The Analysis | Wolves 3-2 Brentford

Getting through to the fourth round

Having fallen out of last season’s FA Cup in a third round replay at Molineux, Wolves were determined not to repeat that experience this term, with the side hitting back three times throughout the entire round before scoring the winner in the closing moments to book a place in the next stage of the historic competition. But after playing almost 90 minutes with 10 men away at Brentford to earn a replay, the players in gold and black had to play another 120 minutes at home until a winner was found, but the final result was just what O’Neil’s side deserved having dominated for much of the contest.

After the match, legendary Wolves full-back Andy Thompson said: “We did deserve to win it and I thought Wolves edged the game. They were a threat throughout the game and were on top in large spells but there were a couple of things there – i.e. the two goals and a couple of times defending – which could have been better, but apart from that, I thought we put a lot of pressure on Brentford, I thought we knocked it around well, I thought we opened up a few good chances on it and the play was good, but the only question mark was our defending against set plays.

“We’re usually quite good defending against them but looked a bit shaky today. But, again, they showed that character to come back having gone behind twice and managed to get themselves in front to win the game. It just shows you the way that things are going for this team at the moment. They never give up and keep going.”

Wolves’ 300 Club defender and play-off hero Lee Naylor added: “It was a great start to the game, we controlled it, but we had a lapse in concentration which let them in, but before that, the total control of the players playing the way that the manager wants to play and just creating chances all the way through the game. You do worry about the set pieces because they can win and lose you a game, and I thought we didn’t deal with them at all tonight, but at the same time, we totally deserved the win.”

Having confidence to turn the game around

In the past few seasons, as soon as Wolves conceded in a match, it has felt like the game was over and the best result supporters could hope for was a battling draw, but that is not the case anymore. Several times already under O’Neil, the players have fought back almost immediately to going behind and with goals now being spread around the whole team – Nelson Semedo’s opener being his first in almost 70 appearances – there is a newfound confidence on both the pitch and in the stands that this Wolves side – similarly to the one which first got the club promoted back into the Premier League in 2018 – never knows when it’s beat.

Naylor: “When it is going for you and things are happening, you start doing things subconsciously that you wouldn’t normally do when things are not going well for you. Things just roll off your foot, you’re not thinking about what you’re doing, it’s instinctive and it’s the right decision that you make when you’re making a pass or a shot or a defensive tackle, and when we’ve got our tail up, which we have at the moment, it’s happening for us.”

Thompson: “We’ve mentioned about the goals being spread out across the whole of the team and not just thinking about the attacking midfielders and the forwards, so the defenders are starting to chip in with goals to help us get something out of the game as well. But at the minute, the way that we’re playing, the confidence that we’ve got, we just look like scoring.

“When we went 1-0 down, there was no thinking in my head that we weren’t going to get opportunities in the game, and we have been pretty clinical in previous weeks over the Christmas break, but it just shows you how this team goes and this team plays. This team just believes they can score goals and win games, and when you have that, it gives you a whole load of confidence as a manager.”

"You can see the effort that went in from everybody. There was some tired bodies out there but everyone wanted to make sure we get a crack at the next round and now we do.”

🐺🗣️ pic.twitter.com/AuroJKtbEQ

— Wolves (@Wolves) January 17, 2024

Fraser stepping up to the mark

With the loan departures of strikers Sasa Kalajdzic and Fabio Silva in the January window, O’Neil turned to academy marksman Nathan Fraser to fill the void vacated by his fellow forwards. Having already netted, and claimed an assist, as a substitute at Molineux in the Carabao Cup fixture with Blackpool earlier this season, lightning struck twice for the talented teenager on Tuesday night. The Tettenhall Terrier – who has been part of his hometown club for the last decade – got Wolves back on level terms for the second time in the match when he drove a superb low shot into the far corner just two minutes after coming on. The 18-year-old then came close to notching the winner just moments later but another powerful shot was somehow kept out by the Brentford goalkeeper.

