Sporting 1 - 1 Wolves verdict

[Mugwump]

Says a lot for our recruitment team\Chairman if they can't convince Nunes to join us that we need our owner to convince him.

If Uncle Jorge is busy we tend to struggle.

 

[reanswolf]

I think Donk gets a fair bit of crtiticism because we do ask him to play a role he just cant do.

Absolutely, but as we need someone to do a different midfield role, he has to be upgraded. Sadly think Mouts will struggle too. We really need 2 CMs and a striker.

 

[North West Wanderer]

I think Donk gets a fair bit of crtiticism because we do ask him to play a role he just cant do.

I think he gets a fair bit of criticism regardless of how he plays.

 

[Mugwump]

I think he gets a fair bit of criticism regardless of how he plays.

I think a lot of it is pretty reasonable tbh, but its always got the caveat that he's going a job for the team trying to play a role he isnt best suited to.

 

[Mugwump]

Absolutely, but as we need someone to do a different midfield role, he has to be upgraded. Sadly think Mouts will struggle too. We really need 2 CMs and a striker.

I wouldnt say an upgrade as much as just find a midfielder who can do what we need him to instead of shoehorning a player in who isnt suitable.

Mouts i dont think will struggle if we manage him properly. We cant keep flogging him into the ground.

 

[North West Wanderer]

I think a lot of it is pretty reasonable tbh, but its always got the caveat that he's going a job for the team trying to play a role he isnt best suited to.

Yep for sure and he isn’t beyond criticism but I do feel certain posters can’t help themselves.

 

[The Pie Poker]

Says a lot for our recruitment team\Chairman if they can't convince Nunes to join us that we need our owner to convince him.

Think you've git it the wrong way round.

If Guo was there, its more than likely it was for him to see if Nunes was worth him putting his hand in his pocket.

Nunes wanting to come to us was always unlikely, but Jeff being allowed to spend £45m on one player was always the bigger ask.

 

[Fifty Niner]

Played well in our only ‘meaningful’ friendly. Same old problem though. No goals in the team against comparative competition and sticking Hwang out on the flank. I can see this team burning out fairly soon unless we get fresh faces and legs in.

 

[Guzeppi]

Only one verdict. We should have played Cutrone, our best striker.

 

[lobodelsur]

First up, lets remember that this is a quality team we were playing. 2nd in the League, League Cup winners, finished ahead of Dortmund in their CL group, recently beat Roma and drew with both Villareal and Sevilla, so no mugs. I thought we were the better , more incisive team in the 1st half, but faded in the last 10 minutes. Whether this was to do with fitness levels or the climate I don't know. The high press worked well and what a pleasure it was to see our 2 CHs standing up by the half-wayline instead of 15m behind it. Some great work by MGW, Podence and Neto but no real end-product..Thought all of the team looked comfortable in the system.
Second half it seemed that Sporting had been told to come out and take us out of our comfort zone - hence some ugly challenges.(How their Japanese (?) midfielder stayed on the pitch is beyond me). Whatever, it worked. Second half Moutinho, Dendoncker and to an extent Podence and MGW went missing. Having said that, we still looked relatively comfortable - Sa had only 1 or 2 serious saves to make. Its very clear that the major problem is sticking the ball in the net. Unlike Mikey B on commentary I don't think we need to sign a 50 million quid striker, just someone with enough pace and 'nous' to get into good positions behind the oppo defence. I'm optimistic, but there are a lot of ifs and buts - the no-striker situation and with such a small squad can these players maintain the demands of the system on their fitness over a long season.

 

[Jack Russell]

Played against a very good side with no #9.

Moutinho looked like he played on the periphery and Dendoncker is clearly being asked to do a job that he isn’t capable of because of injuries/lack of transfer activity.

Thought the boys at the back were excellent.

This is the problem with Dendoncker. He is filling in all over the place and not given a reasonable continuous run in any one position. He is a much better player than some give him credit for!

 

[TheConcourse]

This is the problem with Dendoncker. He is filling in all over the place and not given a reasonable continuous run in any one position. He is a much better player than some give him credit for!

He’s a DM. I agree. The problem he has right now is that he’s the only viable option in CM that can get up and down the pitch for 90 minutes without blowing a gasket.

 

[maws]

Sa playrd, so the rumours of Jackson Smith playing against Leeds were untrue

Coady played, so that rumour is untrue

Benteke didn’t play, looking like that rumour is untrue.

