Fulham v Wolves match preview with Nathan Judah and Liam Keen

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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judo, I'm here with Mr. Liam Keane from Walthamstow Motors Report.

00:16Could have called you a lot worse.

00:18It seems like we've been here a while.

00:20I know, I know, it was a long press conference wasn't it?

00:22And it is absolutely Baltic.

00:24It's freezing over here.

00:26Walthamstow Motors is there, they're about to head to London.

00:29They might be flying, I don't know what they're doing these days.

00:31I don't care.

00:32Carbon footprint?

00:33I don't know, whatever.

00:34As long as I get three points, I don't really care.

00:36Like you say, look, Gary Neal's there.

00:38Let's talk about the team news first.

00:40I guess Santiago Bueno was the main issue, but I guess some potentially good news, would you say?

00:46Yeah, it depends how you read it.

00:48As far as we understand it, it's still kind of touch and go really for Santiago Bueno, whether he makes it or not.

00:52The fact he didn't play for Uruguay,

00:54you'll look at that and think negative, because he's clearly bothered by that injury.

00:58Positive, in the sense that he's not aggravated it potentially and hopefully can be available.

01:02Well he's trained as well, hasn't he?

01:04Yes, according to Gary Neal he's trained.

01:06I do wonder whether he's played a little bit of gamesmanship here with this one.

01:10It's a conspiracy theory.

01:12I could be reading into nothing here.

01:14But he did make a specific point of saying, I don't want to talk too much about,

01:19I don't want to give too much away about injuries.

01:21A follow-up question specifically about Santiago Bueno,

01:24asked about him and he said he's been on the grass and he's going to travel with the team

01:30and will hopefully be available.

01:32He is travelling to London now?

01:36I'm not saying he definitely won't play,

01:38but I don't think it's quite as cut and dry as Gary's making out.

01:41Understandably so, there's not a criticism.

01:43We obviously want the accurate information, but I understand why managers do it.

01:47A lot of them are way worse than Gary at it, by the way.

01:49He may be playing a little bit of games with Fulham there, Marcus Silva.

01:53But we're going to find out, come tomorrow afternoon.

01:57But one player that will be in the squad according to Gary is Hwang Hee Chan.

02:00We expect him to be back for this game and that's obviously good news.

02:03We would probably expect him from the bench.

02:05One of the first subs off the bench, I would imagine.

02:07But to have him back and available and if he gets anywhere near how good he is,

02:10he'll be a boost for Wolves.

02:12So in terms of, let's say Santiago Bueno doesn't play,

02:14do you feel like it will be a back three and he'll try and change it around

02:19and maybe play a Doc or Nelson Samedo or Mario Lamina?

02:23Or do you think it will be that back four?

02:25I think there'll be a temptation to play a five

02:27because Wolves have looked a lot more solid with that.

02:30I think Gary's trying to find the balance between keeping the attacking prowess

02:34and Mateus Kunja free and available and scoring goals

02:36while also not conceding as many as they have them,

02:38which has obviously been a major concern.

02:40I think the predicted team I've gone for could see it potentially being a four

02:44on the face of it with a better guard on the right who will tuck back in,

02:48you know, track back when defending to become a five

02:51with Samedo sort of tucking in next to Dawson

02:53as more of a sort of right-sided centre half.

02:56And then that gives 8-0 a bit of freedom on the left

02:58and allows Kunja to come more central and drift.

03:00I could see that being a potential game plan.

03:02That does lend itself to midfield three, which clearly hasn't worked recently.

03:06But Gary was also bigging up Andre when asked specifically about him, of course,

03:11in that press conference.

03:12I do wonder whether Andre might get recalled in a midfield three.

03:14So he's going to be big at some point in the near future,

03:16whether that be on Saturday or not remains to be seen.

03:18It's interesting.

03:19I thought Gary Neal made a good point as well about how well Fulham are doing this year.

03:22I mean, look, a win and they could go in the top three in the Premier League.

03:25So this isn't by any means a game,

03:28even though the schedule gets a little bit easier on paper

03:31where they should be going there and expecting to win.

03:33They're going to have to play very well to get any kind of points on Saturday.

03:36But you look at the quality they've got across those front three

03:39and obviously with Raul Jimenez leading the line.

03:40And if not, they've got Muniz to come on.

03:42On the wide players, they've got Adamo Traore.

03:44If things aren't working, Harry Wilson.

03:46Harry Wilson is obviously doing very, very well as well.

03:48So they've got substitutes that can really make an impact.

03:51If things aren't working, then they've got replacements who are as good,

03:54if not better sometimes, depending on how they're feeling.

03:56Wolves haven't quite got that, have they?

03:58They've got players who can do a job,

04:00but they haven't really shown that in terms of being out of form or slightly injured.

04:03They haven't got someone, and we've said this recently,

04:06knocking on the door as that first sub who's ready to come on,

04:08who's a nailed-on starter.

04:09Yeah, and that comes down to the conversation we've had a lot recently

04:12about that third attacking player taking that position.

04:15Whether it's a Belaguard, who I still think maybe is better suited more centrally,

04:18a Guedes who's been playing as a nine,

04:20a Rodrigo Gomez, a Forbes, a Huang.

04:22I think the answer to that question is Huang to come in.

04:26But the point still stands.

04:29Do you have a sort of like-for-like replacement that isn't 20, 21 years old

04:33and still getting used to the league?

04:35So as much as there are talented players who I think will do well in a Wolves shirt,

04:38it's clearly not happened quickly for these kind of players.

04:41So I think in time we will appreciate that depth,

04:44and as much as the players are there,

04:46clearly the experience and the Premier League-proven quality

04:51has been lacking a little bit.

04:53And that's going to be the biggest thing for Gary to fix, I think,

04:55alongside the defence, which of course he's starting to make inroads with

04:57and that first clean sheet against Southampton was important.

05:00But finding the balance there is going to be really key.

05:02Mateusz Kunia, as we say every week, is king.

05:06If Wolves, God forbid, lost him to an injury,

05:09it would be a massive, massive blow to this team.

05:11Absolutely, it would do.

05:13Look, big game. Score prediction?

05:15I'll stick with what I said on the poddy, 1-1.

05:17Tough game, Fulham are doing well,

05:19but I think if Wolves can be tight, make it frustrating,

05:22I think they can get something from the game.

05:23Get in, get out, like we are doing today, I'm going to say 1-1 as well.

05:26And hopefully beat Bournemouth next week.

05:28For all the build-up on this one, make sure you log on to Expressenstar.com.

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