Freddy Eastwood “grasped his opportunity” to make a point to Wolves boss Mick McCarthy.
The Wolves striker, frozen out at Molineux, scored both Wales goals in last night’s 2-0 friendly win against a limited, if competitive, Luxembourg.
Wales boss John Toshack said of the out-of-favour striker: “Some players don’t take the opportunity when it comes along, but Freddy really grasped the chance to show what he can do.
“He is facing stiff competition at Wolves and probably hasn’t completed 90 minutes in ages.
“But he’s a good finisher and took his two goals very well. I am sure that will have done his confidence the world of good.”
Eastwood has not started a game for Wolves since Christmas, and has only recently intimated that he may have to leave if he does not get more action.
He has at least been seeing some action for Wales and, even though he looked short of match fitness, now has four goals in seven internationals.
Toshack added: “I was pleased with the result and pleased with Eastwood.
“We had a few players like him who were short of match fitness out there, we have had to do that with so many players missing.
“But despite that there were plenty of positives, and he was one of them. When he had the chance to pull on the Wales jersey, he gave everything and scored two well-taken goals.
“It will have done him no harm to have played a full match. There is plenty of competition for places up front at Wolves, and this performance will do his confidence a world of good.”
Toshack also hailed Wales under-21s, who produced another fine display to win 2-1 in their UEFA championship qualifier in Bosnia.
Toshack said: “We have one of the best under-21 squads in years and they are making a great effort to qualify for the finals in Sweden next year.
“If they had not been doing so well, and the result so important, a few of their lads would have been here with the seniors.
“Now we have a couple more friendlies before the end of the season and they will certainly be given their chance.”
59 Comments
we would all love to see freddie do well at wolves, i am surprised that with MMs rotation policy Eastwood has not been given a start, would still stick with Keogh and SEB for Charlton.
you can’t drop SEB, and Mick aint one for playing fancy formations. So where’s he going to fit in? Personally i’d play him up top with SEB and give Keogh a rest but that’s just my opinion.
MM, when are you going to give the lad a chance?
MM Out, Toshack in!!
Come on Mick, give Freddy a start, hes proved he can do it. Give him a run with SEB, whats the point paying 1.5 mil and not giving him a chance??????????????
Hopefully the two goals will work better than the two fingers the fans give MM on a regular basis,especially via these pages.
I hope to see him alongside SEB this weekend at Charlton.
4-3-3 with Eastwood and SEB as out and out and Keogh as the supplier. Charlton are there for the taking - lets give them a hiding.. WELL I CAN DREAM. He still probably wont start IMO
E&S trying to stir up another feud at Wolves - he hasnt been ‘frozen out’ at all, he’s just not starting. He’s coming on for an average of 30 mins a game recently, so lets tell it as it is shall we? Subtle sensationalism, unfortunately it’s been noticed.
OK so we’d all love Freddy to be given a proper chance.
BUT at the mo, Keogh and SEB are doing well and scoring some goals, so while that continues we have to stick with them really. Freddy has looked good coming on for half an hour recently. Think we should stick with that policy until one of the current 2 get injured, need a rest, or start underperforming, then Freddy must get another chance to impress from the start. And this time he will have to do better than the Hull/Ipswich disgraces. Let’s all hope he does.
If Freedy had scored 6 last night MM would still not play him.
I should think Freddy’s pushing for a first team place just like everyone else.
Personally I think without fail he should be in the squad but Mick knows whats going on behind the scenes WE DON’T. So all this MICK OUT business just because he won’t start him is still pathetic IMO.
That said I hope Freddy uses this as an opportunity to prove to Mick he’s good enough to start up front with SEB. With Keogh scoring in Under 21s. Our strikers are looking pretty handy.
Dunno who Freedy is…
I think Freddy does deserve another chance, but why change a good thing when we have it? Dropping Keogh now, just to please another player, will only knock his confidence.
Everyone moans constantly on here that Freddy got dropped when he was scoring (HA!), but surely thats what you’re all asking for him to do with Keogh?!
FICKLE!
Strictly non-Championship standard?
Although Keogh scored at the weekend, his performance was poor.
He looks shot of confidence.
Get him out and Freddie in for Saturday.
It will never happen though.
MM Out.
Freddy aint been given a chance, give him a run and we are going up!!!
He’s just scored 2 goals at international level I dont think he’ll struggle v Charlton!!!
