Wolves’ forward line remains their weak link, with the Icelandic forward epitomising the club’s problems in front of goal.
If you wanted to sum up Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s first season in English football with Wolverhampton Wanderers, a good place to start would be his astounding solo run against Liverpool.
Picking up a loose ball around 30 yards from goal in an inauspicious wide right position, the rangy forward shrugged off one, two, three challenges, wormed his way into the box only for Lucas’ last-ditch block to deny him an FA Cup wondergoal Ricky Villa himself would be proud to call his own.
Barnstorming, powerful, exciting and, ultimately, disappointing. Bodvarsson may be something of a cult hero among Molineux matchgoers thanks to his ambitious, driving runs and infamous Icelandic thunderclap but the fact he has scored just three goals all season paints a very different picture of the striker’s impact. Furthermore, only five players in the squad average more shots per game.
The 6ft 3ins forward, who signed for Wolves from German second division outfit Kaiserslautern just weeks after dumping England out of the European Championships with a country the size of Coventry, has started 20 times for Paul Lambert’s side this season, usually leading the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
And, although he could claim that he prefers playing on the right of the attack, his one-in-ten average perhaps goes someway to explaining why Wolves are just five points above the bottom three with one of the poorest goal tallies in the division.
Yet, the fact that Bodvarsson, outscored by full-back Matt Doherty, is starting at all reflects the lack of options at Paul Lambert’s disposal. Nouha Dicko has just one league goal since May 2015 while Paul Gladon has only played twice since arriving from the Eredivisie.
Bodvarsson may be popular among supporters, perhaps even something of a cult hero, but the club’s ambitious Chinese owners cannot realise their promotion ambitions without improving the forward line.
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