Sasa Kalajdzic

[Hoganstolemywife]

The biggest issue isn't so much the 2 DMs its how deep our back line always stays. If you really want to dominate possession and pin teams back then that our back line MUST push up closer to the half way line which in turn allows the midfielders to also push up and squeeze the opposition, then you can get more players into the box per attack but also have the bonus of more easily recycling the ball when a cross or attempted pass is cleared, this has always been something Wolves have failed at doing (unless we're losing and throw caution to the wind near the end of a game).

This is 100% down to the lack of pace our CBs (and to a lesser extent our midfield) have had for years now, which makes them unable to properly deal with balls over the top or to counter breakaways. Dawson and Kilman (and Collins/Coady before they left) just aren't quick enough to play that way. Neves/Moutinho were also great at going side to side but also struggled to get up and down the pitch fast enough.

Gomes/Traore and Lamina are a huge upgrade in this regard, but our CBs would both need replacing with faster players to do this.

It's also about bravery. Knowing you're going to give up chances by pushing up and having faith that you can deal with it and not worry that you're going to concede the odd goal on the break. Again, something Wolves have really lacked since our time in the Premier League imo.

Excellent post

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

The biggest issue isn't so much the 2 DMs its how deep our back line always stays. If you really want to dominate possession and pin teams back then that our back line MUST push up closer to the half way line which in turn allows the midfielders to also push up and squeeze the opposition, then you can get more players into the box per attack but also have the bonus of more easily recycling the ball when a cross or attempted pass is cleared, this has always been something Wolves have failed at doing (unless we're losing and throw caution to the wind near the end of a game).

This is 100% down to the lack of pace our CBs (and to a lesser extent our midfield) have had for years now, which makes them unable to properly deal with balls over the top or to counter breakaways. Dawson and Kilman (and Collins/Coady before they left) just aren't quick enough to play that way. Neves/Moutinho were also great at going side to side but also struggled to get up and down the pitch fast enough.

Gomes/Traore and Lamina are a huge upgrade in this regard, but our CBs would both need replacing with faster players to do this.

It's also about bravery. Knowing you're going to give up chances by pushing up and having faith that you can deal with it and not worry that you're going to concede the odd goal on the break. Again, something Wolves have really lacked since our time in the Premier League imo.

All this stuff plus getting the ball across and shooting on sight all seem so ****ing obvious to me; it really is not rocket science. Surely our training day in day out should be focussed on these things, not how to pass the ball sideways or backwards.

 

[Milijas]

The biggest issue isn't so much the 2 DMs its how deep our back line always stays. If you really want to dominate possession and pin teams back then that our back line MUST push up closer to the half way line which in turn allows the midfielders to also push up and squeeze the opposition, then you can get more players into the box per attack but also have the bonus of more easily recycling the ball when a cross or attempted pass is cleared, this has always been something Wolves have failed at doing (unless we're losing and throw caution to the wind near the end of a game).

This is 100% down to the lack of pace our CBs (and to a lesser extent our midfield) have had for years now, which makes them unable to properly deal with balls over the top or to counter breakaways. Dawson and Kilman (and Collins/Coady before they left) just aren't quick enough to play that way. Neves/Moutinho were also great at going side to side but also struggled to get up and down the pitch fast enough.

Gomes/Traore and Lamina are a huge upgrade in this regard, but our CBs would both need replacing with faster players to do this.

It's also about bravery. Knowing you're going to give up chances by pushing up and having faith that you can deal with it and not worry that you're going to concede the odd goal on the break. Again, something Wolves have really lacked since our time in the Premier League imo.

Agree regarding playing a higher defensive line and pace is an issue. Especially regarding Dawson (and Coady previously)

However, saw in a recent interview with Hwang he was asked fastest players at club and he said 'Neto is quick, max is also quick..'

Toti certainly ain't slow but we know we need an older head next to max..

 

[Bryce]

Good interview with Sasa. He says his recovery was hard with the knee swelling up. I don't get the impression he is 100% ready for pre-season.

He seems such a nice guy, but I don't think we can expect a full season out of him. They need to get Silva back or buy some strikers.

Interesting times!

I was told he is a month away about ten days ago
No reason to doubt it .

 

[Glow69]

Sure I saw him training in an Instagram video today in Portugal.

 

[Contrarian]

Agree regarding playing a higher defensive line and pace is an issue. Especially regarding Dawson (and Coady previously)

However, saw in a recent interview with Hwang he was asked fastest players at club and he said 'Neto is quick, max is also quick..'

