Wolves in Marbella: Liam Keen and Nathan Judah's early training thoughts

Express & Star

Transcript

00:00Hello I'm Nathan Judah, that is Wolverhampton Wonders reporter Mr. Liam Keen and we are

00:15back baby. Another season and we've left Wolverhampton, we've come to slightly sunnier parts and we

00:23are in beautiful Marbella, Spain. We have just watched our first session, Mr. Gary O'Neill

00:28putting the squad through their paces and I thought it all looked pretty good actually

00:33on the pitch. Yeah I mean Gary came over and said hello to us and our bosses will be delighted

00:37to hear that he said. He's already said more to us than Lopetegui said last year, let's

00:42be honest, he didn't get hello. He said that our bosses are very good to us for paying

00:46to take us out here. Of course our sponsors Ronin are helping with that. Thank you very

00:50much Ronin absolutely. But yeah great to have a very brief chat with Gary, a couple of the

00:54backroom staff and then watch the training session. Yeah it was really good, considering

00:59the weather, I mean it is, you can tell from the video I'm sure, without feeling it. They

01:03can't because you're still white, you're like Casper. Yeah that's not going to change. It

01:07is roasting, it is hot. It is Diogo. It is, it is Jota. As they normally do with pre-season

01:17trips, they'll do double sessions during the day but avoid the hottest period of the day

01:21which would be midday, 1-2ish in the afternoon. You definitely want to avoid that considering

01:27how hot it is now. I mean they've still trained here in probably 28 degree heat even though

01:30it's the morning session. It might have been more than that to be honest. So yeah, morning

01:34session, they'll have another one later tonight before dinner. And that'll be both days, split

01:3910am, 5pm and normally if they're doing double sessions a day that'll be what it is. Or every

01:43day aside from I'm sure they'll be giving a day off here and there as well. So yeah

01:47a lot of it was, because it was only an hour, an hour and ten roughly, there's only so much

01:51you can get into that. So there's a lot of camaraderie building, bringing the new lads

01:55into the squad, letting everyone fit in. And then it's very much quick, fast paced work.

02:00So a lot of short passing drills to start, then it moved into set piece work on the other

02:06pitch over there, on this pitch here. Doing a lot of full pitch 11, working through the

02:11third. And Gary and his coaches are very very involved on the pitch. If a ball goes

02:17out of play all of a sudden a ball's thrown into play, very much involved, carried the

02:21whistle around with him the whole time. He's very loud and very hands on. So yeah it was

02:26a good session, we saw all the new lads and the vast majority of the squad apart from

02:31a couple of omissions. Yeah I mean look, they've only just returned to pre-season so I was

02:34actually quite pleasantly surprised that it was very much part of a game tactics here.

02:39We got to see formations, we got to see how Gary O'Neill wants to operate, we got to see

02:43the three new signings, well four if you include Tommy Doyle, but the three new signings. What

02:48did you make of them and where were they playing? Because obviously a lot of fans want to know

02:52what you've seen, how did they look, what side were they playing, what position are

02:55they in? I mean look it's very early days of course and there's certain players who

02:58aren't here yet who are going to be joining up with the team in the United States, a lot

03:01of Portuguese guys. But at this moment in time, what did you make of let's say the three

03:05new players to start with?

03:07Pedro Lima, as expected, out on the right-hand side, wing-back, right-back positions. I think

03:12he's going to need a little bit of work in terms of filling out but he has only just

03:15turned 18, not particularly massive physically but he is quick, good on the ball, really

03:23really forward thinking as well. So yeah I think he looks quite an exciting prospect

03:27once he gets the opportunity to get used to Premier League football. So I think he needs

03:30a little bit of patience but definitely looks like a good player. I'll come back to Rodrigo

03:34at the end, slightly more interest like that. But we had Jorgen Straten Larsson, obviously

03:39playing as number 9, he is the number 9. Big boy. Big lad, 6 foot 4, huge. But really good

03:45with his feet, technical, running in behind, didn't look slow. Sometimes you see big strikers

03:50and they almost go through the motions a little bit and he didn't look like that, someone

03:54who was getting in behind, someone who was a willing runner as well as someone to hold

03:57the ball up. But a lot of the drills they were doing were very much running in behind,

04:01in between the thirds, triangles out wide, trying to get crosses in. So it was some really

04:07good finishes, I think he looks like a really handy player. And Rodrigo Gomez, he can play

04:11either wing, he can play either flank. He did play a lot last season on the right and

04:15he was actually lining up on the left here with Bellegarde on the right. Sometimes wing

04:20back, sometimes forward, they were sort of testing different formations out, 4s and 5s.

