West Ham Verdict

[Tarcisio Mifsud]

I do not disappoint myself when we play well and lose, but today I put this defeat at the door of our manager. Surely we should never have started with that poor formation, we just gave a walk-over to West Ham, and if our players were tired, surely he should have brought some of them at half-time when we were still 0-0.

With a satisfactory formation we could surely have beaten West-Ham, but with Heover and with Kilman playing the ball back all the time you cannot win points. Trincou for some reason does not appear able enough for the premiership and with Jonny, Neto, and Podence in the team we could have made the difference. We just waisted our chance to play in Europe next season.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Well what can I say. Hard to kmow the state of the players who didn't get a start, but felt we handed the initiative with the selection. The biggest issue for me was that with no threat from the WBs we had to go 343,but we really needed that body in the middle. With no pace in the front 3 Dawson could have brought a deck chair
Having said that we mostly contained them quite well, but our lack of ambition was what really concerns me. We offered nothing before we went behind and hard as most of the players worked, the gaps were massive and Zouma dealt with everything in the air.

Going forwards all I'd say is finish 8th if you want, but at least do it having a go.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Time to go to a back 4

Fosun have ****ed over our season with that window.

Gutted

 

[inaglasshouse]

Because wolves have to justify paying 25m for him in the summer

Maybe Bruno is doing for the opposite reason - to show he isn't worth a tenth of that. They will be getting Adama for free if we pay that.

 

[Eastern Wolf]

After calming down I'm oddly at peace with it. I'm resigned to the fact that we do have these performances. Its part and parcel of being a wolves fan at the moment. Unless we bring in three to four new quality players in the summer this is our level. We will win some and lose some. No excuse for the overall poor quality play though. We know the players can do better.
No excuse for leaving Trincao on for so long either. He was a poor imitation of a footballer today. A blind man could see his lack of contribution. Someone needs to stick a rocket up his bum. Donk too should have been replaced. He looked tired and ponderous. Couldn't move up a gear. Due to only having 2 midfielders, one with lead in his boots, Hwang was spending too much time covering in the middle when he should have been playing closer to Fabio.
Our defence was opened up too easily due in part to the lack of midfield cover.
Bruno has to examine his own performance over the past couple of games as well as the players. Need improvement all round.

 

[Kingswood Wolf]

****ing pile a ****ing **** against an almost-equally **** pile of ****ing **** in West ****ing Ham. ****ers

 

[Erick1011]

Least we could’ve done was okay 3-5-2 with Cundle getting another start to control the midfield.

 

[Aimless Balls]

Johnny obviously isn't ready for a full 90 mims so Hoever was the only other option to replace Semedo to keep playing the same system.

RAN has been struggling to complete 90 mins, so after a game on Thursday I can see the reasoning to bring in Marcal to shore things up, especially with no Semedo on the other side.

Moutinho would have been done at half time if he played today after the turnaround time from Arsenal, and bringing Donk in on paper was the right move (regardless to how he actually played today!!)

Raul was poor on Thursday and needed a reminder he's not an automatic pick - so again can see the logic.

Trincao for Podence is the one which I think perhaps wasn't needed but maybe he was struggling after Thursday - we don't know.

The issue isn't the changes so to speak, it's the fact the Hoever, Donk and Trincao didn't take their opportunity, along with the rest of the team looking lethargic.

I agree with much of what you’ve said. Think Bruno’s hands were tied on many decisions and I support long-term thinking re: player fitness. That said, Leander simply could not start this game in a 2. Whether you brought in Cundle for Trincao and played in a 3, or brought him in for Leander and played the 2, we could not have Ruben be the only one out of the MFs and WBs who can do something with the ball. The defence always looked like conceding but I think we could’ve scored one.

 

[sillytuna]

Posting without reading again... this felt like november where we had absolutely no attacking ability or intent whatsoever. Knew we were in trouble when I saw the team.

We played good football at times but for the first half had zero in the final third, or even their half. Second half we improved as the game became more even but never threatened the goal. West ham had several good chances before they scored and really should have been 2 or 3 up.

