Arsenal Verdict.

[Oh When the Wolves]

can we just dump the 5-2-3 for **** sake. If we get run over a few times this year the so be it at least we are trying out the new set up.

Semedo
Kilman
Saiss
Ran

Neves
Anyone other than dendonker

Hwang
Podence
Chic/Neto

God only knows


4-2-3-1

or

4-4-2

Oh and **** off fosun !!

This.

Nothing to lose now at all.

 

[rubyloo]

Squad depth came back to bite there.

Have the Arsenal fans stopped celebrating yet?

Thanks to the person in the white golf who nearly ran me over near the science park after the game - it really put the top hat on the evening.

 

[clivewolves]

Oh well, never mind.

Fairly even first half, but Arsenal got a goal and that's what counts.

The second half was the same until the sending off which allowed Wolves to take control. I've wanted to see a player get two yellows like that for years as I've seen players make two deliberate fouls and not get punished. Well done to the ref, who I think had a great game. He let the match flow and was lenient for both teams. Now I just need to see a keeper get a second yellow for timewasting.

Chiquinho looked eager when he came on. Podence showed good movement, but I thought his passing was crap. Semedo was good again. Everyone else was just average for how they have played this season. What does Lage see in Dendonker? The only midfielder to get in the box who can win a header for any of the many crosses we put in from open play. Okay, he has a head like a 50p coin, but if we are going to keep crossing the ball who else is going to get on the end? Jimenez hasn't headed the ball well this season for good reason, Podence is a man trapped in a boy's body, and Trincao is Trincao.

Overall, a lot of fight but another game lacking that final bit of quality.

 

[Mighty Thor]

This will be the last time I ever comment on him as just can’t be bothered anymore. Dendonker is lucky to be a footballer never mind a premier league and international one. He is a slow, ponderous, clumsy, immobile, shadower chaser. No coincidence that he comes into the team and we not just lose 2 on the spin but we play terribly. He brings nothing apart from a waddled run after the opposition as they play around him. He can’t run with the ball. He can barely run off it. No pace. No skill. Can’t open a defence with his limited passing. He is a shadow chaser. Pathetic.

 

[Longford Wolf]

Nah he ain’t

Yeah he is. He can’t run, tackle , head, shoot, that’s like a hairdresser not being able to hold a pair of scissors. I said on Saturday he’s the nearly man, he nearly wins a tackle he nearly makes an interception he nearly gets a header to go in the right direction.
At one point yesterday he jogged alongside an Arsenal player and didn’t even bother to attempt a tackle, Neves had to run from his position to make the tackle. The bloke offers nothing.

 

[Ian C]

Dendonker was woeful, Marcal only slightly better. Neither offer anything going forward. Trincao somehow needs to do better, Neves is still too far back. Same as Norwich, we could still be playing now and not have scored, we're painstaking to watch in the final third.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

There was a point in the first half where dendoncker completely lost his man before a throw in.

Then they got a second throw same place. And it happened again with partey having a run into the box.

He really is a joke. And his heading is completely pointless.

Time to start cundle . He genuinely cannot be worse

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Semedo kilman saiss ait nouri
cundle neves moutinho
Chiquino Jimenez podence

If moutinho isn’t fit . Silva up front with Jimenez playing the deeper no. 10 role.

 

[Deleted member 9202LYK]

Hwang will be brought back in when fit, with Raul and Podence. Neto will jump ahead of Trincao when ready as well, just don't see the logic in the Trincao move at the moment.

I’ve always thought Trincao would come good, but looks like I’m wrong again. He’s shown less than Vitinha did for sure.

Trouble is, if we don’t buy him Barca will send Adama back (and he’ll. be worth 50p and grumpy) or they will seriously low ball us like we did with RAN.

 

[WISAW]

I'm so disinterested in watching them now, I can just see where this season is heading, middle table obscurity. Zero squad depth. Trincao can fck off but we'll probably swop him for Adama, just bizarre.

 

[oldgoldheart]

Shoot.

I want to talk about football first and where it’s heading. This term, game management, slowly started to creep into the game and basically started masquerading as cheating.

Arsenal were masters of the dark arts, stopping the game at such regular intervals, buying moments and managing this thing out. I genuinely hate what football has become. We’ve been guilty too btw.

