Ikeme Saves

By Tom Bason
August 11 2012

Wolves today defeated Aldershot Town on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake gave Wolves the lead before Michael Rankine levelled. Carl Ikeme went on to save the decisive penalty to give Wolves a 7-6 win on penalties.

- The chosen formation was a very narrow 4-4-2, which at times was definitely more of a 4-2-2-2. I could have seen this formation working well with Michael Kightly and Matt Jarvis, but it needs two intelligent wingers who know when to hold their width, and when to cut inside. As it was, both Anthony Forde and David Davis spent much of their time in the middle channel of the pitch, leaving acres of space for Stephen Ward and Ronald Zubar to bomb in to. Ward looked threatening going forward, and could easily have grabbed a goal, but I don't think this role suits Zubar particularly well. His first touch was particularly poor today, and there were a few occasions where his inability to get the ball out from under his feet prevented him from attacking the space vacated by Forde. He is certainly a more dynamic player than Kevin Foley, but I far prefer Foley's calmness on the ball, and his delivery into the box is superior.

-So, the 'wingers' - Anthony Forde at times went past his opposing fullback with ease, but failed to deliver the ball. This was partly as he was played on the left wing; his delivery when he checked back onto his right foot was decent, but all too often his attempted left footed crosses were easily cut off at the near post. Forde also drifted in and out of the game, which was unfortunate as Stephen Ward pushed forward to good effect from left back. Had Forde been able to keep himself in the game a little more, there were good opportunities down the left flank.

- On the opposite flank was David Davis. Considering he is by no means a wide midfielder, if I tell you that he was the pick of players, it'll give you an indication of how poorly the rest of the players fared. Davis looked out of place when he received the ball wide, but when he drifted inside he was very effective. One left footed pass to Forde set up an attacking chance. In the first half of extra time, Davis moved into the centre of the pitch, and able to exert a lot more influence on the game, with his tidy and sensible play. Perhaps he needs to add a slightly more offensive dimension to his game for him to develop further as a player, although this seems to be progressing - he set up Wolves' best chance of extra time with a slide rule pass to send Sylvan Ebanks-Blake clear. I've been impressed with what I've seen of him so far. He does the simple things well, and that is the basis of every good player.

- Upfront, with the impending departure of Steven Fletcher and absence of Bjorn Sigurðarson, all eyes were on Kevin Doyle and Ebanks-Blake. It has to be said that neither greatly impressed, although Ebanks-Blake took his goal well, in a manner that was not unlike the was Doyle scored against Fulham 12 months ago, back in the halcyon days when we were top of the Premier League. Ebanks-Blake certainly looked more likely to score, and caused Aldershot's defence a few problems, but at other times looked lethargic and conceded possession poorly. In theory, these two should be as good as any other strike pairing in the league, but each appear to work best on their own, and it'll be interesting to see how Ståle Solbakken manages to blend the two of them into a partnership.

- How did the new boys fare? Tongo Doumbia started alongside Karl Henry in the centre of midfield, and generally did well. At times he was searching for his teammates a little too much, but this will come as he plays more with them. He looks a strong box to box midfielder, although he seemed to play deeper than Henry. Given Doumbia's ability on the ball, I'd far prefer him to be given greater freedom to push further forward. He certainly looks a threat in and around the box, and will surely add a new dimension to the team. Frank Nouble was introduced at the start of extra time, and looked like he'd forgotten to connect his feet to his brain. It wasn't the best of debuts, and he was perhaps affected by the lethargy of his teammates, but on this evidence he will surely be little more than an impact sub.

- During the first half, Danny Batth, Christophe Berra and Kevin Foley went for a warm-up, down towards the North Bank. At the same time, there was booing from the Wolves' fans, along with chants of 'one greedy bastard'. Berra was later introduced as a substitute, and was booed at his every touch. This, to me, is at best idiotic, at worst pathetic. I've read Berra's statement, and at no point is there indication that money is a reason for his wanting to leave. Perhaps it's me being naïve, but I see no reason to doubt that he wants to be playing football regularly, and here he appears to be behind a first choice pairing of Johnson and Stearman, with Batth as first choice back up. I got the impression that he would be happy to join a lesser club and take a wage cut in order to play regularly, similar to Adam Hammill who I wouldn't expect to be booed either. I suspect that Berra was taking the brunt of the frustration that should be directed towards messrs Kightly, Fletcher and Jarvis.