The usual suspects were the problem today. Neither full back offered an attacking threat, hoever in particular. Trincao should never play for wolves again quite frankly. Not his worst game but wimped out of several 50:50s and failed to make any mark at all. Did have a wayward shot and a nice 1-2. That's it. Doncks was useless. On our box he tried a fancy turn that west ham nearly scored from. Their box, last minute, he gets the ball and didn't even attempt to do anything attacking- pass it straight back. Numerous times we was wrong footed by passes or got caught with the cbs or neves. Cannot play in a two.

Silva can't lead the line as he doesn't have the strength. Anonymous first half but in the second he got the ball in the box and was our most dangerous player. Hwang and neto also did ok but whenever a ball went into the box we had no one attacking it.

Nevermind. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Bruno, please do not play Marcal and Hoever as WB’s in a 343 again! No width and no attacking intent until we made changes second half.

 

[Eastern Wolf]

On this showing Hoever is not ready for the PL. He was poor today. His touch was awful and so was his positioning. Hope Jonny is getting up to speed with his fitness or we have a problem.

 

[Kebab Warrior]

Moutinho being injured and ending his purple patch hasn’t helped us, Semedo doing a hammy is just as bad, Raul unable to identify a football from photographs with accompanying audio guide, is the ****ing biggest issue…

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Don’t know how people still defend the traore transfer . Would have been the difference

 

[Henry Palfrey]

Got to feel for MOTD2. The only PL match today and they have to find some highlights

 

[CelebrityWolf]

Honestly, it's time some on here accept the fact that we've been frequently off the pace since the turn of the year.

Return of Hwang, Neto, Mosquera, Boly, Jonny, won't make up for consecutive failed transfer windows and the glaring weaknesses within our squad which continue to go unaddressed.

Results have been papering over the cracks, we've been riding our luck and it's caught up with us the past two games.

And yes, I am aware of our league position.

We may not agree on Traore and some other things but this post is about as accurate as it gets.

 

[The Clock]

From ten minutes after kick off on Thursday until 10 minutes before the end today we have played 160 minutes of football without any real intention of trying to score a goal. That mystifies me.
Postives today are few, but I thought Silva did pretty well against two big centre halves and Neto showed he is quality and has serious presence.
Trincao's presents (sic) should just be an early one way ticket back to Barcelona, where he can start a nice early, long holiday. We aren't going down so might as well just get rid now. Yes we will have to pay his wages, but at least it woold give someone else some game time.
Can't be too hard on Hoever given his previous very limited game time and the fact that he looked like he was running through treacle for the last half hour.
If I was Bruno for the rest of the month I would revert back to the methodology of our first few games of no points and lots of chances.
I suppose we are 6 points better than same time last year, but not creating chances/excitement is a bore.
Whatever people thought of Traore, and I accept he didn't create many tangible chances, whenever he received the ball there was hope, even if it was false hope. Now there is nothing, but hopefully Neto can stay fit and do well.

 

[sillytuna]

Hwang is a nothing player, if he doesn’t score he’s a waste of a shirt.
Trincao offers next to nothing
Not sure why you’d start these 2 togetherI

I'm not his biggest fan but multiple times today he made a run and doncks in particular ignored it. He got visibly frustrated.

 

[Wolf of Wall Heath]

I’m rationalising this to myself with the understanding that the second you look at squad depth we go from being a solid and occasionally great team to being bang average. I brought into the European hype because watching the boys abroad is great fun but honestly, I’m just looking at it as a few grand saved now.

 

[marrs-guitar]

Got to feel for MOTD2. The only PL match today and they have to find some highlights

15 minutes talking about the League Cup Final, another 15 talking about Leeds sacking Bielsa and then show West Ham's goal set to the Benny Hill Theme and exit.

 

[Scallywolf]

If ever a football match confirmed we need a box to box attacking midfield player that was it! Declan Rice moved forward every time he had the ball and was not afraid to have a pop at goal. We have nobody like him and it’s a type of player we all know we are desperate for.

Our midfielders are too defensively minded and take the safe option of playing the ball backwards rather than forwards.

