Wolves legend Dave Edwards hailed the impact of Emmanuel Agbadou, both in and out of possession, on the Wolves Unpacked podcast recently, with the defender approaching his return to action.
The 27-year-old joined the Old Gold from Stade Reims in January and played every minute of his first six matches with the club – four in the Premier League, two in the Emirates FA Cup – before a minor hamstring injury picked up at Liverpool in mid-February momentarily delayed his momentum.
The Ivory Coast international began his Wolves career on the left of a back three, and against title-chasing Arsenal he stood out, both defensively and on the ball. While handling the attacking threat of Gabriel Martinelli, and top scoring for tackles on the pitch, Agbadou displayed an attacking facet to his game, which he could bring to Wolves. His 23 forward passes were ten more than anyone else on the pitch.
It gave Vitor Pereira food for thought, with Wolves still losing the game and Aston Villa coming to Molineux next. The return of Toti, a natural left-sided defender, saw Agbadou slide across into the middle of a back three, with Matt Doherty flanking on the right. It’s a role so popular at Molineux, deriving the days of Conor Coady, and Agbadou’s Player of the Match performance in the 2-0 victory hinted at the rebirth of a defensive anchor with a role to play in possession at Wolves.
Speaking on Wolves Unpacked, Edwards said: “In honesty, when we first signed Agbadou and he was in the team against Bristol City, I thought he’d be in the team more for his defensive capabilities, how quick he was, how strong he was, his reading of the game. I possibly thought there might be a mistake there, and his passing might be a bit erratic, but I’ve been so wrong, more so since he went into the middle of a back three. The way he controls the ball and controls attacks for Wolves is very important.
“We speak about Conor Coady, what he was like, how he started attacks for Wolves. Santi Bueno, I think that’s why he’s played the central role, because of how good he is on the ball, but Agbadou has brought another dimension to it in a really positive way. He knows he can kick the ball a long way, he’s been seen to take goal kicks and big diagonals, but it's more the calmness he’s shown and the progressive nature of his passes.
“It’s so easy for a central centre back in a back three to pass to Matt Doherty, or Toti, or Jose Sa, and get it back, to be safe, and in turn that will bring the opposition’s press towards you. It will make things a little bit more nervous and we saw this quite a lot at the start of the season, we weren’t really getting anywhere with the ball and it would end up back with the goalkeeper or one of our defenders in a deeper position and we ended up having to clear or, worse, losing the ball deep, trying to overplay.
Enjoy some Emmanuel Agbadou 🍿 pic.twitter.com/sxJvUgdDbH
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 11, 2025
“For me, it’s obvious when Agbadou gets the ball, he’s looking for that forward pass and because he’s able to do it, and has been successful, and the effect that has on the opposition’s forward line is massive. They don’t want to press too early and open up because they know Agbadou can find Andre or Joao Gomes, he can find [Matheus] Cunha, [Jean-Ricner] Bellegarde or [Goncalo] Guedes, and that’s the worst situation for the opposition. He’s patient, he’ll stand on the ball, he waits for an opposition player to move, and he’ll pick it.”
Although Wolves lost at Anfield a fortnight later, more disappointing for the weeks to follow was the injury Agbadou suffered when challenging former Old Gold man Diogo Jota on 61 minutes. What had come before that moment, which was originally given as a penalty before VAR cleared the defender’s name, was thoroughly impressive.
In one hour away to the league leaders Agbadou completed ten of his 13 forward passes. That positive display took the defender’s metres per successful pass average for the season to 14.1m. In comparison, his opposite number that afternoon on Merseyside Virgil van Dijk has averaged 10.9m. As expected, the Liverpool captain completes more passes per 90 minutes, therefore gains more territory that way, but only the creative pairing of Tommy Doyle and Pablo Sarabia have gained more successful passing territory for Wolves than Agbadou this term. These stats display the instant impact the defender has had on Pereira's side, according to Edwards.
He said: “I watched the [Liverpool] game back two or three times, and there were so many occasions he made a forward pass, and difficult forward passes, where you’re able to break a line, getting past [Luis] Diaz, [Diogo] Jota and [Mohamed] Salah. He did it with clever passes to Toti who moved ahead, he did it to [Rayan] Ait-Nouri, he fired it into Cunha, finding the attacking midfielders in space, knowing where that pass is. It makes us look more secure at the back, because we’re not panicking, and we’re getting a lot more success from attacks by the way he plays.
“Whilst it’s only a yard or two more [than the other defenders], over the course of hundreds of passes, it’s a lot. That shows his intent when he gets the ball – can I start an attack? Can I move the ball forward? I’ve been really surprised with the manner he’s been able to do it, and it has such a positive effect on the team, because we want to get our best players on the ball in good areas.”
A captain during his time at Reim, for whom he represented five shy of 100 times, Agbadou has a lot to his game. His return to fitness will be timely for Pereira, whose side a facing the Premier League run-in head on, with 11 games left to secure top flight football at Molineux for a seventh straight season.
