- 2 years ago
In the fourth of the week's positional reviews, Liam Keen and Nathan Judah look at the forwards.
Matheus Cunha, Pedro Neto and many others are under the microscope.
Matheus Cunha, Pedro Neto and many others are under the microscope.
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah, delighted to be joined by Mr. Liam Keane. We are finishing
00:13very, very soon our position reviews of the season. It's Friday and that means we are
00:18talking about the forwards. Let's start with the main man, the main man who has already
00:24helped Portugal to Euro success and that is Mr. Pedro Neto. All the talk, of course,
00:31we know about Pedro Neto's potential sale this summer and that may happen. He may be
00:37adding some zeros to his eventual fee, hopefully, over there. But in terms of the season just
00:43gone, we saw basically, I say Pedro Neto's Wolf's career in a nutshell, didn't we? The
00:49highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And the highest of highs is when he is on the
00:52pitch because he is brilliant to watch. Assists, goals, threats. He is one of the best players
00:57not just in a Wolves shirt but in the Premier League, Liam, I think. And then, of course,
01:02what has blighted Wolf's career and that's injuries to really bad hamstring tears or
01:08pulls or whatever you want to say it, but kept him out for multiple weeks at a time
01:13and derailed a season that could have been one of the very best, I would say, in Wolves'
01:16history.
01:17Yeah, absolutely. Look, he's the only real direct out-and-out winger in this Wolves'
01:24team, isn't he? And he is direct. He's a catalyst for every attack. He's electric to watch.
01:29He's close feet, quick, cutting on his left foot. The assists, I mean, three goals, 11
01:36assists, considering that he only started 18 Premier League games as well out of 20
01:43Premier League appearances. And that's the massive positives weighed against the massive
01:48negatives, which are his injury issues. Look, he's had the knee injury at Wolves previously.
01:54They had an ankle injury that was about four months. Then he had these two hamstring injuries
01:58this season. Look, he's had big injuries at Wolves and that's the major issue. And at
02:04the time when Wolves needed it most, unfortunately, for no fault of his own, unfortunately, he
02:08was on the sidelines. So, an unbelievable player that, if he does go, will fetch a very
02:13decent fee. But you wonder whether those injuries will limit the fee that any team will pay
02:20for him. An excellent footballer, but just slightly underwhelming because of the injuries.
02:26And that's the only real takeaway I can have, to be honest.
02:29So he came in for big money, of course, in January, last January, and that was Matthias
02:33Cunha. It took a while for him to find his feet. It took those six months, I guess. But
02:38we saw a striker, not just who was linking up midfield and forward play, not just who
02:43can provide assist, but also who can score goals and score goals in the biggest of games,
02:48Leo. An excellent season for Cunha. Again, one of those players who got derailed by injury
02:52just after that Chelsea game when he scored that fantastic hat-trick. But it's showing
02:58all the signs of why Wolves paid that kind of fee for him.
03:01Yeah, I was delighted to miss that Chelsea game. I always miss the good ones. But I was
03:06delighted for Matthias Cunha. He's a guy that is liked around the squad, good in interviews,
03:12good to chat to, just a likeable kind of guy who scored 14 goals and got eight assists.
03:18I mean, that's a fantastic return. And he found his home, really, out on that left No.
03:2610 position, if you will. Certainly not on No. 9. Gary O'Neill could see that very quickly
03:30as well, which we all thought he was never a No. 9. And Gary O'Neill got the best out
03:34of him. Really, really impressive season, despite that injury in the middle of the campaign
03:40as well. And there's loads of games, as you say, you could pick out, but that Chelsea
03:43one really does stick out in the memory. Yeah, a massive performance over the whole season
03:50really from a player who you spent £43 million on and you expect a lot. And he looks a lot
03:54closer now to a £43 million player than he ever did when he first signed. He's been played
03:59in the right position. He's got confidence. He's playing with players around him that
04:02are helping to suit his needs and his talents. Yeah, the fact that he's still relatively
04:08young. Yeah, he's got a real big future. I think he's had the best season in his career,
04:13let alone for Wolves.
04:15Another person who had the best season in his career was Hwang Hee-chan as well in terms
04:18of goal scoring, at least. And especially in that first half of the season before the
04:23turn of the year, he was absolutely flying, wasn't he? Already made double figures. And
04:27again, as Hwang has had throughout his Wolves career, he did pick up injuries and wasn't
04:31quite the same, was he, after coming back from the Asia Trophy. And look, he did get
04:36that goal in the end. It took him a long time to register his first goal in 2024. But someone
04:41who can play all across that front three, a fan favourite and someone who will be integral
04:45next season to Gary O'Neill and how well this Wolves side does.
