Personality

[Starsky]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

 

[Deleted member 7862Bler]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

The manager has no personality.

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

There are clearly big characters in this squad: Coady, Neves, Ruddy, Sa & Saiss to name a few stand outs.

But my main concern is there is no Ince, Curle, Muscat types (ok, maybe not the latter - I’m tired and struggling to think of leaders)… my point is though, when we go a goal down or concede I don’t see anyone snarling (like Ince in particular) to gee the others up and look like he’s going to run through walls.

You can see our tails go between our legs like a dog that’s been shouted at, Leeds was a prime example of this.

We need leaders on the pitch. Coady is clearly a top guy and no doubt great to have in the dressing room, but we need something a bit more out on the field.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Thankfully I think our problems don't run this deep.

We have no athleticism. We need Traore playing in attack. We need a midfielder who can get about (like Caicedo, Mwepu or Bissouma) and we need a centre-back who has pace.

When you can't physically compete, you get outplayed, which is what happened today.

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Thankfully I think our problems don't run this deep.

We have no athleticism. We need Traore playing in attack. We need a midfielder who can get about (like Caicedo, Mwepu or Bissouma) and we need a centre-back who has pace.

When you can't physically compete, you get outplayed, which is what happened today.

Good points.

I love Neves and Moutinho, and hope they both stay in the summer, but we need a ball carrier in midfield too to supplement them.

 

[Royal wolf]

Good points.

I love Neves and Moutinho, and hope they both stay in the summer, but we need a ball carrier in midfield too to supplement them.

We’ve needed this since 2018

 

[Hot Fuss]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

Yeh I remember the 4-0 defeat to Burnley last season, they fought to the death.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Quote from Bruno…

“The mentality is very good and that’s why I think what happened today, it was clear, but the players know they should do better and I know they should do better.

“I’m sad, I’m unhappy today because we didn’t play and for sure, we have important games in front of us and I will see which players want to continue to put the club in the different level.”

Well sorry Bruno, but if you watch that game and think “the mentality is very good” then I think we fans will question your mentality. I mean just read what he said and ask yourself does it make sense? For me that’s utter nonsense.

 

[KBWWFC]

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight

I remember them fighting in the BCD last season against the worst Albion side in years.

 

[Chiggy83]

Thankfully I think our problems don't run this deep.

We have no athleticism. We need Traore playing in attack. We need a midfielder who can get about (like Caicedo, Mwepu or Bissouma) and we need a centre-back who has pace.

When you can't physically compete, you get outplayed, which is what happened today.

Looking at todays game the one time we did this, (moutinho) we ended up having our best chance of the game.
It is something we lack throughout the team. Kilman does it sometimes from cb but that’s it. No one breaks the lines and commits players to open spaces for others. Brighton did this really well all over the park today.

 

[Bognor_Wolf]

The worry for me was how the players completely lost their heads and looked like they couldn't wait to get off pitch when the atmosphere started to turn negative. It has all been very positive for most of these players apart from last season and then there was no fans to show their displeasure... Hopefully the players turn the form around and show more especially when up against it or things will start turning a bit more toxic imo...

 

[Starsky]

Yeh I remember the 4-0 defeat to Burnley last season, they fought to the death.

Rather than focus on 1 game,maybe have a look at the stats when we went behind under Nuno v Bruno.

 

[Jonzy54]

Is that 16 games we have conceded first ?
Won 1 (Villa) Lost 15?

 

[Dan G WWFC]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

So what's the point of Coady?

 

[Hot Fuss]

Rather than focus on 1 game,maybe have a look at the stats when we went behind under Nuno v Bruno.

Must have been great to have had Jota and pre injury Raul up front.

13th last season, 8th this, there’s a stat.

 

[Jd132]

Looking at todays game the one time we did this, (moutinho) we ended up having our best chance of the game.
It is something we lack throughout the team. Kilman does it sometimes from cb but that’s it. No one breaks the lines and commits players to open spaces for others. Brighton did this really well all over the park today.

This is exactly right- their three in midfield Caicedo, Mwepu and Bissouma completely dominated our lads physically. We haven't got one like that, let alone three!

Mac Allister is the number 10 we are obviously missing- he can genuinely unlock a defence unlike any of our, dour midfielders.

And what the hell was Welbeck on? A centre forward that can win challenges back to goal and run the channel? Who'd have ever thought that was a thing?

All of these are obvious deficiencies in our squad. Can we please address them this Summer?!

 

[Contrarian]

Thankfully I think our problems don't run this deep.

We have no athleticism. We need Traore playing in attack. We need a midfielder who can get about (like Caicedo, Mwepu or Bissouma) and we need a centre-back who has pace.

When you can't physically compete, you get outplayed, which is what happened today.

Add in a total lack of aerial presence outside of the back 3. The main thing I'd criticise Hwang for is that he's useless in the air. As are Fabio and Trincao. And Podence, Semedo, Ait-Nouri too, it just keeps going. Now Raul isn't what he is, it leaves us struggling with a massive part of the game. Crossing is a lost cause - even a good cross is never going to be won by us, so why bother? Seems to be the attitude. Those same names are equally as unlikely to win a battle for a low cross as they are a high cross.

What does that leave? If we get bodies forward, we get hit on the break after we inevitably lose out. This rarely used to happen, but is happening all the time now as quite often the CM and DM are much further forward than a couple of seasons ago (when Coady rarely left our half!). They are further forward, but other than a slight increase in goals for Moutinho and Neves that has now been countered by conceding more, no real positive impact.

Then we have RAN and Trincao who can't seem to manage more than 60 minutes without being on their knees. I'm not wanting a return to 1970's football at all, but there must be a middle ground between that and the totally non-physical way we play? This stuff about heading and dementia is very concerning, but heading hasn't been banned yet. It is still very much in the game - well, everybody else game, but ours, it seems.

 

[dewolfman]

Coady is a big personality.

 

[Bugsy911]

Coady is a big personality.

Just a shame he can't defend.

 

[Matt]

The lack of bottle in the team is embarrassing. Not only are we incapable of recovering from going a goal down, we often completely fall to pieces.

 

[Cookyssweetleftfoot]

Thankfully I think our problems don't run this deep.

We have no athleticism. We need Traore playing in attack. We need a midfielder who can get about (like Caicedo, Mwepu or Bissouma) and we need a centre-back who has pace.

When you can't physically compete, you get outplayed, which is what happened today.

I agree that we could do with more pace, but in attack I would argue we need goalscorers more. Ideally we’d have a front three all contributing double figures.
I really don’t see how bringing back Traore solves this.
That said if Barcelona have no intention of signing him, I guess there is a good chance he is returning unless we can find an interested party.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

I agree that we could do with more pace, but in attack I would argue we need goalscorers more. Ideally we’d have a front three all contributing double figures.
I really don’t see how bringing back Traore solves this.
That said if Barcelona have no intention of signing him, I guess there is a good chance he is returning unless we can find an interested party.

I agree in terms of the next step but we couldn't lay a glove on Brighton today and it's not because they're tactically better, have better individuals or goalscorers or anything, IMO it was entirely down to the fact they were faster and stronger all over the pitch.

 

[lostwolf]

Thankfully I think our problems don't run this deep.

We have no athleticism. We need Traore playing in attack. We need a midfielder who can get about (like Caicedo, Mwepu or Bissouma) and we need a centre-back who has pace.

When you can't physically compete, you get outplayed, which is what happened today.

Spot on. I don't think it's about attitude. I considered that at 2-0 down today but then watched our boys trying but really struggling. We've (still) got no-one who breaks the lines / links midfield and attack, and no physical players, literally none. We're just dying for either an attacking midfielder like MGW or a dynamic central midfielder, in the mould of Calvin Phillips, someone to bridge that gap... at present our midfield gets the ball, looks about, and then either plays a backwards ball or, occasionally, plays a nice ball to the wings, who then have nothing to aim for.

We're in serious trouble next season with this squad if there aren't significant additions, there's quality there but no coherent attacking strategy.

 

[Starsky]

Must have been great to have had Jota and pre injury Raul up front.

13th last season, 8th this, there’s a stat.

Again, what are the stats when going behind?

