One To Watch: Dominic Iorfa

Wolves away is one of the big fixtures of the season for our fans. I know many of you will have looked out for this fixture and secured tickets as soon as they were on sale. The game isn’t going to be good just because it is a derby, it will be good because it is two attacking teams that have no love lost for each other.

A derby game is usually won by which team can use their aggression in the right way. This would be by winning tackles and going in hard for every second ball rather than niggly little fouls or even worse, having 10 men on the field. So I was going to choose a midfielder in order to be my one to watch and they usually have the most influence in derby games.

However, I feel this game will be different. Both teams like to get the ball down and play football. Yes, tackles will fly in and you can guarantee a few players names will be scribbled into the referees notebook, but I have focused my one to watch on the player that has really impressed me for Wolves this season and a young lad who could potentially win it or lose it for them. Therefore, I have chosen Dominic Iorfa.

The 20 year old has been at the club for the past 5 seasons and therefore he knows what it means to play under the ethos that Wolves try and encourage. He also has built relationships up with players around him. But the thing that will give him an advantage is his attitude. In order to make it in professional football, you have to work hard and he has done this which has been rewarded by securing a starting role at full back.

32 appearances he has made in the league so far which is admirable for such a young player. In that time he has made 91 clearances, 8 blocks, 38 fouls and received 7 yellow cards. He certainly gets himself involved in the game which is good to see if you’re a Wolves fan.

The thing that actually makes him good as an attacking threat is actually his bizarre running style. It sounds odd for me to say this, but just watch out for it tomorrow and you will know what I mean. He has a really long stride length for starters, which allows him to be pacey up and down the wing. He also looks very awkward, like a baby giraffe trying to walk but this is an advantage for himself. His legs are all over the place and therefore it is very unpredictable about where he is going next. He will give our fullbacks the run around by his sheer clumsiness.

He also has a very good cross on him which needs to be cut out if at all possible. They often find the target of a Wolves player and therefore we need the wingers to constantly track back or it will be a torrid afternoon. In terms of how well Dominic Iorfa defends, I am afraid to say, he is also quite good at this too. He times his tackles quite well on most occasions and he does like to put in a foot when at all possible.

It was a very easy decision to choose him as my one to watch and we really have to be on our toes in order to prevent him getting the ball. He needs to be slowed down because if he has space in front of him, he will exploit it.