Sa: nothing to do.

Kilman: really sloppy in the first half. 5
Coady: 6
Saiss: 6
Semedo: 7
Marcal: ineffective. 5.

Neves: 6
Donk: I no longer have words. 3

Podence: 6
Jimenez: 5
Trincao: 4

A bad night at the office.

I dont see it like that. We gave away a scrambled goal but overall were the better side and deserved at least a draw. I dont think it ever works bunging loads of forwards on. Nuno used to do it too. Not the end of the world. Lets win at their place!

 

[Corporate Wolf]

I can only assume Dendonker didn't understand his role again today.

I'd say let's see if he understands a sub role, but he'd probably think Bruno was offering him lunch.

Interestingly the BT Sports commentator (sounded like Clyde Tyldesley?) mentioned the very negative comments by Wolves fans post Norwich - at least they do some social media research.

 

[mibullock90]

Seen a lot of posts asking why Saiss came in for Toti? Is that because Saiss should have had another rest after just coming back from AFCON? Surely nobody actually thinks Toti is better do they?

I had this discussion last night and said I was frustrated that Toti was dropped because he'd not really put a foot wrong; I felt it was the wrong message to send a young player but then I'm not a professional coach. On Saiss, I thought he looked off the boil in the first half and lost Ben White who headed across the box for their goal. Second half he was much more assured and what we've come to expect from Saiss but we were largely attacking for most of the half. No one is saying Toti is better but he's proven that he's clearly got talent and is capable of playing at this level so I was a little disappointed to see him dropped. More baffling though was the decision to drop RAN and bring in Marcal.

 

[Macman]

Just as a matter of interest, why did Arsenal celebrate like they had won the European Cup last night? Yes, it was a good win, digging in etc, but the way they celebrated at the end seemed odd?

 

[wwbug]

That 1 goal in 50 games could only be worth a maximum of 3 points…

I see your point , but we did look to have a chance when teams got spread open in the latter stages. A type of chaos. . For Norwich and Arsenal they was no,sign of breaking through with a goal.

 

[NorthWestWolf]

"He's got to go for goal!" when Fabio squared it instead of shooting, that sums up the match.

Super fun game to watch, blood pressure at dangerous levels in the second half. We obviously need to be braver in front of goal. I think one fo the commentators said we're looking for the perfect goal and it rings a little true at times. In order for us to score, a lot of little things have to go perfectly to plan, it takes a lot of input to get a little bit of upfront action, the type we like.

Sitting pretty in the league right now, games in hand and we do look a force at times let's not beat around the bush and Bruno went with 2 CHs for 15 minutes of the game, which is a glimpse. We have players coming back from injury and lots to look forward to. can you imagine when Neto comes back!!

We lost to a goal today. Not ideal. This is fine.
7 Sa: odd performance, punched when he would have caught. Weird goal, looked legit but slow motion makes you wonder
6 Marcel: He was ok. Had a decent cross in the second half, didn't hit their first defender
7 Saiss: Clearly does not suffer from jet lag. Captain material.
6 Kilman: Got done in the first half a couple of times, great learning experience. So good with the ball at his feet. 4-4-2 coming up!
7 Coady: Bloody nose
7 Semedo: Did ok. He's hit a new level and is sticking to it. Can't shoot on target but is trying. More confident than 2020/1.
4 Trincao: He needs to commit. Got bounced around by some lightweight defenders. Commit or let someone else do it. **** me off.
6 Podence: He could become the engine of the team, almost a really good game for him. Everything was almost, but not good enough.
8 Neves: Engine.
4 Dendonker: A poor man's vagrant's version of a Moutinho. He feels like the odd one out of the team, every time.
5 Raul: Needs to work on his movement off the ball, a couple of time he made poor choices. Not the 'solution', currently.

Subs:
Lovely to see RAN. Chiquinho looks well up for it, fearless. Excited for him. Fabio looked nice too.

Cheers for this, much more positive than I was last night and can't argue with anything you've put. Needed that this morning!

 

[Guzeppi]

Just as a matter of interest, why did Arsenal celebrate like they had won the European Cup last night? Yes, it was a good win, digging in etc, but the way they celebrated at the end seemed odd?

