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Raul Jimenez next season

Highlandwolf2

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Shi or Sellars (or Fosun) must feel that we are too good to get in a relegation struggle. Total rubbish sadly - as many have feared, an under funded squad and injuries to key players could well lead to this. Lage has been treated poorly from the start and is being faced with trying to get by with , as yet, no proper strikers. Shameful.
 

Belfast Wolf

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Update from Rauls partner
 

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NottsWolves

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Probably ****ed off by reading some of the comments and tweets about it.

The last couple of years seems to have brought out a number medical experts, I’m amazed how many we have and yet the nhs is on its knees with a lack of staff.

And before anyone says they shouldn’t rise to it, I can’t blame them if people are spreading lies or making it out that they know their personal medical information. But some people are just finding doom and gloom in everything.
 

YouGottaRaulWithIt

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Has there been any official confirmation of how long he's out for?
I don't think so, I read up to 8 weeks somewhere, but given its ACL plus groin, it could be a lot longer before he plays again.

What's that? About 10 games? If ever there was a time to go cap in hand to Fosun and ask for a loan it is now.
 

Fenrir_

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What's WUM about it? I know it ****es on your chips but for those two seasons Nuno basically had a first XI and sod all else. People are laughing that Everton have signed Vinagre, but he made 33 PL appearances for us in those two seasons. Costa was a starter in season one, an 18 year old Gibbs-White got 20+ appearances, Cavaleiro 20+, Bonatini got games, Ryan Bennett started 34 games. The second season we 'bolstered' the squad with Cutrone, Vallejo, Jordao and a 19 year old Neto while letting go of Costa, Cav and Bennett and having to cope with long absences for Boly and MGW - and then we had Covid on top of that

Lage had an embarrassment of riches in comparison
 

Hot Fuss

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What's WUM about it? I know it ****es on your chips but for those two seasons Nuno basically had a first XI and sod all else. People are laughing that Everton have signed Vinagre, but he made 33 PL appearances for us in those two seasons. Costa was a starter in season one, an 18 year old Gibbs-White got 20+ appearances, Cavaleiro 20+, Bonatini got games, Ryan Bennett started 34 games. The second season we 'bolstered' the squad with Cutrone, Vallejo, Jordao and a 19 year old Neto while letting go of Costa, Cav and Bennett and having to cope with long absences for Boly and MGW - and then we had Covid on top of that

Lage had an embarrassment of riches in comparison
Thought you’d be along!

Ok mate, Pre injury Raul and Diogo Jota are **** compared to Hwang and 2022 Raul.

Mountinho is miles better at 36 than he was at 32.

We had no injuries for 2 years from 2017-19, we and Nuno were were very lucky in that respect. Take Raul and Jota away and we’d have been struggling.

Your fixation with the manager of Al-Ittihad is just weird.
 

OJtonner90

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Regardless of the Nuno/Bruno comparison, 10 losses out of 14 is bad bad news. The fact you're all desperate for us to get additions in backs my point that Bruno is not the manager to get a tune from this group. Plenty of other better qualified managers would.
 

Sussex Wolf

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Regardless of the Nuno/Bruno comparison, 10 losses out of 14 is bad bad news. The fact you're all desperate for us to get additions in backs my point that Bruno is not the manager to get a tune from this group. Plenty of other better qualified managers would.
Then how do you explain the form prior to that which had us close to breaking into the top four? Same manager. Same season. Just a few key injuries less.
 

kidder_wolf_II

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Regardless of the Nuno/Bruno comparison, 10 losses out of 14 is bad bad news. The fact you're all desperate for us to get additions in backs my point that Bruno is not the manager to get a tune from this group. Plenty of other better qualified managers would.
Would we attract those better managers though?
 

Flaneur

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The fact you're all desperate for us to get additions in backs my point that Bruno is not the manager to get a tune from this group. Plenty of other better qualified managers would
Since when does wanting new players mean we think the bloke managing them is gash??
 
