast. He can score from corner , he can defend, now he’s making through passes? The rest of the match was a real bore as both sides made sloppy passes, until Wigan scored from an unstoppable free kick to earn them a draw. We could have won if only if we made better use of our chances in front of goal.

I do not really know where to start this match. I went through a roller-coaster ride for this. Villa is a strong side but we already had the win in the bag, before we threw it away, I was so utterly disappointed. Our defence let us down today. Otamendi would have won the game for us. It just showed our reliance on Otamendi isn’t exactly healthy.

We scored through Karl Henry’s unstoppable volley after 10mins. Krivets doubled the lead in the 40 mins. Krivets have 1 goal and 1 assist in the first half so far, and I was pleased with the boys’ performance out on the pitch. James Milner pulled one back from a corner just before half time and when we went in I told the boys not to be complacent at all.

Fonseca showed we meant business right after half-time from a quick counter attack to make us lead 3-1. Then Hasebe scores a long range effort after the ball fell to him from a clearance of a corner. 4-1 is the score line. This is his first ever goal. Ebanks-Blakes made it 5-1 from a rebound after Friedel spilled Fonseca’s shot. I was delighted. Thinking it was 5-1, surely the win is in the bag, I took off Krivets and played Canales, took of Stearman and played 2nd stringer Kevin Doyle. Everything went downhill from there, our defence was in shambles without Stearman.

We were 5-1 up and DOMINATING. Until Agbonlahor scored from range to make it 5-2. Then another in quick succession to 5-3. Villa felt they were onto something here and pushed forward relentlessly. I played time wasting to the max and order the players to retain possession, something which they did not heed because, Canales carelessly lost the ball in our own half. Steve Sidwell robbed him of the ball and scored from range.

I was getting nervous. Just as I thought we were about to hold on to a famous home win,  Steve Sidwell scored a dramatic equalizer deep in injury time to break my heart. I was heart-broken. What a draw. I was really pissed with our defence and angry at how complacency in the squad has cost us 3 points. But that’s football for you.

Eager to put that terrible memory behind us, we traveled to Blackburn in search of a win to erase the bad memories. Hasebe scored from a deflection in the 18 mins, and Blackburn did not really threaten for the remaining of the match. Guess my defence was doing it’s job after the grilling I gave them after the Villa match. In the 90mins, Doyle scored on the counter to secure the win. With this 3 points in hand, we head to the next game where Otamendi finally returns.

We went into the next game being underdogs, as we hosted another big 4 at home, Liverpool this time. A brilliant performance from the team secured us a a win against another of the big 4. The horrible memory of the Villa draw seems so far away now.

With Otamendi back, the defence shaped up nicely. Liverpool scored an early goal from a corner which was converted by Voronin. Karl Henry took 5 mins just to silence the Liverpool fans with a volley from a corner. As Liverpool pressed forward in search of their 2nd goal, Blake and Krivets set up a nice counter with some one-two passing between them to give us the 2-1 lead. It was only then it struck me that pace is king against the Liverpool defence. No wonder Fonseca was playing badly in this game.

In the 2nd half, I took out Fonseca and put in the pacier Doyle. We conceded again to Voronin who was too quick for Berra and left him biting the dust, as he burst past the defence line. 2-2 the scoreline. Berra made amendments in his own way by scoring from a corner once again.

I decided it was time to close up shop, on came Zubar for Ebanks-Blake, and I played 5 in defence and turtled with maximum time wasting. We held out for a monumental 3-2 win.

We played terribly in our next away game at White Hart Lane. Crouch lobbed a ball over Enyeama to score in the opening stages, and despite the fact Karl Henry scored to equalise minutes later, it was against the flow of play and we totally did not deserve to equalize. Modric scored twice in the 2nd half, and we had practically no chance to attack.

Their midfield worked harder than mine today, and I had no complaints about this lost. I wonder if fatigue has taken its toll on the midfield diamond.

Against Fulham, I fielded a starting 11 that was obviously tired from the string of matches in recent weeks. However, we had a bright start when Ebanks-Blake broke through on goal and scored to put us in a 1-0 lead. Karl Henry had a goal rule offside which I thought was a pretty dubious one. As we piled on the pressure we hit the crossbar once, and suddenly out of nowhere against the flow of play, Jonathan Greening equalized.

We restarted in the 2nd half seeking for the winning goal, and as we surged forward, our defence was caught sleeping when Ethuhu ran past the defence line to score on the counter. Just when I thought we were heading to a disappointing home loss, that would be shocking to the fans, Fonseca saved our blushes after equalizing with a powerful effort in injury time.

I was gutted when I saw the stats. We could have won. We had 25 shots compared to their 15, how did we manage to only draw and almost lose is beyond me. Our strikers should have been more clinical. Shevchuk the new left back I signed in the winter played the game of his life though. He made 3 crosses and 2 of them led to goals, showing he can not only defend, but attack as well.

9 tackles, 9 won. 100% tackle accuracy. Shevchuk cost 450k, let me state that again.

He also made 11 interceptions in total, the highest that night in the squad. What a player. He’s making Michael Ball look like a reserve player.

As we head into the last 5 games of the season, Wolves currently stand at 9th in the table. To be frank, I have to be proud of the team, afterall we were tipped by everyone to struggle in the relegation zone. Although a Europa spot would have been nice, but I guess we can make that a realistic goal with better signings at the end of the season.

How will Wolves fare in the final 5 games. Will we slip up in the run in? Or will we go an amazing run and take a pot shot at a Europa spot if luck is on our side? Find out, in my final post for the season of 09/10 next time. I will also be dedicating a special post to analysing the performance of the Wolves squad this season, and then we will decide who to sell at the end of the season. (No prizes for guessing Michael Ball). I hope this post has greatly entertained you as there were a few games that were a rollercoaster ride for me. Till next time, cheers (: