Mario Lemina

[JOSWolf]

I really like him as a player but now that Lopetegui has him playing in this awful defensive position his
form has dropped away badly. When we first signed him he was playing a higher line and making runs forward
into the box. Now none of this. Another example of how we have become negative and safety first in our approach and not
for the better. Please play him in his proper position, Lopetegui and not this messy looking sweeper style role where Neves is
also too deep and has us playing with 4 centre backs for large periods.

 

[goldfish]

Nice, Saints and Fulham fans all say he is inconsistent. If he could maintain the levels he showed in his early games we wouldn't have got him for £10m! But I do agree our formation's not helping him.

I think Neves' suspension could be a blessing in disguise because I don't think the way he plays works with any of our current central midfield options.

 

[FJRWolf]

Lopetegui has used him in various systems, DM, ball winner and breaking forward, man marked Kane out of the game too. Think he's getting a bit confused about what his role is and he ain't the only one. JL needs to simplify the tactics.

 

[Big Saft Kid]

He has regressed for sure.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

He’s not influencing games like he did initially but still don’t understand why he’s the one to get subbed a lot.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

I thought he was doing OK as the CDM allowing Neves to play more box to box. Yesterday was ridiculous though, both playing as a 6 with no 8 (if I've got the modern vernacular right!)

 

[Chisels_n_ommers]

He looks a better player out of possession.
As our possession stats have increased in recent games, his performances have declined.

Will be an important player in the next game vs Chelsea

 

[Wolvesfcneil]

The bull**** red card he got didn't help.

 

[Matt]

He was outstanding against Liverpool, but he hasn’t done anything of note since imo.

 

[superwolves]

I really like him as a player but now that Lopetegui has him playing in this awful defensive position his
form has dropped away badly. When we first signed him he was playing a higher line and making runs forward
into the box. Now none of this. Another example of how we have become negative and safety first in our approach and not
for the better. Please play him in his proper position, Lopetegui and not this messy looking sweeper style role where Neves is
also too deep and has us playing with 4 centre backs for large periods.

Scored on average 1 goal a season throughout his career I think Julen knows exactly what his best position is

 

[The Wolf In The North]

His form dropped after the ludicrous red card and suspension, but moreso it's because he and Neves stopped dovetailing so well. When Lemina was playing anchor and dropping back, allowing Neves more freedom forward, we looked far more balanced and dangerous.

I don't know whether Neves dropping into the back four is more Lopetegui's instructions or Neves determining how he wants to play, but either way it really doesn't work because it leaves Lemina in an ineffective no-man's land. I have a feeling he'll be much improved against Chelsea as he'll be playing a more familiar position, with no Neves in the way, against a team who don't sit so deep - provided, of course, that Lopetegui exploits that and plays an extra forward instead of just adding Gomes or Traore B into Neves' place.

 

[WISAW]

It's like he's been told to not even approach the oppositions half. The tactics are whats wrong.

 

[TheConcourse]

I think the Bournemouth and Leeds games have haunted JL.

It’s not necessary. We were by far the better side in both games, and a combination of being genuinely unlucky, external factors and poor finishing lost those games.

We need to be brave and stick with a style that puts the opposition on the back foot.

For me it’s absolutely necessary for a combination of four attacking players and two athletic CMs. I’d like to see:

Gomes Nunes
Traore Cunha Neto
Raul

Genuinely intrigued to see how the team performs without Ruben.

 

[wwbug]

I think the Bournemouth and Leeds games have haunted JL.

It’s not necessary. We were by far the better side in both games, and a combination of being genuinely unlucky, external factors and poor finishing lost those games.

We need to be brave and stick with a style that puts the opposition on the back foot.

For me it’s absolutely necessary for a combination of four attacking players and two athletic CMs. I’d like to see:

Gomes Nunes
Traore Cunha Neto
Raul

Genuinely intrigued to see how the team performs without Ruben.

Totally agree .

I would probably have Sarabia in the front four and Cunha replacing Jimmy . Podence and Hwang can join the throng after 60 minutes .
Would like to see our two wing backs in that forward fray meaning 8 guys all buzzing around the 18 yard box when in full pelt .
That leaves 2 at the back left on the half way line and a goalkeeper .
But we should be engaging the opposition in and around there goal area at every possible chance.

 

[JOSWolf]

Scored on average 1 goal a season throughout his career I think Julen knows exactly what his best position is

Why does he look better when he plays a higher line then? He looks lost in this strange defensive position he is being played in. Isnt helping the team one but in my opinion.

 

[OLDGOLD]

I think the Bournemouth and Leeds games have haunted JL.

