Best squad ever???

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Oh is this where you start telling me Semedo stats show he is brilliant and Doherty was crap? Semedo so far has been very disappointing though I do like to think he will start to fit nicely into the Bruno style of play. Doherty so far is/was comfortably better for what he produced in what matters, results and performances.

Doherty was extremely overrated (and i said it before he was sold and was hammered for it). Couldn't defend his way out of a wet paper bag and is a championship right back in a 4, which is why he is 3rd choice for Nuno at Spurs

 

[CelebrityWolf]

This continuous Doc v Semedo is really pointless
Doc has gone and in reality has done nothing in 2 years
He scored 1 goal for us in 2020 played bang average all season,and has failed miserably at Spurs
You cant keep basing his whole career on one/two good seasons for us,he played for us for 10 years
Semedo has been with us for just over one season, and has improved over that time, already being a better footballer than Doc,just needs to add a few goals now
Anyhow lets leave the past behind and support the players that are here now

I agree but that wasn't the point of this thread. Doc of then gave us more than the Semedo of now so far. That surely isn't a debate. If you take Doc out of that side we don't get seventh place finishes. Why do some find that so hard to accept, it makes no sense.

 

[CelebrityWolf]

Doherty was extremely overrated (and i said it before he was sold and was hammered for it). Couldn't defend his way out of a wet paper bag and is a championship right back in a 4, which is why he is 3rd choice for Nuno at Spurs

Completely agree

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

I agree but that wasn't the point of this thread. Doc of then gave us more than the Semedo of now so far. That surely isn't a debate. If you take Doc out of that side we don't get seventh place finishes. Why do some find that so hard to accept, it makes no sense.

Doherty has done better in some areas than Semedo and worse in other areas. Semedo is a much better player but Doherty contributed to more wins than him i think.

 

[groundhogwolf]

And who chose the manager?

Great question

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

I agree but that wasn't the point of this thread. Doc of then gave us more than the Semedo of now so far. That surely isn't a debate. If you take Doc out of that side we don't get seventh place finishes. Why do some find that so hard to accept, it makes no sense.

Totally agree it wasnt the point of this thread,but got bought up several times and ive foolishly got involved lol
I dont disagree that for 3 seasons he was a valuable member of the team,but he only scored 4 league goals in any season,some are making him out to be a super star goal scorer
Theres no reason Semedo cant score 4 or 5 this season,arguably he should already be on 2,and hes unquestionably a better all round footballer,so basically all we are saying is until Semedo scores 5 league goals in a season he will never be a better player?
That to me makes no sense,but ill leave it there as it is getting off piste with the thread

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Hiding what? Thinking a side with back to back seventh places, an FA cup semi and a Euro QF is better than the current squad? Madness eh.

I guess we haven't got the chance to compare properly yet.

 

[wolvesjoe]

don`t disagree in the main but must point out you missed imo the best wolves full-back
ever, parkin.of course on match days only 12 players were needed and clubs were proud
of how few players were used over a season

Completely agree. Bizarre omission.

Parkin would havr thrivedin a wing hack role.

 

[WolfLing]

A lot is said about how people over-rate our players, but I'd say there's sometimes quite a bit of the opposite happening too.

We have a squad full of International quality including.....

Moutinho - Portugal's 2nd most capped player
Jimenez - Mexico's talisman
Saiss - current Morocco captain
Hwang - probably South Korea's 2nd best player after Son

Add to that players that have been in and around recent International squads or countries in the top 10 like Neves, Adama, Dendoncker, Jonny, Semedo, Podence, Neto, Coady and Trincao.

Outside the traditional top 6, there's not many squads in the league that boast that sort of pedigree.

As we've seen this season with Moutinho and glimpses with Podence, when more players are fit and in form, we could be on the cusp of something special again.

 

[whitnash wolf ex.dewsbury]

A lot is said about how people over-rate our players, but I'd say there's sometimes quite a bit of the opposite happening too.

We have a squad full of International quality including.....

Moutinho - Portugal's 2nd most capped player
Jimenez - Mexico's talisman
Saiss - current Morocco captain
Hwang - probably South Korea's 2nd best player after Son

Add to that players that have been in and around recent International squads or countries in the top 10 like Neves, Adama, Dendoncker, Jonny, Semedo, Podence, Neto, Coady and Trincao.

Outside the traditional top 6, there's not many squads in the league that boast that sort of pedigree.

As we've seen this season with Moutinho and glimpses with Podence, when more players are fit and in form, we could be on the cusp of something special again.

if only they could shoot! here`s hoping.They can all pass a ball so they should be able to
pass the ball into the net away from the goalie

 

[Contrarian]

Also would add that players decline so does anyone here actually think any of Moutinho, Jimenez, Jonny, Dendoncker, Boly are better now than two years ago or worse?

The problem with that is that out of that lot, only Moutinho has really played this season. And he looks a LOT better than one year ago and arguably better than 2 years ago. Raul is still coming back from serious injury, so unfair to judge him yet. Donk only played in friendlies, but I thought he looked a lot better in those, than he did last season. Boly, wait and see, but judging by what we're seeing from the rest, I wouldn't be surprised if he is back to his best.