04:48Yeah, I think some people forget really the impact Hwang had on this season because it
04:52was the first half of the campaign, not the second. 13 goals, three assists, all competitions.
04:58Really important to the way Wolves played in that he played a lot of games as a No.
05:039, considering that I don't think Gary really sees him as a No. 9 himself, but he's certainly
05:07an option there with the limited options they had in that position. And runs the channels
05:11really well, holds the ball up strong, really hard worker. And he's an excellent finisher
05:15and he popped up in brilliant positions. And even in games where he didn't really have
05:20a massive impact on the actual game, but he popped up in a position to grab a really
05:24crucial goal. That's what you need from some players on some weeks when they're not playing
05:30at their best. Maybe they're a bit tired, maybe they're carrying a small injury, but
05:34they pop up in the big moments and they have a say on the final result and the points that
05:38Wolves pick up. And Hwang did that on numerous occasions. Really, really good. Obviously
05:43disappointing to have picked up an injury, be away with his country as well and just
05:47really have a real slow, stuttering start in 2024. But he picked up towards the end
05:52again and he'll be massive for Wolves next season. I think he's up there one of the first
05:58names on the team sheet, which is going to be a real difficult task for Gary now, depending
06:04on who's here, because if they sign a No. 9, they're going to try and find that player
06:07a starting berth. And then you've got to try and find all of these other players a place
06:11to play. But it's nice to have a dilemma with attacking selection rather than be struggling
06:18for players.
06:19Absolutely. You need to have depth as well, don't you? I mean, that was the main takeaway
06:22I guess from this season. Pablo Sarabia had some really good points as well, especially
06:27when Wolves were playing good football. I thought that he's a luxury, I feel, in Pablo
06:30Sarabia, but someone who, when you have got a luxury like that, can really make an impact
06:34in the games. And my goodness, did he make that impact? Of course, it wasn't in Gary
06:37Newell's thoughts at the start of the season. Worked his way back in training. We all remember
06:41that Spurs home game, don't we? A stunning equaliser and then provided the assist, which
06:45I think many people forget for Mario Lamina to score that late winner. At the same time,
06:50disappointing the way he fell off. He was one of the fitter players when it came to
06:55losing their front three. And you looked at someone who was a Spain international, who
07:01was a senior player and maybe could make an impact in the games. I think he failed to
07:05do that when Wolves needed him the most in the end.
07:07It's a tale of really stepping up on two different occasions. As you say, not in the plans really,
07:14or at least getting into the starting 11 at the early parts of the season. Forced his
07:18way in by training really well and then putting performances in. And then, of course, injuries
07:22to the forward players, starting with Neto and carrying on through the others, meant
07:25that he started so many games because they needed to play him. And he found a real purple
07:30patch of form. Four goals, ten assists, all competition, seven of those assists coming
07:34in the Premier League as well, is a really good return for a player who is definitely
07:38not suited physically to the Premier League. And he found a way to have impact in games.
07:42But then, as you say there, he then needed to step up again. The Compte game is an example
07:47where you've got a front three of Sarabia, Fraser and Mario Lamina on the left wing.
07:52And you need him to step up in this moment when players are injured. And he didn't do
07:55that. He didn't perform at all. You needed Nuri to step up, for example, in the second
07:59half. And, of course, we will know what happened in the end in that game.
08:01So yeah, I would say a mixed season based on those examples, but certainly a much better
08:11season than the second half of last season when he arrived in the January because it
08:15was, bar the odd goal, quite a quiet performance from him, really. So yeah, I think Sarabia
08:22has done well and probably doing himself quite proud considering that he's not suited to
08:27the Premier League at all. But he's done well with what he's got.
08:31Yeah, we're interested to see where he goes, what he states going into next season. Jean-Richard
08:35de Bellegarde, who I believe was a deadline day signing from Wolves, came across and actually
08:40I thought had a really good start, looked great, and then didn't quite happen for it.
08:45I think there's a lot of extenuating circumstances here. Of course, got sent off, I believe,
08:49was it at Luton?
08:50It was, yeah.
08:51When he got sent off, got to learn his trade pretty quickly and what he can and can't get
08:55away with. It may be a little bit unfortunate, but I think he learnt as he went on this season
09:01how to play in the Premier League. At the same time, got derailed by injury, scored
09:05a couple of decent goals, and then at the same time played out of position a lot when
09:10Wolves were really struggling. So I think that it will be maybe a frustrating, if you're
09:14a Bellegarde season, first season in England, but someone who I think has got a lot of potential
09:19and we really could see come to the fore next season.
