Jorgen Strand Larsen believes Wolves are moving in the right direction, despite results this season, but says they need to “speed up” the process in order to start earning points.
There was a lot to be happy about in Sunday’s performance against Newcastle for the Norwegian, but a second half comeback from the visitors left Wolves still searching for a first Premier League win of the season. Strand Larsen himself created Wolves’ goal for Mario Lemina – further evidence of him settling in – and now he wants the whole team to take the next step and match performances with points.
On the feeling of progress
“I think we're getting there, but we need to speed up a little bit, because our schedule is tough the next week. So, I think we have to continue the same way. And with some details we’ll start winning football matches.
“It's never cool to lose football matches, but we feel better now than after the Chelsea game, where we were having a really good first half, and then everything fell apart second – that shouldn't be happening. But we responded really well and had a really good game against a strong team [Newcastle].
“They have intensity and really good players, and they showed it on the second goal, and that's unlucky for us. We need to learn from those things, but you can't always control a goal deflecting from that distance. That's unlucky.”
On his role in Wolves’ goal
“I think I'm settling in well. I think they understand me a bit better every game. This game was more vital in the air, winning more duels than before. I can run in the space, I can be in the box, but it takes some time for my teammates to understand me. We just played four Premier League games together.
“So, I think we're on the right track, but we need to start winning games. That's the most important. I don't really care how we win, but it will come at the end. We have a really tough schedule coming, so we're just going to keep going, but we were close against Arsenal, we have a really good first half against Chelsea and a good point against Forest.”
A lovely move finished off by @LeminaM_13 🇬🇦 pic.twitter.com/SFh166kECe
— Wolves (@Wolves) September 15, 2024
On a disappointed dressing room
“We're really disappointed. It feels unlucky because we were the better team throughout the game. We had a tough start and we knew it would be an intensive game, but as soon as the game settled in a little bit, we took control and created some chances. When you really want to win, you know you’re going to get pressure.
“It felt like we were having control of most of the game, so it's always a bad feeling to lose it like this. We're really disappointed because we feel like we were the better team. The wins will come for sure. But right now is a tough moment.”
On having no luck
“It felt like we controlled the bad situations. They had a few scary opportunities right before the goal, which we cleared, I think Yerson did fantastic. We were really unlucky to receive a goal like that, it shouldn't happen, but that's football, so we have to work on that.
“But I think overall, we should be happy with what we did except the two goals, and we have to learn from these two goals. The second one is just work world class from Harvey Barnes and difficult for us to take because we really wanted that win, and I think we deserved it today. That's football, we have a new game in the week, and we just have to continue looking for positives.”