Toti certainly ain't slow but we know we need an older head next to max..

Nunes was recorded as the fastest midfield player in the league last season. Might be a mental bravery thing rather than actual lack of pace. Another way of looking at it is that our defenders are not terrified of being caught for pace on a counter. But scared knowing that if we concede but one goal, then our attack doesn't even average 1 a game, let alone 2.

Centre midfield not getting forward fast enough to support attacks is a problem. But our biggest problem is we don't have attackers who can worry defenders.

Cause and effect could go both ways here, weak attack causing us to be more defensive which, of course, weakens our attack. Though our defence gets more forward now than it did in our first 2 seasons. And we scored 50 goals in one of those! That was down to the incisive nature and quality of Raul and Jota, supported by Adama (and Neto, later on). Two players are all it takes when they are good enough. When not good enough, you may as well get 6 forward and it's just letting you leak goals like we started to do.

 

[Minimalist]

Agree regarding playing a higher defensive line and pace is an issue. Especially regarding Dawson (and Coady previously)

However, saw in a recent interview with Hwang he was asked fastest players at club and he said 'Neto is quick, max is also quick..'

Toti certainly ain't slow but we know we need an older head next to max..

Interesting. I think killman is probably much faster than he looks over medium or longer distances due to his longer stride. He isn’t awfully quick in short sharp situations! This was exposed terribly when Nuno tried him as a fill in left back!

To my eye Toti looks much quicker, so to Sanderson & Mosquera.

 

[Milijas]

Interesting. I think killman is probably much faster than he looks over medium or longer distances due to his longer stride. He isn’t awfully quick in short sharp situations! This was exposed terribly when Nuno tried him as a fill in left back!

To my eye Toti looks much quicker, so to Sanderson & Mosquera.

Yeh think max turns like a boat and as you say isn't quickest off the mark but playing a high line over say 20 yards he would do fine.

Toti and other you mention would be up there with the quicker CBs in the league.

Know what original post was about that, Dawson ain't catching a cold.

 

[ombyman]

Interesting. I think killman is probably much faster than he looks over medium or longer distances due to his longer stride. He isn’t awfully quick in short sharp situations! This was exposed terribly when Nuno tried him as a fill in left back!

To my eye Toti looks much quicker, so to Sanderson & Mosquera.

The distance makes a huge difference. Football is all about the bursts. 100m is totally different to 5m burst.
I seem to remember Kompany was meant to be the fastest 100m time at city. And that Bellerin had a faster 3, 5 or 10m (not sure which) than Usain bolt!

 

[Minimalist]

Yeh think max turns like a boat and as you say isn't quickest off the mark but playing a high line over say 20 yards he would do fine.

Toti and other you mention would be up there with the quicker CBs in the league.

Know what original post was about that, Dawson ain't catching a cold.

Perception on pace can be odd.
Read something not long ago and apparently, at the time, Berra was one of the fastest at the club!

I just about remember Laurie Madden, he was definitely slow!!!!

 

[Premier Quality]

Perception on pace can be odd.
Read something not long ago and apparently, at the time, Berra was one of the fastest at the club!

I just about remember Laurie Madden, he was definitely slow!!!!

Berra was quick - as long as it was in a straight line and he had a run up to get going!

 

[SydneyWolf]

The biggest issue isn't so much the 2 DMs its how deep our back line always stays. If you really want to dominate possession and pin teams back then that our back line MUST push up closer to the half way line which in turn allows the midfielders to also push up and squeeze the opposition, then you can get more players into the box per attack but also have the bonus of more easily recycling the ball when a cross or attempted pass is cleared, this has always been something Wolves have failed at doing (unless we're losing and throw caution to the wind near the end of a game).

This is 100% down to the lack of pace our CBs (and to a lesser extent our midfield) have had for years now, which makes them unable to properly deal with balls over the top or to counter breakaways. Dawson and Kilman (and Collins/Coady before they left) just aren't quick enough to play that way. Neves/Moutinho were also great at going side to side but also struggled to get up and down the pitch fast enough.

Gomes/Traore and Lamina are a huge upgrade in this regard, but our CBs would both need replacing with faster players to do this.

It's also about bravery. Knowing you're going to give up chances by pushing up and having faith that you can deal with it and not worry that you're going to concede the odd goal on the break. Again, something Wolves have really lacked since our time in the Premier League imo.

