Jorgen Strand Larsen’s brace fired Wolves to a big win at Southampton, which saw Vitor Pereira’s side pull nine points clear of the relegation zone on Saturday.
The Norwegian headed home Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s cross on 19 minutes, after peeling away from his marker, and doubled his and Wolves’ tally quickly after the break, firing home following another Bellegarde assist.
Old Gold legend Andy Thompson was in the St Mary’s press box on commentary duty, and he dissected the three points on Matchday Live Extra post-match, with the best bits available below.
Moving further clear of the drop zone
“I said it before we even played, it's about the result. It's about making sure that you don't lose the game, and they did exactly that. It wasn't the best performance, but it is a great result. It gives us that little bit more breathing space. We've got three games coming up, which are massive games for us this season, and they're the ones that we've got to get the right results in. We've got West Ham next, after the international break, and then we’ve got Ipswich, and Leicester coming up as well. So, it's in our hands, and I think they're going in the right way towards safety with the victory.”
Doing what was required defensively
“It's making sure that you get the victory. We've said most of the season, especially when we've been in a bit of trouble around the relegation zone, the results are everything. Results are what we need to get us clear of the bottom three. They'll be the first ones to admit that they didn't play as well as they could have played. They didn't kill off the game as well as they could have done, and they had a chance to do that, but they got themselves two goals, they've got themselves the victory, and they've got themselves a little bit further away from that danger zone.
“It's down to us. It's the way that we play. We know when we've got to do better, we know we've got to see off the games better, because we made it a nervy end to the second half by allowing them to get a goal with all the possession that they had and keeping the ball.”
Strand Larsen taking his chances
“It was the movement. He's kind of nudged into the defender, which allowed him to pull off him as the ball was coming in, which gave him the space and the time. But it was a good finish. It was a good header from him, because he's slightly back, and he's had to guide it into that corner beyond Ramsdale. I thought that was the finish that we want to see from him. But it's about that delivery. It's about giving him the ball, and you saw with the second goal, you give him the ball on the edge of the box, he's willing to have a go.
“His movement got him away, the defender gave him another yard, which allowed him then to strike it. It went straight through the defender’s legs, away from Ramsdale again, but we’ve got to get that delivery, you’ve got to give him a chance up there, and he did a lot better when we did play the ball up to him, bringing other people into the game. But unless you put quality up to him, he's going to get frustrated. He's got himself two goals today because the quality was better in. Good finishing from him.
“It's a goal scorer’s goal [the second goal], where it’s gone straight through defender’s legs. He was looking to put it to the side of the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper’s probably unsighted so he can see the ball coming through his legs, but because he’s hit it early, and it's gone through the defender’s legs, it made it even harder for Ramsdale in the goal. You would never have thought that he's somebody who hasn't scored this calendar year. Give him the service, and he will get you a goal.”
The perfect angle of Jorgen's second 🤌 pic.twitter.com/lH0LwPnJAN
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 16, 2025
Feeding the big number nine
“That was the reason they brought him in, to score goals. But unless you give him the service and give him opportunities that he can have an effort at goal from, or can get his head onto something, then he's not going to get goals. One of our biggest problems was the delivery and the quality up to him. You've got to use him. You've got a six-foot four centre forward up there, the focal point of your team, who's willing to try and work hard up there, but you've got to give him the service.
“You could see at times before he got the goals, he gets frustrated. He gets frustrated that the quality up to him isn't the best that it should be, and we've got quality players who can play a good ball up to him. That's a problem that we need to have a look at. I thought that we gave him a chance to bring people into play. We gave him a chance to allow him to lay the ball off first time, or to get a little flick on, or just to be a nuisance up there, so we can get round him. I think today we probably gave him a little bit more of a fighting chance to actually deliver that.
“Also, he was out for a spell with an injury as well. Don't forget that. It's all about service for a striker. Some strikers can probably create opportunities on their own, in certain aspects, not all the time, but if you can give him better service up there, he'll give you a fighting chance. He's somebody that's willing to work hard for the team, put himself about, get himself on the end of things, but unless you deliver it to him, he's not going to get that chance. You've seen him being frustrated. You've seen him being subbed, and when he's been brought off, he's not happy. Two things, he is coming off, but also about the delivery to him. He's a goal scorer. He's got nine goals out of not many opportunities up there, but what he has done is give himself a chance to get on the score sheet, which he had has done today.”
Bellegarde’s delivery for the first goal
“When you do get chances to put the ball into the box – Larsen might have said this to him – put it in this area here, because if I know that it's going to come in this area, then that means I'll come and get my movement to actually get on the end of the ball, or get a header, and get on to the cross. As a striker, that's all you want. If you tell somebody, put it into this area, ‘I'm going to get onto there’, then he can say, ‘Well, I've put it in there. It's your fault. You said to me that you're going to get on there.’ We've got to work on that. We've got to use him a lot more. You look at the teams that have got big centre forwards, they thrive on delivery. Harland needs service, because how many times does he not touch the ball in the game? But then as soon as the ball's put into an area, he's pulling away or getting on the end of something, and that's what it's all about, knowing your strikers and where to put it and what to do. He will try the most he can to get on the end of deliveries and crosses, because he's willing to work hard. That's a nice thing to have, a centre forward up there who's willing to work hard to try and get something out of it.”
Strand Larsen contributing to a win
“They won't be bothered about the way that the game went today so they were, they'll be more bothered about the result, and you saw at the end, their faces and their body language going up to the Wolves fans and what it meant to them. There's nothing better than, eventually, getting a goal or getting two goals that actually wins you the game, because that's what happened today. He’ll be happy about it. You saw what it meant to everybody with a victory.”
