Pace and power

[Starsky]

Seriously, how many times do we need this point rammed down our throat at Palace?

You cannot thrive in this division with a squad lacking in the basic physical attributes,however good you may be technically.

We have next to none and we will go down irrespective of who comes in.

The bent carousel has delivered a squad that belongs in La Liga not the PL - at an utterly ridiculous cost - and I think it's the end of the road this season.

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

I’m convinced Palace have beaten us with pace, power and skill more or less each time I’ve been to SP for circa 15 years.

 

[JOSWolf]

Most sides we play seem to be bigger, stronger, quicker, play with more intensity and fitter than we are, which says it all.

 

[Polish Wolf]

As long as we had both Traores and Nunes on the pitch, we actually were not that bad in this aspect. Palace are one of the most physical sides in the league and they hardly were all over us up until that point. Once you throw Hodge, Moutinho and the lightweight Guedes in, it's a different matter.

(That said I like the look of Hodge, he's going to be a very decent footballer, he can at least play a good ball at a high tempo)

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Most sides we play seem to be bigger, stronger, quicker, play with more intensity and fitter than we are, which says it all.

Since when? Roughly start of last season? So, approximately since Nuno left. Funny that.

 

[Rhyl Wolf]

Was fairly impressed with Palace to be honest. Every time they thrust forward they looked dangerous. That's the best I seen Zaha play for some time. I know, I know, he's a little cheater, but credit where it's due, on his day (like tonight) he can be unplayable. Until the manager is resolved, not going to comment much on Wolves at present. We don't look as fit as the opposition. That's a huge concern.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

First half Semedo had the better of Zaha, God knows what happened to him in the second half.

Generally though yes, we were fine with Traore B. and Nunes. Effectively I think we tried to go from 4231 to 433 and hoped Mouts, Neves and Hodge could hold the midfield, but they didn't, not even close.

 

[JayStringer]

First half Semedo had the better of Zaha, God knows what happened to him in the second half.

Generally though yes, we were fine with Traore B. and Nunes. Effectively I think we tried to go from 4231 to 433 and hoped Mouts, Neves and Hodge could hold the midfield, but they didn't, not even close.

In fairness both Hodge and Moutinho played well. But I agree the switch to 433 didn't work. It was aimed to wide the middle and cut out the chances for Palace to get in behind, but Zaha is what Adama COULD be, unplayable when he turns it on.

 

[VancouverWolf]

Not sure what the point of this thread is……..isn’t it just a Palace verdict post?

 

[AndyY]

Was fairly impressed with Palace to be honest. Every time they thrust forward they looked dangerous. That's the best I seen Zaha play for some time. I know, I know, he's a little cheater, but credit where it's due, on his day (like tonight) he can be unplayable. Until the manager is resolved, not going to comment much on Wolves at present. We don't look as fit as the opposition. That's a huge concern.

Play Zaha for us, instead of Podence, and we win

 

[Dan G WWFC]

Since when? Roughly start of last season? So, approximately since Nuno left. Funny that.

Last season with Nuno we as a team was miles behind everyone else for every analytical stat that you could use for running and intensity.

 

[Jonzy54]

Since when? Roughly start of last season? So, approximately since Nuno left. Funny that.

We lack physicality and other than the odd exception we don’t have genuine pace .When I look at the highlights of the U18 and U23 matches we seem to have a conveyor belt of 5’10 size players and rarely do we seem to produce ones with much physicality ..Obviously there are exceptions but we don’t produce many .

 

[sillytuna]

We lack physicality and other than the odd exception we don’t have genuine pace .When I look at the highlights of the U18 and U23 matches we seem to have a conveyor belt of 5’10 size players and rarely do we seem to produce ones with much physicality ..Obviously there are exceptions but we don’t produce many .

We don't buy it enough either. Podence and guedes are so lightweight. At least pod works hard but yesterday showed why we need to mix it up more.

Both traore's gave us some beef (and nunes not bad) but moutinho, hodge and guedes doesn't work at all in that kind if game.

 

[theweave]

I’m convinced Palace have beaten us with pace, power and skill more or less each time I’ve been to SP for circa 15 years.

Not sure they did last night. Their 2 goals came from 2 very poor defensive mistakes.

 

[Jonzy54]

We don't buy it enough either. Podence and guedes are so lightweight. At least pod works hard but yesterday showed why we need to mix it up more.

Both traore's gave us some beef (and nunes not bad) but moutinho, hodge and guedes doesn't work at all in that kind if game.

I remember going to an FA Youth Cup match against Reading a few years back .When the teams came out we looked like pygmies compared to them and they walked all over us with pace,power and physicality.
I accept having skill is a prerequisite but there are periods in games when you have to dig in and compete and we rarely do .
I remember doing a Walsall Minor League game a few years back where the players had to be U14. This one lad was about 6’4 and weighed around 13 stones.He stood out like a beacon and towered about the opposition and scored at least 6 goals .He had facial hair and was a giant in comparison.The opposition Manager was constantly complaining and even came in to to my room to query why someone so big was allowed to play but what could I do if they had included him on their team sheet? He was just a freak of nature .

