On Sunday Wolves were celebrating a first win at the Hawthorns in 28 years and the Matchday Live Extra team were in the press box soaking in the victory.
Mikey Burrows was joined by former Old Gold heroes Andy Thompson and Dave Edwards for the Emirates FA Cup tie, and come full-time they were full of praise for the gritty performance, which led to the victory.
Comparing Wolves teams of recent years to the one Gary O’Neil has firing on all cylinders, both gave their thoughts on Matchday Live Extra, singling out Matheus Cunha and Tommy Doyle for praise following a successful afternoon across the Black Country.
The derby win at the Hawthorns
Thompson said: “I’ve seen us play better this year, I’ve seen us be more dominant, but it’s all about the goals and the victory. Two goals taken by two players in form at the moment. You know what it means to everyone associated with the club, the fans were absolutely unbelievable, so it’s great to have that backing and put the victory together.”
Edwards said: “Wolves just showed a little bit more guile. It was a very equal game and West Brom had some good moments – they actually played some good football – but we know how good Wolves are on the counter attack and both of their goals were about exploiting the space West Brom had left. It was a close game but in the big moments Wolves showed their Premier League quality to win it. The Wolves fans were fabulous, the noise coming from that end for the whole game was incredible.”
The bragging rights coming to Molineux
Edwards said: “We hadn’t won here for so long and the Covid games feel like they almost didn’t happen, so the last memory was the awful 5-1 game at Molineux, which you can see the West Brom fans rank as one of their best days, so it was nice to get one over on them and Wolves were well worthy of it. I’m so glad they got to celebrate and it’s nice they got a goal in front of the fans, and that picture of Cunha with his arms out will become iconic. Special day.”
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Playing without a recognised striker
Thompson said: “You’ve got three quality lads up front who are doing a great job. I think they’ve been absolutely unbelievable. Since Christmas the results and performances have been totally different and typified by the way we played against Brighton. We got absolutely battered earlier in the season at home, but [on Monday] we defended really well and had opportunities in the game to get a result. It shows how well we have done this season. Clean sheet, which the goalkeeper and back line will look at and when we are getting chances, they’re taking them. Our goal tally is going up, opportunities are going up. We’ve pushed on as a team, as a club. Not a great game by us, but it’s all about getting the win.”
Edwards said: “The forward players, and the numbers they’re producing, is really good to see because it hasn’t happened in recent years. We’ve been crying out for an out and out goal scorer, and while we probably don’t have it, it’s nice to see the forward players producing, getting into good areas, creating chances, and 95 per cent of the credit has to go to Gary O’Neil.
“The way he sets the team up, the way he can create the opportunities and take the chances, he will manufacture opportunities to create space for Cunha to turn and run with the ball, to have space for Neto to run into, try and disrupt the opposition defence with movement and intricate passing, and using space I behind. It’s not by chance these lads have clicked and they’re scoring more goals this year, it’s because of the work they do on the training pitch. Gary O’Neil deserves huge credit for that and it’s great to see.”
Cunha coming to the fore
Edwards said: “I don’t think that’s a run Cunha makes last season [for the second goal]. I know Gary O’Neil has had numerous conversations with him, trying to speak in private about being in the box, between the posts more. He was on his toes wanting to run behind and all of a sudden, he found himself through and was clinical, and when he got in for the second what, what a hit. He struck it so true, and it was a fabulous save from Josh Griffiths.
“I was on Cunha’s back a little bit last year because I didn’t think he was the answer, but he’s been magnificent this season. Gary O’Neil has known how to play him. He puts him in areas where he can affect the game and that has to be down to Gary O’Neil. Hopefully he keeps impressing and what they have done of the past four to six week is shown we could maybe get to the end of the season without getting someone in the transfer market. They don’t have to panic buy because there’s enough quality in the squad. Although it’s very small, there’s not many options on the bench at the moment, they have enough quality to get through to the summer and you can look at adding a few players with real quality.”
Doyle showing his quality in midfield
Thompson said: “He’s a quality player. It’ll be interesting what O’Neil does, because Doyle’s done himself no harm at all playing in there. If you’re playing regular football, your sharpness and game play will come, that understanding of being in the team, knowing the strengths of your players. You look at the squad now, they have such a good understanding of how each other play, if they start or come on as subs. He’s got this team firing at the moment and getting results and it shows the character and quality is in this squad. Last year we weren’t great, this year we look a totally different side. Last year, if we went 1-0 down, we never looked like getting back into a game.”
Edwards said: “He’s got some real character, he’s got tenacity, he loves that side of the game. Even with the style of his running, he wants to get into tackles and disrupt players. We know his quality on the ball, some of his passing was excellent. He did start to tire before the end, but I think the kick from Jed Wallace was starting to take its toll, he was constantly feeling that area. It’s a massive boost to Wolves and Gary O’Neil that he’s come in and played so well because it’s given him a headache now.
“We spoke at the start of the season, saying last year with Neves and Moutinho it was a technical midfield, whereas now there’s a good balance. All three of those players are tenacious and can win the ball back, and you’ve got Doyle with his passing range, Lemina with his running power and Joao Gomes who gets around everywhere, a really nice balance to suit different games and you could play all three together if the moment comes. It’ll be interesting against Man United because if I’m Tommy Doyle and get left out, I’m disappointed after my performances.”
Thompson and Edwards 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.