Whats all this talk of droppin keogh or SEB? Wh need to when theres a clown in the centre of middle that we can drop. Karl henry. Not good enough im afraid. He trys but No.
Hennessey
Foley
Collins
Craddock
Elokobi
Jarvis
Olifinjan(holding midfield)
Michael Gray
Andy keogh (attacking midfield)
SEB
Freddy Eastwood
.. It jgoal scorers in the league in Freddy and SEB. and Keogh who never stops runnin, Wins knock ons and can hold the ball up. He reminds me of rooney (Much lower standard ofcourse)
And Gray who has found form. We shud blow charlton away.
I can’t see Freddy starting for Wolves in the immediate future.
Unfortunately Mick has a stubborn streak and once you are out of favour with him then that’s it from
what I have seen over his managerial career.
Anyone who would send home one of the World’s best midfielders (at the time) from a World Cup to
prove a point has questionable Man-Management skills.
Without question we need to pick up points against Charlton and Bristol City in our next two away
games. If we don’t pick up at least three points over those two matches then I am afraid our season
could soon be over. At which point the silent Steve Morgan may review this season and make a decisive
decision on Mick’s future
I’m more interested in the result than who’s playing, how many of you would have picked Gray as our left winger? and yet he’s looked a natural there.
If Freddy starts GREAT, but he’s gotta do the business for us aswell as Wales.
I think it will be 4-5-1 still with SEB up front.
I think this can work well seeing as Charlton are fairly strong in MF with Zheng Zhi and Ambrose.
Either way I reckon we’ll beat Charlton on Sat.
COME ON YOU WOLVES!
14# I don’t think its Keoughs confidence I think he looks really tired. Freddy should be given his chance there is no doubt so come on MM how about the Charlton game on the TV so we can all watch Eastwood put his money where his mouth is. GIVE HIM A CHANCE…..PLEASE!!!!!
16. No offence mate, but it’s really hard to understand what your writing.
Good team selection though, but don’t you think a diamond formation is too extravagant for MM to play?
Hope I’m wrong…
At this moment in time it would be difficult to find him a starting berth.But make no bones about it he as been treated scandalously by McCarthy
Mick won’t start Freddy Saturday because he will stick with the 4-5-1 that has served him so well in the last few away games. Freddy best chance of a start is going to be at the next home game when Mick will play a 442.
If we are losing to Charlton then MM might revert to a 442 and in that case Freddy will come on.
If we are winning or playing well then Fred will have another pain in his back from the hard bench that he is sitting on.
I personally would like to see Freddy start in a 442 but i think it would be unfair and unjust to drop Keogh after scoring 2 on saturday and scoring on tuesday.
16. Dingle Shandee. Happy with your proposed team but I’m not sure that Seyi is a “holding midfielder” - I’d have M Gray in that role, he is a defender after all (and a bit slow) but does at least seem to know how to pass the ball!
Its really hard to keep up with the great comments on here, why dont the E&S have a proper forum?
i agree with number 6. Let keogh do all the fancy running about in a deeper postion so he can feed SEB abd Freddy!! The goals would rain in!!
Not wanting to knock anyone, but can we really drop either Keogh or SEB at the moment? Freddy eastwood will be a good player for us, but must start scoring for Wolves whether on from the start or for a half-hour. Luxemburg are not in the same class as Charlton or any of the other CCC teams we have yet to play.
I agree that FE’s confidence will have been boosted by the goals, and I am pleased for him. Let’s see if he can now continue scoring when he gets a chance on Saturday. I would like him to, for the sake of Wolves. as stated previously, I am not anti-Eastwood. I am anti those who see only him in our squad of talented young players. He has great potential, and I hope he fulfils it. I will be as happy as anyone else. In the chances he has had to date though, he hasn’t really produced. I would love him to play every week as he did against Scunny at home last week. If he did, he would get into the side from the start, stay there, and score goals for fun.
I agree with #7 OsboWolf that the E & S are trying to stir up more mischief with this article. the headline makes it look as though Eastwood has had a pop at McCarthy, when he has not. Not fair on the lad at all.
put it this way, you can’t play 4-3-3 attacking away to Charlton.
Ipswich at home maybe, yes.
lmao every1 gets carried away because freddy scored twice past a quality team like LUXEMBOURG!