Because they held on with 10 men, because they scored their first premier League goal of 2022, and their first win of 2022.

I think I heard the commentators say something to that effect. I might be wrong, was too busy chasing the mother****ing cat.

 

[Macman]

Just as a matter of interest, why did Arsenal celebrate like they had won the European Cup last night? Yes, it was a good win, digging in etc, but the way they celebrated at the end seemed odd?

Honestly, seeing them at the end made me want to stay behind to watch the ****ing cup being presented to them.

 

[IrchyWolf]

Sa 6 Didn't have much to do, partly to blame for the goal

Saiss 6 Worked hard.
Coady 5 Not one of his better displays
Kilman 5 Atypical showing but improved as the game went on

Semedo 6 Busy but usual story of achieving good positions only for the pass to go backwards
Neves 6 Can't do it all by himself
Dendoncker 5 Covered the distances but never really engaged
Marcal 5 Hard time giving away clunky fouls

Podence 6 Sparky but often losing the ball in the search to make something happen. NO protection from Oliver
Raul 4 The ghost at the wedding. HIs mojo has gone . A marketing investment now but not on the pitch.
Trincao 4 If Podence loses the ball trying things on, Trincao loses it trying to do the basic things.
===========

Chiquinho 6 Showed energy, purpose and drive.
RAN 5 Slight improvement
Fabio 5 Suffering from overthinking, still on a learning curve to improve.

Michael Oliver - Other refs rate him. I don't see it. His overindulgence from the start set the tone for allowing the darker arts to permeate the entire game. Had he been stronger from the off, then the game would have been better for the spectator.

 

[1972 i began]

It’s not that simple though is it? How do you quantify the psychological impact to the opposition when they see Traore about to come on with twenty minutes left? Do you think Arsenal would have enjoyed playing against him with ten men?

And of course he always had three men near him, freeing up space for everyone else. Losing Traore is a bigger deal than people realise.

if you think Traore was gonna stay here and play 20 minutes as a sub every wik.Then more fool you.

 

[1972 i began]

He looked knackered I was surprised he put Saiss back in. I just think the entire set up was wrong. I know we’re low on squad numbers but we have to be more adventurous the midfield was non existent

.
Think this is the way to get at jeff,dow get blaming me jeff,I told ya what I wanted.This is all down to you.Too ******g late now though,another wasted year.All because you wanted to show Guo the balance books.Angry ay the word.

 

[S G Wolves]

Average performance. Very frustrating. Seemed very disjointed when attacking in the 2nd half and created very little.

Still two evenly matched teams. Draw would have been a fair result.

It's all about mentality now. Have to go to Spurs and win.

 

[manchesterwolf17]

A performance I see appearing more often than not for the rest of the season. A lack of pace and creativity. The usual gigantic gaps between attack and midfield. Really, 9/10 the way to beat us is simply to take the lead in a game and ask us to break you down, because it won't happen.

A no doubt tired squad that through exceptional coaching was put in a position of genuine strength and opportunity, requiring a couple of additions to rejuvenate and bolster it. But of course we missed that boat through every fault of our own.

The saving grace potentially could be the return of Neto. However, relying on a young winger to come back to what he was immediately after a serious injury is stupidity of the highest order.

The frustrating thing is we all knew this was going to happen.

 

[WolfLing]

I've always thought of Dendoncker as a decent squad player. Until recently.

His lack of ability in any aspect is really starting to grate on me!!

 

[SheldonWolf]

I love Sa. He’s an upgrade on Rui.

But his error cost us a draw last night.

 

[Mark Rankines Lovechild]

After some reflection, we weren't horrendous last night, Arsenal are very average but the difference was they got the goal, but we just look toothless up front. Silva, Trincao, Podence and, to some degree Raul, all seem to look to pass than actually shoot - that's not good when they are the forwards.

Sa probably should have done better for the goal.

Trincao, looks a player but has no self belief. I am at odds with people on here as I thought he was looking better, took players on, tackled and showed not inconsiderable skill to beat the full back a couple of times and drove forward with the ball pretty well but then delivered terrible crosses (remind you of anyone)? Trincao cuts inside as he is utterly one footed but was getting into decent positions, running with the ball and running off the ball but when he gets to the edge of the box he goes sideways instead of trusting himself.

