Cardiff Review / Watford Preview

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Cardiff City

(Sako 70, Campbell 20, 67)

Mike Bassett - the 'inspiration' for the 3-5-1-1 maybe?

Wolves were beaten by League leaders Cardiff at Molineux, but pushed them all the way in a game of two-halves. Wolves began fielding a bizzare 3-5-1-1 formation (which, much to the amusement of many, has only really ever been seen in the Mike Bassett movie) with Bakary Sako tucked in behind Sigurdarson in attack. It failed big-time, however, as Wolves lacked any bite going forward. Once Cardiff took the lead - a simple goal from a long throw-in - the remaining 25 minutes of the 1st half became a training session for the League leaders, with Wolves not closing the ball down, putting in tackles or showing any threat to the Cardiff backline.

Campbell was a real threat for Cardiff, particularly in the air

Saunders clearly realised his mistake as, at half-time, he took off Batth and Doumbia and brought on Doyle and Ebanks-Blake as he moved Wolves to a more natural 4-4-2. Instantly Wolves looked more dangerous going forward, but again sloppy defending cost them as they found themselves 2-0 down from a free-kick. Nobody tracked Fraizer Campbell's run and he was left with a free header 6 yards out. But Wolves responded immediately with Kevin Doyle driving forward and winning a free-kick on the edge of the box. Sako stepped up and, with the help of a huge deflection, found the bottom corner to give Dean Saunders' side some hope.

Ebanks-Blake's despair at his miss was clear for all to see

But then the game turned into the Ebanks-Blake show - and not in a good way. First the striker put wide from 10 yards with nobody around him and only the goalkeeper to beat - though he was relieved to see the referee had actually blown for a foul in the build-up. In truth, there was nothing wrong with what the striker had done - he simply held off the defenders - and the fact that both he and the goalkeeper played on made that miss one of the worst I have ever seen. But he had a golden chance to put that right just 5 minutes later. From a Cardiff corner, the ball broke to Sako. The winger sprinted 80 yards down the field before putting in a truly perfect cross that fell to Ebanks-Blake 5 yards out. But the striker, perhaps with his earlier miss still on his mind, scuffed his shot into the ground and saw it bounce over the bar. It was a horrific miss and the poacher's frustration showed as he took his anger out on the goal net.

Danny Batth, one of the stars under Saunders, leads the defence

Factors like that miss are something no manager can be held accountable for. They are freak incidents that you cannot plan for, yet they can have such a big bearing on the result. If that Ebanks-Blake chance had gone in, Wolves would've been level at 2-2 with 10 minutes remaining and with their momentum building, you would've fancied them to go on and win the game. But it wasn't to be and Wolves were left rueing the extremely strange choice of tactics from Dean Saunders. When a team is struggling for confidence and form, the last thing you want to do is throw that team into a completely new formation that they've never played before. Wolves never looked comfortable at 3-5-1-1 and that was highlighted even further when the switch to 4-4-2 was made and Wolves began to look like they could do something. But Saunders lost even more credibility post-match with his comments that Wolves were the better side and deserved to win the game. He must've been watching a different match to everyone else, because although Wolves had some good chances near the end, they were not the better side. The truth was, although Cardiff weren't as lethal as they could've been, they didn't really have to be. The League leaders never got out of 2nd gear and controlled the game for the most part. To say we deserved to win was, quite frankly, embarassing of Saunders and combined with the switch to 4-5-1 against Barnsley has left a lot of Wolves fans questioning if he's the right man for the job. I personally don't think he is - although the one thing he's done right is bring through more young players. Under Saunders we've seen the introduction of Danny Batth (long overdue) to the side, as well as Jake Cassidy and Matt Doherty. Coupled with the arrival of Jack Robinson on loan from Liverpool, Wolves have 4 youngsters who are giving everything they've got for the shirt. It's encouraging to see and these players must be given more game time if they really are to be the future of Wolves (albeit Robinson is only here on loan).

My Wolves MOTM: Bjorn Sigurdarson. For the 2nd game in a row, he looked a threat to the opposition with his tireless work rate and willingness to take players on. Would like to see him played up front more often.

Wolves In A Word: Baffling

 The games don't get any easier for Wolves as tomorrow night, in front of the Sky cameras, high-flying Watford come to Molineux. Gianfranco Zola's team currently sit in 2nd place in the Championship and will see the Friday night game as a chance to put pressure on the teams below them ahead of their weekend fixtures.

Berra was wrongly sent off in the reverse fixture at Vicarage Road

Wolves' last meeting with Watford was one to forget for the travelling fans, as Christophe Berra was shown a straight red card early on at Vicarage Road for denying Troy Deeney a clear goalscoring opportunity. The decision was disgraceful as the contact appeared to be minimal and the Watford man still managed to get his shot away. The FA listened to Wolves' appeal and overturned the decision but by then it was too late. Wolves had suffered a 2-1 defeat when, with 11 men, they might well have got something from the game. Everyone in Old Gold would love a repeat of the last time Watford visited Molineux in January 2009. Wolves were winless in 5 games and desperately needed a win to avoid losing top spot in the Championship. Goals from Ebanks-Blake and Keogh gave Wolves a comfortable lead, before Watford defener Adrian Mariappa popped up to make the last 10 minutes nervous for Mick McCarthy's side. But Sam Vokes powered home a header in the 90th minute to ensure Wolves kept top spot in the Championship.

Udinese, Granada and Watford are becoming something of a 'Trinity'

The Watford side that are travelling to Wolverhampton this weekend are very different to that side, however. Indeed, they're very different to many sides in the English football system. They have been given the tag "Udinese Reserves" (or "Udinese B team") due to the alarmingly high number of loanees they have from the Italian club. All in all, 8 players are at the Hertfordshire club on loan from Udinese, while 2 are on loan from Granada in Spain. Both Udinese and Granada are owned by the same people who own Watford and there is a fear of what the future could hold for Watford as they're relying far too much on loan players. It is the advanced quality of the loan players that has seen Watford into this position. Watford also have 2 other loan players - the impressive Nathaniel Chalobah from Chelsea, and Geoffrey Mujangi Bia (remember him?!) from Standard Liege.

Watford are truly lethal away from home

Regardless of who turns out for Watford, it's hard to argue with their record - particularly away from home. They have the best away record in the division, picking up an impressive 32 points on the road. They're also the division's most lethal away scorers, netting 38 goals - a frightening 10 more than next-best Cardiff's 28. This is helped in no small part by the 6 they scored at Elland Road back in November, but it's still a terrifying prospect for a Wolves side who have leaked 49 goals this season. However, The Hornets have have lost a rather large 17 points from winning positions and it's a sign of real hope for Wolves. It gets even more encouraging when you see that their last game against a side in the bottom 3 was a 2-0 defeat away to Bristol City at the end of January. There is hope for Wolves, it's just going to be a very tough ask against a Watford side who have shown such a lethal touch going forward this season.

Doherty impressed against the tricky Craig Conway

I, for one, would like to see Wolves revert to a 4-4-2 as that is when we have looked at our most threatening under Saunders. Matt Doherty impressed against Cardiff and it is hoped he will start again ahead of Kevin Foley against Watford. The return of Roger Johnson to the side shouldn't see Danny Batth replaced as Batth really has earnt his place in the team. Up front Sigurdarson and Ebanks-Blake look our most potent partnership and must surely be given a real run of games together to form what could be a crucial strikeforce to get us out of this mess.

It won't be easy against such difficult opposition and, despite a crowd that will be fully behind Wolves, it's hard to see past the dangerous Hornets tomorrow night.

Prediction: Wolves 1-3 Watford