The first half of Wolves’ final pre-season friendly against Celta Vigo didn’t provide too much entertainment, but the tactical choices were interesting.
The match began with a touching tribute to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva to mark the first match at Molineux since the tragedy of last month.
The game took a while to get going, with low energy and low tempo from both sides in the opening five minutes.
Wolves would get a scare as new signing David Moller Wolfe went down after a hard fall, remaining on the ground and requiring attention. He would eventually get back to his feet, and not long after was providing overlapping support as Wolves looked to get into rhythm.
Vitor Pereira used David Moller Wolfe as a winger when Wolves in possession
In his first outing for the Old Gold, David Moller Wolfe had clear instructions to get forward when Wolves had the ball.
Toti Gomes stepped in behind and Moller Wolfe bombed on, looking like a left winger for the most part.
He showed an ability to go either way, finding Jorgen Strand Larsen with a right-footed cross. The Norwegian chemistry is promising, but he couldn’t direct the header toward goal.
There were a couple of nice touches and quick bursts of pace that showed Moller Wolfe is comfortable getting in the same kinds of positions as Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Wolves having same problem with intensity as in the Girona game
The slow start was a problem for both sides, though Celta Vigo looked the livelier side in the opening stages. Jhon Arias came close a quarter of an hour in, after Fer Lopez used quick feet to slip him through, but the Colombian hit it straight at the keeper.
Wolves upped the intensity as the half wore on, but like against Girona, couldn’t find a goal in the opening 45 minutes.
Defensively they looked open and disorganised in stretches. An improvement will be needed in the second half for Vitor Pereira not to be very concerned for next weekend.