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Fenrir_

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This was a bench we named in the league last season btw. 2 keepers, and still not even the full 9 subs were filled out

View attachment 29068

And this is the bench from the game against Newcastle that Lage didn't touch until the 88th minute



Screenshot_20220727-231620_Google.jpg
Surely that's a stronger bench than we were ever able to name before last season?
 
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Fenrir_

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Thought you’d be along!

Ok mate, Pre injury Raul and Diogo Jota are **** compared to Hwang and 2022 Raul.

Mountinho is miles better at 36 than he was at 32.

We had no injuries for 2 years from 2017-19, we and Nuno were were very lucky in that respect. Take Raul and Jota away and we’d have been struggling.

Your fixation with the manager of Al-Ittihad is just weird.
Did you really? I'll never be as predictable as you ;) and I don't have a fixation with the manager of Al-Ittihad, but the occasional mentioning of his name when talking about the team and squad he was in charge of is occasionally relevant, apologies if it offends you...

Moutinho (35, not 36) is on the decline, yes, his midfield partner isn't though. Neves is approaching his prime and has just had the best season of his career, he's a far better player now than the one who finished 7th twice. Jota is a miss (though I recall you not seeming to be too fussed when we sold him, and indeed thought he'd been poor in 19/20), and Jimenez of 2022 wasn't as good as pre-injury. We saw glimpses of the 'old' Raúl, but he spent most of the season far too isolated and he's always been better with players getting around him, maybe Neto can help get that out of him. So you can argue, that the strongest XI Lage was able to select isn't quite as strong as the XI Nuno (am I allowed to say the name?) was able to. As you've said yourself though, that side that finished 7th would have struggled if it picked up a few injuries, the subs were upper Championship level, the squad of last season could cope with an injury here and there, the screenshot of the bench against Newcastle above shows it. Hence, it was a stronger squad.

You could also say that if everyone was fit, our strongest XI now is stronger than when we finished 7th, a fully fit Neto is arguably going to do more for us than Jota, Kilman now walks into that side, Neves has improved, Coady (if he plays) has improved, any two of the three full backs are a more solid line up than back then. We have a comparable side, and a stronger squad (though we do need a midfielder and with Silva's loan, a striker)

Lage didn't make the most of what he had available and flattered to deceive (and he deceived plenty). He has performed a miracle though, the longest stretch of turgid football (that couldn't be blamed on injuries) since promotion, the worst run of results since promotion, and comfortably the worst underlying figures we've produced over a season since promotion, and he's kept his job! A miracle indeed
 
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OJtonner90

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Then how do you explain the form prior to that which had us close to breaking into the top four? Same manager. Same season. Just a few key injuries less.
Look at the season as a whole: terrible start, incredible middle, terrible end.

More importantly, we lost games to clubs with far weaker squads than ours. Leeds, Brighton, Burnley, Newcastle + a draw at home to Norwich. How can you blame the board for that??
 

Kebab Warrior

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I don't think so, I read up to 8 weeks somewhere, but given its ACL plus groin, it could be a lot longer before he plays again.

What's that? About 10 games? If ever there was a time to go cap in hand to Fosun and ask for a loan it is now.
It’s MCL not ACL isn’t it? Either way knee ligament damage is not good.
 

Contrarian

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Look at the season as a whole: terrible start, incredible middle, terrible end.

More importantly, we lost games to clubs with far weaker squads than ours. Leeds, Brighton, Burnley, Newcastle + a draw at home to Norwich. How can you blame the board for that??

Who appointed the manager? They are responsible if they got the wrong guy. Who dumped the previous manager?
 

OJtonner90

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Who appointed the manager? They are responsible if they got the wrong guy. Who dumped the previous manager?
Imo Fosun appointed Bruno because they wanted a manager with a track record of developing young talents into players that can be sold for £££.

Unfortunately they have hit two problems:
1. We are competing with the Big Six + top European clubs for these young talents (Maquinhos, Enzo Fernandes)
2. Bruno - while a good academy/assistant coach - is not capable of making Wolves an attractive proposition that our targets want to play for.

