Lage and goal prediction

[DasWolf]

We just can’t get the ball from the defence, to the forwards quick enough without a long ball. Whether that’s the lack of movement or the lack of a dynamic midfielder sitting alongside Neves.

We still take too long playing it out and across the back line that we allow teams to get into shape. We NEVER have sides under sustained pressure where we have 10-15mins periods of thinking we could score at any time. Whether it’s the Portuguese way but we would rather slow it down and go backwards to keep the ball, when we slow it down the opponents get into shape and that’s that.

We only looked like scoring from breaks yesterday which simply can’t be the case when playing at home.

So many times we slow our attacks down, when attacking at pace would yield results.

Yesterday was yet another example of "get the ball to the final third, then pass back to the CBs to tap it about".

No urgency in the pass. Several players looked for runs yesterday like MGW, you'd have thought it was an alien concept to some of the lads.

"Wait, we can pass for players to run onto the ball? MADNESS"

 

[Contrarian]

We just can’t get the ball from the defence, to the forwards quick enough without a long ball. Whether that’s the lack of movement or the lack of a dynamic midfielder sitting alongside Neves.

We still take too long playing it out and across the back line that we allow teams to get into shape. We NEVER have sides under sustained pressure where we have 10-15mins periods of thinking we could score at any time. Whether it’s the Portuguese way but we would rather slow it down and go backwards to keep the ball, when we slow it down the opponents get into shape and that’s that.

We only looked like scoring from breaks yesterday which simply can’t be the case when playing at home.

Agreed. Though we did have a 20 minute spell against Leeds where we did do that sustained pressure. That is the exception, though. Can't remember the last time we did that, probably the first 3 matches last season. Also, we didn't look like scoring, more like "any second now, we might have a chance, maybe win a penalty". We never look like actually scoring.

 

[Ewok vs Wolf]

im pretty relaxed about it, its not like we aren't creating chances, we should of had a couple yesterday.

 

[Ned]

Agreed. Though we did have a 20 minute spell against Leeds where we did do that sustained pressure. That is the exception, though. Can't remember the last time we did that, probably the first 3 matches last season. Also, we didn't look like scoring, more like "any second now, we might have a chance, maybe win a penalty". We never look like actually scoring.

Good point about Leeds in the second half. It was sustained to a point but as you say, there weren’t any last ditch tackles and amazing saves involved - it was more like “one of these passes is going to find the man soon”.

 

[Flea]

How long has Bruno insisted the goals will come, nothing suggests we can score, there isn't any noticeable coordinated movement between our players when we get to the opponents penalty area plus the forward players don't have the instincts to be regular chance takers. Less wingers more strikers are needed in the squad, will we have one this window.

We play without a decent striker plus we have a central midfield that still seriously lacks in being a real threat attackwise.
We will score alot more goals if the above is corrected via Raul coming back from injury and we manage to get two decent tansfers in.
Instead under Bruno,we managed a challenge for european places last season and managed to finish in place 10..with us scoring 38 goals.
It was a little bit of a miracle that.
This squad is better equipped to score goals compared to the one that scored 38 last season.
IF Raul would have been fit,and us topping up via a decent transfer or two in the window..we will score in excess of 50 goals per season.

 

[Ned]

So many times we slow our attacks down, when attacking at pace would yield results.

Yesterday was yet another example of "get the ball to the final third, then pass back to the CBs to tap it about".

No urgency in the pass. Several players looked for runs yesterday like MGW, you'd have thought it was an alien concept to some of the lads.

"Wait, we can pass for players to run onto the ball? MADNESS"

It kills the atmosphere at times too. You can sometimes hear a collective groan from the crowd when it goes backwards. I’m not saying it needs to constantly go forwards but it’s a very regular occurrence and the pace gets taken out of the attack.

 

[Bill S Preston Esq.]

Shi will not get rid of Lage unless we go on a losing streak and sitting in the bottom three. Let's see how he sets us up for Spurs, then we will see if he is tactically aware...

Hopefully he doesn't deploy Liverpool at home tactics. Hoping and praying doesn't earn points. Our performance that day was an absolute embarrassment.