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

There are clearly big characters in this squad: Coady, Neves, Ruddy, Sa & Saiss to name a few stand outs.

But my main concern is there is no Ince, Curle, Muscat types (ok, maybe not the latter - I’m tired and struggling to think of leaders)… my point is though, when we go a goal down or concede I don’t see anyone snarling (like Ince in particular) to gee the others up and look like he’s going to run through walls.

You can see our tails go between our legs like a dog that’s been shouted at, Leeds was a prime example of this.

We need leaders on the pitch. Coady is clearly a top guy and no doubt great to have in the dressing room, but we need something a bit more out on the field.

Man City and Liverpool have exactly 0 snarlers. Those players completely overrated and irrelevant in the modern game. You just need people to hold each other to account and stay calm.

 

[Oldgold Wolfcub]

Quote from Bruno…

“The mentality is very good and that’s why I think what happened today, it was clear, but the players know they should do better and I know they should do better.

“I’m sad, I’m unhappy today because we didn’t play and for sure, we have important games in front of us and I will see which players want to continue to put the club in the different level.”

Well sorry Bruno, but if you watch that game and think “the mentality is very good” then I think we fans will question your mentality. I mean just read what he said and ask yourself does it make sense? For me that’s utter nonsense.

You know when a manager is on his bike when whatever they say sounds like a load of unmentionables.

 

[Hot Fuss]

Again, what are the stats when going behind?

The manager who had Diogo Jota and a prime Raul Jiminez has better stats when going behind. Well done.

 

[Hot Fuss]

Spot on. I don't think it's about attitude. I considered that at 2-0 down today but then watched our boys trying but really struggling. We've (still) got no-one who breaks the lines / links midfield and attack, and no physical players, literally none. We're just dying for either an attacking midfielder like MGW or a dynamic central midfielder, in the mould of Calvin Phillips, someone to bridge that gap... at present our midfield gets the ball, looks about, and then either plays a backwards ball or, occasionally, plays a nice ball to the wings, who then have nothing to aim for.

We're in serious trouble next season with this squad if there aren't significant additions, there's quality there but no coherent attacking strategy.

Exactly, it’s down to ability not attitude.

Squad is ****ing limited despite what some think.

 

[Scallywolf]

Is that 16 games we have conceded first ?
Won 1 (Villa) Lost 15?

Yup.
0-1 Leicester (A)
0-1 Spurs (H)
0-1 Man U (H)
0-2 Brentford (H)
2-2 Spurs (H) Carabao Cup - lost on penalties
3-2 Villa (A)
0-2 Palace (A)
0-1 Liverpool (H)
0-1 Man City (A)
0-1 Norwich (H) F A Cup
0-1 Arsenal (H)
0-1 West Ham (A)
0-2 Palace (H)
0-1 Newcastle (A)
0-1 Burnley (A)
0-3 Brighton (H)

That is painful reading and some awful performances amongst those Jonzy.

 

[JOSWolf]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

Totally agree with this. No identity in style of play either.

 

[Jay Jay de Wolf]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

What you mean this is still Nuno's squad basically Bruno's got to 8th the squad that finished 13th last season
Plus in Nuno's last match his team lost at Molinuex to Man Utd reserve team. Yet Bruno managed to get them to beat their 1st team at Old Trafford this season.

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

Nunos team (same players) finished lower so it’s an awful point to make

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Man City and Liverpool have exactly 0 snarlers. Those players completely overrated and irrelevant in the modern game. You just need people to hold each other to account and stay calm.

Ok maybe not a ‘snarler’ but they have a Fabinho, Fernandinho, Milner, Henderson (to some extent VVD)… and Kompany beforehand - lead by example types.

Don’t get me wrong we have some elite players that we’re lucky to have in the squad, but I’m not seeing a leader or that big presence in the team.

 

[The Wolf In The North]

They didn't make as much of it on MOTD as I thought they might, but there was a real air of defeat and brittle confidence about six or seven of them out there, even just at 1-0 down. I don't agree with the idea that anyone downed tools, it wasn't deliberate, they were just shot.