So yes, they can take some accountability for where we're at, but I can't get on board with 90 per cent of fans on here acting like Bruno is some sort of damsel in distress.
 

Jefe

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MCL isn't necessarily too bad, esp if mild.
FWIW, I injured my medial ligament in a similar situation and age as Raul, and I was playing a month later. I think Neves last season was similar, he was back much sooner than people feared.
 

Beastier

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From a top-level perspective, we're pretty goal shy as a team and the general consensus at the end of the season was we need another striker to challenge for a starting place.

Since then we've loaned out Fabio and appears we've lost Raul for a chunk of the opening of the new campaign.

Like many I interpreted Fabio's loan as an indicator that we had a striker lined up (which may still be the case), although I guess conversely we aren't going to be much worse off without a striker who couldn't manage a league goal last season.

Without freaking out, etc at this moment in time my concerns about where the goals are coming from does to a decent degree quell my optimism for the new season.
 

Contrarian

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Imo Fosun appointed Bruno because they wanted a manager with a track record of developing young talents into players that can be sold for £££.

Unfortunately they have hit two problems:
1. We are competing with the Big Six + top European clubs for these young talents (Maquinhos, Enzo Fernandes)
2. Bruno - while a good academy/assistant coach - is not capable of making Wolves an attractive proposition that our targets want to play for.

So yes, they can take some accountability for where we're at, but I can't get on board with 90 per cent of fans on here acting like Bruno is some sort of damsel in distress.

Good points, on point 1, definitely agree. Something we fans need to consider, too. Also, it could even be added that they wanted a more attacking style than Nuno had provided. They'd have known about Bruno's Benfica smashing it with free flowing attack. Of course, that's also an unrealistic expectation as Benfica are one of the giants in Portugal and without spending to get us up to the level of the Big 6 here, is a lost cause. (about half a billion is a good start, based on Chelsea and City).

I think there's a "can't get the job without the experience and can't get the experience without the job" factor on point 2. I'm not sure any manager could transform a squad that for 4 years was totally built around a deep back 3, with a midfielder assigned to stay back for further support, into a succesful attacking team. One that wins matches while dominating possesion - something we've hardly ever done. We win with 30 - 40% possession and when we have 60% or more, those are the matches we tend to struggle in. Get ahead, stay back and counter was what this squad was bought for and built for. Transform that - and break even on transfers, for added challenge, eh.

Anyway, yes, based on last season (minus those early matches that seem really strange given what we've seen since) , it is going to be hard to attract our targets. My view is that we showed many of our players could be more attacking (Neves springs to mind as transformed in that system) , but we struggled to score and if you're playing more open and going to concede a goal or two, you have to have the firepower to score a couple or three goals and we simply don't. Note that plenty of top 6 teams concede more than a goal game and still get points because they can score 2 or 3 without it being the rarity it is for us. TBF to Bruno, a worse manager would have carried on and led us to the lower end of the table playing pretty but ineffective football. Norwich and Fulham do it all the time. Leeds another example last season.

Don't think anybody is acting like Bruno is in distress. Just pointing out the reasons things are as they are. The problems are deeper than Bruno alone. Maybe Fosun could get some big name manager in, but that's the same as the problem attracting players. Especially with the "break even" policy. The only manager you could attract with an offer of "Hey, we want a transformation and you are the man to do it. BTW Your net budget is zero) is some chancer like Zenger or Saunders.
 

OJtonner90

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Good points, on point 1, definitely agree. Something we fans need to consider, too. Also, it could even be added that they wanted a more attacking style than Nuno had provided. They'd have known about Bruno's Benfica smashing it with free flowing attack. Of course, that's also an unrealistic expectation as Benfica are one of the giants in Portugal and without spending to get us up to the level of the Big 6 here, is a lost cause. (about half a billion is a good start, based on Chelsea and City).

I think there's a "can't get the job without the experience and can't get the experience without the job" factor on point 2. I'm not sure any manager could transform a squad that for 4 years was totally built around a deep back 3, with a midfielder assigned to stay back for further support, into a succesful attacking team. One that wins matches while dominating possesion - something we've hardly ever done. We win with 30 - 40% possession and when we have 60% or more, those are the matches we tend to struggle in. Get ahead, stay back and counter was what this squad was bought for and built for. Transform that - and break even on transfers, for added challenge, eh.