Naylor: “If there’s a way to say to the manager that you can be that man to replace Kalajdzic and Silva, that’s the way to do it because he got one and he nearly got another. But that’s just him in a nutshell. Nath is your modern-day number nine – and a bit of old-fashioned. I’ve watched him for a lot of years now, and he’s got a bit of Bully in him.

“If Bully had a chance to shoot, he’d take it, and Nath has got that. If he’s got a shot, he’s taking it, and he doesn’t care where anyone else is, he’s taking it, and I like that about him. But what he does outside of that box, he’s very unselfish and he puts an outrageous shift. He’s done that tirelessly throughout his youth career and he will take that into his first-team career and I’m sure he’ll have a great one.”

Thompson: “You’ve got to be selfish as a centre-forward and he’s got that. We’ve both played with centre-forwards like that who don’t want to pass and as soon as they get around that box they are super focused on getting their name on the scoresheet and that is what they do. What I did like about him was his positioning inside the penalty area to receive the ball, because his first touch on two or three occasions was setting himself up, he wanted to make sure he could get that shot away.

“He wasn’t looking for a one-two, he wasn’t looking to pass someone else in, and it just shows you that ruthlessness he’s got and what you’ve got to have as a centre-forward to get your name on the scoresheet. It looks promising for him, but he’s got to make sure he keeps up that work ethic going and that he keeps scoring goals, more importantly.”

An eight year-old Nathan Fraser signs for @WolvesAcademy.

Ten years later, he's scoring at Molineux.

🐺 pic.twitter.com/YVEpoyIQM6

— Wolves (@Wolves) January 16, 2024

Taking the lead for the first time in the tie

Not to be decided inside 90 minutes, the replay went to extra time as the sides could not be separated, despite Wolves’ overall control of the contest. Having hit the post themselves through Matheus Cunha and almost suffered at the other end when Shandon Baptiste hit the woodwork when one-on-one with Jose Sa, it was the Old Gold’s Brazilian who settled the tie and secured Wolves’ place in the fourth round as he netted from the spot after Pedro Neto was fouled following a neat one-two with Fraser inside the Brentford box.

Despite protests from the Brentford men, which led to a bit of handbags from both sets of players, as well as a lengthy VAR check, referee Andrew Madley was unmoved and VAR Graham Scott backed the man in the middle, awarding the penalty which Cunha dispatched into the bottom left corner of the net, which means the forward has now been directly involved in 10 goals in his last 11 appearances.

Thompson: “We all thought it was a penalty, and I know there was the debate that it might not have been and there were a lot of bodies there, but if you’re running into the penalty area and running at defenders with pace, they’ve got to be so accurate with their tackles and their touches to try and take the ball, and you’re always going to be open to giving away a penalty.

“They were never going to be overturning the referee if he gives the decision because he was on the spot and because of the replays we didn’t get a close look at it, but when somebodies running at you in the penalty box, the slightest of touches is going to be a penalty nowadays.”

A fourth round Black Country derby

With the draw for the fourth round having taken place eight days ago, there was a lot of anticipation for the replay with the victors due to face West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on 28^th January. Thankfully for Wolves, they were able to get the job done on Tuesday night, which set up the first Black Country derby in front of supporters since 2012. The men in gold and black will be looking to achieve the club’s first away win against the lot from the other side of the Black Country since the 4-2 in September 1996, in which Iwan Roberts bagged a hat-trick and a certain Mr Stephen George Bull netted the other one.

Naylor: “I think it will be different for the players because a lot of them won’t understand what the derby is about, but they will know on the day of the game. I know that. But it’s great, isn’t it? I’m looking forwards to it.”

Thompson: “All the pressure is on us. They’ve got a free hit. Anything that they do, if they lose it, they’ll say that they should because they’re playing against a Premier League team, but if they win it, then… But I don’t care what they say because these occasions, for their players and for their fans, it will be a massive day for them. It will be a massive day when the Wolves go to the Hawthorns and it’s all about doing the job professionally. They’ve got to control their emotions on the day and play the game rather than the occasion.”

Thompson and Naylor were talking to Mikey Burrows on Wolves’ official post-match podcast, Matchday Live Extra, which is available to listen to now on all podcast providers.