The Tim Spiers debrief – Wolves 1 Burnley 0

Wolves battered Burnley, fashioning 30 shots and completing back-to-back Premier League wins.

Shellacking

Well that was just about the most one-sided Wolves performance in the top flight in the best part of the last four decades.

Wolves have played seven seasons in the top level since 1980 and apart from a 4-0 win over Blackpool in 2010/11 it’s hard for this correspondent to recall a more lopsided match (a couple on Twitter suggested a 4-1 victory over Liverpool in 1980)...yes, they were that good.

Not even Burnley boss Sean Dyche could argue that Wolves deserved to win this.

In fact, the only positives Dyche could point to were the performances of his defenders and Joe Hart for keeping the score down.

“The keeper played great but in front of that, blocks and energy to block, willingness and desire, but that is the only thing I could pick out really,” Dyche said.

Burnley may be struggling so far this season but this is a team that finished seventh last year.

It was thought the two-week international break would have benefitted them, but instead wonderful Wolves made the Clarets look lethargic and bereft of ideas as they set about tearing them apart, piece by piece.

The scoreline in no way reflected Wolves’ utter dominance.

Helder Costa, Raul Jimenez, Leo Bonatini and Matt Doherty all spurned opportunities they will have expected to take and a scoreline of 4-0 or 5-0 would have been a more accurate depiction of what unfolded in front of an adoring Molineux crowd.

Some will have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief at the one-sided nature of the ‘contest’. Indeed, one gleeful elderly fan told me when leaving the ground that he hadn’t seen as commanding a performance as that since the 1950s (although Wolves would have scored 15 goals back then instead of the one they managed this time, he remarked).

Yes they should have scored more, but let’s all just marvel at how unequivocally excellent Wolves were.

For a newly-promoted team to outshine any opposition in every single area of the pitch, from numbers one to 11 (or rather two to 37) is an impressive feat by any standards.

Control

For two games in a row Wolves have taken on established Premier League opponents and controlled the match.

At West Ham they let a few chances slip but were by far the more assured and confident side. Here Messrs Neves and Moutinho, as at the London Stadium, exerted extreme control in the middle of the pitch.

The Portuguese pair treat the ball like an overprotective parent taking their child to the park – with care, attention and at all times a watchful eye.

Either side of them Matt Doherty and Jonny Castro Otto produced template wing-back performances, full of searching and marauding runs, bright and breezy link-up play, effective overlaps and defensive solidity.

Both players could have ended up with a couple of goals and assists apiece. Otto has settled into English football like the proverbial duck to water, while Doherty has recovered impressively from that Leicester off-day to become just about Wolves’ best player in the three proceeding matches.

With a water-tight defence, 59 per cent possession and 30 shots at goal this was as effective a team display as Nuno could have hoped for.

Two wins, two clean sheets, two very good performances...what’s not to like?

Clinical touch

Ah yes, except for that lack of a clinical touch.

It feels churlish to criticise any aspect of this all-encompassing performance in which Wolves won every individual battle on the pitch.

However, if you were to criticise (and Nuno did) it would be about the dearth of composure in the final third.

Wolves won’t create this many chances or have this many shots against less charitable opposition and they will need to find the clinical touch they’ve been missing so far this season.

The possession and build-up play was evident throughout but there were too many occasions in and around the Burnley penalty area that Wolves either made the wrong pass, chose the wrong option or, most prominently, seemed to over-think what they were doing.

Costa was the guilty party on a couple of occasions and you do get the impression that the Portuguese forward isn’t quite playing on instinct yet.

A ballooned free 15-yard shot just before he was subbed was indicative of this, but Diogo Jota and Adama Traore were also lacking in composure at crucial moments.

Ironically their most cool-headed forward is Ivan Cavaleiro, who remains sidelined. His overdue return will help in this regard.

Raul with it

One man who did find the target was Jimenez, who netted his second goal of the season with a tidy finish from Doherty’s pass.

It wasn’t just with his goal that the Mexican impressed, though.

His overall performance was one of strength, vision, precision and above all an unrelenting work rate.

Wolves supporters have become accustomed to watching their players produce dazzling skill and mind-blowing tricks in the past 14 months but they will never stop appreciating a striker, or any player for that matter, who works his proverbials off.

One first half moment when Jimenez sprinted back to tackle James Tarkowski from behind, earning a booming round of applause, typified this.

He has the capability to notch at least 10 goals this season but, more importantly than that, he can help his more skilful and more explosive team-mates to thrive in the final third.

His link-up play is of an excellent standard and, while he missed a couple of chances here, he was ultimately the match-winning hero.

Just as important as finishing those chances off is getting in the right positions to do so – and Jimenez is doing that week after week.

No fear

So Wolves will now go to Old Trafford next weekend, a daunting challenge if ever there should be one in theory...but they will approach the contest with absolutely no fear.

In their opening five games they’ve only lost once – and that was a freak of a defeat at Leicester when everything went against them. They were better than Burnley, they were better than West Ham and they deservedly held Everton and Manchester City.

Whatever way you look at it they belong in the Premier League...and there can't have been a better time to be a Wolves supporter in the past 35 years.

Final word

Star man: Matt Doherty

The boss: Got everything right

Fans: Hero-worshippers

Magic moment: It can only be the match-winner

In a word: Dominant

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