Amazing so much is taken as gospel on the internet, with no real proof. No wonder people get duped out of money.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

Nunes showed what we are missing with that type of player
Moving quickly out of midfield to supplement the forwards
Ok i dont think hes worth what they are asking,but he would fit in like a glove
We know what we need CM and striker,we wont get Nunes but need that type of player,and who knows if we will ever get that striker
Get those 2 players in and we will be ok,failing to do so will leave us struggling imo

 

[steve vena]

The way we played in the first half would have suited Fabio perfectly. Plenty of balls to feet and in behind, lots of through balls and links to midfield. We should have kept him here.

 

[reanswolf]

I wouldnt say an upgrade as much as just find a midfielder who can do what we need him to instead of shoehorning a player in who isnt suitable.

Mouts i dont think will struggle if we manage him properly. We cant keep flogging him into the ground.

I admit it’s harsh but it equates to the same conclusion. He isn’t suited to that role and therefore we need a different CM. I am astonished that anyone who watches Wolves closely doesn’t see him just running around doing nothing.

Mouts needs resting periodically and again we have no adequate back up.

 

[Mugwump]

I admit it’s harsh but it equates to the same conclusion. He isn’t suited to that role and therefore we need a different CM. I am astonished that anyone who watches Wolves closely doesn’t see him just running around doing nothing.

Mouts needs resting periodically and again we have no adequate back up.

I'm still more than happy to keep Donk around. He's a pretty useful squad player.

 

[reanswolf]

This is the problem with Dendoncker. He is filling in all over the place and not given a reasonable continuous run in any one position. He is a much better player than some give him credit for!

He’s not filling in all over the place, he’s being asked to play midfield. His position.

 

[reanswolf]

I'm still more than happy to keep Donk around. He's a pretty useful squad player.

Agree with that, but we need to evolve in CM with a more mobile type to compliment Neves and Moutinho.

 

[Chris H]

From the bits I saw I liked the look of Nunes too, but did he look like a player we should be spending £45m+ on?

Especially if budget is a limiting factor and at a minimum a CF is needed too?

 

[Bacon Sandwich]

Agree with that, but we need to evolve in CM with a more mobile type to compliment Neves and Moutinho.

God's teeth, how many times? Moutinho is done at serious PL level. One of the most dribbled past players in Europe last season & the 5 sub rule will only make that worse.

 

[sillytuna]

From the bits I saw I liked the look of Nunes too, but did he look like a player we should be spending £45m+ on?

Especially if budget is a limiting factor and at a minimum a CF is needed too?

I don't know what he's worth but we shouldn't be spending £45m on anyone. We need at least two players really, I'd rather divide that between two younger players and their wages, or even 3.

 

[Wolf 82]

God's teeth, how many times? Moutinho is done at serious PL level. One of the most dribbled past players in Europe last season & the 5 sub rule will only make that worse.

Surely that’s why he needs someone more mobile alongside him.. do you personally not value the quality he still brings?

 

[Direwolf]

Looks to me like the squad is still improving overall and has more potential than this time last year. Neto is better than last season after his injury as is Ait Nouri and Johnny. MGW and Collins give us something more to offer in defense and midfield creativity. We just look a little thin on the ground in terms of squad numbers and a striker that could create something out of nothing would be just the job. Feel we are three or four players way from being a quality side. If we get the players we are lacking I am definitely hoping for more high's than low's this season.

 

[TheConcourse]

God's teeth, how many times? Moutinho is done at serious PL level. One of the most dribbled past players in Europe last season & the 5 sub rule will only make that worse.

God’s teeth

 

[Minimalist]

If we had that more physical central, focal point striker, it would allow the wide forwards to drop deeper and link with the midfield, getting them more involved and helping the midfielders.

 

[reanswolf]

God's teeth, how many times? Moutinho is done at serious PL level. One of the most dribbled past players in Europe last season & the 5 sub rule will only make that worse.

I agree. We badly need 2 CMs

 

[Oldgold Wolfcub]

Only one verdict. We should have played Cutrone, our best striker.

Under the circumstances I think it is crazy not to see what players like Cutrone and Jordao could do in the pre season. If Fosun sre not prepared to back us financially we need to look at every avenue there is.

 

[old wittonian]

Under the circumstances I think it is crazy not to see what players like Cutrone and Jordao could do in the pre season. If Fosun sre not prepared to back us financially we need to look at every avenue there is.