I thought Semedo, Marcal, Kilman and Coady all did ok, Neves's passing was a bit off but he gives everything. Dendonker...I don't know what to say, he fills a shirt, he's on the pitch but he's just anonymous. Podence - He never hides, demands the ball and often looks dangerous so kudos for that but damn he makes some poor decisions and concedes a lot of possession.

Raul - why was he going to the right wing? He looks off the pace...I hope he can recover his old form.

Bright spot was Chiquniho. A bit raw but he worked hard, was very physical, quick and skilful, terrorised their full back the time he was on - I am very optimistic about him.

Probably didn't deserve to win but didn't deserve to lose either> I do worry about Spurs though - they score goals, even when they lose, and we just don't look threatening.

 

[WickedWolfie]

The atmosphere at home has been poor all season considering what Bruno has achieved. We can do more , a lot more.
We are still in dreamland and should give Bruno the electric support Nuno enjoyed. He deserves it and we’re limiting our capabilities if Molineux only gets going when 1-0 down. Just an observation.

So it's all the fans' fault huh?

 

[Corporate Wolf]

I love Sa. He’s an upgrade on Rui.

But his error cost us a draw last night.

Goalkeeper is your last line of defence

TBF he has been outstanding this season and if you really analyse their goal, the root cause was actually Neves' poor header (effectively a flick on ) that put the undue pressure on in the second phase play.

 

[WolfLing]

After some reflection, we weren't horrendous last night, Arsenal are very average but the difference was they got the goal, but we just look toothless up front. Silva, Trincao, Podence and, to some degree Raul, all seem to look to pass than actually shoot - that's not good when they are the forwards.

Sa probably should have done better for the goal.

Trincao, looks a player but has no self belief. I am at odds with people on here as I thought he was looking better, took players on, tackled and showed not inconsiderable skill to beat the full back a couple of times and drove forward with the ball pretty well but then delivered terrible crosses (remind you of anyone)? Trincao cuts inside as he is utterly one footed but was getting into decent positions, running with the ball and running off the ball but when he gets to the edge of the box he goes sideways instead of trusting himself.

I thought Semedo, Marcal, Kilman and Coady all did ok, Neves's passing was a bit off but he gives everything. Dendonker...I don't know what to say, he fills a shirt, he's on the pitch but he's just anonymous. Podence - He never hides, demands the ball and often looks dangerous so kudos for that but damn he makes some poor decisions and concedes a lot of possession.

Raul - why was he going to the right wing? He looks off the pace...I hope he can recover his old form.

Bright spot was Chiquniho. A bit raw but he worked hard, was very physical, quick and skilful, terrorised their full back the time he was on - I am very optimistic about him.

Probably didn't deserve to win but didn't deserve to lose either> I do worry about Spurs though - they score goals, even when they lose, and we just don't look threatening.

If Moutinho isn't fit for Spurs, I would really like to see Cundle in there. He has to offer more than Dendoncker surely?!

Think Trincao could potentially do more damage centrally too. As you say, he can beat a man better than most, but his crossing was very poor last night.

Maybe try Trincao as that 'midfield winger' Bruno keeps going on about in a 3 with Neves and Cundle? With that setup, Podence and Silva up top would probably be best at the moment.

 

[WickedWolfie]

can we just dump the 5-2-3 for **** sake. If we get run over a few times this year the so be it at least we are trying out the new set up.

Semedo
Kilman
Saiss
Ran

Neves
Anyone other than dendonker

Hwang
Podence
Chic/Neto

God only knows


4-2-3-1

or

4-4-2

Oh and **** off fosun !!

Frankly, l would rather keep Fosun and folk like you go!

 

[Black Coffee]

We wasn't at our best but played well in parts the deciding factor again was the decision making in the final third (Trincao especially). There is no need to complicate things nothing wrong with smashing the ball across the 6 yard box or having a shot (Silva at the end) .

Dendoncker wasn't as bad as some are saying but he's quite limited and is looking like centre back playing in midfield. Trincao is so frustrating he has ability but his decision making is terrible.

It has to be said Arsenal were embarrassing from theatrics, time wasting to celebrating like they won the Champions League it was very 'small time' of them.