It’s not necessary. We were by far the better side in both games, and a combination of being genuinely unlucky, external factors and poor finishing lost those games.

We need to be brave and stick with a style that puts the opposition on the back foot.

For me it’s absolutely necessary for a combination of four attacking players and two athletic CMs. I’d like to see:

Gomes Nunes
Traore Cunha Neto
Raul

Genuinely intrigued to see how the team performs without Ruben.

I agree with your comments but would play B Traore and Lemina in the middle. Get physical, get forward. Not surecwhat Nunes offers tbh

 

[JOSWolf]

He’s not influencing games like he did initially but still don’t understand why he’s the one to get subbed a lot.

Isnt influencing as unlike his first few games where he was influencing he is now playing in a role that is far too deep.

 

[JOSWolf]

It's like he's been told to not even approach the oppositions half. The tactics are whats wrong.

Totally agree.

 

[Matt]

In the game against Liverpool he was everywhere. Chasing the ball all over the pitch and it worked a treat. I remember him chasing down their right back at one point. But it seems to be a Wolves central midfielder you need to be comfortable holding hands with the centre halves.

 

[TheConcourse]

In the game against Liverpool he was everywhere. Chasing the ball all over the pitch and it worked a great. I remember him chasing down their right back at one point. But it seems to be a Wolves central midfielder you need to be comfortable holding hands with the centre halves.

It’s still the biggest issue in our team. Our central midfield lack the bravery/imagination/instruction to get forward, which is actually pretty stupid when you consider Neves regularly impacts games when he does actually get inside the oppositions box.

 

[Matt]

It’s still the biggest issue in our team. Our central midfield lack the bravery/imagination/instruction to get forward, which is actually pretty stupid when you consider Neves regularly impacts games when he does actually get inside the oppositions box.

Exactly. And again in that Liverpool game, Neves was getting forward much more, which is what resulted in his goal. I thought we’d cracked it and this was going to be the way forward, but we’ve reverted to scared, negative ****e.

 

[DasWolf]

In the game against Liverpool he was everywhere. Chasing the ball all over the pitch and it worked a treat. I remember him chasing down their right back at one point. But it seems to be a Wolves central midfielder you need to be comfortable holding hands with the centre halves.

It was like having 2 extra players on the pitch.

We have some excellent midfielders but if we tie them to a post 5 yards outside the penalty box, it's a complete waste.

 

[TheConcourse]

Exactly. And again in that Liverpool game, Neves was getting forward much more, which is what resulted in his goal. I thought we’d cracked it and this was going to be the way forward, but we’ve reverted to scared, negative ****e.

Yep. Watford at home last season, Newcastle earlier in the season, think he hit the bar v West Ham from inside the box too.

He can unlock defences with his range of passing too, but right now Lemina could quite easily do the job that we’re asking him to do. What a waste of talent.

 

[Monketron]

Every interview recently JL has pointed out how important it is to keep clean sheets, that's a big reason why we've suddenly gone back to 2 DMs in Lemina and Neves, but it just brings back the old problems we've had for years doing that.

Playing that system you really need your full-backs to contribute going forward, but Semedo just does nothing attacking wise and while Bueno has been decent on the left his injury and JLs lack of trust in Ait-Nouri has screwed the left side from an attacking perspective too. Where does he think we're going to make our chances from? just give it to Traore and hope? that's how we've basically played for 3 years now under 4 different managers and it's why we're in the mess we are.

 

[superwolves]

Why does he look better when he plays a higher line then? He looks lost in this strange defensive position he is being played in. Isnt helping the team one but in my opinion.

He's our defensive midfielder his role is to protect the back four. That's the position he's played in every game. Maybe if we're chasing a game from a losing position then he might be substituted for a more attack minded player or he might be given licence to get forward. We have to keep clean sheets in the position we currently are and that's lemina priority for the team

 

[Perton Wolf]

It's ridiculous how deep he's being asked to play.

 

[lobodelsur]

We have to keep clean sheets in the position we currently are...

We have kept precisely 3 clean sheets in the 17 matches since J-Lo has been in charge. It isn't working, and it isn't working because we are not easing the pressure on our defence by getting more players into forward positions moore frequently.
I still think J-Lo is a good manager, but setting up not to concede in every match is not helping. Yesterday was a prime example of when we should have set up to attack a perceptibly weaker opponent by allowing our midfielders to get forward. When we did this in the 2nd half, we scored (even if the overall performance was abject) ...

