We played on the front foot and with real quality

Share this page :

A 4-0 defeat at home wasn’t the sort of afternoon Wolves’ boss Nuno Espirito Santo was expecting or hoping for but he’s seen his team demolished by Burnley and he quickly admitted they hadn’t played well.

“We had a very bad performance today,” he said. “Too many things, it’s hard to explain, but bad defending, not the right decisions in the right moments, when we were under pressure. Burnley always pressed us and we didn’t have movement to get out of that pressure.

Embed from Getty Images“We were not able to have possession, and then we defended very bad. One of our characteristics is that we usually outrun our opponents. The game is about hard work, and I didn’t see it clearly. I will not go by mentality or character. We are the same group of players that were here, the staff, so it’s not about that, it’s about not making the right decision. It requires better decisions, more mobility and we didn’t have it, nothing to do with the attitude.

“Beside our own mistakes, our bad decision, Burnley, we have to credit them. They pressured, they ran more, and sometimes the opponent doesn’t allow you to do the things you want, and you have to take different decisions and were not able to find them today. I will not judge the attitude of my players by relaxation, it was more an ability to play good.”

He added: “We’ll analyse this game and prepare for the next one much better. Do the things we want to do. Create a good foundation that can prepare us for our future. Not like today, today was clearly the path that we should not take, and I will not allow it.

“It was a tough day. When you perform so bad, of course you are disappointed and frustrated. This is what we have to work. Today we did many mistakes that we shouldn’t do. Now is a moment to refocus, a moment to get together again and approach it as a group for the next one.”

Embed from Getty ImagesIt was obvious that the first question Sean Dyche would be asked was of Chris Wood’s performance and he said: “Woody continues to improve in my opinion. He is a good striker who finds chances and finds goals and here is a knack to that.

“Good strikers always find a way, and although I still think there is more to his game that he can improve on, like his hold up play and keeping the ball, that will do him no harm at all. He deserves all the praise he gets because I thought he was terrific. His physicality and understanding of the role makes him a top centre forward.”

With the win moving us up the table and some nine points clear of Fulham having brought to an end a losing run that had gone for three games, two of which were in front, and Dyche said: “There has to be a story somewhere, and we’ve been a part of that, good, bad or indifferent. The mentality has remained steadfast though because we believe in what we do.

“It was a very good all round performance and we earned win. Woody will get the accolades and rightly so for a dominant centre forward’s display, but there were so many good performances all over the pitch. From the get go we stepped on, played on the front foot and with real quality.

“It’s difficult to talk about performance levels when you don’t win but I did say before the game that our performance levels have been very strong. There have been a couple of question marks against us, and a couple of minor details have cost us, but today we corrected the details and at both ends of the pitch we were right on it.

“It’s hard in the Premier League and we’ve had a season full of injuries and challenges, but the players just keep going. It’s not just about work ethic though. Sometimes that gets labelled at us, and I’ll have that all day by the way, but we also have some talent and that  was on show again today.”

Follow UpTheClarets:

Share this page :