Newcastle Verdict

[silverwolf]

Two poor teams on show today, admittedly we were better than Newcastle but you have to question the static approach play and at times glacial attack. We have some fantastic players but they aren’t approaching the level of the first three games, where dare I say it the transfer window remained open.

Positives

Raul is getting better with every minute played.
Hwang is a player an a half. Doesn’t stop running and makes some very intelligent runs.
Kilman my player of the season so far

Not so’s

Desperately need a forward facing player in the middle of the park. Every good moment comes from a player moving between the lines and looking for a forward pass. Neves and moutinho too quick to play it backwards.

Trincao has gone off the boil. Think the miss affected him and confidence dropped.

Forwards too far from each other. Get them
In and around each other and moving positively and we score two goals.

Lots to work on but optimistic given that we’ve now started picking up points and I feel there is more to come. Would love to be able to play with a back 4, stick Hwang and Jimmy up top and watch them create havoc.

Bruno you need to sort your subs out fella.

 

[Tring Wolf]

Really strange game. Started and finished each half poorly yet dominated the middle 30 minutes of both.

Brilliant play from Raul to set up the first goal and a really composed finish from Hwang (although Darlow’s positioning was horrific). After that, Newcastle went into their shell and we should have been further ahead before the game changed on a crazy 60-second spell.

An absolutely wonderful move resulted in a gilt-edged chance for Trincao, yet instead of going 2-0 ahead, we were pegged back to 1-1 after sloppy mistakes from Trincao and Neves (and Sa trying to buy a free kick when he wasn’t genuinely injured). If we’d have scored at that point, I’m convinced we would have gone on to win 3-0 or 4-0 but the nature and timing of the goal completely halted any momentum we had started to build.

Second half, started poorly again and only a wonderful save by Sa from ASM kept us on level terms (although he really shouldn’t have been given any chance at all to save it). Another wonderful link-up between Raul and Hwang saw us re-take a lead following a lovely, composed finish.

At that point, Newcastle were there for the taking but our football just didn’t really flow. Seemed to me like the game was crying out for Adama or Podence to come on for Trincao after 65-70 minutes and we ultimately ended up sitting deeper and deeper (perhaps understandable given how long we’ve waited for a home win).

Fortunately, despite our quite frankly awful ball retention, Newcastle lacked any genuine quality and we saw out the game with relatively few panics.

Positives were Saiss and Kilman who were both very good and the chemistry being established between the Mexican Sensation and the Korean Bull.

Sa 7
Kilman 7
Coady 6
Saiss 7
Semedo 6
Neves 6
Moutinho 7
Marcal 6
Raul 8
Hwang 9
Trincao 6 (thought he was good first half but the miss seemed to effect him in the second).

Not our most fluent performance but a really important win which gets the home and Newcastle hoodoos off our back.

Up into the top half and all of a sudden, our start to the season has become an ok one.

Special mention to Newcastle for showing an incredible lack of attacking intent. As frustrated as we can occasionally get with Wolves, the rubbish that their fans have had to put up with in recent years is mind-boggling.

Oh well…nice to be able to enjoy the weekend going into an international break…

 

[Wolf in Kenilworth]

Running the London Marathon tomorrow so I’m currently ****ting myself in my hotel room in London. Couldn’t make it but sounds tense!
Thanks for the updates.

 

[Jefe]

The Raul-Hwang partnership is the clear takeaway from the game, very exciting indeed. The back three were solid. The rest of the game was mush, and you won't see a worse goal conceded this weekend than their equaliser. Bruno's reluctance to make changes is concerning at times; Traore for the mediocre Trincao should have happened after an hour.

 

[Ned]

We started both halves nervously and made needlessly hard work of it. But we were by far the better team today and I never felt we wouldn’t win that.

We could do with an extra dimension in midfield as we do drop too deep at times and back into old habits (see Nuno hangover thread) but we look lively up front.

Pros:
Raul looking closer to his best.
Hwang seemingly ready made for English football.
Centre defence looked decent again.
Moutinho had a good game.

Cons:
Bruno not making earlier changes to stem the flow from 70mins onwards.
Marcal looked shaky.
Semedo offers nothing going forward.

 

[The Clock]

Another performance that was difficult to watch at times.
But its a good three points, and good to see Hwang scoring and Raul improving.
To be fair to Bruno, I applaud the fact that he has recognised we need the points and has set us up more defensively.
Yep its more like Nuno ball, but get us up the table and then become more expansive again.
Barring injuries i cant see Silva making an appearance this season.