Exactly. They're being paid, along with Leo, to sit on their arses.

 

[WickedWolfie]

The way we played in the first half would have suited Fabio perfectly. Plenty of balls to feet and in behind, lots of through balls and links to midfield. We should have kept him here.

While l agree with all of your post except the last sentence l could only agree that if he was actually going to get game time. Last season makes me doubt that.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

The way we played in the first half would have suited Fabio perfectly. Plenty of balls to feet and in behind, lots of through balls and links to midfield. We should have kept him here.

100%

Whoever decided to let him go is honestly brain dead

 

[OLDGOLD]

Surely that’s why he needs someone more mobile alongside him.. do you personally not value the quality he still brings?

At some stage his aging legs will see him consistently caught out at our level and we are playing Russian roulette.

 

[OLDGOLD]

100%

Whoever decided to let him go is honestly brain dead

IF ....there is no replacement.

 

[OLDGOLD]

Under the circumstances I think it is crazy not to see what players like Cutrone and Jordao could do in the pre season. If Fosun sre not prepared to back us financially we need to look at every avenue there is.

Absolutely, unless they look absolute rubbish....

 

[Contrarian]

The way we played in the first half would have suited Fabio perfectly. Plenty of balls to feet and in behind, lots of through balls and links to midfield. We should have kept him here.

Having watched him play the second half for Anderlecht yesterday, I think it very unlikely he could give us what's missing. Don't get me wrong, he looked at home at that level. It's just the Belgian league is Championship level. Time and time again, we see strikers just can't match their Championship level goals at Premier League level. It's almost "divide by two" - and for some (Dwight Gayle!) even worse than that. And several players have struggled to score in the major leagues, despite blowing everyone away in the Belgian league.

He's only just 20 and to be at that level already is excellent. It's just I feel it's pure wishful thinking to believe him a Premier League striker yet. His 4 goals include a penalty and two goals against Albion. He looked good against Sheff U in the cup. The reality is obvious, right now he's a level below a Premier League striker. It will come with time, seems paradoxical for me that people keep pointing out that hardly any top goals scorers were scoring in the Premie League until they were 22 or 23, that people then say he should be leading the line for us at barely 20.

As Anderlecht are a league ahead of most of their division, he's going to get plenty of through balls to work with and goal scoring opportunities, give him the chance to develop there.

Fabio needs the ball played to his feet, facing goal (I think Hwang does, too, but neither seem to get it! ) . if he has to battle a top quality defender, or turn while facing away, he will lose out every time (at the moment, this is what he will learn over the years). TBH I think our opportunities yesterday were wasted by several of our players seeming to get their head down and just run into defenders, with no apparent attempt to play someone else in.

We don't need a Fabio replacement. We already have a £35M "one for the future". We need a striker who is already at this level, provides something different (good in the air) and can score 7 or 8 at least in a season. We need better than Fabio, so Fabio is 3rd choice and allowed to develop for a couple of seasons. Won't be cheap, though, but then neither was Fabio.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

IF ....there is no replacement.

I doubt we will find anyone better than Silva for the role personally

 

[sillytuna]

I doubt we will find anyone better than Silva for the role personally

Silva's good on the ball but he's no target man and isn't ready to lead the line regularly for the way we play. The loan was the right option if we have a suitable replacement. But where are they?

 

[Contrarian]

I doubt we will find anyone better than Silva for the role personally

Every season, some forward that is not a household name scores more than anyone expected. We won't find anyone if we don't look, that's for sure. Out of the hundreds of forwards in the top leagues globally, there must be one who would consider us, and capable of scoring more than our top scorer last season? Takes some astuteness from the scouting team. Collins wasn't a Mendez client, so it seems we are not limiting ourselves by just his clients now, too.

Somebody like, say Bowen when West Ham bought him. 8 goals and 5 assists in his first full season. It's not Gerd Muller, but that would be a HUGE improvement to us! And he did even better in his second season. Cost £18M , + 7M add ons. That is just one example, others are out there and if we aren't looking, then we will know their names soon enough when they are scoring goals next season.

 

[Oldgold Wolfcub]

Absolutely, unless they look absolute rubbish....

In which case you are likely to have lost nothing unless they get injured. But if we were so short that we needed to call on them they would have pre season fitness which they wont have now.

 

[nomadwolf]