 

[superwolves]

We have kept precisely 3 clean sheets in the 17 matches since J-Lo has been in charge. It isn't working, and it isn't working because we are not easing the pressure on our defence by getting more players into forward positions moore frequently.
I still think J-Lo is a good manager, but setting up not to concede in every match is not helping. Yesterday was a prime example of when we should have set up to attack a perceptibly weaker opponent by allowing our midfielders to get forward. When we did this in the 2nd half, we scored (even if the overall performance was abject) ...

He has tried a back 4 with different combinations of players a back 5 and still we struggle to keep a clean sheet. I'm not convinced managers are coached to go gung ho to keep a clean sheet well maybe kevin keegan was. We scored second half yes but was having to leave ourselves wide open to chase down an equaliser

 

[lobodelsur]

He has tried a back 4 with different combinations of players a back 5 and still we struggle to keep a clean sheet. I'm not convinced managers are coached to go gung ho to keep a clean sheet well maybe kevin keegan was

I'd have gone 'gung-ho' yesterday (but wouldn't risk it against e.g. Chelsea).
The issue is not whether to have a back 4 or 3/5 but having less defensively-minded midfielders in from the start. Yesterday at 1-0 down he replaced Lemina and Moutinho with Sarabia and Podence and straight away we had more possession and were playing higher up the pitch. Yes, it came at the cost of conceding chances on the counter-attack, but if you're losing you have to take risks.

 

[superwolves]

I'd have gone 'gung-ho' yesterday (but wouldn't risk it against e.g. Chelsea).
The issue is not whether to have a back 4 or 3/5 but having less defensively-minded midfielders in from the start. Yesterday at 1-0 down he replaced Lemina and Moutinho with Sarabia and Podence and straight away we had more possession and were playing higher up the pitch. Yes, it came at the cost of conceding chances on the counter-attack, but if you're losing you have to take risks.

I think his game plan away from home is to keep it tight quieten the crowd stay in the game then maybe change it up half time. It's no different to what 90% of teams play. Our chance of 3 points isn't great if we concede unfortunately and he will need time and a different league position to be able to work on putting that right

 

[lobodelsur]

I think his game plan away from home is to keep it tight quieten the crowd stay in the game then maybe change it up half time. It's no different to what 90% of teams play. Our chance of 3 points isn't great if we concede unfortunately and he will need time and a different league position to be able to work on putting that right

I think your analysis is right, but we are conceding far too frequently...and far too early, hence the dramatic use of subs.

 

[superwolves]

I think your analysis is right, but we are conceding far too frequently...and far too early, hence the dramatic use of subs.

This is the problem he's facing. If the players can't achieve what he's asking of them then he will be looking to move them on. All that's for another day though his priority is focused on staying up

 

[Wolf of Wall Heath]

I really like the look of Mario. I think at times he has given Neves agency to sit higher up the field and have a greater attacking influence and he has looked great in the last few games.

Then I saw this and felt a bit proud that we seem to have recruited a lovely lad to boot.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649454277772083200

 

[Chriswwfc]

I really like the look of Mario. I think at times he has given Neves agency to sit higher up the field and have a greater attacking influence and he has looked great in the last few games.

Then I saw this and felt a bit proud that we seem to have recruited a lovely lad to boot.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649454277772083200

Love this.

 

[Nige100]

Ah man what a nice video. Top man Mario you’ve made a young man’s dream come true there. Fraser all the Wolves pack are proud of you mate cmon me babbiessssssss.

 

[Liskeard wolf]

What a lovely lad Frazer is. So positive. Hope it was a fantastic day for you. And well done wolves. Especially Mario Lemina who seems a really nice guy

 

[North West Wanderer]

I really like the look of Mario. I think at times he has given Neves agency to sit higher up the field and have a greater attacking influence and he has looked great in the last few games.

Then I saw this and felt a bit proud that we seem to have recruited a lovely lad to boot.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649454277772083200

damn those onions.

 

[Tring Wolf]

I really like the look of Mario. I think at times he has given Neves agency to sit higher up the field and have a greater attacking influence and he has looked great in the last few games.

Then I saw this and felt a bit proud that we seem to have recruited a lovely lad to boot.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649454277772083200

The full video of this had me tearing up. What an absolute champion Frazer is. His positivity in the face of such difficulties is an inspiration.

And what a great bunch of people we have at our club.

This is what football (and life) is really about.

 

[JadeWolf]

The full video of this had me tearing up. What an absolute champion Frazer is. His positivity in the face of such difficulties is an inspiration.

And what a great bunch of people we have at our club.

This is what football (and life) is really about.

Couldn’t have said it better.

 

[Skrilla]

Lemina and Dawson were exactly what we needed in January, proven Premier League experience with leadership skills for a dressing room bereft of leaders. All for a pittance in this day and age (£15m). Well done to Matt Hobbs for identifying that and acting on it.