 

[sillytuna]

A win is a win but my god that was awful. I have no idea what lage is even trying to do any more. We started the season was positive football but couldn't score. A few games in and it's become negative and championship standard. The results have been courtesy of individual excellence or mistakes while overall play is going downhill fast imho.

On the bright side, raul and huang were excellent today and look a good partnership. Our cbs also played well overall.

On the negative side, everything else. Trincao, who I like, was atrocious for the most part. At one point first half we broke forwards and he barely even jogged to help the other two forwards. He lacks strength and currently the right mentality.

Marcal was busy playing hospital balls and once again showing he is no Lwb. Semedo again was far too cautious and offered absolutely nothing attacking wise. 5 at the back is a waste of time with two wing backs who don't attack the box or cross the ball. At least marcal chucks a cross in every now and again.

Moutinho was ok but terrible free kicks and so much backward play. Neves a poor game and again too much backwards passing.

Lage fluffed the team and then really fluffed the subs. After the goal we couldn't get out of our half and it was crying out for Traore and a change in midfield. Nothing. We got lucky in that newcastle were hopeless.

Overall there are positives in our two forwards playing well but I just dont know what Lage is about at all. Play like we did at the start but with huang, an on form jiminez, and ait nouri and we'd do well. What happened?

Why are we so so so slow and why do we stop our own attacks to, in one case, kicking it out for a throw in in our own half?!

442 need desperately imho.

 

[JadeWolf]

Big 3 points, against a poor, poor side.

 

[DasWolf]

Hwang did very well today with very composed finishes, but Raul's play to set him up was also excellent.

Made it far, far harder than it needed to be. The team are playing with fire trying to retain possession in very dangerous areas of the pitch, and their equaliser came from that. Boot it into row Z, sometimes you just have to clear it and regroup.

Ref was poor, should have been at least one yellow card for fouls during our 2nd goal, playing advantage (correctly) doesn't excuse it.

We had control at one point but let it slip from our grasp, thankfully we were not punished. Sa with a very good save to keep us in it.

 

[Glass ankles]

Really strange game. Started and finished each half poorly yet dominated the middle 30 minutes of both.

Brilliant play from Raul to set up the first goal and a really composed finish from Hwang (although Darlow’s positioning was horrific). After that, Newcastle went into their shell and we should have been further ahead before the game changed on a crazy 60-second spell.

An absolutely wonderful move resulted in a guilt-edged chance for Trincao, yet instead of going 2-0 ahead, we were pegged back to 1-1 after sloppy mistakes from Trincao and Neves (and Sa trying to buy a free kick when he wasn’t genuinely injured). If we’d have scored at that point, I’m convinced we would have gone on to win 3-0 or 4-0 but the nature and timing of the goal completely halted any momentum we had started to build.

Second half, started poorly again and only a wonderful save by Sa from ASM kept us on level terms (although he really shouldn’t have been given any chance at all to save it). Another wonderful link-up between Raul and Hwang saw us re-take a lead following a lovely, composed finish.

At that point, Newcastle were there for the taking but our football just didn’t really flow. Seemed to me like the game was crying out for Adama or Podence to come on for Trincao after 65-70 minutes and we ultimately ended up sitting deeper and deeper (perhaps understandable given how long we’ve waited for a home win).

Fortunately, despite our quite frankly awful ball retention, Newcastle lacked any genuine quality and we saw out the game with relatively few panics.

Positives were Saiss and Kilman who were both very good and the chemistry being established between the Mexican Sensation and the Korean Bull.

Sa 7
Kilman 7
Coady 6
Saiss 7
Semedo 6
Neves 6
Moutinho 7
Marcal 6
Raul 8
Hwang 9
Trincao 6 (thought he was good first half but the miss seemed to effect him in the second).

Not our most fluent performance but a really important win which gets the home and Newcastle hoodoos off our back.

Up into the top half and all of a sudden, our start to the season has become an ok one.

Special mention to Newcastle for showing an incredible lack of attacking intent. As frustrated as we can occasionally get with Wolves, the rubbish that their fans have had to put up with in recent years is mind-boggling.

Oh well…nice to be able to enjoy the weekend going into an international break…

Agree with all of this. Killman and Hwang joint MOTM for me.

 

[Wolf316]

**** poor game but it’s three points and the Raul Hwang partnership was very impressive.

Anybody know if the guy who collapsed on the North Bank is ok?

 

[Air Wolf 90]

Excellent game from Maximilian.