How often did we pass the ball backwards today when in decent possession?

So so boring and predictable.

 

[Living at other WWFC]

Bruno is in his first full season of top flight management. Yes, it is lots more than I will ever have but I wonder if he has tried to be too clever over these last 2 games and got it badly wrong. Simpler, more honest endeavour could have been more effective.
If that is the case, I hope he learns and we grow together.

I hope Silva continues his improvement. Seems to have plenty to offer.
And Sa will be getting a statue outside the Mol in a few years.

 

[steve vena]

He needs to be on the next plane back to Barcelona.

If we pay 25 mil for him we must be crackers. He's shocking. No spirit nothing

 

[wwfc9]

Why did we play 352 away at Tottenham , create chance after chance through the middle then revert back to 3 up top against Arsenal and West Ham ? Is it because we are top heavy up top and only playing 2 leaves 4 on the side line ? Sick to the back teeth now watching us play 2 in midfield and relying on either hopeful balls or crap crosses from wing play !! There is never any link between the forwards and midfield when we play 2 in midfield !! What’s happened to cundle ? Either play 3 midfielders and 2 up front or in an ideal world play 433 !! We have better players than our formation suggests , even Liverpool struggled when they had all their injuries and their front 3 were isolated last season , in fact all the blanks they had specially when they lost all those games on the bounce at home was a carbon copy of us …

 

[Super NES]

I agree with much of what you’ve said. Think Bruno’s hands were tied on many decisions and I support long-term thinking re: player fitness. That said, Leander simply could not start this game in a 2. Whether you brought in Cundle for Trincao and played in a 3, or brought him in for Leander and played the 2, we could not have Ruben be the only one out of the MFs and WBs who can do something with the ball. The defence always looked like conceding but I think we could’ve scored one.

Yeah a return to 3 in the middle, similar to Tottenham away, probably would have been more effective. Today was just bad in all aspects of the game.

Donk was beyond disappointing today and your right that Neves was the only one who took real responsibility on the ball.

 

[Bostin]

Got exactly what we deserved, again. It’s the hope that kills you.

We are painfully bad to watch when teams press us. We cannot pass our way out of it. The ball either ends up with the full back losing it, or it gets passed back to a centre half who hoofs it up top.

When we do eventually find out way into the final third, I lost count of how times it end up back with Jose Sa because there was no option of a pass inside.

Felt sorry for Silva today, who actually looked sharp. But he was asked to win physical battles against Dawson and Zouma when the ball was punted up to him, which he is never going to do.

I don’t like to single players out, but Trincao…. Wow. He must’ve worn the same shirt in every game he’s played, because he hasn’t broke sweat in it once. Offered nothing with the ball and shirked numerous 50/50’s. Absolute ****ing pansy.

The most frustrating thing about the last 2 games is that they were both there for the taking, had we played with some sort of attacking intent. Neither Arsenal or West Ham were good, but they still beat us. Which speaks volumes about how **** we’ve been the last few weeks.

 

[JOSWolf]

Another thing that is confusing me is Toti Gomes and Luke Cundle. Both did really well and then left out and not a kick since. Have to wonder if both Saiss and Dendoncker deserve to start after today. In fact Saiss hasnt looked the same since ACON.

 

[Darvo]

The last 2 games probably reflect where we are at as a football club.... a mid table team (possibly and hopefully upper mid table).

Injuries have been unkind to us and have not helped but also highlight our lack of strength in depth (we’re gonna miss Semedo a lot).

I feel that we’re in safe hands but are going to need some fresh investment this summer in order to try to push on.

I though Fabio tried very hard today and did pretty well on the whole. I’m more convinced now that he will go on to become a real asset.

Let’s dust ourselves down and go again.

 

[JOSWolf]

He needs to be on the next plane back to Barcelona.

I'd promote both Tyler Roberts and Nathan Fraser to the first team squad ahead of him. Let them both play in the cup games for u18's but I'd have them both in the first team squad along with Lembikisa, who looks better than Hoever to me. I'd send Trincao back tonight if we could.

