da betway: If any side has it in them to gift bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers a much-needed Premier League win, it might well have been Ruben Amorim’s all too often charitable Manchester United outfit.
da casino: Indeed, heading into this Monday night clash at Molineux, the Red Devils had previously handed relegation-threatened West Ham United a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
However, the visitors from Manchester were far more ruthless on this occasion, as Wolves’ abject season shows no signs of stopping off the back of United running out convincing 4-1 winners.
Sitting on just two points, you likely could pick flaws all night long in the woeful home performance, with the die-hard Old Gold faithful clearly at their wits’ end with the ownership at their lowly club, having staged a fan protest before yet another defeat was tallied up.
What went wrong for Wolves on Monday
Championship football already looks destined to be returning to the West Midlands very soon, with the fresh appointment of Rob Edwards to replace Vitor Pereira doing very little to save the sinking ship.
Edwards just can’t account for some silly errors that plagued Wolves’ game all evening, though, with Andre in the first half – who has been on United’s transfer radar – dilly dallying on the ball for far too long, before Bruno Fernandes then scrappily gave the fortuitous away side a 1-0 lead. As journalist Liam Keen put it, the defending for this opening strike was ” totally shambolic.”
The likes of Yersen Mosquera in the heart of the ropey Wolves defence didn’t fare any better, either, with the shaky number 15 handing Fernandes his second of the one-sided affair late on, after a handball decision went against him for the penalty.
Mason Mount also had all the time in the world to put away United’s third when both Mosquera and Emmanuel Agbadou left him in acres of space to fire home, with the abysmal defending on show typical of a side that has surrendered a seriously worrying 33 goals already this season.
All over the pitch, there were very few positives to latch onto, with a lacklustre attacker now needing to be dropped by Edwards, after he put in another no-show against the rampant Red Devils.
Wolves flop must now be dropped after Man Utd
Apart from Jean Ricner Bellegarde scoring Wolves’ first league goal since October, there would be little to smile about from an attacking point of view at Molineux for the hosts, especially when it came to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s idle showing.
Long gone now are the days when Larsen was being tipped for a £50m switch to Newcastle United after bagging 14 league strikes during his debut season, with the out-of-sorts Norwegian instead now on the receiving end of some sarcastic cheers when he was substituted off after an uneventful 69-minute spell against Amorim’s men.
As per the aforementioned Keen, Larsen even had to be calmed down by his manager after looking “furious” with the jeers directed at him.
But, when looking at the table below, it’s hardly a shock that the hardened Molineux masses decided to voice their frustrations in such a gallows humour way, with the goal-shy number 29 coming off after registering zero shots and just five accurate passes.
Larsen’s performance in numbers
Stat
Larsen
Minutes played
69
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
19
Shots
0
Accurate passes
5/9 (56%)
Total duels won
2/12
Stats by Sofascore
Moreover, Larsen only mustering up a sorry 19 touches of the ball in total means even Johnstone in between the sticks for the relegation-doomed side had more touches of the ball, coming in at a far heftier 42.
The Newcastle-linked striker’s notable drop off has impacted the Old Gold so much this season that former Premier League scout Mick Brown, when speaking to Football Insider earlier in the campaign, stated that his presence up top now makes the basement outfit a “worse side.”
This is a far cry from analyst Ben Mattinson’s previous comments that he was a “proper number 9” when scoring goals for fun, meaning Edwards must seriously consider axing him soon, even as his other striker option in Tolu Arokodare, prepares to head to the African Cup of Nations.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Desperate times could call for desperate measures, with Hwang Hee-Chan perhaps the answer in from the cold up top, considering he does have 23 top-flight goals for the Old Gold, one of which came this season, lining up as the sole centre-forward.
Whatever changes do occur, Wolves need to start doing the basics correctly if they stand any chance of turning around their likely insurmountable points gap, with Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher stating that they have “no fight” at the moment.
Larsen could fall victim to Edwards shuffling his pack, with Wolves surely left with plenty of regret now that they handed the out-of-form number nine a new, bumper five-year deal in September, instead of cashing in.
Wolves now want to sign 'top talent' from Man City with player set to leave in January
Rob Edwards’ side need inspiration from somewhere.
ByEmilio Galantini