 

[SA Wolf]

Poor match lit-up bu a couple of moments of brilliance, generally involving Raul and Hwang. Passes went astray, negative play and a match littered with petty fouls. Even my wife asked why we play the ball back from promising positions, a point epitomised by Moutinho. However, three precious points, our first win and goals at Molineux this season and Hwang looks like he's developing a partnership with Jimenez.

Sa - 7 - Never a foul for the Newcastle goal and should have got up sooner. Fantastic second half save from ASM.
Marcal - 7 - Back to somewhere near his best after a couple of poor games.
Saiss - 8 - Had a thoroughly dominant game. MotM if it wasn't for Hwang.
Coady - 7 - Tidy game.
Kilman - 7 - Player of the month for August. In the mix for Sept and started October well. Hope his calf is ok.
Semedo - 6 - Always turns back, rather than using his pace to get into the box.
Neves - 5 - Poor match by his standards. Can't remember a pass finding a gold shirt.
Moutinho - 6 - Poor dead balls, but never stopped running. What was he doing passing back from a really promising position, though?
Trincao - 5 - Should have scored, lightweight on the ball. How did he last nearly 80 minutes?
Raul - 7 - Some great link-up play. Tried the fancy moves a little too much for my liking, but two assists.
Hwang - 8.5 - MotM for his two, well-taken goals and all-action display. Gonna become a favourite should we sign him permanently.

Subs;

Dendoncker - N/A - Should have been on sooner.
Traore - N/A - Should have been on for Trincao at HT.

Glad we are picking up points against some of the 'lesser teams' as we are nowhere near our best and better teams would beat us convincingly. Need to get back to intensity-type performances against Utd and Spuds. But - a win's a win!

A

 

[marrs-guitar]

We don't look very impressive at all, I'm afraid, and that against a really bang average team with one tricky players.

It looked too similar to many of our PL wins under McCarthy where Doyle or (more likely) Fletcher would pull off some excellent finishes but we'd otherwise lack any fluency to our play.

There's far too many players out there just timidly passing the ball off ASAP (and usually underhitting in the process which allows the opponent to regain possession), and not having the real desire to hurt the opposition. Our wingbacks offer nothing at all and Bruno's weakening of the side with the omissions of RAN and Boly is concerning for me.

Aside from his goals, Hwang stands out because he'd the first new addition since Jota's departure who is also wanting to hustle and put the opponent under pressure with his aggression.

 

[GY Wolf]

Did I hear goal music on the highlights? Christ sake. Well done Hwang and well done Wolves!

 

[Edmund Dantes]

Sometimes I feel like I am watching a team caught between playing the way Nuno had us set up defensively and then suddenly remembering that they are supposed to be going forward.

 

[Deleted member 9202LYK]

I’m delighted!

Hwang gives us something we haven’t really had since Jota. Looks like a superb signing after today.

If we know we can score then it does help trying things in defence and midfield.

The downside is that we done full-Nunoball now.

 

[DasWolf]

Did I hear goal music on the highlights? Christ sake. Well done Hwang and well done Wolves!

Yeah the club need to cut that out. It makes sense playing goal music when the stadium is empty, not when it's full.

 

[Deleted member 8123]

Hwang looks a well balanced player who does not panic.
Our midfield looked shocking and ball retention was terrible.
Lage seems to have gone into a shell ; we were desperate for subs ...and...nothing.
Could have cost us if Newcastle were not so poor.

 

[Sedgers]

Thought we did alright tbh.

 

[Bognor_Wolf]

Said before the game this was a game we really needed to win before the international break and fixtures coming up next so pleased with the three points even if the performance wasn't our best....

Hwang took his goals well very calm in front of goal and good link up play with Jimenez who might not have scored but his all round game was really good..

A couple of negatives for me... Neves passing wasn't his best today had a few sloppy moments this season just needs to be careful he doesn't lose the ball in dangerous areas....

Lage also needs to make changes sooner we could all see we needed fresh legs on the pitch and Traore should have been on for Trincao earlier in the game...

Overall though happy with the three points and two wins on the bounce to build on!

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Poor performance, luckily Newcastle might be the 2nd worst in the division.

Midfield absolutely useless, I'm sure Joao will get his "tidy, work hard" *******s but he and Neves are absolutely so scared of passing forward. Turned down so many opportunities to play balls through the lines. Neves tried a bit to do it but as I've said repeatedly he isn't particularly good at it, which is why he isn't a top top midfielder.