Bring him on from the bench again to cause problems. Why change our winning striking formation of SEB and Keogh. It has proved very productive since its inception since Jan
Perhaps some reverse psychology is necessary regarding Eastwood. Instead of calling for him to play, let everyone call for Elliott or Potter etc for Mad Mick will surely disagree and then bring Freddy on just to show us all HE IS THE BOSS!
I agree 26 Beretonwolf.
29- Winning Striking Formation???????
Our goals tally is poor, and were missiong out on a playoff place because of it. We need a change, MM needs to give FE the chances that he’s given the wasters like Kyle, Ward, and elliot over the last few months.
Mick & Jez OUT once the seasons over, and let a new boss start fresh.
And Charlton are better than Luxembourg.
eastwood has shown he can score at international level play him on sat and u dont have to drop keogh
Hennessey
Foley
Collins
Craddock
Elokobi
Jarvis
Olifinjana
Gray
Keogh (ATTACKING MID JUST BEHIND STRIKERS
SEB
Eastwood
Plus
MM OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BIG SAM OR INCE IN ASAP
Oh, dear, Freddie. What on earth have you done scoring again for Wales?
You know you are frozen out here until mikmak receives a public apology from Toshack in the form of dropping you from the Wales squad entirely, and scoring a brace is not conducive to that end.
And the last time Toshack complained you were not match sharp through not playing at your club, mikmak told him to mind his own business and keep his nose out. The same comment re-iterated yesterday is going to really put MM’s nose out of joint and make him dig in even more stubbornly.
Mind you, ignoring this season at Wolves, and looking at your 50% career club strike rate and now 50% International strike rate should ensure you get a good move in the summer.
Grump.
KEEP BANGING THE GOALS IN There will be no shortage of takers for your services.
comment 3 - mm out toshack in!!!! u have my support lol
eastwood is a legend
I’m a Freddy fan, but think everything is going just fine with him on the bench. I’m over the ‘Freddy must play’ issue…he’s now getting enough time on the pitch to make a difference, and thats exactly what he is doing.
I think 1st half should be 4-5-1 played defensively & Mick should change things accordingly at half time…whick may well need Freddy to be brought on. Good things happen when Freddy’s on the pitch even if he’s not scoring.
Simon
Having seen the class and apparent ease with which Freddie took his goals last night, this has
further fuelled my desire to have him in our team. I appreciate you might say it was only Luxembourg
but who else at Wolves is capable of scoring goals like the first one?
I like Keogh and if he can be accomodated into the side then fine but surely SEB and Freddie is the
future. I say play him now or inevitably we will risk off loading a player of immense talent denied
the chance to display his exciting talents on the hallowed turf.
All this talk about how good Freddie is supposed to be is great however to quote Toshack he lacks “Match Fitness” which means he aint fit enough to get in to our far from outstanding squad. It seems to me Freddie needs to get in the Gym and do some work. The article is clear Freddie has great skills but is too slow and lets be honest he hasn’t done that consistently at Molineux
Play AK behind Freddie & SEB, Give Henry a rest and make Gray or Oli captain!
Pick him Mick With Keogh behind Seb
I do not understand all the calls for Keogh to play as an attacking midfielder. Don’t get me wrong, I like his attitude and he never stops trying and as a support striker who makes chances and also pops up with 10 to 15 goals, he is a good choice. But when he’s been asked to play elsewhere, ie. on the wing, his displays have not been as good. Would we have moved Andy Mutch to an attacking midfield role just because he did all the running and made so many goals??????
We have 2 attacking midfield options Edwards and Olofinjana, so why do the square pegs/round holes thing???
Some people on here really do leave some curious comments - there’s no way I’d suggest us playing the team 34. Scotty has suggested - away from home we’d be rolled over with our defence!
- MM has to stay, we need stability.
- Yes, Freddy has been treated badly, but he didn’t play that well off the bench on Saturday, for the most part he look dis-interested.
- Keogh and SEB are playing well, keep them both in
- He’s likely to play 451 against Charlton anyway.
Stop whinging!
luxembourg aren’t exactly world beaters, well they arent exactly any kind of beaters….next time i think toshack and E&S should keep their noses out…stuff like this isn’t really helping things at the club
Sell Freddie - No. Move Kyle on - Yes. Try Keogh benind Freddie & SEB - Yes. We are leaking too many at the back having tightened up earlier in the season??? There are a handful of other strikers that should move before Freddie in my view. Charlton is a must win game and we will need to be competing and concentrating for the WHOLE match if we are to come away with the points. That means quickly closing down the oposition, giving them no time and space to move and with a decent tempo. I expect I’m dreaming again?
