Dave Edwards is Wolves’ most important player.

Yup, you read that right. The Welsh attacking midfielder, who divides opinion more than any other, and became known as Dangerous Dave for his goalscoring exploits last season, is the key to truly making Kenny Jackett’s side tick. How can that be?! I hear you ask – well it’s simple. It’s all about positioning.

Kenny Jackett started this season with his classic 4-2-3-1 formation. The midfield trio of Kevin McDonald, Lee Evans and Dave Edwards carried on where they left off last season, controlling the midfield and dominating teams like Cardiff, Norwich and Blackburn. Wolves’ early success was based on the three knowing their job and executing it to perfection. With Dave Edwards free to join up with attacks and arriving late in the box (like his goal against Norwich), he also often uses his extensive energy to track back and help out his midfield colleagues. This meant Kevin McDonald was able to focus on doing what he does best: sitting and protecting the back four, winning the ball back and starting attacks. A similar role to that which Michael Carrick was held in such high esteem for for so long. Lee Evans, alongside McDonald, was able to sit more centrally, not getting too involved at the back, and always be another option, an easier option, for McDonald or the other defenders. His ability to turn quickly and ping 50-yard balls to the wingers enabled Wolves to quickly turn the opposition.

So what’s gone wrong? In my eyes, the dropping of Dave Edwards has upset the balance of the midfield trio that controlled games, and has led to us being horribly exposed at times. It’s no coincidence, in my eyes, that in 3 of the 4 games that Edwards hasn’t started this season (Northampton, Reading and Huddersfield – Charlton being the other game not started), Wolves have conceded 3 goals in each game. And in all of them – particularly Reading and Huddersfield – Kenny Jackett’s midfield has looked overrun and open. Indeed the manager commented on such in his post-match interview after Wednesday night’s defeat (see video). Bringing in Yannick Sagbo last night (which in my mind was wrong, it was too early for him to start) and George Saville on Sunday, both in place of Edwards, meant that the duo of McDonald and Evans were shifted around too much. At Reading, Saville started as the attacking-midfielder, before Lee Evans switched to that role after only 15 minutes. Saville moved to the ‘sitting’ role that Evans occupied, but was largely anonymous as the game passed him by. With Saville dropping back into centeal-midfield, his natural instinct to tackle saw him dropping deeper and deeper. This meant Kevin McDonald had to move further forward to provide some form of link between the defensive-midfield and the attacking-midfield. The position of our three in midfield was suddenly all askew, and it cost us as time after time Reading played through the middle and put pressure on Batth and Stearman (both of whom played poorly).

Huddersfield last night was similar. With Sagbo in an unfamiliar attacking-midfield role, and often bursting forward to join attacks, Evans and McDonald had to get forward to provide some running from midfield and not leave the forwards adrift. This left us extremely open and Huddersfield just waltzed through time after time. I am sure if Edwards had been on the pitch, he most likely would have closed down Connor Coady’s wonder strike (which, incidentally, is one of the best goals I’ve seen at Molineux). But his presence would certainly have meant McDonald and Evans could’ve sat deeper than they did and deny the Terriers the space they used so well. One thing Edwards does have in his technical locker is a fantastic first touch, something that would have come in useful as all too often, poor first-touches were just another way of gifting Huddersfield possession – putting us under pressure. It also didn’t help that Batth seems frightened to tackle right now (the two penalties in succession holding him back maybe?) and that Stearman got bullied by Holt (sometimes too much), but still the problem came about because Wolves were overrun in midfield.

I’m not saying Dave Edwards is the best technical player in the world (that opening line was tongue in cheek, for anyone that didn’t get that). But I’m saying that, in a positional sense, his presence in the Wolves midfield three is vital to our style of play. I am positive that, if he comes back into the team on Saturday against Wigan, we will look a lot more solid as a team.