Video nasty: Wolves 0 Burnley 4

Analysis of the goals conceded from Sunday's sickening home defeat to Burnley

we defended very bad (Nuno)

Yes Nuno, yes we did.

I soon realised what good fortune I had encountered to not have had to watch this game live.

With the recent wins over Fulham and Sheffield United, there has been a clamour to see more of the younger players within the squad to give them valuable experience before the end of the season. I didn’t really expect this as I think Nuno would want to finish the season as strongly as possible ahead of next year. Since the sickening home defeat to West Brom, our form has been relatively good too. 19 points from 13 games (before Sunday) is a healthy return.

However, if the first choice players are going to turn out performances like that because there is little to play for, you may as well experiment with the team.

Below I’m going to analyse each goal conceded, as even just watching them was painful enough, let alone watching back the full game.

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0-1 (Wood, 15)

Chris Wood has often haunted us in recent fixtures against Burnley, and we have really struggled to defend against him in those games. How it could have been so different had we got his signing over the line under Kenny Jackett…

Don’t worry about it Daniel, let him do what he wants

It comes as no surprise that another goal we concede comes down to the sheer passive nature of our defence. Matt Lowton has the ball in a relatively unthreatening space but we know what he wants to do. Daniel Podence is the nearest opponent but he barely even attempts to close the Burnley right back down.

Knowing full well what Lowton is going to do under no pressure, you’d think the Wolves backline would have prepared themselves right? Not this season.

How?

Willy Boly misjudges the flight of the ball (embarrassing), and Wolves find themselves 2v2 at the back. The last thing we need is Romain Saïss and Conor Coady defending in that situation, based on this season.

Wood twists Coady inside out.

Coady gets himself into a panic and goes steaming in towards Wood. It’s good play by Wood, he takes the long ball down well and turns sharply twice before drilling the ball past Rui Patrício. If Coady just holds himself between Wood and the goal instead of rushing in so quickly, he may have been able to slow Wood down enough to force him back away from goal. Instead, it is another mark against his individual defending which poses question marks over his position in the team next season.

0-2 (Wood, 21)

Just six minutes later it was 2-0.

Oh, Adama

This is not a position you should be conceding from, but it seems to rather sum up the performance that day.

Wolves have actually just defended a cross and so have seven players behind the ball when Adama Traoré receives the ball from the clearance. His pass sells Nélson Semedo short and it’s as straight-forward as possible for Dwight McNeil to intercept and square it to Chris Wood.

A simple tap in for Chris Wood

The other defenders are probably a little too quick to step out when Adama has the ball and they can’t get goal-side in time when the ball turns over. Semedo could also support closer in the first place too but the pass is just criminal, and is what causes the goal.

0-3 (Wood, 44)

Oh great, a goal conceded from a corner.

Wood completes his hat trick

What causes Wolves problems here is Wood and a team mate in the middle of the goalmouth. They are clever, they draw the Wolves players in a battle, which allows Saïss and Willian José to be blocked off by the other Burnley attacker.

Burnley cause Wolves issues in the six yard box

Wood can peel away from that area to get under the flight of McNeil’s excellent delivery. They are not focused enough on where the ball is ending up and aren’t aggressive enough to prevent Wood finding the space in the box.

Equally, Leander Dendoncker does not defend his ‘zone’ well enough either.

It is Dendoncker’s space that Wood scores in

By the time Wood gets his head on the ball, Dendoncker is facing his own goal and barely attempting to actually challenge for the ball. He’s had a poor season and it’s not a good sign when an area he has helped the team in during the previous two seasons has been his aerial ability. He’s not offering a great deal at the moment, and it highlights the need for (good) recruitment in midfield.

0-4 (Westwood, 85)

Sigh. Another goal from losing possession in our own third of the pitch.

This time Saïss is the culprit. Traoré is now at wing back and the ball has been played forwards.

The ball is played down the line

While we have seen Saïss on the right of the back three help the defence look a little more secure (before this game), this is a clear case where being left footed inhibits him. Boly or Coady probably hook the ball back down the line in this instance, whereas Saïss hesitates to do so and instead tries to bring the ball down onto his left foot.

Saïss is pressed by two Burnley players

I was a bit caught out when watching this as usually when Saïss is backed into a situation like this, he will flick the ball up and clear it with his left foot. His only other option at this point is Coady who is calling for it inside but because he hesitates again, the pass is too predictable and Burnley can intercept.

Westwood makes it 4-0.

Burnley can break and score from there. Coady allows Jay Rodriguez to pass inside, Dendoncker doesn’t really make much impact on Wood’s decision either and no one really does enough to close down Ashley Westwood’s excellent strike.

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Moving forwards

Will this game impact Nuno’s thinking for the rest of the season? My fear is that it will cause him to be even more cautious, especially ahead of next week’s derby game with West Brom. To be honest honest, throwing Fábio Silva, Vitinha and Morgan Gibbs-White all in against them might not be the best idea anyway!

That said at some point I wouldn’t mind seeing something like the line up Wolves finished the game with, whether it be with a back three or four behind it. Gibbs-White and Vitinha in the same midfield would probably give you the right amount of energy and guile, it just depends on the player behind them. With Dendoncker, you probably have a more physical presence to protect the defence whereas Rúben Neves offers more quality to retain the ball and dictate possession from deep.

Whoever starts the game, it will need a huge improvement in performance across the team not only from this game, but in comparison to how Wolves played in the home fixture against West Brom too. Wolves played a 433 that day, but were very poor with and without the ball. The game should be seen as an opportunity to give fans cause for optimism, as they’ve had little to be excited by recently.