The overaction of some doesn't surprise me you would have thought we replicated the Burnley, West Ham or Albion performances of last season

 

[kennyB]

I love Sa. He’s an upgrade on Rui.

But his error cost us a draw last night.

Dead right, slow reation and it cost us. Been a saviour this season though.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Just as a matter of interest, why did Arsenal celebrate like they had won the European Cup last night? Yes, it was a good win, digging in etc, but the way they celebrated at the end seemed odd?

They hadn't won a league game this calendar year before last night. Try living in Islington and having to travel back with a train load of them! They were pessimistic as hell before the game too....

 

[jonesy]

Frankly, l would rather keep Fosun and folk like you go!

Happy clap Friday is it!?!?!? I’m glad your happy with having company owners unwilling to invest and going into a summer where we have 4/5 first teamers out of contract on top of having 0 back up to the first team.

If you don’t move forward every year you regress and we haven’t done anything in 3 years.

We are blessed to have this manager but there will come a time when he will get fed up and leave. I guarantee that will be in the summer if the penny pinchers say no again. What will be your response then ???

Oh we never had it as good in the 40 years I’ve been …..

 

[Sketchead]

I don't think anybody had a good game last night.

We probably deserved a draw, as we nullified Arsenal to pretty much nothing. Goal was very sloppy all round. Kilman and Saiss looked ropey first half, but Martinelli and Saka are very good to be fair.

Toothless up front, never looked like scoring, due to our inability to create clear cut chances. Podence all of a sudden being our best wide forward by default is a major problem. He's exciting at times due to his flicks and tricks but the amount of times he loses the ball, jesus wept. Luxury player. He's like Gibbs-White except Podence should be in his peak and MGW is still a child.

Trincao tidy on the ball but end product not there. Hwang continues to be injured, back on the bench last night but then does his back so can't come on. Neto 'ready next month' for the last three months, been out for a year so god knows what's coming back.

I think Dendoncker is the latest scapegoat but he played fine last night as a centre mid tbh. Lots of interceptions and was one of our only threats from the 800 crosses we lumped in without a target in mind.

Now Adama has gone, we must be the slowest team in the league. Semedo aside, nobody can run.

Shame as the game was there for the taking, but we were toothless and they did a job on us, so fair play to them.

Atmosphere was good for five mins.

I don't think our team is good enough for a sustained push at Europe this year, and I've thought that all season, even as the excitement has grown over the past month. We're midtable, which is where we'll end up.

 

[Contrarian]

I had this discussion last night and said I was frustrated that Toti was dropped because he'd not really put a foot wrong; I felt it was the wrong message to send a young player but then I'm not a professional coach. On Saiss, I thought he looked off the boil in the first half and lost Ben White who headed across the box for their goal. Second half he was much more assured and what we've come to expect from Saiss but we were largely attacking for most of the half. No one is saying Toti is better but he's proven that he's clearly got talent and is capable of playing at this level so I was a little disappointed to see him dropped. More baffling though was the decision to drop RAN and bring in Marcal.

Yes, wondered about that too. Bruno might as well have kept Toti in and played Saiss up front, too.

 

[Pessimistic Wolf]

Thought we played okay, but not well enough to deserve a win, and possibly not good enough to deserve a draw. Thought we retained possession pretty well against an Arsenal side who were happy to absorb a fair bit of pressure, confident in the knowledge that we're not really free scorers.

I thought our attacking shape wasn't great. The Lage model appears to be one where wing backs get very far forward, and our forward players turn inside towards goal. I didn't think we got our wingbacks forward enough, which meant Podence and Trincao were invariably left in wide positions. As a consequence of that, we didn't get enough players in the box, hence all the teasing crosses without anyone on the end of them.

Sa - I really like Sa, but the Arsenal goal was partly his fault for sure. I think we might have to accept that for every 10 amazing things he does, he will do 2-3 really daft things, like coming for balls that are absolutely not his to come for. I kind of treat this as an occupational risk of having a keeper like him, and I don't really mind.

Semedo - I thought played pretty well. He is fast becoming an important attacking outlet and remains secure at the back. He wasn't far forward enough for me, but neither was Marcal and I think that's more a tactical/shape problem than a Semedo problem.

