Wolverhampton

Dazzling Dave
Fan writer

Image source, Shutterstock

Wolves beat Watford 1-0 and a win is always welcome. But the performance left a familiar question hanging over the celebrations.

If this side is meant to dominate the league and earn an immediate return to the Premier League, why does it still feel so hard to see the quality?

The BBC's match stats tell part of the story. Wolves had 24 shots, but only three were on target. That is just 12.5% of their attempts. Taking shots is not the same as threatening the goalkeeper and too many Wolves attacks ended without making Watford work.

This is becoming a familiar frustration rather than a one-off. Too often this season we have been waiting for Wolves' quality on paper to translate into quality on the pitch. Promising attacks lose their way and chances pass without the goalkeeper being tested.

The Watford game brought three points, but little reassurance that those problems are being addressed. For a side expected to dominate this division and go straight back up, that gap between expectation and performance is becoming harder to ignore.

It would be unfair to dismiss the win. Three points matter and Wolves showed enough persistence to find a way through.

But supporters are entitled to expect more than a narrow victory built on a high volume of shots.

A side with promotion ambitions should be making more of those moments count or at least forcing the opposition goalkeeper into more saves. One goal was enough to take the points, but it did not make the wider concern disappear.

That does not mean every shot should fly into the top corner. It does mean choosing better opportunities, getting attempts on target and showing more composure when the game is there to be won.

Wolves need to turn attacking spells into clear chances, not just a big number in the match statistics.

The table will judge Wolves on results, but performances matter, too. If the aim is to go straight back up the standard has to look convincing, not merely good enough to scrape past Watford.

This was a win and Wolves should take it. But the 24 shots and three on target are a warning. Until the quality starts showing where it matters most, supporters will keep asking whether this team is truly playing like promotion favourites.

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John Bennett
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

On paper, the win over Watford on Saturday should fill Wolves fans with plenty of positivity after a post international-break blip in form, but, for me, it brought up the big concern about this team - they're not clinical enough.

The result should've been a lot more comfortable for the home side and the atmosphere in the second half should have been a lot less edgy and nervy. The stats say it all; 26 shots, just 1 goal.

I was impressed with their flowing football at times, with the likes of Kieran Trippier, Jordan James and substitute Mateus Mane looking dangerous and there were so many attacking opportunities.

However on countless occasions either the final shot, or more often than not, the final ball, let Wolves down.

Plus, it's not a one off; in fact it's now 10 matches on the spin for Wolves without scoring more than two goals in a game. That's something that didn't cost them against a Watford side that offered very little, but it did last Tuesday when they conceded an 86th-minute equaliser at home to Portsmouth.

Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty to be happy about from a Wolves perspective and it's to their credit that Watford were so toothless on Saturday.

To add to that, it was also a weekend when a number of rivals, just above them, and just below them, dropped points.

But in a tight promotion race, Cesar Peixoto's side have to find a way to be more clinical in front of goal, to avoid needlessly dropping points in games which they totally dominate.

Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Cesar Peixoto spoke to BBC Radio WM after his side's 1-0 victory against Watford. For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

Image source, Shutterstock

"We have to have more mobility," said Cesar Peixoto, pondering what Wolves could have done to overcome Portsmouth's "deep block" and avoid dropping points at home for the second Tuesday running.

"Speed up the game, attack one side, go to the other side, attack the spaces - in the first half we didn't do this."

It was all going so well last month, after Wolves had beaten Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion on successive Sundays, demonstrating all the qualities required of a strong Championship side: grit, nerve, energy and the conviction to grasp their chance.

There were flashes of that at Burnley, after a poor start, but the spark from the Albion game has gone out. Why?

There have been injuries. Fer Lopez looked like the best player in the league before the break, but a knock while with Spain Under-21s appears to have broken his stride lately.

Raul Jimenez was sidelined before the Black Country derby, but the news that his return may be significantly later than first hoped seemed to pull a grey cloud over Molineux.

Adam Armstrong was not in apex form but the issue that has cost him two games has demonstrated how much work he was actually getting through. Kieran Trippier has not taken the field in the last two games either.

That's not nothing. "I think if you have [Trippier], if you have [Armstrong], if you have Raul or other players, more experienced players in this kind of game help us," said Peixoto after the 1-1 draw against Portsmouth.

That is undoubtedly true, but many of those who did play were able to call themselves Premier League footballers this time last year.

For all Peixoto's increasingly agitated body language from the sidelines, evidence that they have the quality or energy to earn back that status was scarce on Tuesday.

Peixoto's diagnosis matches that of many fans. In the first half against Portsmouth, he said, the players did not "take the risk I want in our game… you have to take the risk to play with courage to win the games."

Yes, but somebody has to lead on the field. Losing Jimenez and Trippier at the same time is unfortunate, but it was hardly unforeseeable that such senior players would not be in every game even if they stayed uninjured.

All is not lost, far from it. Wolves are still only five points off the top, the amount lost in the just the past two home games, but the sullen atmosphere that has plagued Molineux for the last few years is back, and Wolves need a blast from somebody – Storm Mateus? Storm Fer? Storm Jordan? – to blow it away, quick.

BBC Radio WM Football Phone-In is weeknights 6-7pm

Wolves v Watford - commentary on BBC Radio WM (DAB Black Country), Saturday 15:00 BST