Anyway, yes, based on last season (minus those early matches that seem really strange given what we've seen since) , it is going to be hard to attract our targets. My view is that we showed many of our players could be more attacking (Neves springs to mind as transformed in that system) , but we struggled to score and if you're playing more open and going to concede a goal or two, you have to have the firepower to score a couple or three goals and we simply don't. Note that plenty of top 6 teams concede more than a goal game and still get points because they can score 2 or 3 without it being the rarity it is for us. TBF to Bruno, a worse manager would have carried on and led us to the lower end of the table playing pretty but ineffective football. Norwich and Fulham do it all the time. Leeds another example last season.

Don't think anybody is acting like Bruno is in distress. Just pointing out the reasons things are as they are. The problems are deeper than Bruno alone. Maybe Fosun could get some big name manager in, but that's the same as the problem attracting players. Especially with the "break even" policy. The only manager you could attract with an offer of "Hey, we want a transformation and you are the man to do it. BTW Your net budget is zero) is some chancer like Zenger or Saunders.
It is a bit of a chicken v egg situation for sure. Obviously my theory is pure speculation but the Collins signing strikes me as a Fosun/Wolves signing rather than a Bruno one, so has to be commended. Plus I'd back this approach rather than giving Bruno whoever he wants given the jury is very much still out on whether he's up to scratch for this level.

The Dortmund/Leicester model is the way to go.
 

Sussex Wolf

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It is a bit of a chicken v egg situation for sure. Obviously my theory is pure speculation but the Collins signing strikes me as a Fosun/Wolves signing rather than a Bruno one, so has to be commended. Plus I'd back this approach rather than giving Bruno whoever he wants given the jury is very much still out on whether he's up to scratch for this level.

The Dortmund/Leicester model is the way to go.

I’m not sure you can make that argument. Bruno has been very clear on a desire to move to four at the back, and equally clear that before Collins, we didn’t have the players for it. Collins may have been selected by the recruitment team, but he’s exactly the kind of player Bruno wanted/needed. Frankly that’s the way we recruit under Fosun . It’s not the manager who chooses the players. The manager specifies the kind of player he needs, and the recruitment team find someone who meets that need and fits the clubs desired profile. Think that’s entirely reasonable, but it doesn’t mean the club don’t trust the manager or see him not having a long future.
 

Beijing Wolf

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So how long do we think Raul is actually out for?

Percy is saying about 8 weeks whereas the man himself and his missus are both saying just a couple (2-3 weeks). I’m confused about the whole thing.
 

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So sad to see the frustrated ineffective figure that Jimenez cut yesterday. For 18 months he was the best no 9 in the league. Thought he might rekindle his form in a different formation, but no early signs. Any chance we see the old Jimenez or has that terrible injury took it toll
 

Ewok vs Wolf

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Looks way off it unfortunately
Not making those near post runs, just not getting in the position to score goals.
 

92WWFC

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I mean he scored a perfectly good goal yesterday he wasn't involved in the foul by Neto, he did his bit. He also scored less than a week prior in the cup if he keeps going on that ratio all will be rosy. Or course we need a striker that provides a different option but I'm not writing Raul off.
 

Bill S Preston Esq.

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I mean he scored a perfectly good goal yesterday he wasn't involved in the foul by Neto, he did his bit. He also scored less than a week prior in the cup if he keeps going on that ratio all will be rosy. Or course we need a striker that provides a different option but I'm not writing Raul off.
I'm not seeing the terminal decline some of our perpetually forlorn contributors have identified.
 

Wolf 82

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I'm not seeing the terminal decline some of our perpetually forlorn contributors have identified.
Agreed. He created our best opportunity yesterday and put away his only chance.. did waste a decent counter in injury time, but overall he played as well as anyone else (bar Neves and Semedo who were exceptional).
 
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