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Last week at Newcastle Wolves fell behind half way through the first half and were three down just after the break. On Saturday they fell behind at a similar time and this time were three down 6 minutes before the break for a defeat that brought the thought of a return back to Championship football very much into focus for their supporters.
The starting line up saw the expected change to 4-4-2 and a return for Guedioura on the right of midfield at the expense of Hamill.
For 20 minutes Wolves were completely in control of the game against an Everton team lacking many of their best players. But Wolves were unable to turn their superiority into goals. And then from their first real attack Everton took the lead with the simplest of goals when a cross from the right was headed in by an unmarked Beckford. The second goal came after Hennessey dived full length to save an Elokobi back header, when the ball was cleared Neville hammered it back into the net from 25 yards. If the defending for the first two goals was poor then for the third it was shambolic. O’Hara and Elokobi left the ball to each other in midfield and Bilyedtinov nipped between them and smashed another 25 yarder into the net.
There was little to be positive about in this Wolves performance. None of the defenders played well and the confidence seemed to have drained out of them by half time. Guedioura was probably the pick of the midfield while Ebanks Blake and Fletcher did little to advertise their claims. From somewhere McCarthy needs to find someone to bring some inspiration to a team that, for the first time in 2011, looked like a relegation team.
It would be a major surprise if the man tasked with bringing some stability to the defending is not Jody Craddock. Offensively did this game show 4-4-2 is not the answer or was it just two poor performances by the front men. Either way it would feel like a gamble to pick them both in the next game. My conclusion is that Wolves are not good enough defensively to operate without the extra security that a 5 man midfield brings. Also that in Jamie O’Hara it looked like Wolves had found the man to inspire the midfield, but in the withdrawn role he plays away, and when there are only 4 in midfield, then he is wasted.
Defeats also for West Ham and Wigan and a draw for Birmingham and Blackburn, coupled with an expected defeat for Blackpool on Sunday means the task is still achievable with three wins. But having gone a few months when they looked too good to go down, the stop start month of March came at the wrong time for a team playing with confidence, and that coupled with that crucial injury to Doyle has meant the question is changing to are they good enough to stay up? The break in fixtures next week will be welcome to regroup and come out firing for the game with Fulham in two weeks. Hopefully the league table won’t look too bad by that time, but McCarthy will have to earn his corn now to get Wolves back on track.
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