Wolves simply outgunned « Express & Star

Wolves simply outgunned

Perhaps it was always too much to expect the David of Wolves to slay the Goliath of Arsenal, writes Martin Swain.

A weekend of giant-killing, whether in a Nuremberg boxing ring or on the humble non-league grounds in the FA Cup, eluded the Premier League contest at Molineux.

But hold hard. This was not as punishing a defeat as the scoreline suggests – a few critical lapses here, some cruel twists of the knife from Lady Luck there and Wolves were duly put to the sword by one of the division’s supreme forces.

And with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next on the schedule, it may get worse before it gets better. There is, however, no sound of panic rising up from the gold and black clans and rightly so because the battles that count – and manager Mick McCarthy correctly singled out the next home game against Birmingham by way of example – are still to come and there is no reason to abandon hope his team can yet sling-shot a stone or two onto the forehead of the relegation threat.

For nearly half an hour of this contest, Wolves played with a zest and sharpness that had Arsenal struggling to exert their undoubted superiority. And let us pause for a moment and add a little context by way of the bookmakers who reckoned there was a greater chance of Stourbridge beating Walsall (6-1) than Wolves defeating Arsenal (7-1) – this despite the FA Cup opponents being separated by four divisions.

True, McCarthy’s men were always labouring to display the clinical quality that could have added some more dramatic headlines to a weekend not short of them but the effectiveness of their football was undeniable. Had Sylvan Ebanks-Blake or Christophe Berra enjoyed slightly better fortune in Wolves’ splendid opening, who knows if Molineux might have seen another Manchester United moment.

You will remember that, of course, the single-most enjoyable day of the club’s last Premier League outing. But Wolves fans who witnessed the team’s only modern-day conquest of a ‘top four’ team on that January day in 2004 will recall that, apart from the supreme effort of every player, everything that could go right did go right.

On Saturday, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and there was only ever going to be one outcome as a result.

Aside from those early lapses in front of Manuel Almunia’s goal, Arsenal found themselves two-up before any of their players had actually scored; heck, they even got a kind bounce off referee Steve Bennett in the build-up to the Gunners’ trademark counter-attack which resulted in Cesc Fabregas crushing all hope with a third in first-half added time.

But, having already warmed their supporters with the merit of their opening, Molineux then saw McCarthy’s team stoically refuse to crumble, conceding one more before Jody Craddock finished the afternoon with his third goal in two games. At this rate, it won’t be long before they nickname him ‘Torres’ and stick him up front. No, what this defeat really did was remind everyone of the damage of those ’shortfall’ results. Wolves had enough of the game to get something from West Ham; they should have beaten Hull; they had to do better against Portsmouth. What this defeat really did was ram home the diminishing margin for error when those fixtures come along again.

Of course, it would be complacent for Wolves not to recognise the questions beginning to hover over the campaign. With George Elokobi running into the first ceiling of his professional career – there will be high hopes he can smash through it – and Stephen Ward injured, Wolves have a problem at left-back. Richard Stearman came up with a perfectly sound contribution but a right-footed left-back unhinges the balance of the team at a stroke.

And what to do with Nenad Milijas? Undoubtedly, that left foot is sweet and is needed to change angles and unlock defences but the Serb’s understandable struggle to come to grips with the defensive requirements of English football were exposed in Arsenal’s third and fourth goals. Will he be best employed as an impact substitute during his first year in England?

McCarthy, it must be said, has shown his willingness to mix and match his selections in an effort to find a winning formula. In the last two games, he has dropped first Ebanks-Blake and now Michael Kightly, unimagineable decisions a year ago.

That suggests the manager’s thinking is not strait-jacketed although I hope he continues to be bold and aggressive in style and tone. Wolves could be accused of naivety against Arsenal, most obviously in the build-up to the second goal, but surely their best chance of winning this campaign comes on the front-foot?

That they did in their opening spell but it all went wrong for them in a couple of minutes before the half-hour. A tough call against Ronald Zubar out on the touchline gave Arsenal the chance to establish their own set-piece pressure from first a free-kick and then a corner.

Keeper Wayne Hennessey was flummoxed by the quality of Fabregas’s delivery and the ball bounced in off an equally startled Zubar.

Eight minutes later, a cluster of Wolves players were lured into midfield skirmishes and left the back door swinging wide open as Aaron Ramsey and Eduardo broke away behind them. Nevertheless, Eduardo’s chip would have gone wide had it not diverted off Craddock’s head.

Wolves were two down and wondering what on earth they had done to deserve such a fate. But it got worse when Stearman and Milijas were caught upfield and Arsenal exploited the gaps to set up Fabregas for a coolly-taken third.

Still, they hung in there and so did the supporters even when a punched clearance by Hennessey dropped to Andrey Arshavin on the edge of the area as Milijas lost his concentration. The Russian’s shot sneaked through a forest of legs and into Hennessey’s bottom corner.

But the home fans who stayed were at least cheered by Craddock’s header from an 89th minute Matt Jarvis corner. An empty gesture? Not quite.

It symbolised the admirable spirit within McCarthy’s squad but, yes, they are going to need plenty more where that came from in the weeks ahead.

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