Sa 5
Dunno what that was, lying on the ground to buy a free kick and then as the ref is about to blow he jumps up. Good save but shakey

Semedo 7
Did well 1v1 with Maxim, got forward to give width but Raul didn't play the ball and Neves didn't get a fairly simple ball through the line. Newcastle doubled that side because they knew Marcal was no threat.

Saiss 6
Not bad, didn't have much to do but poor in possession.

Coady 7
Read game well and actually did ok a few times 1v1 with Maxim.

Kilman 8
Another excellent performance, lovely pass to Marcal and strong in the air and in tackle. Turning into a top player.

Marcal 6
Defended well, especially aerially which is important against them. Poor on the ball as per.

Moutinho 5
Absolutely no desire to pass forwards as mentioned above. Cringe worthy moment when he had an absolutely simple pass and managed to nearly lose it giving it to Coady.

Neves 6
Marginally better than Joao, tried to pass it forward but doesn't pass through the lines well enough. When we dominate possession like we did in spells neither of these two can unlock a team. Toni Kroos or prime Busquets or so I'm told though.

Trincao 3
Less said about it the better. Missed a sitter, didn't track back and gave ball away constantly. Shocker

Hwang 9
Brilliant finishes, great runs all game and worked his **** off.

Raul 8
Led the line well, imagine if he had a midfield that progressed the ball so he can stay up top. Made some bad decisions when he should have released ball to Semedo and Hwang.

Bruno 3
Don't think he got team selection correct, no subs was baffling and we just reverted to sitting deep.

What the **** happened in that last 5 minutes btw. We completely went to pieces, not one player could trap it.

Might **** people off being so negative but that performance really worries. They are so bad but had plenty of ball, they've just got no quality

 

[djmikeydickens]

Made really hardwork out of that against a very poor side. Trincao miss was a big one, 2-0 and that would of been that. Continue to shoot ourselves in the foot. That last 10 minutes was awful and subs should of been made sooner. Two bits of Quality in the game resulted in two goals, great link up play and finishing between Raul and Hwang.
The points on the board are the most important thing at the moment after playing well and getting beat early in the season.

 

[crash2772]

Deserved to get the 3 points, but not our best effort.

Pros:

Hwang - composed finishing, tidy in possession and tracks back to help. Can’t wait to see him pinched in playing off Raul AND Neto.

Raúl- looking like his pre-injury self. Created two goals, and his possession and linking with the midfield made our attack click and allowed us to play centrally.

Defensively the team shut down their danger man and didn’t give too many chances.

Cons:

We lacked the dynamism in possession that we had early in the season. Were we just fitter than our opponents and now they’ve caught up?

Moutinho and Neves seemed tentative going forward, Neves not sharp in his passing, and both were desperately tired in the last 15 minutes.

 

[Ned]

It was a bit Nuno-ish at times but I don’t really see how it was as bad as some think.

Ironically the 3 games at the start with 0 points is by far the best spell of the season in terms of how we’ve played.

 

[Leigh72]

Welcome 3 points, but for the first time, very disappointed with Bruno today, dreadful management today, obvious Trincao should have come off at 60 mins , in the end we end up hanging on against that tripe.
Lucky Bruno today.

Having said all that, big 3 points!!

 

[Dan G WWFC]

For me, we got to play 532 with Raul and Hwang upfront or 4231/4411 with Hwang off Raul depending if we want an extra CB and Midfielder or wingers.

Got to get together

 

[Deleted member 7862Bler]

I remember one poster complaining that if Raul got injured then we would “be relying on some Korean”.
Looks like we did ok.

 

[Tarcisio Mifsud]

Football is about getting 3 points and Wolves just did that. But I was very much disappointed with the performances of Neves, Semedo and Trincao, the latter should have become a rugby player for he always shoots high balls whether they are from dead balls or from open play. He should see how HWANG shoots, always just above the grass. I would have changed Neves and Trincao with Den. and Adama by half time. Hwang will get my MOTM and with get 9 points. The other players will get 6s and 7s.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

Really dont see what some have apparently seen today
Yes we went way too defensive in the second half and should have been punished,but that was the only negative i saw and the only chance they really had
Thought after a nervy opening we controlled the game,should have gone in 2-0 up
HWang took his chances superbly,and brilliant setting up from Raul who played more of a 10 role today,and very well too
Saiss was excellent i thought,and but for HWangs goals MOTM
Neves was poor again and didnt look fit to me
Bruno way too Nuno like today,should have made changes 20 minutes earlier,but i guess getting results is more important than style at this point

 

[Lycaon]

Bottom line is played well in our opening 3 fixtures but zilch points to show for it.
Played poorly last 4 league games and returned 9 out of 12 points!
If we continue to win ugly then so be-it if it confirms and maintains our Premier League status.
Admittedly, at times might not be a great watch!