 

[wwbug]

Not sure what the point of this thread is……..isn’t it just a Palace verdict post?

It’s pointing out one of our three fundamental weaknesses .
Goals scorers , physicality and football experience.
All left unaddressed for too long.

 

[Direwolf]

Weird but when I watch palace against other teams they never play as well as when they play against us. They barely gave the ball away yesterday and were inventive in the final third. Perhaps that is exacerbated by the fact that our penalty box always looks sparse with players defending the ball while theirs looked choc a bloc.

 

[crocos]

I don't disagree with the points here - but this is Palarse. They always do us one - I really can't remember the last time we had the better of them.

It was like this all thru the 90s from memory too.

For me, they're as big a pain and as guaranteed a "nul points" as Huddersfield always have been too.

 

[Bacon Sandwich]

It's a sad fact, but you cannot coach bottle.
Players either have it or they don't, and too many of ours don't.
As @Starsky says, we have a squad that would probably qualify for Europe in La Liga or the Portuguese league. How in God's name our all-but-DoF hasn't noticed that I have no idea.

 

[Jd132]

This is exactly right and is my biggest bug bear currently. Yes, the PL has changed a bit but you still need some real physical specimens to allow others to shine. We now have no central midfielders over 6' when other teams have giants in there (think Rice, Rodri, Fabinho et al).

If I ever see Moutinho, Podence and Jonny in the same team, I know we are in trouble because none of them have any pace, power or height. I actually hate them all now- for me they represent everything that is wrong at the club.

I know people didn't rate him but having 6'2" Dendoncker coming off the bench instead of Hodge or Moutinho would have helped massively yesterday and he only sits on the bench for Villa anyway!

I don't understand how Boubacar can be fatigued- he's 21 and should be raring to go. Steve- how about we work on his fitness yeah, to help this lad who should be fit as a butchers dog get through 90 minutes? Is it rocket science? Frankly, lets get them all playing murder ball for a few weeks until they can actually run around for 90 minutes.

We missed a trick on Palhinha as well. 6'3" in front of our CBs would have been perfect. Stop Neves doing water carrying that he isn't cut out for anyway and ****ing stop ********* like Eze and Zaha running through our midfield like it isn't there! But no- height and power and aggression isn't the Wolves way.

And that is why we are where we are.

 

[Adrian_Monk]

I think this was painfully obvious - we have a small squad of very similar, slight, technical players who lack pace. More Traore's would certainly give the squad the ability to mix things up - we currently only play one way, period, and are chronically easy to play against

 

[Elokobi Wan]

We did not play badly at all. Palace fans seem to agree. And we were more attack-minded than usual.

But we are lacking something major and I'm not sure it's as simple as saying it's a striker. I would put it down to a lack of incisiveness - the strength and bravery to get in the box as much as possible and knowing when to shoot rather than trying the killer pass. Sometimes we seem to just refuse to shoot. Or we dither until the chance has passed, and it passes in a split second. Trickery helps but it's a mental strength too.

Costa has the killer instinct. You can see it. Hopefully it filters through to the others around him. It's a morale thing now and you can see players so desperate that they almost psych themselves out. We need some strong leadership, coaching (and possibly sports psychology) to sort this out, but don't ask me how.

 

[westside wolf]

First half Semedo had the better of Zaha, God knows what happened to him in the second half.

Generally though yes, we were fine with Traore B. and Nunes. Effectively I think we tried to go from 4231 to 433 and hoped Mouts, Neves and Hodge could hold the midfield, but they didn't, not even close.

Semedo is fitness I think. In the first half, he wasn't letting Zaha even turn. As his energy levels dropped off he was always arriving a split second later, by which time Zaha had turned. Any defender is in trouble at that point.

 

[AndyY]

Weird but when I watch palace against other teams they never play as well as when they play against us. They barely gave the ball away yesterday and were inventive in the final third. Perhaps that is exacerbated by the fact that our penalty box always looks sparse with players defending the ball while theirs looked choc a bloc.

We allowed them to play well in the second half.
The “3 person attempt at stopping Zaha” was just typical of that!

 

[Andywolf74]

I wouldn't mind so much if our technical players were better at retaining possession or taking players on. As many observed last night, the gap between midfield and defence in the second half was being exploited by Palace, coupled with their physical presence and pace, which was even more noticeable once Adama was subbed. Don't forget that Palace under Hodgson were a very cautious, low scoring side like which Viera's changed within a short time frame, without spending a fortune.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Play Zaha for us, instead of Podence, and we win

Wouldn't we just dream of a forward line of Zaha, Edouward, Eze and Olise? We are a million miles from that right now and until we get serious quality up top we are in a serious relegation scrap.