Dendoncker stood off players, but that's just his thing, he's always been incredibly passive for a central midfielder and shies away instead of instinctively putting his body in the way. That's definitely a personality thing. I don't like it personally, it means he's not doing something he's surely there to do, but it's just him. Saiss I was more surprised by, because he does have that aggression about him usually, but today he just didn't want to engage. I've always been a fan of him, he goes through periods of being our best defender, but in the past few weeks he's been ragged and panicky, misplacing passes and slicing the ball out of play again and again (he had a lash at it and got it wrong within the opening thirty seconds today). Today he was nowhere for the last two goals, at one point he was tracking a runner and simply gave up like he'd run out of petrol and it led to them scoring, but more depressingly he just lost the heart to get involved.

Coady's head was down. Boly's head was down. Raul and even Jonny - who has been brilliant up until last week - looked lazy and flat-footed. And it was all way before we were dead and buried. Neto, Moutinho, Ait-Nouri and Silva worked hard and looked lively (though RAN was bloody shocking past the halfway line), but the rest simply weren't up for it today, they looked like they wanted to be doing just about anything other than playing football. That's often the case for Donk, and Raul and Boly can have truly casual body language too, but it was a depressing sight for the rest.

 

[Mugwump]

Thankfully I think our problems don't run this deep.

We have no athleticism. We need Traore playing in attack. We need a midfielder who can get about (like Caicedo, Mwepu or Bissouma) and we need a centre-back who has pace.

When you can't physically compete, you get outplayed, which is what happened today.

Here we go again. We dont need Traore in this system. Last thing we need is yet another non productive attacking player.

You are spot on though with the comment about athleticism. We have some excellent players, but we do need some players who can compliment them with a bit more physicality and mobility.

 

[Fenrir_]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

Same players though, so I'll leave it to you to decide why we've lost the fight we had...

 

[SA Wolf]

Quote from Bruno…

“The mentality is very good and that’s why I think what happened today, it was clear, but the players know they should do better and I know they should do better.

“I’m sad, I’m unhappy today because we didn’t play and for sure, we have important games in front of us and I will see which players want to continue to put the club in the different level.”

Well sorry Bruno, but if you watch that game and think “the mentality is very good” then I think we fans will question your mentality. I mean just read what he said and ask yourself does it make sense? For me that’s utter nonsense.

I'll be honest and say that I rarely understand what Bruno is trying to say and wonder whether the players struggle to understand his instructions as well.

 

[MikeH68]

Yup.
0-1 Leicester (A)
0-1 Spurs (H)
0-1 Man U (H)
0-2 Brentford (H)
2-2 Spurs (H) Carabao Cup - lost on penalties
3-2 Villa (A)
0-2 Palace (A)
0-1 Liverpool (H)
0-1 Man City (A)
0-1 Norwich (H) F A Cup
0-1 Arsenal (H)
0-1 West Ham (A)
0-2 Palace (H)
0-1 Newcastle (A)
0-1 Burnley (A)
0-3 Brighton (H)

That is painful reading and some awful performances amongst those Jonzy.

It’s not just the losing when conceding first, look at the ‘0’s’, I hadn’t considered that! This spells no fight.

 

[Matt]

Yup.
0-1 Leicester (A)
0-1 Spurs (H)
0-1 Man U (H)
0-2 Brentford (H)
2-2 Spurs (H) Carabao Cup - lost on penalties
3-2 Villa (A)
0-2 Palace (A)
0-1 Liverpool (H)
0-1 Man City (A)
0-1 Norwich (H) F A Cup
0-1 Arsenal (H)
0-1 West Ham (A)
0-2 Palace (H)
0-1 Newcastle (A)
0-1 Burnley (A)
0-3 Brighton (H)

That is painful reading and some awful performances amongst those Jonzy.

All those 0’s! Pathetic.

 

[Stourport wolf]

This squad has got none.

You could bank on Nuno's team to fight, this lot give in as soon as they go behind.

The good feeling we had when we came up is a distant memory now.

4 matches ago, it was ooking like 6th was possible. We still will probably finish 8th, as we haven't taken our opportunities, but is only 1 place behind our best position when we came up.
I hate it when we lose, but still look at our position as 8th in the Premier League and realise it is the same players and manager that have got us to 8th.