This is a great post. CBs either push up and defend the space behind them or sit and mark the space in front of them. For example, Coady can only defend what’s in front of him (lack of pace) which was fine in a back 3 with Rui in goal but not when the system changed to push further up field.
A higher line needs a keeper prepared to use his feet and cover the space behind the CBs.
In the first half of his first season Sa was much more inclined to do this but has increasingly seemed reluctant ( loss of confidence?) and has dragged the CBs deeper. We need a wholesale defensive reset which should benefit both ends of the pitch.

 

[Don Corleone]

Yet you make zero allowance for Silva's age. Double standards.

Wayne Rooney was 16 when he made his debut. Yes it wasn’t in a foreign country I know but just saying…

 

[Very Proud (AKA Still Proud)]

Wayne Rooney was 16 when he made his debut. Yes it wasn’t in a foreign country I know but just saying…

But Rooney was a generational talent.......

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

I was told he is a month away about ten days ago
No reason to doubt it .

He was shown on today's training vid on the OS but not taking an active part in the sessions which indicates to me he's not yet ready. FFS Wolves get a goal scorer in now. How many windows have we been shouting this from the side lines?

 

[Bill S Preston Esq.]

Wayne Rooney was 16 when he made his debut. Yes it wasn’t in a foreign country I know but just saying…

Why not go all out and use Messi as the yardstick ffs.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Perception on pace can be odd.
Read something not long ago and apparently, at the time, Berra was one of the fastest at the club!

I just about remember Laurie Madden, he was definitely slow!!!!

I remember when we signed Keith Curle, it was the first time for ages I could remember us having a defender who might actually beat a striker in a race!

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

The usual healthy dose of hindsight in play there. Was Cutrone a bad signing at the time? He was a highly rated young striker in Italy at the time as I recall. With the benefit of hindsight it looks poor but how were the club to know he wouldn't settle in England when even the player didn't know?

Willian Jose was a reaction signing to the injury to Raul. He had a record of 1 in 3 in La Liga. I would suggest that in the context of the January transfer window he was as good as we could have hoped to get. Don't forget we were still under UEFA FFP restrictions at the time so spending £40-50m on a striker was out of the question.

We made a £12m profit on Mir so I'd call that a success rather than a failure

Buying a top class striker who ends up scoring the amount of goals you want is the hardest thing in football. There are only a small pool available and everyone wants them. Sasa was well worth the risk at £14m as he has a good record when fit. I would even say that buying Fabio was well worth the gamble as £35m is not a huge fee in terms of premier league striker.

I think we're guilty of buying into the hype surrounding these players. Did cutrone not work out only because he didn't settle? Or was it is his touch and lack of real finishing ability?
I kind of feel the same about Collins. There was a lot of hype around him for someone that has done so little in the game. I think we bought into the hype rather than trying to objectively observe the player. Same with semedo and a few others.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

I think we're guilty of buying into the hype surrounding these players. Did cutrone not work out only because he didn't settle? Or was it is his touch and lack of real finishing ability?
I kind of feel the same about Collins. There was a lot of hype around him for someone that has done so little in the game. I think we bought into the hype rather than trying to objectively observe the player. Same with semedo and a few others.

This graph summarises how I think Cutrone was a great player who just didn't settle at Wolves....

 

[Northampton_wolf]

in training in the algarve so cant be far off, same workout as rest of team

Gallery | Day one in the Algarve

Pre-season training has begun for Julen Lopetegui’s squad this week, as they headed to Portugal for a warm weather training camp in the Algarve.

www.wolves.co.uk

 

[clivewolves]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1676986344994746369

 

[WISAW]

Is Fabio present?

 

[Matt]

Great to see.

 

[92WWFC]

Is Fabio present?

He was on international duty so will have a later start date.

 

[loppers86]

I love the way all the medical experts on here write him off, probably hoping the next injury comes sooner rather than later so they can bang on about how they got it right rather than just wishing him well and seeing what happens.
I hope he proves everybody wrong and has a great season not only because it will help us but also as some have said he seems to be a good lad and deserves it for himself. …

conversely loads of people seem to think Chiquinho is going to play every game and turn out to be an effective Adama Traore. I hope that’s true too - but i find it weird that Sasa is written off while the weight of expectation is on Chiquinho…

 

[Oldgold Wolfcub]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1676986344994746369

Dont worry guys we are taking precautions for when he is playing to avoid injury. Of course the finished kit for him will be in black and old gold.

 

[stever]

Berra was quick - as long as it was in a straight line and he had a run up to get going!

