Sheff Utd Verdict

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

As much as I think Nuno deserves some pelters tonight, am I the only one who didn’t dislike the substitution?

Playing Dendoncker seems to be equated to playing defensively recently, but for me he brings out the best in Neves and Moutinho and lets them look forwards more.

I think that’s what Nuno was going for rather than a draw, only he should have bought more runners on as well like Podence and Vinagre.

On reflection I understand why Podence didn't come on near the end. Looking at the 2 3 corners late on Jonny is marking someone 4-5 inches bigger than him.

Don't want to take anything away from Sheff United, but at the end of the day if we are talking about tactics it was the taller team that won.

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

For a CDM he's had a hell of a lot of shots - 129 in two season. 25 have been on target. 2 scored.

If his scoring success from long range shots is less than 2%, he really shouldn't even be trying - that's a lot of wasted possession.

Is what we really need in this side more people taking less risks in the name of keeping possession?

 

[merseawolf]

I wont take nothing away Sheffield United are a good well organised side and therein lies the problem for us. We cant break down well organised sides especially those who match our formation. Chelsea did it at home and flattened us and its the same here. You get the WBs quiet and man mark the two wingers and because our midfield play so deep we cant create anything.
That said and as I mentioned in another thread the real issue was at the 60 minute mark where we looked completely clueless Nuno did something I rarely see him do. He respected the opponent and settled for the draw
The goal was inevitable though have to question the defending leading up to it. Everyone struggled against Sheffield United and how physical they were and we had no plan B or way around it
Neves for me looks the only player since the restart really on it and he is the only one I can signal out that has performed well. Unlucky with the freekick which would have changed everything

Funny how we all see games differently. I don’t see what Neves has done particularly great since the re-start. Neat and tidy yes but nowhere near any MOTM showings.

 

[merseawolf]

On reflection I understand why Podence didn't come on near the end. Looking at the 2 3 corners late on Jonny is marking someone 4-5 inches bigger than him.

Don't want to take anything away from Sheff United, but at the end of the day if we are talking about tactics it was the taller team that won.

Hate it when we concede a simple goal like that. Great delivery and a great header but it’s bang in the middle of the goal 6 yards out we must do better.

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Funny how we all see games differently. I don’t see what Neves has done particularly great since the re-start. Neat and tidy yes but nowhere near any MOTM showings.

I don't think he's been great post restart but I thought he played well yesterday, particularly first half.

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

Poor day at the office but a game of fine margins, Neves Free kick goes in or Jota's header (seen it a few times now, he'll be annoyed he didnt do better) and we'd be talking about great game management and waxing lyrical about Nuno going back to three up top.

First half I thought we bossed it from 15-45 mins, second half we look disjointed and leggy.

For all the bashing of management, players and formation last night its worth noting Sheffield were very good second half and cant take that away from them at all

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Hate it when we concede a simple goal like that. Great delivery and a great header but it’s bang in the middle of the goal 6 yards out we must do better.

It was a peach of delivery. Jonny hasn't got a hope for height reasons. Maybe Boly should do a bit better? I dunno.
I think the physical side was the difference between a win and a draw for them. I certainly don't think they outplayed us, or we were as half as bad as some have made out.

 

[JOSWolf]

Not seen enough of him. Is he an out and out No.10 or a stand in/ replacement for Moutinho/Neves but with legs?

Not a no10 but more box to box central midfield player with an eye for goal.

 

[JOSWolf]

Not sure about Neto. Looks a bit head down and run to me but get your thought about Podence. Not seen enough of him though. What’s he like as a 10?

Neto looked very effective as a n10 when he played in this position at Southampton away. He turned the game around for us when he came on at half time in that game. Podence has played as a no10 for his last club and in Portugal on occasions with good effect.

 

[merseawolf]

Not a no10 but more box to box central midfield player with an eye for goal.

How many career goals has he notched up?

 

[JOSWolf]

Trouble is that when Nuno reverts to the 3 man central midfield it is always Donck, Moutinho and Neves and is far too defensive. Very much limits our attacking options and it is little wonder we are so poor in the first half of games on numerous occasions. There isnt enough attacking intent from the off with the players we play in this system. If he played that system and say had Traore and Vinagre as ultra attacking wing backs and Neto in as a no10 it would probably be far more fluid and attack minded. He plays this 352 on Sunday with Donck the only change I cant see anything other than a loss. It has become too predictable and negative and it rubs off now when we revert to 343.

 

[JOSWolf]

How many career goals has he notched up?

He aint played much senior football but in the u23's he very much looked the box to box style central midfield player with an eye for goal. He was a stand out player earlier in the season in the u23's.