 

[Perton Wolf]

That's exactly the point I was making. Dendonker doesn't win or lose us a game, he does his job and nothing else. Every other player on that pitch has the ability to step it up a gear and change the game, and they should be held accountable. Not Dendonker, ironically

If more players did their job we'd be in a better place. Dendoncker's break up of play in midfield, simple distribution to the forwards and defensive work can allows the 4 forwards on the pitch to go and play. The reason we didn't score yesterday is because all 4 offered next to nothing in the final third.

 

[Boss Hogg]

All starting to feel like McCarthy’s last season - depose the captain, results still poor, let’s hope there’s no humiliation from our near neighbours coming.

Like McCarthy, Lage has had a season too long in my view

 

[JohnB]

Whether we rate Lage or not (personally I’d have let him go at the end of the season) he is our manager and we should be getting behind him. If he is out in November then we are in or around a bottom 3 and with a toxic Molineux going into the World Cup.

For me I hope he thrives this season and we recreate the form that had us 5th in the table at Arsenal at half-time. Semedo back, Raul back, Moutinho back and a couple of additions and we’ll be fine plus game changers on the bench.

Yesterday was disappointing, end of season run was terrible but let’s keep the faith review the position in early September and go again.

UTW.

 

[Corporate Wolf]

We’ve got no identity under him.

He still doesn’t feel like the Wolves manager to me, more of a stop gap until the right man becomes available.

What an excellent point….
And I know I’m at risk of being called xenophobic, but does anyone else struggle to understand his ramblings?

 

[OLDGOLD]

What an excellent point….
And I know I’m at risk of being called xenophobic, but does anyone else struggle to understand his ramblings?

The team I think...

 

[Wednesbury Wolf]

What an excellent point….
And I know I’m at risk of being called xenophobic, but does anyone else struggle to understand his ramblings?

No he seems easy to understand to me.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

I'm surprised anyone thinks we had loads of chances and the problem was poor finishing. I think MOtD had our xG at less than 0.5. Podence looked like a sitter live, but actually wasn't, OK his effort was poor, but it wasn't a great chance. MGW had the best chance, but not an absolute sitter either. That's not enough to show for 90 mins at home to Fulham. Much worse than last week.

The problem for me is the lack of a focus for the attack. Hwang did OK, but he struggles as a lone striker. Once he went off we really had no idea what we wanted, Guedes didn't really want to play there and wandered about, Adama had as much influence when he came on as when he was sat on the bench.

 

[Wignall 3-0]

'really well' ? apart from the first 10 minutes, no tempo, it was painfully slow and laboured.

But played in 40 degree heat inside the stadium? A wafer thin bench where returning players could only be given 15 mins max because of the risk? So this aspect of the game for me is understandable.

 

[inaglasshouse]

How?

Chances;
Neto - offside.
Hwang - shot straight at keeper when through.
Neto - gifted a chance and poor control meant ball went to Podence.
Podence - sliced his shot and nearly hit the corner flag.
Neves - back to his worst when shooting.
MGW - skied his effort when facing an open net.

7 attempts - 1 on target.

This is not bad luck, but poor technique.

They are all great players who we know can finish - do you reject them?

 

[Wignall 3-0]

They are all great players who we know can finish - do you reject them?

But played in 40 degree heat inside the stadium? A wafer thin bench where returning players could only be given 15 mins max because of the risk? So this aspect of the game for me is understandable.

We must start to score goals! One shot on target (Hwang 10 mins ish near post drive?) The other "easy" chances during this spell were not easy at all, no problem there. But there were one or two others that most certainly should have been taken.

We need a CF a CM and a RB to cover Semado (perhaps Jonny will play better on the left). We are only 2 games into a new style! Gerrard said his plan worked yesterday to get behind Everton`s back 3, this is what was starting to happen to us last season, but Bruno did not have the tools to change the system.

It takes time, players coming back from injury, new signings being made, new system bedding in.
Get behind the team, COYW!

 

[VancouverWolf]

An in form Raul or another striker won’t fix our goal scoring issues. Fact is Wolves don‘t create many good chances. We’re getting better over last season but not by much.

 

[Highlandwolf2]

Lage may be a good coach (?!) but seems very unimpressive as a manager. Has not addressed in any way our well known weaknesses even accepting with the squad he inherited. The much lauded change to 4 at the back has not prevented us from even now slow over passing at the back.

Keeping the manager's seat warm it seems to me. Cant see him being here at the start of next season. May be much sooner.