 

[Deleted member 9202LYK]

Amongst all the complaints from a minority of fans, worth remembering just how thin our squads have been
before this season. Take our best achieving year, 2019-20, and compare to this year´s

Ruddy...........Ruddy
Patricio ........Sa
Doherty.........Semedo
Jonny .............Marcal
Vinaigre..........RAN
Buur............. Hoever
Kilman............Kilmanc
Coady..............Coady
Boly.................Boly
Saiss................Saiss
Bennett..........Mosquera
Neves............Neves
Moutinho.......Moutinho
Dendonker....Dendonker
MGW..............Podence
Traore............Traore
Neto...............Neto
Jota.................Hwang
Jimenez.........Jimenez
Cutrone.........Fabio

Plus Trincao plus Jonny and Jordao to come back from longterm injuries

So a bigger squad, especially when the injured are back.

Sa, Semedo,Hoever, Mosquera, Podence, Hwang and Fabio instead of Patricio,Buur, Doherty, Bennett, MGW, Jota and Cutrone.

Plus the addition of Trincao.

That looks like good squad development to me. Just one midfielder short.

Maybe Jeff Shi does deserve a few apologies, together with some praise and trust.

The midfield is extremely weak and one or two injuries we wouldn’t have one at all. You also bought in Podence this year - I suppose it’s because he’s like a new signing?

 

[wolvesjoe]

The midfield is extremely weak and one or two injuries we wouldn’t have one at all. You also bought in Podence this year - I suppose it’s because he’s like a new signing?

Becoming clearer now that this squad has a high level of ability and decent depth, apart from the central midfield positions.

Quite an achievement by the club to put a squad this coherent after the disappointments of last season and the disruption of
Nuno moving on.

We could easily have gone backwards, lost our best players and been stuck in the bottom half. To rebuild momentuum from
that deserves high praise.

 

[Stafford]

We haven't got a peak Moutinho, Jiminez, Johnny Boly anymore.

However Neves is definitely improving

 

[WickedWolfie]

We haven't got a peak Moutinho, Jiminez, Johnny Boly anymore.

However Neves is definitely improving

Mouts definitely not - age is irreversible. Boly suffered with CV - the fact that he isn't getting selected now is a concern. Jonny will be back, hopefully as good as ever. Jiminez looks to be getting closer to his best every time.

There is no guarantee, given the nastiness of his injury, that we will get the same Neto back.

 

[Elvis Wolf]

Sorry to buck the trend but Semedo is DEFINITELY proving to be an upgrade on Doc.
Sa is DEFINITELY an upgrade on Patricio.
Podence is developing into a valuable asset.
Hwang is proving to be an EXCELLENT acquisition
Jota is no longer being missed.
The current squad DEFINITELY seems to be more of unified group .
Bruno is proving to be an EXCELLENT fit!!

Wolves ONLY Wolves.

 

[Stafford]

Sorry to buck the trend but Semedo is DEFINITELY proving to be an upgrade on Doc.
Sa is DEFINITELY an upgrade on Patricio.
Podence is developing into a valuable asset.
Hwang is proving to be an EXCELLENT acquisition
Jota is no longer being missed.
The current squad DEFINITELY seems to be more of unified group .
Bruno is proving to be an EXCELLENT fit!!

Wolves ONLY Wolves

I'd say points 1, 2, 5 & 6 are debatable for something said with such conviction!

 

[WolfLing]

We haven't got a peak Moutinho, Jiminez, Johnny Boly anymore.

However Neves is definitely improving

There was a piece in The Athletic for each team in the Premier League and how their squads compared to the peak ages for different positions.

We had Sa, Coady, Donk, Neves, Podence, Hwang and Traore in the banding for being at their peaks for their positions, a lot just got into their peak period too, which generally lasts for a couple of years.

Kilman, Ait-Nouri, Hoever, Trincao, Neto and Silva all not yet at the average peak ages for their positions. Everyone else not mentioned is past the average peak age for their position.

Obviously this is quite a prescriptive way at looking at it as some players mature or peak later than the average. For example, Neves models his game on Pirlo, who probably wasn't at his best until he was into his 30's.

 

[GoldenHorseshoe]

We haven't got a peak Moutinho, Jiminez, Johnny Boly anymore.

However Neves is definitely improving

Also a top defender in Max, an improved Saiss, and Sa, who I believe is an improvement on Rui.

 

[Elvis Wolf]

I'd say points 1, 2, 5 & 6 are debatable for something said with such conviction!

No problem Stafford.
It was all said with LOTS of conviction, otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.

 

[woop woop barmy army]

There was a piece in The Athletic for each team in the Premier League and how their squads compared to the peak ages for different positions.

We had Sa, Coady, Donk, Neves, Podence, Hwang and Traore in the banding for being at their peaks for their positions, a lot just got into their peak period too, which generally lasts for a couple of years.

Kilman, Ait-Nouri, Hoever, Trincao, Neto and Silva all not yet at the average peak ages for their positions. Everyone else not mentioned is past the average peak age for their position.

Obviously this is quite a prescriptive way at looking at it as some players mature or peak later than the average. For example, Neves models his game on Pirlo, who probably wasn't at his best until he was into his 30's.

I read that also and if honest thought it was a load of bull

All players peak at different times and sometimes adapt there game to suit, look at Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes to name few. The more Bruno is working with these player the more they are improving as individuals and as a team.

 

[lets all have a disco]

It's not just the 1st team squad that's is improving (yes we can always spend more to further improve it) but some of the youngsters are doing very well out on loan...Gibbs , Sanderson, Giles, Theo, sarkic etc...granted they may not all make our first team or even if the first team squad but they will surely generate transfer fees for the club to reinvest......For all the bile , at times spoken on this forum we must be doing something right at the club...