 

[merseawolf]

Trouble is that when Nuno reverts to the 3 man central midfield it is always Donck, Moutinho and Neves and is far too defensive. Very much limits our attacking options and it is little wonder we are so poor in the first half of games on numerous occasions. There isnt enough attacking intent from the off with the players we play in this system. If he played that system and say had Traore and Vinagre as ultra attacking wing backs and Neto in as a no10 it would probably be far more fluid and attack minded. He plays this 352 on Sunday with Donck the only change I cant see anything other than a loss. It has become too predictable and negative and it rubs off now when we revert to 343.

So we need Neto in the 10
Jordao in midfield?
Jimenez. Jota
Neto
Jonny Jordao Neves. Doc

 

[merseawolf]

He aint played much senior football but in the u23's he very much looked the box to box style central midfield player with an eye for goal. He was a stand out player earlier in the season in the u23's.

My mates boy was leading scorer in Champions League u23’s last season he’s out on loan Div 2 in Belgium now.
Huge step up to top half in Prem

 

[JOSWolf]

So we need Neto in the 10
Jordao in midfield?
Jimenez. Jota
Neto
Jonny Jordao Neves. Doc

I'd drop Doc on Sunday. He looks totally out of sorts. I'd consider an aggressive attacking approach with both Vinagre and Traore as wing backs. Moutinho and Neves in midfield with Neto and Podence floating around Raul. We need a fresher and more attack minded approach as it all looks too stale and predictable at present.

 

[JOSWolf]

My mates boy was leading scorer in Champions League u23’s last season he’s out on loan Div 2 in Belgium now.
Huge step up to top half in Prem

Agree but Nuno sees fit to include him on the bench. He must have some ability. If not then why is he here? He looks a good player on the appearances I have seen him and looked good against Reading in the league cup until he got injured.

 

[merseawolf]

I'd drop Doc on Sunday. He looks totally out of sorts. I'd consider an aggressive attacking approach with both Vinagre and Traore as wing backs. Moutinho and Neves in midfield with Neto and Podence floating around Raul. We need a fresher and more attack minded approach as it all looks too stale and predictable at present.

E-mail Nuno and suggest it

 

[JOSWolf]

E-mail Nuno and suggest it

Ha ha. If I could I would but dont think he would be interested in what little old me would have to say!

 

[merseawolf]

Agree but Nuno sees fit to include him on the bench. He must have some ability. If not then why is he here? He looks a good player on the appearances I have seen him and looked good against Reading in the league cup until he got injured.

Why’s he here? Learning the game?
Waiting for his chance? Earning a fortune? Who knows

 

[merseawolf]

Ha ha. If I could I would but dont think he would be interested in what little old me would have to say!

Get yourself on the bench on Sunday!!

 

[Irish_Wolf]

We are having another amazing season in the Premier league, two poor results and patience wearing thin with Nuno......incredible

The issue is we got to a great position and then the bottle crashed when it really mattered. Its so dissapointing to throw away all the previous hard work. Once Plan A fails we don't have a B plan probably due to squad limitations which in turn is due to the management.

 

[Deleted member 9788]

Get yourself on the bench on Sunday!!

Good idea but what with nuno being clueless I doubt he will get a game

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

Ok, morning after thoughts
First half decent enough,some nice play and unlucky not to go in a goal up
Second half,what happened? Looked disjointed,slow,passing awful,Raul spent more time in our box than theirs
Awful time to concede,but if we keep defending so deep and giving them set pieces we are asking for it really
Cant argue with the sub,Traore looked like he had his shoulder on his mind,still probably our most effective front man and that says it all
I like Donk,and can understand Nuno settling for a point,but we seem to be doing this every game lately ,and dropping so deep last 20 minutes the opposition can afford to throw attackers on and its costing us big time
So many players not on it right now,Boly,Doc,Mouts,Jota and that puts others under pressure like Saiss, Coady and Neves so their games suffer
We havent suddenly become a bad side,or Nuno a one dimensional flash in the pan,we just not playing that well,it happens
We know how we play,as do the opposition,its ok saying we have been sussed,we were sussed from last season,just if we play well no one can stop it,but we have to be close to top form to do so,and sadly right now we are not
Traore needs to get that shoulder sorted,its obviously effecting him,so do it now we may have him back for Europe but if not next season
We have Neto and Podence lets use them,we have Jordao and maybe MGW lets mix it up a bit,we cant do much worse than last 2 games can we?
Of course it may just all click back into place and we get a couple of wins,but if it doesnt this season will tail off into a very disappointing one and we could end up 9th or 10th and we are better than that
We have just had almost 3 months off so its not fatigue,i think some players are taking longer to blow the rust off than others and we are slow starters normally so that could be it
Lets hope so anyway,and we kick on,dissappointed yes,dissalusioned no

