OOpposition View

The Wolves View

Ahead of the Eagles trip to Molineaux on Wednesday TEB had a chat with Thomas Baugh, creator of the excellent Wolves Blog, about their season so far and thoughts ahead of the fixture.

Q. How has the season been for Wolves so far?

Pretty good. We’re comfortably mid-table in the top flight and you haven’t been able to say that about Wolves at any point in the last thirty years, so plenty to feel good about. The style of play continues to be decent and we’ve enjoyed some memorable victories.

Q. What did you make of the game at Selhurst?

Not much in it if I recall correctly. It was a smart move for our goal and well finished by Matt Doherty. I was pleased with the clean sheet even if you have a bit of a reputation for creating chances and not taking them. You wasted a few decent openings but then again, so did we.

Q. What are your hopes for the rest of the season?

To make the second half of the season as good as the first. It would be nice to finish in the top half, but as long as we stay up with a good degree of comfort I’ll be more than satisfied as the club appears to be heading in the right direction.

Q. Has Nuno Espirito Santos surprised Wolves fans with how he has adapted to life in the Premier League?

Not really. He was a great coach in the Championship and seems well suited to the demands of the Premier League. There was a slight concern he was a one tricky pony a month or so back when it looked like teams had figured us out, but he’s since tweaked the formation and personnel to deliver so fine results.

Q. Who has been the stand out Wolves player?

I’ll name a player who seems to slip under the radar – Willy Boly. The giant defender took a game or two to get up to speed in the Premier League but has since been pretty flawless. Not much gets past him and he’s super composed in possession. I’m still in shock that none of the top sides took an interest when we brought him from Porto last year.

Q. Do Wolves have any needs ahead of the transfer window and how active do you think they will be?

I don’t think we’ll see a lot of activity as Nuno likes to work with a fairly lean squad, but a striker that can give us something different and cover/competition for Matt Doherty at right wingback would be handy.

Q. If you could pick one Palace player for Wolves to sign in January, who would it be and why?

It’s unoriginal but you can’t overlook Wilfried Zaha. He’d fit nicely into our front three and is obviously a top talent. Beyond the obvious, I’ve always admired Patrick van Aanholt and again he would be a good match for the formation we generally deploy.

Q. Name one Wolves player and one Palace player that you believe will be a threat in this game?

Apart from Zaha, I’d say Andros Townsend for Palace. He’s always got that worldie strike in his locker that we saw against Manchester City, so hopefully we can nullify his threat as we did earlier in the season. For Wolves, I’ll say Raul Jimenez as he’s generally our most consistent threat. He laid on the goal for Matt Doherty at Selhurst and remains pivotal to our attacking game.

Q. Perhaps you could share your opinions on Palace so far this season?

At the time of writing this you’re 14th, comfortably clear of the bottom three but a few wins shy of the mid-table clubs. I’d say that probably tallies with my expectations pre-season. You could easily have had a few results go your way and be where Wolves are in 10th so it’s fine margins.

Q. Your prediction?

We’ve got West Ham, Palace and Leicester at home in January so I’m hoping we can get a win in at least one of those fixtures. Looking at the table this looks like the most likely three points so I’d maybe back us for a narrow 2-1, but who knows right? We got tucked in by Huddersfield and Cardiff and then beat Chelsea so we’re a funny side to second guess.

READ WHAT THOMAS TOLD US IN OUR SUMMER FEATURE ‘VIEW FROM THE OPPOSITION’

 

Jay is founder and editor of TEB having started it all off back in the summer of 2012. An avid Palace fan since the late eighties with a passion for music and too many other sports. Presenter and producer of The Meridian Sports Show on 107 Meridian FM.

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