Derek Mountfield was the quickest defender I've ever seen

 

[Darvo]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1676986344994746369

That scar on his left knee looks like he had open surgery on his knee (same as I had done 30 years ago). That’s a bit unusual these days ... it’s normally keyhole.

 

[Don Corleone]

Why not go all out and use Messi as the yardstick ffs.

Yeh yeh

 

[Don Corleone]

But Rooney was a generational talent.......

I agree but something about being good enough then you’re old enough and all that

 

[stever]

Plays more than 10 games straight without getting injured and I'll give 20 quid to charity

 

[TriumphWolf]

That scar on his left knee looks like he had open surgery on his knee (same as I had done 30 years ago). That’s a bit unusual these days ... it’s normally keyhole.

I think it all depends on the nature of the reconstructive surgery needed - keyhole is the go-to option for run of the mill stuff, but sometimes you need to the extra room during the procedure even if it wasn’t planned. Have you noticed Neto’s knee? Obviously a different injury but it looks like half the theatre teams had a practical-involvement in his ops.

 

[manc_wolf]

Hopefully the new medical team are on top of this now and know how to handle somebody so injury prone. The proof will be in the pudding. First step is to get through pre season unscathed but worked very hard.

I can't take you seriously with that ****ing avatar sorry

 

[Ned]

I can't take you seriously with that ****ing avatar sorry

I bet you would if I started posting in the cricket and holiday threads.

 

[Mardenboroughs Shoulder]

Is Fabio present?

Not at £35m he's not!!!

 

[Northampton_wolf]

hes on grass trianing, but not quite playing training matches or rondos from what i gather.

Should be much closer after the algarve to fitness

 

[wwbug]

The biggest issue isn't so much the 2 DMs its how deep our back line always stays. If you really want to dominate possession and pin teams back then our back line MUST push up closer to the half way line which in turn allows the midfielders to also push up and squeeze the opposition, then you can get more players into the box per attack but also have the bonus of more easily recycling the ball when a cross or attempted pass is cleared, this has always been something Wolves have failed at doing (unless we're losing and throw caution to the wind near the end of a game).

This is 100% down to the lack of pace our CBs (and to a lesser extent our midfield) have had for years now, which makes them unable to properly deal with balls over the top or to counter breakaways. Dawson and Kilman (and Collins/Coady before they left) just aren't quick enough to play that way. Neves/Moutinho were also great at going side to side but also struggled to get up and down the pitch fast enough.

Gomes/Traore and Lamina are a huge upgrade in this regard, but our CBs would both need replacing with faster players to do this.

It's also about bravery. Knowing you're going to give up chances by pushing up and having faith that you can deal with it and not worry that you're going to concede the odd goal on the break. Again, something Wolves have really lacked since our time in the Premier League imo.

Agreed bar I think we need one experienced player at the back and that doesn’t always come with pace. So perhaps a speedy partner and a goalkeeper quick to sweep.

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Berra was quick - as long as it was in a straight line and he had a run up to get going!

I've heard people saying Collins is slow and he's like lightning.
Its thinking that you can make up being out of position by using your pace. At this level of football unless you're as quick as Kyle Walker you ain't going to be able to make up the ground, as most premier league forwards are even quicker.
If you're always 2 yards behind everyone chasing after them, unable to catch up you will always look slow. Awareness is much more important than speed as a centre half.

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

The biggest issue isn't so much the 2 DMs its how deep our back line always stays. If you really want to dominate possession and pin teams back then our back line MUST push up closer to the half way line which in turn allows the midfielders to also push up and squeeze the opposition, then you can get more players into the box per attack but also have the bonus of more easily recycling the ball when a cross or attempted pass is cleared, this has always been something Wolves have failed at doing (unless we're losing and throw caution to the wind near the end of a game).

This is 100% down to the lack of pace our CBs (and to a lesser extent our midfield) have had for years now, which makes them unable to properly deal with balls over the top or to counter breakaways. Dawson and Kilman (and Collins/Coady before they left) just aren't quick enough to play that way. Neves/Moutinho were also great at going side to side but also struggled to get up and down the pitch fast enough.

Gomes/Traore and Lamina are a huge upgrade in this regard, but our CBs would both need replacing with faster players to do this.

It's also about bravery. Knowing you're going to give up chances by pushing up and having faith that you can deal with it and not worry that you're going to concede the odd goal on the break. Again, something Wolves have really lacked since our time in the Premier League imo.

I don't have an issue with 2DMs.
Its three DMs i have a problem with. And 4 is just taking the ****.

 

[so-called fan]

Happy birthday, Sasa. 26 today.