Wolverhampton Wanderers endured a miserable afternoon yesterday, as they lost 2-0 to Brentford in the Premier League.
Despite the newly promoted team being reduced to 10 men in the second-half, Wolves never looked like scoring.
Their only half-decent chance in the second half fell to Raul Jimenez, who headed wide.
Jimenez’s header summed up Wolves’ woes in front of goal. Out of the 10 shots that they had, none of them was on target.
It is an alarming statistic for the club who only have one goalscorer in the league from their opening five matches – Hwang Hee-chan.
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Wolves must improve their decision-making
After Brentford’s red card, Wolves had six attackers on the pitch by the final whistle and still failed to make the net ripple.
Subsequently, this highlights a significant problem for Wolves – that they are making the wrong decisions in the final third.
Sometimes it was the wrong pass, demonstrated by those made from left-back Marcal to Adama Traore. Alternatively, it is also the team shooting at the wrong time.
In the first-half, both Adama Traore and Marcal shot from nigh-on impossible angles.
Although it can be seen as ambitious, often it was just wasteful. Looking at FBRef’s expected goals (XG) statistics, this reiterated Wolves’ profligacy in attack, Wolves had just 0.6 XG compared to Brentford’s 2.4.
The most immediate task for head coach Bruno Lage will be to fix Wolves’ issues in front of their opponents goal.
One solution, could be a change in formation. During his previous spell at Benfica, Lage deployed a 4-4-2 formation. This might see Hwang partner Jimenez up front.
Another formation could be a 4-2-3-1, which would see Daniel Podence come into the starting line up.
Fabio Silva could also be an option for Lage, although he has not been used too much so far.
Wolves’ next game against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao cup could reveal Lage’s plan to get Wolves scoring.