 

[xbomber]

Any Korean clips for the two goals yet please? I love those screaming commentator lunatics.

 

[steve vena]

Took my villa supporting mate with me today as my wife wasn't well, he was jizzing himself over Raul today, who was magnificent.
Thinks we could be very good with better midfield and a pacy centre back as we all know. I
Why doesn't semedo attack the space and drive forward ? Trincao not so good I thought and adama should have come on earlier.
Hwang and Raul in a two would surely be better .
Pleased with the win and Bruno needs help in January.

 

[JOSWolf]

Positives, Hwang- really like the look of him, Raul getting better and better, Kilman looking quality yet again. Negatives - Central midfield poor yet again, Neves and Moutinho should both be doing better than that today. We really need more options in this area and it is dreadful the club failed to address this in the summer. To me Donck has to play with Neves and then sign some midfielders in January or try Cundle at some stage.
Marcal to me needs to be replaced by RAN. He is a wing back that hardly ever attacks. It must be RAN there. Trincao loses confidence too easily and looks lightweight. He will be a very good player but has a lot to learn.
Bruno's subs poor today as well. He should have made changes earlier and his lack of subs helped Newcastle on to us in the later stages.

Bruno needs to get us more attacking and better in possession like earlier in the season and hopefully combine this with the wins.

All in all though delighted with the win and with Hwang and Raul as what a difference it makes to have these two in attack compared to last season.

 

[thommo1984]

Neves passing wasn't his best today had a few sloppy moments this season just needs to be careful he doesn't lose the ball in dangerous areas....

Have said before that while his passing and breaking up of possession can be excellent his ball protection, when under pressure, is abysmal. He completely panics when there's not an immediate pass on and often gives it away stupidly. Really needs to work on that side of his game.

 

[JohnMatrix]

I definitely didn't think it was as bad as some are saying. If Trincao had finished his chance the game would have been killed off I think.

 

[sc91]

Two poor sides, but once again, we are better than the opposition.

Painful watch.

 

[Darren M (Dazza)]

Running the London Marathon tomorrow so I’m currently ****ting myself in my hotel room in London. Couldn’t make it but sounds tense!
Thanks for the updates.

Excellent to see a post from a fellow runner. Good luck, London was my stand out marathon.

 

[The Wolf In The North]

Getting the bad out of the way first:

Defending the lead in the last ten minutes was as chaotic and soul-shredding as anything under Nuno. It wasn't professional players doing their duty, it was watching three year olds running around in panic trying to stop their ice creams melting on a hot summer's day. I swear it actually put Newcastle off, because they weren't exactly piling on the pressure. The high point was when Semedo edged forward high up the touchline, passed inside, and then Moutinho turned and ran back towards our goal as if he was Scooby Doo and had just seen the Faceless Phantom scuttle forward from Newcastle's penalty area. It's ****ing Newcastle. That was simply pathetic.

Traore looks about as ****ed off as a very large, very ****ed off man can be. That isn't going to end well. And the dignified composure that Lage displayed in his first few games has been replaced by a nervous gnawing of his wrists and slightly wild eyes. In his last six months here, Nuno appeared hollow and haunted. I'd really not like to see Lage start to get similarly twitchy.

And Neves was stodgy. Why is he so damn inconsistent?

The good:

We won, we have a nice little haul of points to sit on going into autumn, we can breathe a bit.

Hwang is brilliant, like Jota if Jota was less snappy, starving dog and more swaggering cowboy. Jota with muscle to back up the attitude. My god we've needed some of that.

Raul was much better. Saiss was much, MUCH better. Kilman was silky and concentrated. Trincao - though he is a tad immature, and massively screwed up in more than one way leading to their goal - was lively. Marcal didn't do Marcal things.

But today was Hwang's day, and it was lovely to see Raul alongside a quick, incisive bully who - a step above Traore - showed composure to slot in two finishes that weren't as straightforward as he made them look.

Great result. Awful last 10 minutes. Lots of work to do. But 9 points from 7 games, back on track.

 

[Darren M (Dazza)]

Two poor sides, but once again, we are better than the opposition.

Painful watch.

You are joking ? With the 2 poor sides. Only one is 2nd bottom of the league. Unbelievable