Rob Edwards cut an angry figure at half-time of Wolves’ defeat to Chelsea on Saturday but did at least praise his side for showing character in the second half.
After a tweak in formation and positive start to proceedings, things were looking positive for the Old Gold, but two cheap penalties gifted to Chelsea set them on their way to victory at Molineux.
The game got away from Edwards’ side after the first penalty, and it was damage limitation at 3-0 at half-time, but his group, buoyed by positive debuts from Angel Gomes and Adam Armstrong, did at least respond and showed what they were about in the second 45.
On his assessment on the afternoon
“My hand is feeling the effects of thumping a door with a bit of anger. We started really positively, and it was a real promising start, and then after a couple of ludicrous mistakes, against a top team with brilliant players, it’s going to be a really difficult day for us. At 2-0 down, with the energy and looking at the lads on the pitch, it looked a little bit like when we first came in for a period of time. It looked a bit disjointed for a period, they got their tails up, and obviously they got the third.
“Then it was about stopping the bleeding. I thought the players reacted very, very well, once we were able to get them in at half-time and organise things. Then we know it's really difficult to win the game of football, or to get something from it, but it was about trying to win the half, sticking to the things that we want them to do on a tactics board, but also then showing some passion and make sure we fight, and we did that. It wasn't a team that went under in the end, because if it had of, it would have been embarrassing today.”
On the change in shape
“Lately we've created some chances, but we haven't scored as much. We want to be really positive. We wanted to be brave and press higher, and then we wanted to try and then have more of an attacking threat on the pitch, moving a defender and then putting in a more attacking player in its simplest form. Obviously, there’s more to it than that, but that was the idea.
“We started pretty well one, and you're thinking it could work. But gifting away two penalties, then it became really challenging. Then it wasn’t a tactical thing, it was then a mental thing for a period of time. One or two felt the heat, and felt the pressure, and then it looked a little bit messy for a period of time. I don't think it did at the beginning, but because we caused ourselves some problems, because they're very good, they took advantage.”
On being willing to tweak again
“We've discussed it a lot as a group, as a staff, this week, we worked on it, and it looked good in training, at the start of the game I quite liked it. Then we shot ourselves in the foot. We've obviously been able to go to it in game, and it's not really opened us up, going to a four, if we wanted to try and attack it, or make some changes, it's looked quite good, and we've looked good. I want to get to that, but against that sort of team, you're always running a little bit of a risk.”
On the two debutants
“I thought they were real positives today. I thought they played really well and made a very good first impression in front of the home supporters, which was good, and obviously in tough conditions as well, actual weather conditions, and in the way the game went as well. They stood up to things and showed a lot of character, the things that we'd asked of them, which we know they've got, but also both played very well.”
On Tolu getting his goal
“We're trying to change things, and we're trying to progress in the hardest league in the world. The window’s been quite busy with outs. There's a couple of fresh lads that have come in, who I thought were excellent. Like all of us, we're trying to progress and move forward and get better. Great for him. Really, really good. He did some really good things today and worked hard for the team.”