 

[SA Wolf]

They are all great players who we know can finish - do you reject them?

They are not 'great' players. They are good players but are inconsistent which is why they are at Wolves. Generally, they are young and will improve, but need to work on their techniques and consistency. Otherwise how do you summarise their missed chances yesterday and throughout their careers? Luck?

 

[WickedWolfie]

Whether we rate Lage or not (personally I’d have let him go at the end of the season) he is our manager and we should be getting behind him. If he is out in November then we are in or around a bottom 3 and with a toxic Molineux going into the World Cup.

For me I hope he thrives this season and we recreate the form that had us 5th in the table at Arsenal at half-time. Semedo back, Raul back, Moutinho back and a couple of additions and we’ll be fine plus game changers on the bench.

Yesterday was disappointing, end of season run was terrible but let’s keep the faith review the position in early September and go again.

UTW.

I'm sure, for the reasons that you outline, that every true Wolves fan wants to see that. The doubts are visibly growing though...

 

[Alienwolf]

I’ve got plenty of sympathy for Bruno, as the transfer policy & the fixtures may conspire to see him sacked. I genuinely don’t think we’ll get relegated this season, but unless we pick up 6/7 points from the next 4 games, he’s in trouble, as we then face Liverpool, City, Hammers and Chelsea. Can see him gone on 9th October

 

[Contrarian]

Whether we rate Lage or not (personally I’d have let him go at the end of the season) he is our manager and we should be getting behind him. If he is out in November then we are in or around a bottom 3 and with a toxic Molineux going into the World Cup.

For me I hope he thrives this season and we recreate the form that had us 5th in the table at Arsenal at half-time. Semedo back, Raul back, Moutinho back and a couple of additions and we’ll be fine plus game changers on the bench.

Yesterday was disappointing, end of season run was terrible but let’s keep the faith review the position in early September and go again.

UTW.

Sounds like entitlement creeping in already. Or lack of context and perspective. We finished 10th in Bruno's only season. Our 3rd best finish in 40 years. An improvement over Nuno's last season. Sacking a manager for that level of performance is something that few clubs do. The Sky 6 and the Looney Tunes owners like Watford who sack a manager for breathing do. We are neither of those.

Only Sky 6 clubs are genuinely entitled to sack a manager for finishing 10th - for them it would be their *worst* season for decades! I've mentioned elsewhere, not being local, nearly all football supporters I know are not Wolves fans, and they think it barking mad when they hear a large section of our fan base wanted Bruno gone - and this goes back to *before* the bad run, don't forget.

Yes, we are struggling - especially to score goals. But easily, a third of the league so far looks overall no better than us. Even struggling, we've been a decent finisher away from 4 points, and not far off 6 points. I do have doubts about Bruno, I just think all this talk of "he's got 3 more matches" (or 2 or 5, according to preference) is ridiculous and would be counter productive if he was sacked then. If we are bottom 6 and sinking when the World Cup comes around, yes, definitely that would be time for the owners to seriously consider it. FWIW I was losing faith in Nuno in his last season, too, but 100% wanted to give him till Xmas in the post-Covid season, too.

 

[inaglasshouse]

They are not 'great' players. They are good players but are inconsistent which is why they are at Wolves. Generally, they are young and will improve, but need to work on their techniques and consistency. Otherwise how do you summarise their missed chances yesterday and throughout their careers? Luck?

Perhaps Hwang is not yet great, but Neto, Podence, MGW, Neves are all great players worth a combined 150-200m. Just need to find a bit of form then you will lapping it up as usual.

 

[SA Wolf]

Perhaps Hwang is not yet great, but Neto, Podence, MGW, Neves are all great players worth a combined 150-200m. Just need to find a bit of form then you will lapping it up as usual.

Must agree to disagree, then!

 

[Bill S Preston Esq.]

I'm surprised anyone thinks we had loads of chances and the problem was poor finishing. I think MOtD had our xG at less than 0.5. Podence looked like a sitter live, but actually wasn't, OK his effort was poor, but it wasn't a great chance. MGW had the best chance, but not an absolute sitter either. That's not enough to show for 90 mins at home to Fulham. Much worse than last week.