04:25Very similar to last season really where Wolves play very much a hybrid system depending on

04:29whether they're in possession or out of possession. So maybe a small surprise to see him out on

04:34the left, not the right, but he is versatile, he can play on either side. And I think clearly

04:38they see Bellegarde as maybe out on his right side for the time being. So yeah, definitely

04:43plenty to see in just a first hour session.

04:46And this is the perfect time to test these things out, test these theories out, can he

04:52make it in from the left, is he going to be a right-handed player, is he going to be a

04:55right-midfielder, right-forward, is he going to be a bit more defensively because he's

04:58played right wing back at times. So this is the time to try it out and I actually thought

05:02that everyone looked pretty strong.

05:04And Gary said this himself publicly last season that he likes sort of inverted wide players.

05:10So having Gomez out on the left as a right footer is potentially where he sees him moving

05:17forward because he's spoken about having Dock out on the wrong side a couple of times previously

05:23last season when they had injuries. So yeah, it was a worthwhile session for us to come

05:28down and watch, especially on the first full day in Marbella. It's good to see the team

05:32back in action.

05:33Yeah, just a word on maybe a surprise potentially to some who was here and plays that aren't.

05:38So Daniel Pudente is here, Gonzalo Guedes and Fabio Silva are not.

05:43Correct. Fabio Silva and Guedes, it won't come as a surprise that the chances are, provided

05:50their move can be found, that they will leave the club. I think permanent deals would be

05:54something of a preference for all parties, but whether that is reality or not, with the

05:58money the Wolves will want to recoup, considering they spent 62 and a half million combined

06:02on these two players, it will be one to certainly watch.

06:05But yeah, as it stands, certainly not part of the plans here. Strange things have happened.

06:11We'll see how the next rest of preseason goes, but that is state of play. At the moment,

06:16we've got Pudente mentioned who is here. A little bit of a surprise to see him here,

06:19I think, to be honest, considering that it's been pretty clear his future lies away from

06:24Wolves. It's a never-say-never scenario, probably, with him, but his long-term future

06:28is very likely still not going to be at Wolves. He's made it pretty clear that he wants to

06:33stay in Greece or at least make a different move elsewhere. I think it's likely he doesn't

06:37stay, but we were talking about it here. If the player goes in, has a word with Gary,

06:41says he wants to be here, you never know. So I think it's one to keep an eye on again.

06:44I mean, fans and journalists as well will look at last season and say, if Daniel Pudente

06:50was here, he would have played a lot of games, a lot of forward positions, a lot of injuries.

06:55If he was fully fit, then he would have probably potentially made the difference in a couple

06:58of big games. However, you've got to read what Gary O'Neill says, and he's spoken about

07:04it last season, saying he's only going to have players who want to be here. I guess

07:08we'll work that out, and he'll work that out sooner rather than later, especially on this

07:11camp.

07:12Well, and the perfect example of that is Fabio Silva, just as the season was ending, coming

07:17out in an interview publicly and saying, I don't want to be at Wolves, making it very,

07:20very clear. And that's his prerogative, and that's fine, and that's the same with any

07:24other player that makes a decision about their future. And it's Gary's prerogative to not

07:28have that player on the squad. So that's the reason why those two aren't here.

07:31It's all about the group. That's the most important thing for Gary.

07:33Exactly. It's all about the culture. It's the phrase that he uses consistently. So that's

07:36going to be an interesting one with Pudente, because, I mean, we've said it publicly, it's

07:40been pretty public knowledge that he's not always the easiest person to work with. I

07:43think he can be a little bit spiky at times. So I think it depends really, in many ways,

07:49what the player wants. If he wants to stay, I think Gary may be able to find a place for

07:53him. Again, there'll be tactical reasons why Gary may or may not want him as well. But

07:57certainly given, at the very least, an opportunity because he's here, despite the fact it's still

08:01unlikely that he probably moves on.