09:22Yeah, there's a lot of context here with Bellegarde, isn't there? Because he goes in, he plays
09:27that first game, his debut against Liverpool, and looks brilliant playing in a position
09:32that suits him. Then Wolves change system fairly quickly, obviously the red card he
09:36mentioned as well, and he didn't really find a home in the new Wolves system. Struggling
09:42out on the flanks, then ends up being forced to play as a No. 9 for a handful of games
09:47and really struggles. I don't really blame him because he's never played No. 9, he's
09:52going in there in the Premier League and being forced to play there because Wolves
09:55have no other options. And it's not quite going to plan for him. He got a couple of
10:00goals and one assist in the end, nowhere near the return that he's going to want. But I
10:05would, again, similar with what I've said with other players on these videos, I would
10:08like to think that it's a learning curve opportunity for him and we'll see the best of him next
10:13season. But I think it's going to come down to finding a home for him tactically in this
10:17team. And that's probably one of Gary Nail's biggest challenges, is finding a system and
10:23a position that you can get Bellegarde in.
10:25Absolutely. Two youngsters who've got chances this season, Nathan Fraser and Leon Chiwomy.
10:31Chiwomy, of course, has signed a brand new deal extension. That's great news. And we
10:35expect probably him to be in and around the first team, I think, this season, at least
10:39until January. Then we'll see how things are going, see how Wolves are stocked. But someone
10:44who really impressed. Nathan Fraser, who had a fantastic moment in front of the Wolves
10:49home fans scoring that goal, got his chance as well with injuries, but faded away and
10:55lost his starting spot that was there for him, I guess, at that period of time and was
11:01on the bench. So a bit frustrating for Nathan Fraser, but at the same time, did have the
11:05highest of highs.
11:06Yes, scored a couple of goals, didn't he, in the Cups. Had some really big highs, some
11:10really big moments and good performances. And then, I suppose, his age and his experience
11:15caught up with him. And they were, I suppose, freezing on the big stage at times, really.
11:20Which I don't want to throw too much criticism at because he's a young man who's trying to
11:24find his way in professional football. And it was unfair on him really to be thrown into
11:29the spotlight like that. And it was difficult for him. So we're expecting him to go on loan
11:33and we will see how the summer plays out. We're expecting him to go on loan and go and
11:36play and expecting Leon Chwame to stick around and being around the first team. And as a
11:43player who runs the channels, have the ball up quite nicely, offered some sort of outlet
11:49for Wolves at a time when they desperately needed something. It's nice to see Chwame
11:52hopefully getting a good opportunity next season. Or be it his minutes, you would imagine
11:57will be limited injury dependent, obviously. So yeah, and hopefully he comes back from
12:02that ankle injury fairly well because obviously that was quite a serious one at the time.
12:06He seems to be ready for pre-season, aren't we? Or at least getting back into things.
12:09They're expecting him to be fine for pre-season. Yeah, at the time when Gary spoke about it,
12:13he was expected to be fine. Obviously, it depends how the last few weeks have gone as well. But
12:16you would imagine he'll be around it and be fine unless there's been any setbacks. But yeah,
12:22slightly contrasting fortunes for the two young men. But I think they both showed good signs,
12:26both good strikers. And hopefully we'll both find a home for next season.
12:30Very quick word on two of the senior strikers, two of the loanees in the end,
12:34Sascha Kolajic, who of course is back at Wolverhampton recovering and also Fabio Silva.
12:40Yeah, Sascha desperately, desperately unlucky, isn't he, with injury. Scores a couple of late
12:47goals for Wolves but doesn't get a clear run in the team and needed a loan to go play because
12:51of regaining fitness after the last knee injury. And then to do it again to the opposite leg is
12:56desperately, desperately unlucky. So yeah, wishing well on his recovery. He probably won't be back
13:00until roughly January time, you're looking at. Depends on the next few months ago. But he
13:05certainly won't be ready for the start of the season or anywhere close. So yeah, one to hang
13:11fire on and see how he gets on. And then with Fabio, again, unlucky in other ways as well.
13:15You've got that moment at Sheffield United where he gives the penalty away and he's in tears. And
13:19it's just some real terrible moments for, again, another young man trying to find his way in
13:26football. He's made it pretty clear he wants to go. I think it's been well documented for quite a
13:30while now that that's going to be on the cards. Just need to try and find the right move now,
13:34whether that's a permanent loan, something to allow him to go play, allow Wolves to
13:38maybe recoup some money. We'll see how it goes.
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