F365’s early winner: Wolves dancing to Nuno’s beat
Neither side at The London Stadium had won a match yet this season, but the manner in which an entertaining game was decided summed up the campaigns of both teams.
West Ham have had a wretched opening. Despite a huge spend during the summer, it is now their worst start in eight years and their joint-worst ever. The visit of a newly-promoted side may have been looked upon as an ideal opportunity to net their first points but any Irons thinking along those lines haven’t watched Wolves this season. They too hadn’t won, but draws at Everton and against Manchester City showcased the quality of Nuno Espirito Santo’s men, which was even evident in the defeat at Leicester on their last road trip.
So it came as little surprise to see West Ham fans perform their fortnightly premature evacuation. Manuel Pellegrini has previously bemoaned the home supporters’ disappearing act but they could not be blamed for heading for the exits when the visitors’ record signing Adama Traore raced through to net his first Wolves goal – his first in the Premier League in his 40th top-flight appearance.
No one can begrudge Wolves this victory, just as few would had they taken three points from any of their previous three matches. Nuno made a raft of changes to his squad in the summer but those who went straight into his XI have wasted no time in gelling with the heroes of their Championship promotion campaign.
Nuno’s XI at West Ham featured seven of last season’s squad reinforced by a quartet of proven pedigree. Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho are European Championship winners; Raul Jimenez has 65 Mexico caps and Champions League appearances with Atletico Madrid and Benfica; while Jonny, the only new member of a back five with 171 Championship appearances between them last term, is a former Spain Under-21 international.
They were most grateful to Rui Patricio, their No.1 wearing No.11, for their first three points. Felipe Anderson, West Ham’s record signing costing double the price of his Wolves counterpart, started brightly, drawing a diving save from the Portugal stopper in the fourth minute. Anderson was quickly shackled, but Patricio was again called into action early in the second half to keep out Michail Antonio’s looping header. Just like last week, when Man City were held at Molineux, the Wolves defence looked resolute and organised but on the rare occasions it is breached, Patricio’s presence is already a reassuring one.
Nuno has more pressing concerns at the other end. Their approach play, much of which passed through Moutinho, was again easy on the eye but Diogo Jota and Helder Costa struggled to create quality opportunities for the hard-grafting Jimenez, who could have been lining up for today’s opposition. Still, they managed 15 shots at West Ham’s goal but, hardly surprisingly given they rank 18th in the Premier League for shooting accuracy, Lukasz Fabianski seemed destined to keep the first clean sheet of his West Ham career.
To the Wolves manager’s credit, he recognised his side’s failings and made positive changes. All three substitutions were made to freshen up his attack, with the forward trio that started the game ending it on the bench. Traore and Leo Bonatini were the first two dispatched from the sidelines, each with plenty of time to affect the outcome, and they used all of it before combining for the winning goal.
For Traore, his first Premier League goal will further boost his confidence, which must be a concern for Wolves’ next two opponents: Burnley and Manchester United. If Jose Mourinho wasn’t having restless nights already, he will certainly be robbed of sleep by the prospect of a buoyant Traore hurtling towards his flaky defence at Old Trafford like an express train bound for Piccadilly.
Nuno has some work to do. But that is seemingly centered more around individuals rather than units. His 3-4-2-1 system has proved effective against both the champions and the Premier League’s bottom dwellers within the space of a week. Wolves only look like getting better with the confidence gleaned from their first win.
Ian Watson
