A word on preseason
It’s no secret it has been a disappointing preseason in terms of transfer business and preseason form. For me, preseason results do not matter at all but I do think performances, particularly the closer we get to matchday one, do give an indication of where we are at. And the Celta Vigo game seemed to sum up perfectly where we are at the moment – unprepared. It was clear to see we are still a minimum of 2-3 quality additions away from having a competent XI.
In terms of transfer business so far, that’s where I am particularly disappointed. We knew in early April we had secured our premier league status and we also knew who was likely to leave in the summer, which I had thought would put us in an advantageous position to attack the summer window. After selling Cunha/Ait-Nouri in the early mini transfer window in June, I was expecting to have seen more incomings by now.
I will reserve full judgment until once the window has closed, but I do think certain important positions should have been signed and bedded in by this stage. Lessons do not appear to have been learnt.
Fer Lopez has looked a talent and could be the player to unlock defences that we’ve been searching for for a while. But I still think he will take time to settle into the Premier League and he should be allowed it.
The one positive is we have managed to clear out almost all of out dead-wood which is something we have struggled with in previous seasons. It’s set up to be a busy end to the window and I expect our team to look much different come September.
City preview
Despite our current failings in the transfer market, I do think it is as good a time as any to play Man City.
Their own preparation hasn’t been ideal following their participation in the Club World Cup so we will be hoping for a hangover. They have only played a couple of friendlies after a short summer break and therefore may not be fully up to match sharpness. They have also signed a number of players who may take a little longer to gel together. Wishful thinking?
We expect City will dominate possession as they always do and we will be trying to hit them on the counter, which suits our style anyway. With Rodri due to miss out, that is another boost to our chances of taking anything from the game. City didn’t look the same last season from the moment they lost him through injury. Having said that, they have recruited well and still have a plethora of options to replace him with.
The game towards the back end of last season at the Etihad was a pretty close game in which we could have taken an early lead. But our two key players from that game, Cunha and Ait-Nouri, have now moved on which is a huge hit to our creativity.
Onto Ait-Nouri – I am hoping he will get a good reception coming back to Molineux. But this weekend he will be a thorn in our right side and I hope we are all prepared for his inevitable goal against us.
I’m concerned about our right side with Doherty likely to start RCB and Hoever at RWB which is an area I believe City will be looking to target. I am slightly surprised we haven’t experimented with Doherty at RWB and Mosquera at RCB, just as a quick fix until we sign a RWB. I assume it’s down to Mosquera’s lack of match fitness and Doherty’s preference to play RCB.
I have never been a fan of the term ‘free hit’ but I think in this case it is. We would all be delighted with a point here given the current state of our squad and their obvious talent.
I would much rather be playing City first (a game we would expect to lose), than lets say Sunderland at home where there would be huge pressure on us to get a get a result against a relegation rival. And with our squad vastly under prepared, I would rather just get Man City out the way early.
The bigger game for me will be Everton at home on 30th August. That game is just before the window closes against another side who you would expect to be in and around us. By that stage we should have a few more additions and have a better idea of where we are at.
Predicted XI
Barring any injuries or any unlikely transfer business, I would expect the team that started the friendly versus Celta Vigo will start against Man City. The only possible change I could have envisaged would have been Rodrigo Gomes starting ahead of Ki-Jana Hoever. Hoever had a shocker at the weekend whereas Gomes looked bright when he came on.
However, following Vitor Pereira’s press conference, he confirmed that Hoever would be staying this season and is likely to start against Man City. I would imagine he will provide back up and competition for impending new signing, Jackson Tchatchoua, moving forward.
I was most eager to see who would take the captain’s armband. With no obvious choice, we have seen the armband shared throughout preseason between Doherty, Sa, Toti and Joao Gomes, who wore the armband Saturday. Vitor has since confirmed in his press conference that the captaincy would be split between his leadership group consisting of the those four players mentioned. But it will still be interesting to see who actually wears the armband come Saturday.
Score prediction
I can’t see anything other than a win for City, as much as I would love to be proven wrong. I am just hoping for a performance that shows character, fighting spirit and togetherness similar to what we saw versus Villa and Man United at home last season. And with Molineux rocking, it would be very Wolves to pick up a result.
