Crewe 1 Wolves 0 - A lot to smile about for both teams
The sun shone over a decent friendly outing, as League One Crewe defeated Premier League Wolves
Crewe Alexandra and Wolverhampton Wanderers played out a reasonably good quality friendly on a scorching day in Crewe on Saturday 17th July.
Before the game had even started, there was a lot to be happy about. The sun was out in force, fans were back at the Mornflake Stadium1 (I know, it’s weird calling it that), and Raul Jiminez was back on the pitch for Wolves for the first time since his horrible head injury against Arsenal last season.
What followed was a pre-season game with surprisingly good tempo and quality, despite a disjointed Wolves side adjusting to vast squad rotation and a very different tactical approach under new manager Bruno Lage.
The first half an hour passed with Wolves controlling the ball, but Crewe looking more threatening.
Wolves played a 442 shape, with the back four split high and wide in possession – forcing centre backs Max Kilman and Wily Boly to patrol huge areas of space. This expansive set-up is a big contrast to a blockier 343 or 352 favoured by Wolves under Nuno, and the team in gold looked to have teething difficulties.
Wolves’ central midfield and full backs struggled to offer for the ball, and were pressured with great effect by Crewe’s forward line and central midfield. The Railwaymen pounced on any bad touches or Wolves players looking uncomfortable with their backs to goal. In nicking the ball off Wolves in midfield areas, Crewe were quick to play direct passes to their pacy front three, who had bags of space to work with against Wolves spread back line. Both Owen Dale and Charlie Kirk got in behind Wolves’ backline in the first half an hour, while centre forward Chris Long was sharp running into the channels.
When Wolves were able to progress the ball, they focused play through central areas, looking for quick passing interchanges. Trincao cut inside well on the ball from the right, finding central pockets. Jiminez and Silva both dropped deep to link play, with these 3 players providing the main threat. Jiminez only lasted half an hour, a clear plan from the outset, but looked sharp and even hit the bar from a deflected free kick.
Jiminez was replaced by Patrick Cutrone who had the first half’s best chance. Smart central interplay from Wolves led to a through ball for Cutrone. Dave Richards came out from his line quickly to smartly smother Cutrone just as he shot.
The best tactical battle in the first half was on Crewe’s right and Wolves left. Rayan Ait-Nouri, nominally a left wing back, was playing left midfield2. By design he seemed more cautious than the freewheeling Trincao on the opposite flank, but Crewe made his life difficult. The speed of Owen Dale on the wing, and the hugely impressive outing of Southampton loanee Kayne Ramsay behind him, made Ait-Nouri and Wolves full back Marcal look ordinary. Both Wolves men struggled to get forward or defend with any conviction.
Half time brought 8 changes from Wolves but only 1 from Crewe. The second half stuttered out of the blocks with Wolves now playing a second team. Impressively, Crewe used this to their advantage, and upped the tempo of their set pieces and passing from the back. Crewe manager David Artell seems to seeks a higher tempo in pre-season than during the season itself, an interesting quirk that hopefully leads to match fitness coming more quickly for the Alex’s first teamers.
This high tempo led to Crewe’s winning goal. Chris Long made to game 1-0 after a quick Charlie Kirk short corner. Kirk and Ainley exchanged short passes, putting Kirk through to the byline in the box. Kirk smartly squared to Long, whose flicked finish looked composed and cheeky on first watch, and slightly fluky on replay. It capped a good outing for Long, whose directness on the ball is sharp contrast to Crewe’s other striking options who play a ‘target man’ role. Long was wasteful at times, but he looked lively throughout.
Long created Crewe’s only other big chance in the second half. After sub Joe Robbins won the ball pressing high from central midfield (something Crewe did better today than I can remember), Long was through on goal, and unselfishly squared to Olly Finney. Finney, whose feet got so tangled he accidently skinned the only defender blocking his way to goal, couldn’t unscramble his feet or brain, and allowed the keeper to save.
Wolves, meanwhile, will take some positives from their second half performance. Again playing 442, their build-up play was improved by the introduction of Owen Otasawie, whose willingness to take the ball deep in central midfield improved their play as time went on. Dadasov was a sparky addition to Wolves attack, buzzing around with Cutrone up top. The two combined for Wolves best chance in the second half. Cutrone shot well but Will Jaaskelainen saved smartly low down, to ensure both he and Dave Richards went home with clean sheets.
The only sour note was an injury to Crewe centre Don Daniels, who went off with 10 minutes left. Hopefully a precaution, Crewe weathered some decent Wolves pressure with ten men for the final moments.
Men of the match were Crewe’s right-hand side – Kayne Ramsay’s rangy dribbling and composed build up stood out, while Owen ‘Duracel’ Dale just never ran out of energy.
Energy was the key word for Crewe, while Wolves were clearly ironing out new personnel and tactics. Bruno Lage’s side look like they’ll be more expansive this term, and in Trincao and Jiminez, have two enormous talents to spearhead this.
Crewe’s impressive pressing and stamina look like a good base to build from, and hopefully hint at a tweaked approach off the ball.
They really should have gone for Mornflake Bowl. And no, I don’t care that our ground isn’t a bowl, go away.
For any Fantasy Premier League players out there, this is something to keep an eye on. Ait-Nouri didn’t look great today, but he could get some game time ‘out of position’ on the left wing as a £4.5m defender.