Do Wolves have what it takes to remain in the Premier League?

A look at the factors that could see Wolves stay up.

Transcript

00:00So, Charlie, starting with Wolves and obviously a bit of a running now, halfway through the

00:05season, the games come thick and fast and there's not really much time to sort of shore

00:10up and make sure you are avoiding the drop zone. I mean, so many tough games to come,

00:15some winnable games in there as well. But in terms of Wolves, you know, obviously they've

00:20made one January edition so far. What do you sort of feel the overriding factors that they

00:26need to ensure that Vito Pereira and his players are, you know, in the Premier League

00:31next season?

00:32I think it's the clear and obvious one, really. It's just the defence and shoring that up.

00:37First half of the season, no team conceded more goals than Wolves and obviously they

00:40had that outrageously difficult start, but they've now played everyone in the division.

00:45So you can't be moaning about that too much anymore. They've had the chance to make amends

00:48for that and they've still been conceding goals, especially in the final days under

00:52Gary O'Neill. That defeat away at Everton was just horrendous for that aspect. I'm surprised

00:57he made it past that game for a few other fixtures. Obviously under Vito Pereira, things

01:02have improved slightly. The Nottingham Forest 3-0 defeat was a difficult night at Molineux

01:07in fairness, but Wolves did play fairly well in the tack. They didn't have to shore up

01:12defensively as I mentioned. The signing of Emmanuel Agbadoo I think will make a massive

01:16difference. Obviously away at Bristol City in the FA Cup, had a fairly good performance

01:21there. Wolves did concede one goal, but just the one. I'd like to see how he does in the

01:25Premier League, but a very physical defender, got a bit of pace as well, decent height.

01:30That's what Wolves have needed really. Since the injury for Jose Mosquera, he seemed to

01:35be that figure that could step in and sweep in behind and win lots of headers. Him having

01:40that season-ending injury really crumbled Wolves in defence. So hopefully Agbadoo can

01:44come in and perform that kind of role. It just makes such a difference, especially when

01:48you've got a back-three system as well. So as I say, I think the defence is the main

01:52aspect to stay up.

01:54Looking at specifically the goalkeeper situation, I mean Jose Sarr seems a lot more settled

02:00now as well. Gary O'Neill went through Sam Johnston and Jose Sarr chopping and changing

02:06consistently. It wasn't really anything that sides that are going to be remaining in the

02:12Premier League need. They need some stability at the back as you mentioned. I mean it's

02:16obviously quite an ageing defence as well. But if you look at Jose Sarr, he looks fairly

02:21settled under the new coach. Hopefully he can get back to his best because he has had

02:25some amazing moments in a Wolves shirt.

02:26Yeah, it was a really strange moment at the start of the season, wasn't it, when Sam Johnston

02:31came in and you think, oh, does that mean Jose Sarr's time is kind of over as the number

02:36one? For a period it was under Gary O'Neill, but he seems to have regained his spot under

02:40Vito Pereira. I think it's quite healthy to have that competition because there were a

02:44lot of mistakes creeping into Sarr's game and now he looks to have improved again, especially

02:49with his distribution. That's one area that Wolves have really struggled with under pressure.

02:53Teams pressing high. It happens more and more in modern football. Wolves seem to sort that

02:57out and they seem to be doing so. And I think Agba do in front of them as well. A decent

03:00ball-playing defender should help them out.