Wolves were unable to get back to winning ways on Saturday after a loss at home to Brighton & Hove Albion and the Matchday Live Extra team were in position to give their thoughts post-match.
Following the end of their historic winning run, Vitor Pereira’s side were aiming for all three points on their return to Molineux, but a goal in either half from the visitors saw Brighton head back to the south coast with the victory.
After the final whistle, former Wolves goalkeeper Matt Murray and full-back Lee Naylor discussed Brighton’s defending after they took the lead, mistakes from the Old Gold players which cost their team the three points, Goncalo Guedes’ first start since February and how Pereira and his squad should approach the final two matches of the season against Crystal Palace and Brentford.
A second defeat in a row
Naylor: “We stated off ok – a bit end to end – but mistakes were there and we need to iron those out going forward. It was a fair 50/50 first half from when I was looking at it, but when the boys came out in the second half, I just felt there was no energy, we couldn’t break them down at all and found it very difficult when we were going into the middle to final third. We were looking for the gaps and where we could break down Brighton, but we just couldn’t find it. We made changes, they had little impact, and Brighton were just too good on the day.”
Murray: “Everyone says goals change games and when you make a mistake and give them the penalty, that gives Brighton something to protect. But I’m still looking at the positives and looking at how far Vitor Pereira has taken this team. We were disappointed to come away from Man City with nothing, they proper took it to Liverpool in the second half at Anfield.
“He’s got high expectations and he believes. There are bits he’s looking at and maybe saying, ‘If I’m going to lose Cunha, this is what I need to unlock teams when they sit in’. Larsen couldn’t start but I thought he gives us something, so there’s little bits. But ultimately, we didn’t get that goal at that key time and we couldn’t end up breaking Brighton down.”
Brighton defending onto their lead
Murray: “There were a few times when Wolves got into position, but I keep mentioning that touch Van Hecke got just to get a nick on it when Ait-Nouri had got down the left and it was brilliant play. If he hadn’t got a touch on that, there’s no way the goalkeeper would have cut it out and Larsen taps it in, so those things are massive. But there were other times when the ball came in and Van Hecke was in the perfect position.
“Sometimes, when you haven’t got the physical presence of Larsen in there, you can’t put the balls in, so you have to try something different. When Wolves used to take the lead under Nuno, you knew they were near enough going to come away with a minimum of a point, usually a win, so these teams are so even and so close that the first goal is so important. Especially with quite level teams like Wolves and Brighton are, the first goal is huge and in the end because the game got stretched, that’s when the counter-attacking came from. But the likes of Brighton, Brentford and Crystal Palace, they are now the benchmark and if we can keep recruiting right, let’s get the business done early in the window.”
Naylor: “It's difficult to break teams down regardless of protecting 1-0 scorelines, but Brighton are very good at it. They get numbers behind the ball and they have excellent defenders who read the game very well. For me, the man of the match was Van Hecke because he did everything, head it, kick it, did everything to make it difficult and got in great positions on the ball, and there are factors in games where ‘if they could only have done that’, it might have been different. There are these little moments in the game where you just have to hold your hands up and say they’re very good players.”
Agbadou forced into mistakes
Naylor: “They forced us to make errors and that came from the manager. Hurzeler has seen that and got that information onto the pitch. You could see the difference and they upped their tempo. They would allow Agbadou to have it, but as soon as the ball went out wide, they went bang, were right on it.”
Murray: “From a Wolves point of view, Agbadou does so much great stuff, but there are a couple of times where, as a team, there are some really unfortunate errors. Wolves were getting a bit of joy doing a few things, but tactically, you look at just one player who you can force errors from. Nayls watches Agbadou a lot and says he loves him, he’s quick, he can play the passes, he can do all these things, but he’s got a little lapse of concentration. Unfortunately, Agbadou is the one where they’ve targeted as the one that if they leave him on the ball, he’ll do loads of great stuff, but he will give you a chance.”
Cunha’s slip-up for the opener
Naylor: “He's done it ever since he’s been here and we’ve said it on numerous occasions – stop coming so deep because you put the pressure on our defence. As a defender or as a midfielder, these are the things you’re taught – strikers and wing players, they don’t see that. If that’s a Joao Gomes, if that’s an Andre, the pass is just being a bounce pass. They know the danger of running towards your own goal and putting the foot on the ball to roll it – like these forwards do when it’s coming up to them – you will get bounced off. It’s so easy to just knock you off your balance, and that’s what happened.”
Murray: “I just don’t think he knew where Wieffer was, so that’s why he didn’t use his body. But fair play to him because he’s nicked it and then he’s got to drive in. But then you’ve got to back your goalkeeper and say, ‘Sa, can you save it or not’. You can’t go diving in and bring him down. I think he’s just made an attempt to play the ball so it’s not a red card, but if he sends him off, it doesn’t get overturned. It’s one of them that’s right on the edge. Is it tactics and Pereira is allowing Cunha the freedom to do that? But ultimately, it’s an individual error which has cost them the game.”
“We competed and created chances to score. But we didn’t and they scored a goal from our mistake. I am a bit disappointed. I think my team can play to a better level.”
— Wolves (@Wolves) May 11, 2025
🐺🗣️ pic.twitter.com/3b2unFJjnR
Guedes returning to the starting 11
Naylor: “I can’t express to you how difficult it is when you don’t play every week to come into a side, which has been flying, and just hit the ground running. It’s so difficult. Trust me. But Guedes was running around, he was getting in good positions, yet he was off it slightly because of lack of games. He doesn’t normally turn down shots and he was getting in one or two good positions to shoot, but that’s not normally him. His touch let him down for a chance in the first half, so in his defence, it’s very hard.”
Murray: “But was one of the reasons he hasn’t been starting because he hasn’t been training well enough? That’s what Vitor Pereira said. So that’s why you need to train at a rhythm. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing like starting games to get you match fitness and sharpness, but that’s why you have to train at a rhythm.
“For me, Brighton had Danny Welbeck as that focal point and he just gave them that little bit more structure. We showed that once Larsen came on and he just gave the others – Bellegarde, Rodrigo and Sarabia – a focal point to build off him a little bit more. Wolves couldn’t start these players, but Guedes tried and he worked hard, but I think that shows why you have to train properly.”
Approaching the final two matches
Murray: “Is this the time now when you do experiment a little bit? Try and find different ways. If you haven’t get them or them, can we try this? Because we are safe, we’re in that privileged position where we’re not fighting for our lives, and of course you want to finish with really positive momentum, which I think we have got, but those are the bits I’ll look at – are there anything else we can do tactically, but Vitor Pereira knows what he’s doing. He’ll be hurting from this defeat, and this performance – which was ok, but it wasn’t our usual level which we’ve been used to recently. I still feel we can go into Palace and Brentford really positive. Of course we’ve lost to two good teams, but we’ve not been smashed 5-0 and 5-0.”
Naylor: “I think you have to try to finish the season strong, because as we’ve seen with recent years, we haven’t, and I don’t want that running over to next season like it has done every other season. When we flip the narrative of ‘let’s finish strong, let’s finish like people want that shirt for next season’, because it’s all up for grabs. People are fighting for contracts and they’ve got to realise that they’ve got to pull their sleeves up and finish the season off strong. I just don’t want us to fizzle out. I want us to keep that intensity because the second half of Man City, the second half of today fizzled out and I don’t want people to just think, ‘It’s the end of the season’ – as you often see.”
Murray and Naylor were talking to Mikey Burrows on Wolves’ official post-match podcast, Matchday Live Extra, which is available to listen to now on all podcast providers.