08:03I'm a little bit worried that Daniel Pudente's here.

08:04You don't like him that he moves on. Carry on.

08:05I'm a little bit worried that he's here.

08:06Why's that?

08:07Because there's a pre-season game behind closed doors against Como on Monday, and we all remember

08:11what the Battle of Benidorm was. We don't want any scraps.

08:13Battle of Benidorm.

08:14We don't want any more scraps.

08:15And Mosquera's here as well.

08:16I know, of course. It's all going to kick off.

08:17What was it down to nine already?

08:18Exactly. I mean, that was an unbelievable game to watch. Actually, just very quickly.

08:22You mentioned Mosquera there. Maybe just a little bit on him as well.

08:24Well, just before that, I just want to explain a couple of the other players that aren't

08:27around here, just because I know we've had a lot of questions about this. Sar, Samedo

08:30Neto, João Gomes and Lembekisa, all because of international reasons, played for their

08:35countries recently, won't be here until a little bit later. Joe Hodge, not here.

08:39When you say later, we're expecting USA.

08:41We're expecting USA, partway through USA as well, actually, for all of them. We've then

08:46got Joe Hodge, who is back at Compton. They're hoping to get him a loan move fairly quickly.

08:53And then we've got the final two, Enzo Gonzalez, Bubacar Traore, are both with Paraguay and

08:57Mali respectively at the Olympics. So that's why they're not here at the moment. And then

09:01you mentioned Mosquera. Yeah, we talk about players not wanting to be here. I don't for

09:05a second believe that he doesn't want to be here, but he did publicly say in interviews

09:08last season that he would like to stay in Spain. I think, and I said this at the time,

09:13I always felt it was a player, a young player, in an interview saying what he thought was

09:17the right thing to say for the people he was in front of in the interview.

09:20What people wanted to hear. Exactly, what people wanted to hear. If he has an opportunity

09:24to play for Wolves in the Premier League and be part of a great club in the best league

09:28in the world, he's not setting that down. So unless Wolves find a deal that they think

09:33is financially suitable to them, he won't be going anywhere. And Wolves are very clear

09:37that they want to keep him. Gary O'Neill wants to keep him, and he was a big part of

09:40the training session. So unless anything drastically changes, Mosquera will be part

09:44of the squad next season. A few eagle-eyed cherries asking about Hwang Hee-chan. It wasn't

09:47pictured he was doing individual work, but he has travelled, he is in Marbella. Great

09:51reference there by the way, eagle-eyed cherry, lovely.

09:53Look, we're going to be here all week. We've got so much coverage, we're going to be doing

09:58the podcast this afternoon, our first podcast. We're going to be doing four or five over

10:01the next few weeks, so we can't wait. It's great to be back. I know we've said it, I

10:05know we've plugged it, but if you haven't already, £2 to watch, to read, to listen

10:11to absolutely everything, all of our content. Look, it's not going to make us rich overnight,

10:16we're not seeing any of it, but we want you to be able to have all the content there at

10:20your fingertips. And look, it's ad-free, it's two quid, it's for this tour, it's for the

10:25USA tour, it's for the Diaries, for everything. It's a no-brainer right? Absolutely, and the

10:29ad-free thing is really important. I think we need to keep making people aware of that.

10:32No pop-ups, no ads, no nothing. You click onto the Switch to Plus on the website, it

10:37takes you to the completely ad-free website, which is very nice. It's 9p a day. Very nice

10:44to read. 6p a day. So yeah, definitely worth it, and we'll hopefully have you all along

10:47for the ride. Great stuff, we'll be back at training this evening and then we might, there's

10:51some sort of game tonight? Oh yeah, is it? Who's playing? Slovakia and Georgia. That'd

10:59be a good game actually, a decent game, a tacky game. At least see some goals. Come

11:03on England. Fingers crossed, let's see you there.

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