Analysis: Aston Villa 0 Wolves 0
Analysis of a scoreless draw which Wolves could (and should) have won
It was a similar tale for Wolves as they got past an error-filled first half relatively unscathed to produce a stronger second half performance.
It is understandably a source of frustration for Wolves fans. Cut out the sloppy mistakes early on in games, and Wolves could give themselves a greater chance of exerting control for longer periods of games.
Even Nuno in his interviews has seemed bemused. There has been much hand-wringing on twitter about how Nuno set the team up to defend too deep in the first half, but this was not really the issue.
Where the press went right… and wrong
Contrary to what people seem to want to believe, Nuno didn’t set Wolves up to defend deep.
When Aston Villa had a goal kick, we looked to prevent goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez from playing short to his centre backs.
This forced Aston Villa to play longer, more predictable passes which Wolves could look to compete for aerially or steal any knockdowns.
In the middle, Rúben Neves and João Moutinho also both found opportunities to be more aggressive, and apply pressure while being closer to the front three.
It was also clear that Willian José was under instructions to prevent the Aston Villa centre backs playing the ball to Douglas Luiz in space. José was often seen either marking Luiz closely or cutting off the passing line to him.
In this example, you can see him initially marking Luiz.
As soon as the ball starts travelling from Ezri Konsa to Tyrone Mings, José begins to travel towards Mings whilst ‘screening’ the pass to Luiz, who Moutinho moves towards to mark.
As this is done effectively in this scenario, Mings plays the ball long and Wolves manage to recover possession.
However, Wolves weren’t always successful in stopping the ball getting to Luiz, which allow them to break past the first line of the press and progress the ball forwards more effectively.
A further issue was Wolves being slightly too passive at times when Villa’s full backs had possession of the ball. This meant Ahmed Elmohamady and Matt Target could pass forwards down the line to Villa’s wide players or into Olly Watkins’ feet.
And finally, another way Villa found a way to force Wolves slightly deeper was by playing long passes into the channels. The Wolves defenders generally dealt with this well, but it meant that the loose balls from the aerial duels landed in deeper areas, and Wolves had to recover behind the ball at times to defend effectively.
Villa always had forwards willing to run behind the Wolves backline (something Wolves need to do more of themselves), but better pressure could be applied on the defender or midfielder passing from those deep positions to prevent a good pass or even win the ball in a promising position.
In possession issues
Three games running, all in the same week, Wolves have given up possession in their own half far too many times. In the game against Villa, this was something that caused Wolves to have to defend deeper.
This nearly cost Wolves badly when Leander Dendoncker initially broke forward with the ball and checked backwards, and his loose pass landed at the feet John McGinn, who found Olly Watkins in space. Fortunately after feinting past Conor Coady, Watkins’ pass across goal was cleared by Jonny.
While you can forgive the players for struggling under the intense pressure applied by Manchester City last Tuesday, there is little excuse for why they gave the ball away so easily against Newcastle and Aston Villa, two teams who do not press as high or aggressively.
I think this is where a change in shape to a 4231 may aid Wolves in possession. As Dendoncker found above, he had few attacking players in front of him when he strode forward with the ball. When Wolves have played with an attacking midfielder (Daniel Podence), two wide players (Adama Traoré and Pedro Neto) and a forward (Willian José or Fábio Silva) in front of the two midfielders they have looked far more fluid in how they move the ball across and up the pitch.
When Wolves did manage to build attacks into the final third, they got Pedro Neto and Adama Traoré into some promising positions around the penalty area.
In this example, in the first minute of the game, the ball has been worked out to Neto, with Nélson Semedo overlapping him.
However, the Villa players recover quickly and Neto has no way into the box (other than a hopeful cross). In the image above, Willian José is the nearest option, surrounded by three Villa defenders. The lack of balance across the pitch forces Neto to slow down the play, and recycle possession as Wolves worked the ball back across their defence.
Against Newcastle, it was noticeable that Wolves were committing more players into the penalty area. The issue here in this game was not that Wolves were short on attacking numbers but that their positional play created too big a distance between each player.
Willian José could do better to be more of a link man to allow Neto and Semedo to progress the play into the penalty area but the latter two could help themselves more by playing on different lines. If Neto receives wide, Semedo should go inside. If Semedo is alright outside, Neto should arrive further inside of him.
This is also an example of where a formation change may suit the Wolves attack further. When Wolves played with Daniel Podence as a number ten, it often meant the wide players had two options inside (Podence and the striker) at all times. Those two players prevent opposition defences from defending the wide options as effectively as they also have to work harder to prevent the ball being played inside, especially to a player like Podence who is good at receiving in tight spaces.
Golden opportunities from set pieces
Though they struggled to create in open play, Wolves did have a couple of wonderful opportunities to win it from set pieces.
Conor Coady’s second opportunity came following a bit of a scramble, but his first chance was a result of a well worked set piece. This time, it seemed like a far better organised corner routine, with the delivery by Neto finding Coady’s run to the back post.
It was probably a bit much asking for Coady to score two games running though, wasn’t it?
The Champions next
We ran Liverpool very close in both games last season, so the way we collapsed at Anfield this season in the second half was disappointing. That said, it was the first game following the horrific injury to Raúl Jiménez and it was also one of the few games that had a home crowd attending. We were okay in the first half playing a 433, with Daniel Podence as a ‘false 9’, but never threatened their goal enough.
Willy Boly will have had a full weeks training, and you’d hope that Podence will be nearer to a return himself. I’m hopeful when both are fully fit, Nuno will try to play 4231 again with his best options to make it work available. This game probably comes too soon for Podence, however I expect the shape to stay the same for this fixture.
Hopefully Boly is fit to play 90 minutes, as Leander Dendoncker needs taking out of the firing line. He has filled in as a centre back again where he has previously done okay but his individual performances have been filled with errors, so some time out of the team might do him some good.
Liverpool are of course struggling in 2021 but their recent league away form is still pretty good, with three wins from their last four away games. If Wolves can cut out the early mistakes, now is as good a time as ever to be on the front foot against this Liverpool team who have struggled with injuries throughout the season.