Villa host Wolves whilst Joao Gomes and Ezri Konsa impress on International stage

National World - LocalTV

A look at the two clubs.

Transcript

00:00 Charlie, let's start with Wolves and a specific player for them in their midfielder, you know,

00:07 touted as Ruben Evers' replacement when he came in in the summer.

00:11 I mean, João Gomes, the Brazilian youngster, a lot of noise around him when he came into the club,

00:16 but he's gone around his life at Wolves fantastically well, maturing into such a fantastic player.

00:21 And we saw him on the international stage at Wembley against England, making his Brazilian debut.

00:27 How do you feel he did in that and how do you feel he's done as a whole this season for Wolves?

00:32 Yeah, it's a fantastic moment for Gomes, who, of course, has improved so much this season.

00:36 I think to start with, he was a little bit shaky and there's a lot of mistakes in him,

00:41 but things have improved so much since then, becoming such an all-rounded player and working so hard for the team.

00:46 He's not that young at 23, so he's not exactly that much of a raw talent.

00:50 But in terms of his Premier League experience, he wasn't there before he came to Wolves.

00:53 Now it's starting to show and getting on that Brazilian stage as well.

00:57 It might have come as a slight surprise to him to be starting that game, but he did a fantastic job.

01:01 Of course, Brazil running out 1-0 victors against England.

01:04 Gomes was that man in the middle who was just breaking up the play and allowing those in and around him to push on forward.

01:11 I think he had a total of eight or nine in the end of defensive contributions,

01:16 which includes the likes of tackles and interceptions and clearances,

01:19 which shows he's not just that player who can progress attacks, but also sweep up when needed as well.

01:24 We've seen that so much with Wolves this season.

01:26 So, a fantastic performance from him. Let's just hope he can keep going in that Brazil team.

01:31 And obviously in that same match, Ezri Cança moving to Villa, it was quite a West Midlands-based game in terms of those two.

01:40 How did he get on for England, making his first appearance as well?

01:44 It was quite an achievement for him as well.

01:47 It was brilliant for Ezri Cança. He was called up for November internationals, but didn't get to play, unfortunately.

01:53 This time around, he said he was shocked he managed to play, but he did indeed get 70 minutes on the field,

01:59 helped by Kyle Walker getting injured, went off with a hamstring problem.

02:03 Whether or not Cança would have come on or not awaits to be seen. We'll never find out, actually.

02:08 He came on, he looked solid. It's a very difficult job up against the likes of Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo,

02:14 and of course Hendrik, who came on. He did score the winning goal, Hendrik, the 17-year-old,

02:18 the youngest ever goal scorer in international football at Wembley.

02:21 But that wasn't Cança's fault. Cança did everything he could to defend against Vinicius in particular.

02:27 He swept up very well, made a few interceptions and tackles, and it didn't look like the international stage was too big for him at all.

02:34 It looked pretty natural. Considering this is his debut, you wouldn't have thought that, really, watching that performance.

02:39 So, very impressive from him, and giving Gareth Southgate something to think about ahead of the Euros.

02:44 And obviously, fittingly to our combination of Villa and Wolves, they face each other in their next Premier League game at Villa Park.

02:52 A massive occasion for these two sides. They've had some fantastic games in recent years.

02:57 It's always a bit of bragging rights as well. How can you see this one playing out?

03:01 It's going to be a fantastic occasion once again, those bragging rights, as you mentioned.

03:06 There's never really that much between the two teams, at least when I've been covering them.

03:11 Vital as well for Villa, maybe not so vital for Wolves. Could that have an impact?

03:16 Of course, being at Villa Park, it's been such a fortress this season.

03:20 That said, in recent games, it hasn't been as much of a fortress.

03:23 Things have swinged a little bit from home to away. Can they get Villa Park going again?

03:29 It would be good to do that against their local rivals.

03:32 Wolves, of course, if they can win this game, then the conversation about Europe will really start pressing on.

03:37 So they'll have a point to prove as well. So it's not exactly all in Villa's favour there.

03:41 But I'm very excited for it. I think it will be a very open game.

03:46 Both teams going for it, wanting to get those bragging rights. Could see quite a few goals.

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