 

[whitnash wolf ex.dewsbury]

is anyone other than jiminez going to score.we have another 9 outfield players that do not contribute on a regular basis.the only attacking ploy since the restart is a traore cross to jimi usually marked by at least 2 players

 

[Direwolf]

We gave away possession 4 times in the first three minutes of the second half. This set the tone for an absolutely dismal second half performance. We were miserably devoid of ideas and when we did have possession in their half invariably we ended up with a multitude of square and back passes until the ball ended up back with Rui who kicks the ball out or back to the opposition. Why we had no composure on the ball second half and were harried into stupid and flagrant wayward passing baffled me.
I am not sure who had the ball safely in our box with about a minute to go (Neves or Moutinho I think) they had some time and space and I was looking for a safe pass to relieve the pressure and build for a last push. Instead they hoofed it up to halfway straight to a Sheffield United player. That was the moment when I new we were going to concede and sure enough we did.

 

[Wolfy McWolf-Face]

For me I think Traore is both a blessing and a curse. What a weapon to have if you have the perfect system for him. Problem is that we don't. Yes, he is better out wide on the right and we do play with a wide right player BUT we are so much more effective with players that are multi-dimensional such as Jota and Neto and Cav/Costa previously. All were intelligent and could go inside and out and read the game. They make good runs. That suits Wolves. Adama is explosive and really has upped his game but he really doesn't have the same football related intelligence. Our much credited style of play goes out the window as we simply look to Adama too much and the opposition are working it out. For us, I think, he can only be an impact player if the 'Wolves way' isn't bearing fruit. Throw him on and shake them up.

Going forward we need to stick with 343 but with Neto and Jota. Neves and Moutinho will come to life with the passes available to them and defenders will find their movement far less predictable giving Jonny and Doc the space to exploit behind them from Connors passing.

If that isn't working then send on Adama. More predictable bit difficult to stop still and more likely to have the desired effect later on.

BTW this is related to the Sheff Utd game. We didn't create because we waited to much for Adama and it never came. Perhaps the shoulder was impacting more than he let on.

 

[Fifty Niner]

The issue is we got to a great position and then the bottle crashed when it really mattered. Its so dissapointing to throw away all the previous hard work. Once Plan A fails we don't have a B plan probably due to squad limitations which in turn is due to the management.

Did exactly the same earlier in the season. Pundit, players, fans remarking about our solid defence and being in with a very realistic chance of CL football. Then we bombed.

 

[Fifty Niner]

is anyone other than jiminez going to score.we have another 9 outfield players that do not contribute on a regular basis.the only attacking ploy since the restart is a traore cross to jimi usually marked by at least 2 players

Yep...cut off the supply from Traore and on current form this team rarely look like scoring. The goals scored testify to this.

Jota has lost it in front of goal, and is a bit of a flat track bully banging them in against lesser opposition. Neto doesn't play enough and remove Dendoncker and who else are we looking at?

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

The issue is we got to a great position and then the bottle crashed when it really mattered. Its so dissapointing to throw away all the previous hard work. Once Plan A fails we don't have a B plan probably due to squad limitations which in turn is due to the management.

Isnt going from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3 or vice versa a plan b?

 

[Deleted member 5910]

Hit me with the stats since we adopted 5-3-2 from last winter that suggest it's so flawed it's unreal?

Not sure about the long-term stats, but looking at our results, it appears the last time we scored in the league using the 3-5-2 system was in the 3-0 win over a woeful Norwich back in February. Before that, an equaliser against Saints at home in October. I suppose you could argue the winner at Villa was a 3-5-2 but Donck was so advanced it wasn't the 3-5-2 in the typical sense. It would appear at a glance that the large majority of our goals come from the 3-4-3 system.

 

[Incognito]

Its cutrone all over again. The starting 11 are pretty much guaranteed every game regsrdless of form and the players know it.

My point is we do not have anyone to come on for Raul - mix things up a bit up front.

 

[Cookyssweetleftfoot]

For me I think Traore is both a blessing and a curse. What a weapon to have if you have the perfect system for him. Problem is that we don't. Yes, he is better out wide on the right and we do play with a wide right player BUT we are so much more effective with players that are multi-dimensional such as Jota and Neto and Cav/Costa previously. All were intelligent and could go inside and out and read the game. They make good runs. That suits Wolves. Adama is explosive and really has upped his game but he really doesn't have the same football related intelligence. Our much credited style of play goes out the window as we simply look to Adama too much and the opposition are working it out. For us, I think, he can only be an impact player if the 'Wolves way' isn't bearing fruit. Throw him on and shake them up.

