Joining Mikey Burrows was co-commentator and Wolves Hall of Fame full-back Andy Thompson, former goalkeeper Carl Ikeme and ex-Wolves and Leeds defender Barry Douglas as they analysed a 1-1 draw at Elland Road, which extended Wolves’ unbeaten run to four Premier League outings.
The trio also spoke about a need to put in consistent performances and the impact of the Elland Road atmosphere on the outcome of the game.
On facing a high-pressing Leeds side
Thompson said: “It counts for nothing with the form that Leeds are in and the way that they play, because you’ve got to go out there and battle.
“You know that Leeds are going to press high up the field, you know Leeds are going to work you hard, and the one thing you’ve got to do is match them, at least with the work-rate.
“I still think we have a better side and a better squad than them, but it’s all about that work-rate because sometimes you can get overrun by it, but there’s no easy matches in this league and Leeds are a good team who will give anybody a game.”
On a need for consistent performances
Thompson said: “We want to play better, we want to put in performances and win games, but at the moment, we don’t seem to be able to do both, we either play well and not scoring or we haven’t played too well and won. It’s all about trying to put the two together.
“We can’t continue to play bad and keep winning games, it would be nice in some aspects of it, but we need to put those consistent performances together.
“We saw earlier on in the season when we played Manchester United, Tottenham, and we did really well, we just need to put the two together and get a string of results so we can try and get ourselves back into it and push ourselves up the table. If you can put a few results together, you’ll close the gap on the top six. But it’s all about that consistency.”
Heads up, ready for a new week 👊 pic.twitter.com/o0Oa53bogr
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 24, 2021
On Hwang’s fourth goal in gold and black
Thompson said: “Initially, I thought he was offside, but when you see the replay, and he was clearly well onside, but it was a goalscorer’s goal; being in the right place at the right time, and that’s what he’s done.
“It’s just come to him and he’s been able to score it after Jimenez tried to get his shot away. I thought it was good play down the right-hand side from Semedo, just being able to get past Dallas and get the ball in.
“But we need to have more options, we need to have more players pushing forward and trying to help out in the middle or top third. It didn’t happen today, but we got a point out of it.”
Hee Chan Hwang's goal at the weekend was our 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th in the @premierleague.
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 25, 2021
🐺🔢 pic.twitter.com/ijxav4XKMz
On the equalising penalty
Thompson said: “You know that when the crowd are getting behind them and with the way the referee had been throughout the game with lack of bookings, especially on the Leeds team, you think any kind of challenge in there, he’s going to give something.
“That’s what you’re going to have with the roar of the crowd, with the pressure that’s getting on top of the referee to give something, it made it a little too easy for the referee to give that decision.
“Any kind of challenge, any touch at all, was going to be a problem.”
On the impact of the Elland Road atmosphere
Thompson said: “It’s a difficult place to play and not many teams will get points here this season. They lifted the team, and with the changes coming from Bielsa, putting on a lot more attack-minded players, you could just see it.
“They were all high-energy players, they all wanted to chase the ball down, and that’s the way that Leeds play, but I don’t think we helped ourselves either. We invited the pressure and invited Leeds to come onto us.
“We gave away possession a little bit carelessly at times, Traore struggled to get into the game, and if you’re going to try and help your defence and goalkeeper out, you’ve got to keep the ball up in the top end of the pitch, and we just didn’t do it in the second-half.
“It allowed the momentum to go Leeds’ way and sooner or later, you could just feel something was going to happen, and unfortunately it was the penalty.”
You can watch Matchday Live Extra 30 minutes before every Wolves kick-off this season, on Twitter and on Wolves TV, before heading over to the Wolves App following full-time for all the post-match reaction.
