Liam Keen comment: Missed opportunities and brave decisions amid Wolves defeat

You have to go back to 2021 for the last time Wolves beat the Seagulls in the top flight and in the seven league games since then, Wolves have lost five of them.

Recent history was against Vitor Pereira's side, but their performance was well below par at the weekend as they lost 2-0.

Missed chances

With the game locked at 0-0 Wolves created two early chances and Goncalo Guedes wasted them both.

Aside from a moment Rayan Ait-Nouri created in the second half, and a long distance shot from Matheus Cunha, Guedes' chances were the closest Wolves came to laying a glove on Brighton.

Guedes being selected for the starting XI was a surprise and the 28-year-old did not take the opportunity awarded to him.

The reasoning from Pereira made sense but in hindsight Guedes was the wrong choice.

"We started with Guedes because in the last game, I realised that we cannot play with Cunha as a striker because he’s not a striker," Pereira said.

"He’s a player that likes to play between the lines, to come down to receive the ball. Missing, in my opinion against City, was the movement in the space.

"These are the typical movements that Guedes can give us.

"Larsen was not in the best condition.

"He’s a player that wants to play every time, wants to help the team, but what I’ve realised, is he’s not in the condition.

"I hope the injury will not be worse because I didn't see Larsen at his level. That’s why we started with Guedes.

"In the middle of the game we felt we couldn't create, so as a manager I looked to the bench to try different players with different skills, thinking that we can press them and force mistakes.

"But in the end the game was very open, very physical and they deserved to win.

"For us, we'll keep on our work to be better in the next game.

"We want to compete for the next six points, this is my focus."

Hwang Hee-chan is suffering with a knock and also out of form and without a suitable Larsen replacement a new striker becomes an area to target this summer.

Adding depth in the number 10 department either side of the striker will also be key, particularly with departures expected.

Big decisions

One thing no-one can accuse Pereira of being is afraid to make the big decisions.

From calling out Cunha's body language back in January to removing Mario Lemina and Craig Dawson from the picture, Pereira has been ruthless at the right times.

The head coach has been brave when it is necessary and he was not afraid to make the correct calls at the weekend.

Wolves started the second half poorly and were struggling for any forward momentum. Everything was rushed and frantic.

Something had to change and just before the hour mark Pereira made a quadruple substitution that saw Matt Doherty, Joao Gomes, Guedes and Cunha all come off and attacking changes come on.

In particular, taking Gomes and Cunha off in the 59th minute was a huge call and that bravery was almost rewarded after an improved spell for the team before they reverted back into their shell.

Similarly, Pereira was not scared to throw 17-year-old Mateus Mane into the action as he works on the future of this Wolves squad.

Fizzling out

The head coach was eager to use the final three fixtures as an opportunity to test his Wolves side against teams they should be competing against, but the Brighton clash went badly wrong.

Wolves now face Crystal Palace and Brentford before the campaign is up and it will be a marker of where the squad is at ahead of next season.

Brighton, Palace and Brentford are teams that Wolves should be in and around next season and with the right recruitment, and a better start to the campaign, they can achieve greater success.

But first, the squad need to take momentum into the summer and that means performing well in the last two games of 2024/25.

Palace will be coming off an FA Cup final - having either enjoyed one of their greatest ever days or a heartbreaking afternoon - while Brentford are fighting for Europe.

Wolves will need to find their own motivation to ensure the season does not fizzle out.