Going forward we need to stick with 343 but with Neto and Jota. Neves and Moutinho will come to life with the passes available to them and defenders will find their movement far less predictable giving Jonny and Doc the space to exploit behind them from Connors passing.

If that isn't working then send on Adama. More predictable bit difficult to stop still and more likely to have the desired effect later on.

BTW this is related to the Sheff Utd game. We didn't create because we waited to much for Adama and it never came. Perhaps the shoulder was impacting more than he let on.

Pretty much how I see things too.

 

[Ponty]

I presume all those saying that they corner they scored from was difficult to defend are also critical of our wishy washy corners played in with no pace. If it's hard for us to defend a flat, fast delivery the same applies to our opponents. I love Moutinho but a faster, flatter delivery from corners would be a lot more threatening. I wonder if it is his choice to play them like that or Nuno's.

 

[wwbug]

I saw more physicality and closing down from Sheffield in their two games with us , leading to us dropping 4 points in the process.

We have a much more talented team but we are tired and unable to raise our energy levels to Sheffield’s .

 

[The Wolf In The North]

I presume all those saying that they corner they scored from was difficult to defend are also critical of our wishy washy corners played in with no pace. If it's hard for us to defend a flat, fast delivery the same applies to our opponents. I love Moutinho but a faster, flatter delivery from corners would be a lot more threatening. I wonder if it is his choice to play them like that or Nuno's.

Very much this. We used to whip corners in. We have one of the best headers of the ball in the league in Raul, and two menaces from corners in Boly and Saiss.

Sheffield showed exactly why, when you put the ball in there, you have a chance.

 

[JOSWolf]

Good idea but what with nuno being clueless I doubt he will get a game

If he gives me a game we are all screwed!

 

[JOSWolf]

is anyone other than jiminez going to score.we have another 9 outfield players that do not contribute on a regular basis.the only attacking ploy since the restart is a traore cross to jimi usually marked by at least 2 players

This is a problem. Jota is totally out of sorts, Traore doesnt look like scoring at present and Podence, Campana, Neto arent getting enough game time to get much of a chance to do so. Goals have also dried up from the wing backs and central midfield areas.

 

[Fifty Niner]

Quite a few are forgetting Bruno Jordao. An attack minded box to box central midfield player.

Who, sadly, looks to be prone to injury.

 

[Fifty Niner]

Ok, morning after thoughts
First half decent enough,some nice play and unlucky not to go in a goal up
Second half,what happened? Looked disjointed,slow,passing awful,Raul spent more time in our box than theirs
Awful time to concede,but if we keep defending so deep and giving them set pieces we are asking for it really
Cant argue with the sub,Traore looked like he had his shoulder on his mind,still probably our most effective front man and that says it all
I like Donk,and can understand Nuno settling for a point,but we seem to be doing this every game lately ,and dropping so deep last 20 minutes the opposition can afford to throw attackers on and its costing us big time
So many players not on it right now,Boly,Doc,Mouts,Jota and that puts others under pressure like Saiss, Coady and Neves so their games suffer
We havent suddenly become a bad side,or Nuno a one dimensional flash in the pan,we just not playing that well,it happens
We know how we play,as do the opposition,its ok saying we have been sussed,we were sussed from last season,just if we play well no one can stop it,but we have to be close to top form to do so,and sadly right now we are not
Traore needs to get that shoulder sorted,its obviously effecting him,so do it now we may have him back for Europe but if not next season
We have Neto and Podence lets use them,we have Jordao and maybe MGW lets mix it up a bit,we cant do much worse than last 2 games can we?
Of course it may just all click back into place and we get a couple of wins,but if it doesnt this season will tail off into a very disappointing one and we could end up 9th or 10th and we are better than that
We have just had almost 3 months off so its not fatigue,i think some players are taking longer to blow the rust off than others and we are slow starters normally so that could be it
Lets hope so anyway,and we kick on,dissappointed yes,dissalusioned no

Don’t understand why they persisted with Traore after half time. Is our bench that bad?

 

[Fifty Niner]

This is a problem. Jota is totally out of sorts, Traore doesnt look like scoring at present and Podence, Campana, Neto arent getting enough game time to get much of a chance to do so. Goals have also dried up from the wing backs and central midfield areas.

Traore rarely looks like scoring, rather like the rest of the team. Four in five and two of those were in our first game.