The problem for me is the lack of a focus for the attack. Hwang did OK, but he struggles as a lone striker. Once he went off we really had no idea what we wanted, Guedes didn't really want to play there and wandered about, Adama had as much influence when he came on as when he was sat on the bench.

I'd agree the chances weren't as easy as they first looked. I think MGW's was the easiest though and he should have buried it.

Half chances for Neto and Hwang. Perhaps the easiest chance was for Neto, instead of squaring it, he should have shot from a yard out, even with a defender right on top of him.

 

[Big Saft Kid]

Or how the team respond to his instructions...

Again that's down to him. Is he even capable of explaining what he wants in plain English? Judging from his press conferences, I have my doubts.

 

[Eastyorksyeltz]

Again that's down to him. Is he even capable of explaining what he wants in plain English? Judging from his press conferences, I have my doubts.

English not really a priority language in our dressing room though and I am sure he is eloquent in Portuguese.

 

[steve vena]

We desperately need a striker in ASAP. He probably needs to be similar to Raul , tall , strong and able to link the play.

 

[tonto]

I’ve got plenty of sympathy for Bruno, as the transfer policy & the fixtures may conspire to see him sacked. I genuinely don’t think we’ll get relegated this season, but unless we pick up 6/7 points from the next 4 games, he’s in trouble, as we then face Liverpool, City, Hammers and Chelsea. Can see him gone on 9th October

Would you suggest we sack him with no replacement ready to take over, who would we chose,not another McCarthy Connor situation

 

[lostwolf]

And the rest, all underperforming. Neto, Nouri, MGW, etc etc.

We bring in a Raul'esque striker and a CM, I don't have any faith at all we will be any better. And that's why he will be sacked IMO

I honestly believe if we make those two signings, and the CM is of the right sort, not some lightweight slow lad, then everything else clicks into place: the transitions can work, it'll all be faster, the forwards have a target/link up/hold up man with them, and we start to see the best from Neves, MGW, Neto, RAN etc. At the moment there are holes in KEY areas.

 

[Contrarian]

They are all great players who we know can finish - do you reject them?

No, we 100% know that all of those listed *can't* finish reliably, consistently and clinically. They are all 5 or 6 goal a season players at their very best. And when they are not even achieving that, then we depend on set piece goals from centre halves and so on.

Also, a lot of our chances fall to Dendonker and he's a terrible finisher, consistently scores less than he should have.

 

[Charlie176]

Dare I say I think we looked more dangerous counter attacking with 3 at the back …they could still play that system but just needed better players to make it more attractive..

 

[Bill McCai]

The whole point of losing a centre back is to add another attacking player into the mix. Unfortunately when you have performances like Podence and Hwang in negates any formation change.

 

[Wolfy McWolf-Face]

He's completely ****ed off that possibility this season. Live and die.

Has he? So none of Boly, Toti or Mosquera could slot into a back 3?! Rubbish.

Keep seeing this falsehood.

We couldn't play a 4 with Coady but we sure as hell can play a 5 without.

 

[Wolfy McWolf-Face]

He cant help them missing sitters, but he isnt getting the best out of this group. On top of last years terrible last half of the season, we have failed to beat two pretty ordinary sides. So many excuses made for him and i do think he has been let down with players, but he's still cant get us playing well and on the front foot.

How did Liverpool do vs Fulham?

 

[OLDGOLD]

Again that's down to him. Is he even capable of explaining what he wants in plain English? Judging from his press conferences, I have my doubts.

Ditto. But then surely If there is an issue he could explain further in Portuguese....and then at least some would have a clue what he is on about.

 

[OLDGOLD]

No, we 100% know that all of those listed *can't* finish reliably, consistently and clinically. They are all 5 or 6 goal a season players at their very best. And when they are not even achieving that, then we depend on set piece goals from centre halves and so on.

Also, a lot of our chances fall to Dendonker and he's a terrible finisher, consistently scores less than he should have.

Tbh, Donk tends to be one of the players most likely to get a decent scoring opportunity, but as you say, they are too frequently missed.

 

[Sketchead]

Standing by my end of 2012-22 season prediction that he won’t be our manager by the time the World Cup comes around.

 

[Wolfy McWolf-Face]

Standing by my end of 2012-22 season prediction that he won’t be our manager by the time the World Cup comes around.

Was said last season too along with Nuno would be in the Champions League.