Missing Mr.Reliable

Looking at the Wolves 2011 calender, it reminded me that we were missing an important first team member. Our Mr.Reliable, our most consistent player over the last few years when he has played.

While I appreciate the efforts of Richard Stearman and Ronald Zubar at right back, they just don't come close to Kevin Foley. His calmness, footballing ability and defensive capabilites are something we have missed at the back. Only Stephen Ward has really shown these attributes this season consistently, and with Foley on the opposite flank it would make our defence seem a lot safer.

Not to forget his efforts in midfield. In our first season he had the role of right midfielder, giving protection in front of Zubar and helping us on our way to survival. The next he got more time in his strongest position, getting a good run of games at right back and shining. When Karl Henry got injured, he also showed what a capable defensive midfielder he is.

Injury has stopped him from playing a part this season, when we have really missed him. In our five game losing streak our team looked devoid of confidence and lacking a calm head at the back. Foley gives us that. His composure on the ball would give us a nice balance with Stephen Ward on the opposite flank and Roger Johnson and Christophe Berra in the middle. Two stoppers, two players.

He's a few reserve games off full match fitness but personally, I can't wait for Mr. Reliable/Consistency to come back into the side.

Chelsea v Wolves preview

When John Terry says you are one of the best teams they've played this season, you know you've done alright.

Unfortunately that means Terry, and Chelsea, will certainly not be underestimating us.

AVB prays Stephen Ward will be rested

This is a huge game for Andre Villas-Boas, anything less than a home win and well, I think he will get the sack. Luckily for him, they are playing the right team...

Except! Maybe, just maybe Mick will remember our performance last year at Stamford Bridge, and try to replicate that this time against a more fragile Chelsea? That game is one of my favourites, we may have lost the game two nil but we gave them a right scare and also played some brilliant football at the same time.

With O'Hara and Hunt suspended it means we have to make changes and who knows, they could be blessings in disguise. Hunt hasn't played particularly well for a while now, whereas O'Hara has been caught between two positions. It all depends on the formation we play. I think Mick may go with 4-4-2, and bring Fletcher in which is a good thing, but also leaves us likely to be overrun in midfield. Then again, it worked for Liverpool last weekend.

You'd expect Matt Jarvis to come in at left midfield. I was surprised he didn't start last weekend, we badly needed his pace and with him likely to come up against Ivanovic you'd expect him to cause a few problems. In the middle, it's a question of who goes with Karl Henry? Nenad Milijas you'd think lacks the mobility, though we have seen some top performances now and then from him there. Adlene Guedioura may give us the legs there, but does he have the discipline? Tough decisions.

It all looks set for Ronald Zubar to come in at right back. Assuming he's fully fit, he could be a real bonus for us. We've lacked his enthusiasm lately and his pace and power is something we lack at the back. If he's not, Matt Doherty would be the second in line. He definitely looks like a future first choice right back for us, yes he had some problems against City in the cup but he was left isolated out there by Doyle.

Fletch could return

Expected line up:

Hennessey

Zubar
Johnson
Berra
Ward

Edwards
Henry
Milijas
Jarvis

Doyle
Fletcher

Like Everton last week, we have a good chance to frustrate the home crowd and put their players under even more pressure than they are under right now. If we try and keep the ball, and work it forward we may have a slight chance but sit back and give them the confidence to attack us and I fear for the worst.

I'll go for a 3-0 defeat, us containing them but getting tired and conceding a couple of late goals.

Talking sense

 "We will have to go down there and try and keep the ball and there's no point just punting it forward because if we do we'll end up chasing it for long periods.
"Last season I think we actually had about 50-50 possession down there and had a lot of shots on goal. We need to go there and try and pass the ball and keep it because if we don't, with their quality, we'll find it difficult to get it back.

This quote comes from an unlikely source, a man who has had his grapples in the box with strikers and head butted a post, but Christophe Berra is talking a lot of sense here!

Tactical genius

When we went to Chelsea last year, it was the first time we had really tried the possession game. We were patient and it worked a treat. We gave Chelsea a scare and could've come out of the game with something. 

If we were to do that this time against a low confidence Chelsea side then who knows what could happen. 

With Berra saying the above, you have to wonder why we don't go into games with this plan more often. Our best performances and results have generally come from us keeping the ball and playing to our strengths, it's my biggest frustration with Wolves. We have players like Nenad Milijas, who oozes class on the ball and Matt Jarvis, when gives the right service can give any full back a run for their money. 