Mick,there`s a rumour that freddie is going to Coventry in he summer.If that is true do us all a favour and go with him.You might just find out how to play him and get goals out of him.
I live in Coventry and support Wolves - local news here is proposing that Cov were close to signing Eastwood on loan with view to a permanent deal in the summer but it fell through due to suggestions that Wolves pulled the pin on the deal at the eleventh hour. It says Kevin Kyle wasn’t part of the agreement - thank god !
Play Freddy in the hole just behind Keogh and Blake he proved in his last cameo that he could provide[Keogh’s goal], and last night he showed how to finish.
Re 16, Oli hasnt a clue how to defend, he ball watches and lets people through on the blind side[just watch him for a few minutes any game]
It looks like that McCarthy is about to Punish Wolves Fans and Freddy for his own decline in popularity only a madman would swop Kyle for Freddy.This man cant accept any form of cricitism ask Roy Keane.I predict if this happens Fans will do the talking with their feet.
45 - Spot on. Luxembourg are absolutely awful. The headline is obviously trying to stir things up. Whilst it’s good news for wolves that he got ninety minutes under his belt, the championship is a completely different type of football.
32. What I mean is that since Jan, Keogh and SEB have proved very profitable in terms of goals and hjave kept Freddy on the Becnh.
When Freddy come off the bench then he can replace one of them or add to them. What a great position for WOlves to be in. We have not had this all season. Keogh, Freddy and SEB for 2 places everyday for me. Keeps the 2 that are playing sharp. That is a healthy state striking wise in anybodies book. Elliott and Ward have not had a sniff in ages.
So what the hell would we or Mick want to cahnge this winning formula????
Please supply a sensible answer not Mick and Jez out. By the way what has Jez got to do with it?
34. Scotty. Why would we do that formation. 2 wingers and a holding midfield of one. If you play that formation you need 3 central midfielders not wingers. That would be Olofins, Henry and Potter. That is wht you cant have the 3 up top.
I prefer what Mick does and and pushes Keogh to the right wing to play as either a striker or right winger and plays ost of our attacking through Jarvis as a froward. This becomes more of a 4 2 4.
Sorry mate but Mick has the tactics over you there. And if you dont like it tough because Mick aint going to change it and moaning about it aint going to help anyone at the club.
52. I’d like to agree with you but Eastwood hasn’t taken his chance when ever he comes off the bench.
If he is really that good, where are the goals? Why isn’t he taking his opportunities when they are
presented to him? Why isn’t he forcing himself into the team by scoring goals like Ebanks-Blake?
48) I have just seen the story in another paper backing you up. Coventry were going to sign him with a view to a permanent deal between £1.5 and 2 million. There was a problem whether he could play against us and then we pulled the plug.
Coleman is fuming. MM and Moxey should be ashamed of themselves, as he has not been given a fair trial alongwith Rosa!
I used to think we had a knowledgeable crowd - but obviously not. Can’t believe how many idiots there are that think that Keogh’s best position would be behind the front two. If anyone should play there then Freddy is the man who likes to lie deep and run at defenders from there. Keogh always does his better work pushed on, dragging defenders out of position, to create holes for others. AND - if we played a midfield 3 of Seyi, Jarvis & Gray, we would be totally overun!!! Jarvis can’t tackle, Seyi won’t tackle and Gray’s too small to tackle.
54) Be fair! S E B has started every game that he has been available. I’d like to see how many goals he would have got playing in 10 minute cameos! Be real!! MM won’t give Freddy a lengthy run ‘cos he’d end up with egg on his stubborn face. Nobody mentioned that Freddy set up Keogh’s winner against QPR with brilliant work inside the box and set up SEB with a superb pass against Scunthorpe that he should have scored from, but didn’t. Mark my words - Freddy will prove his worth one day, but it will probably be aginst us, not for us !!!
I think that freddy should be playing but who do you drop, the way i would go is a 4-4-2 diamond and have oli dropping into defensive role javis right, gray left and keogh attacking but he could also drop back to centre if need as he is used to dropping deep anyway to help out when needed then you could have seb and freddy up top.
best place would be at the head of the midfield, as he likes to run deep. SEB in front of him. that said, he’ll be off, and back to haunt us, as he’ll grace the prem without wolves