How Wolves can become a Premier League 'middleweight' club
Age-old wisdom asserts that the league table tells the truth in the long run - and certainly by mid-May. Wolves' recent experience fits entirely with this, in so far as their recent six-match winning run came, freakishly, against the six clubs currently ranked below them.
Last Friday, Vitor Pereira warded off any thoughts their final three games might be an anti-climax by suggesting that their opponents – Brighton, Crystal Palace and Brentford, all set to finish in the middle third – are clubs that Wolves should realistically be able to match next season.
The Brighton game supported his thesis. There did not appear to be much between the teams in the general flow of the match, but Brighton found the precision at both ends to tilt things their way.
Now and then, Wolves produced some attractive passing, Matheus Cunha in particular getting the crowd cooing in the first half as he showed off his repertoire. But Brighton's less flashy work eventually took a grip on the game while Wolves spun their wheels. Mats Wieffer made himself Cunha's menacing shadow, forcing the blunder that set up the result. Wolves were not bad - just ineffective.
"In the first half we competed, created some chances to finish, but missed the last shot or last pass… one or two mistakes," said Pereira. "We played a lot with our heart in the second half, but without intelligence to control the pace. When [it] goes to this kind of match, with transitions and counter-attack transitions, we win the ball, we lose the ball, and this is not the game that I like because it's unpredictable. In the end, they punished us and they deserved to win."
Most of the attention around Wolves' recovery under Pereira has focused, understandably, on the revival of team spirit and getting the fans onside. Certainly the club needed someone to rally behind and fix some urgent problems. The sense that everyone is now pulling broadly in the same direction has been essential to get away from trouble.
But Saturday's game illustrated that unity and fighting spirit will only get them so far. To reach Pereira's next checkpoint - and avoiding the relegation stress of two of the past three seasons - will need more work. Perhaps the time available in pre-season can it, fostering the intelligence and sense of control needed against better sides.
To that end, Pereira may have found Saturday a more informative, if less enjoyable, experience.
Listen to full commentary of Crystal Palace v Wolves at 20:00 BST on Tuesday, 20 May on BBC Radio WM 95.6FM/DAB/Freeview
Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights
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