Kilman - Not his best game ever I don't think. I still like him a lot, but sometimes you see him overplay at the back and remember that he's still a little raw. I also think he sometimes mistimes his challenges and runs, which makes him very vulnerable to a fast, technical forward like Martinelli.

Coady - I thought his positioning for the Arsenal goal was askew and Lacazette/Martinelli knew they could run at him. Not his worst showing but not faultless either. I wonder whether it's telling that he was brought off towards the end. It's an usual move, but I can see the logic in it. Chasing the game vs 10 men, you know you're gonna be lumping balls into the box in the last 10 mins, and you know you want another forward. Out of Saiss, Kilman and Coady, who is the least likely to get on the end of a hopefully lofted cross? Probably Coady.

Saiss - Fine - unremarkable - not seriously troubled I didn't think. Unlucky not to score on the half volley after a tremendous save from Ramsdale.

Marcal - A frustrating game from Marcal. Didn't think he was that strong defensively, and doesn't have the pace or technical ability of Ait-Nouri going forward. However, I do really like his deliveries from advanced positions. He flashes them in with such venom.

Neves - a mixed game IMO. Some misplaced passes, but hampered by the fact that he was played quite deep for much of the game. He equally delivered some delicious balls that we should have scored from.

Dendoncker - a poor showing from Donck, and highlights how much we need Moutinho/how shallow our midfield is. Donck is the epitome of a utility player who's not amazing at anything. He did get forward but his aerial ability is poor. His poor first touch and lack of mobility slowed down our attacking movements when he received the ball. Disappointing but not altogether unsurprising.

Trincao - I'm yet to be convinced by him. Tricky, technical and energetic, but for all the stuff about Traore having no end product, does Trinaco?

Jimenez - a shadow of his former self unfortunately. It's sad to see.

Podence - a little ball of energy through which any hope of a goal came. I like his positivity and aggression off the ball, and I think he is an asset to the side. Thought he generally played pretty well and did what he could, although he clearly has moments of frustration.

 

[wulfie88]

 

[WickedWolfie]

Happy clap Friday is it!?!?!? I’m glad your happy with having company owners unwilling to invest and going into a summer where we have 4/5 first teamers out of contract on top of having 0 back up to the first team.

If you don’t move forward every year you regress and we haven’t done anything in 3 years.

We are blessed to have this manager but there will come a time when he will get fed up and leave. I guarantee that will be in the summer if the penny pinchers say no again. What will be your response then ???

Oh we never had it as good in the 40 years I’ve been …..

Actually over 50 years but never mind. The entitled brigade want it all and want it now (but whinge like **** about bring asked to put their hands in their own pockets).

 

[WickedWolfie]

I don't think anybody had a good game last night.

We probably deserved a draw, as we nullified Arsenal to pretty much nothing. Goal was very sloppy all round. Kilman and Saiss looked ropey first half, but Martinelli and Saka are very good to be fair.

Toothless up front, never looked like scoring, due to our inability to create clear cut chances. Podence all of a sudden being our best wide forward by default is a major problem. He's exciting at times due to his flicks and tricks but the amount of times he loses the ball, jesus wept. Luxury player. He's like Gibbs-White except Podence should be in his peak and MGW is still a child.

Trincao tidy on the ball but end product not there. Hwang continues to be injured, back on the bench last night but then does his back so can't come on. Neto 'ready next month' for the last three months, been out for a year so god knows what's coming back.

I think Dendoncker is the latest scapegoat but he played fine last night as a centre mid tbh. Lots of interceptions and was one of our only threats from the 800 crosses we lumped in without a target in mind.

Now Adama has gone, we must be the slowest team in the league. Semedo aside, nobody can run.

Shame as the game was there for the taking, but we were toothless and they did a job on us, so fair play to them.

Atmosphere was good for five mins.

I don't think our team is good enough for a sustained push at Europe this year, and I've thought that all season, even as the excitement has grown over the past month. We're midtable, which is where we'll end up.

RAN can definitely run. Starting with Marcal was a very, very bad call by Lage.

I absolutely agree about Donk. I had exactly this debate at the game last night in the North Bank Upper. Some guy was giving Donk dog's own abuse and didn't like it one little bit when l pointed out that the fact that he was still on the pitch suggested that Lage didn't agree.