Wolves suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, a fixture that saw one of Gary O’Neil’s most important stars missed more than ever.
It was a dreary day in Manchester for Wolves on Saturday afternoon, as the Old Gold lost 5-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad.
VAR controversy took centre stage once again as a ‘ridiculous’ penalty was awarded when the score was at 0-0, taking the game away from the visitors after just 10 minutes played.
Aside from the bizarre decision from referee Craig Pawson, Wolves were far from being at the level necessary to compete with Pep Guardiola’s treble winners, giving Gary O’Neil’s side a magnificent task to overcome away from home.
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It was a bad day at the office for many Wolves players, in a performance that epitomised just what has gone wrong for the Midlands club this season, with key absences becoming detrimental to results and overall performance levels.
During the fixture, one player was singled out as a figure that was missed the most by Wolves, an opinion that simply can’t be argued.
Wolves struggled in defence against Manchester City
Conceding five goals away from home will tell you that there were defensive problems on Wolves’ side against Manchester City, which was correct.
Max Kilman really ‘struggled’ at the Etihad, with Toti Gomes’ performance telling a similar story, as O’Neil’s back line failed to cope with the overwhelming presence of Erling Haaland.
The City talisman would have been studied in remarkable depth prior to the game however, the Wolves back line allowed the 23-year-old to score four goals and go home with the match ball.
Part of the reason for this is the gulf in class between the Old Gold’s defence and City’s forwards, another being the lack of organisation and attention to Haaland’s movement on the day.
During the second half of the game, journalist Nathan Judah pinpointed the absence of Craig Dawson being a decisive element to the breakdown of Wolves’ defence at the Etihad.
The Wolves expert tweeted; ‘Can talk about all the forwards missing over the last 6 weeks. Craig Dawson injury was pivotal. Massively missed.’
Wolves are missing Craig Dawson in defence
With 288 Premier League apperances to his name, it’s obvious the levels of leadership that Wolves are missing in the 33-year-old’s time on the sidelines.
Only Everton’s James Tarkowski has recorded more blocks in the Premier League this season than Dawson, who has a tally of 39 in the 25 appearances he’s made in the league this term.
In the games that the centre-back has missed so far, the Old Gold have conceded an eye-watering 17 goals in their previous nine fixtures, telling of the lack of cohesion at the back.
It’s a great shame considering how well-worked O’Neil’s defence has been for the most part of the campaign, epitomising the theme of ‘what could have been’ if the manager had a fully fit squad all season.