If results were good with the style Mick seems to want us to play at the moment, you could argue a point for saying they are playing well, or that we should stick with it but we're not, it's hard to watch and we in very poor form. 

Hopefully Mick remembers that game at Stamford Bridge, or Old Trafford or against Blackpool at home because they were some great performances that we should be trying to emulate. 

Everton 2 Wolves 1

While I remain one of the most optimistic Wolves fans around, even I am now having my doubts.

The display against Everton was one of the most negative performances I have seen by a McCarthy team. Everton were nervous, playing without confidence but we basically handed them the three points.

The inclusion of Milijas made me think we were going to try to play football, with Edwards and Hunt out wide it seemed the focus would be working it through the middle. I felt sorry for Nenad out there as he seemed the only one trying to keep hold of the ball, but with so little movement he was restricted to giving it back to a defender.

When our best attacking threat is our left back, I think you need to recognise something is wrong. The question is, will Mick see this? We've had ten games of it. No urgency, no movement and no pace at all. Stephen Ward wa superb again, and with the efforts of Wayne Hennessey and Christophe Berra, the only thing looking likely to keep us above the bottom three. Once again he showed his adaptability by being a better right back than Richard Stearman.

Our wide men were anonymous, offered no support and the result of that was Doyle losing it every time he gets it. In Doyle we have a fantastic footballer, but when he is so isolated he looks average. Another player I feel sorry for out there.

And when Fletcher was finally brought on, we suddenly had another option and found small amounts of space. Two minutes into his arrival we had our first shot on goal, it was a rubbish shot but unlike the rest of the team he looked like he wanted to score.

We would have been lucky to get nil, let alone one.

Hennessey - 8

Stearman - 6
Johnson - 7
Berra - 8
Ward - 7

Edwards - 5
Henry - 7
Milijas - 6
O'Hara - 6
Hunt - 5

Doyle - 6

The most worrying thing is that this time last season we were on a very similar run, but we remained upbeat because of the way we were approaching games. There is no reason this time round to suggest our form is going to change.

Everton v Wolves preview

Wolves go to Goodison Park hoping to kick on after the win against Wigan last time out.

And I feel strangely confident about it.

Everton are a strong side, no doubt about it, and have some fantastic Premier League footballers, but it hasn't clicked for them this season. They lie in 17th, four places below us.

Then again, this may be a good time for them to get going. We have a habit of doing that don't we?

Despite the return to full fitness of Steven Fletcher, I'd expect us to continue with 4-5-1. 'Fletch' is probably our best bet for a goal, but you can't drop Kevin Doyle and we need the extra man in midfield. He's a great option to have on the bench anyway.

Hopefully we will see Matt Jarvis back to his best. He's been inconsistent recently, but his performance against Wigan suggests he is confident and ready to stake a claim for another England call up. When he's playing well there isn't a full back in the league who can stop him, and he's a huge asset to the club.

Here is the team I expect us to go with:

Hennessey

Stearman
Johnson
Berra
Ward

Hunt
Edwards
Henry
O'Hara
Jarvis

Doyle

I'm going to go with a well earned one all draw, with Edwards getting the goal. If we get in their faces from the start and frustrate the home crowd early on its anyone's game.

Wolves 3 Wigan 1

It was a case of job done at Molineux on Sunday.

It didn't matter how, but we simply had to win. It was nervy and painfully low on quality but we'll take that for those three precious points that lift us to 13th in the table.

Wigan themselves had to win, and it was the battle of two teams low on confidence and we came out on top. We can put the myth that we always lose to the lower placed teams to bed for now, I reckon. 

The most encouraging thing to come from the game was the spine of our team. Right through the middle we had good performances. Wayne Hennessey made some good saves, important ones while Roger Johnson and Christophe Berra returned to their early season form. Karl Henry was as solid as ever, it was brilliant to see him make the second goal with a strong positive run.

Jamie O'Hara and Kevin Doyle were the most important parts though. They were are two players with real quality, who we could rely on to make something happen and that's how the first goal came about. it was genius from Doyle, and O'Hara got in the position's he'd been getting in for the last three or four games to put the pull back away.

Hennessey - 7

Stearman - 6
Johnson - 7
Berra - 8
Ward - 6

Guedioura - 5
Edwards - 7
Henry - 7
O'Hara - 8
Hunt - 7

Doyle - 8

Subs - Jarvis - 7, Milijas - 6.

We've got a two week break to prepare for a trip to Goodison Park. It's a decent chance to get some very good points away, how good would it look if we got something there after the horrible run we've just experienced?