Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has praised Wolves ahead of today’s clash at Stamford Bridge, believing the system Gary O’Neil is using is ‘working really well’.
Wanderers are back in Premier League action today and are looking to bounce back from the frustrating 4-3 defeat to Manchester United on Thursday.
Wolves saw their unbeaten run come to an end in dramatic fashion, with Kobbie Mainoo scoring deep into injury-time, after Pedro Neto thought he had rescued a point.
Wolves battled hard to get back to 3-3 at Molineux, but ultimately poor defending proved costly and Wolves had nothing to show for their competitiveness at the end.
But it’s time to go again and Wolves now face Chelsea, whose manager was pretty complimentary about Wanderers ahead of the game…
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino believes Wolves’ system is ‘working really well’
Wolves will be hoping to get the better of Chelsea today, as was the case on Christmas Eve when the teams squared off at Molineux.
Wanderers won 2-1 that day, but the Blues will be harder to beat at Stamford Bridge and that will not be lost on O’Neil.
But Wolves love a big scalp, and the quality of the team is not lost on Pochettino, who believes Wolves’ current system is effective.
He said (via football.london): “I think everyone knows, it’s not a team that is coming from another country that no-one knows. The quality is there, with the players, the system they are using is working really well. They are doing a fantastic season. We know how they play, it’s not to talk about how they are going to play.”
Wolves’ system has generally worked well
Wolves have been playing with a back three for a while now. Gary O’Neil first brought it in for the game against Manchester City at the end of September, and it’s been in place pretty much ever since.
When Wolves have the ball, it becomes more of a traditional back four, with Toti Gomes operating as a left-back and Rayan Ait-Nouri bombing on. When Wolves are defending, Toti tends to tuck in with Ait-Nouri defending out wide.
This system has generally worked quite well. Wolves have won seven league games since its introduction, drawing four and losing five. Prior to that game with City, Wolves won just one league game, drew one and lost four.
It works well for the players they’ve got. Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo are both very attack-minded and can go up and down the wings.
Perhaps it will not be the long-term plan but certainly, at the moment, Wolves do look a better team playing this system.