 

[Monketron]

The reason Lage did so well (up to the new year anyway) was he kept the base of what Nuno had done but tweaked it a little. Different combinations between players, slightly more attacking, MUCH more aggressive when it came to challenges and winning back possession up front and it really worked. But the last few months we seem to have reverted very much back to the old Nuno days, far too defensive, constantly losing 50/50 balls which puts us under more pressure which just leads to even more defensiveness. That aggressiveness up top seems to have evaporated too.

 

[Ned Stark]

Don’t know how people still defend the traore transfer . Would have been the difference

Except for all the times he wasn’t

 

[Jawwfc]

Silva was good today and played with his heart on his sleeve, he seems to just be lacking that bit of experience but there's only one way to get that.

Our wingbacks are the most important players in our system now, RAN and Semedo missing limits us significantly, next season I would loan Hoever out and bring in someone to cover a fullback position with Jonny providing cover for either side.

We just looked so passive at times we seem to have these patches a few times each season like all clubs I guess

 

[JOSWolf]

When do ANY of our players ever get the ball at their feet and take on an opponent in the final third heading goalward? Never, that’s when. It’s a complete ****ing snooze festival.

Watching the u18' is a refreshing change in this respect. We have 5 or 6 players that do this in that u18 side.

 

[SellyWolf]

Having just come away from the ground (sat in amongst the West Ham fans).

It’s not particularly worth doing player ratings. We looked a tired team who had set up for a point and having conceded didn’t have enough to break them down.

As much as some posters will continue to tell us otherwise, Francisco Trincao isn’t good enough to play premier league football and the signs to suggest we should persevere with him aren’t even there for me. He was very poor again, activity hid from receiving the ball (including the lowlight of running 10 yards off the side of the pitch in the first half.

It’s an awful ground for football, very poor home support. You wouldn’t know they were anywhere near the top half of the league. Won’t be rushing back there in a hurry.

Move on to the next one…

 

[JOSWolf]

Bruno saying it was a good performance today! Come on Bruno. You've done a great job but lets not take the **** here.

 

[Big Saft Kid]

I kept off here during the match as I guessed it would be toxic. I am no football genius but in the pre-match part of the comms thread I said it was a poor team selection and there were no goals in that line up. And so it proved. Bruno's inability to see that was a powder puff selection that was very likely to lose without a whimper worries me.

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

Another thing that is confusing me is Toti Gomes and Luke Cundle. Both did really well and then left out and not a kick since. Have to wonder if both Saiss and Dendoncker deserve to start after today. In fact Saiss hasnt looked the same since ACON.

Agree completely.

I'm oddly at peace with today, even though it was REALLY bad.

That's three bad performances in a row

I liked how Silva played, but he doesn't look like scoring very often.

Hooever very poor. Hopefully Jonny in for the next one. Neto actually ran at people when he came on.

One thing I pray is that we do more backheels around the box. They really seem to be working!

As a final comment, I don't know why, but I'm not the biggest Hwang fan.

We are in March and our top scorer has 5 goals for the second season in a row. The problems are obvious for all to see!

 

[CologneWolf]

Well basically it feels like we have thrown that game.

As soon as we saw the line up with so many physically weak players that was it, and it turned out exactly how we expected.

No point ever Fabio or Trincao being on the pitch again.

This one is on Bruno though.

Is it really on Bruno?

He can be forgiven for giving Silva a chance after Raul’s most recent performances. Moutinho after his Arsenal showing is not fit. RAN still struggles to make it through 90 minutes in any single game let alone 3 in a week. Semedo injured. Podence out can only be attributed to the recent succession of games because he’s our most in form player. So could only go with Trincao as Neto still needs to build up his match fitness.

I only saw the game in it bits in pieces because of the distractions in my household but clearly Bruno put a rocket up their **** at halftime because after it looked like we were in the ascendency before the goal. Terrible goal to concede though.

 

[Ian C]

Kick the ball around at the back, move it generally in the direction of the opponent’s goal, then move it backward.

Repeat.

 

[The Eternal Flame]

Perfect game today. Couldn't tackle, pass, hold the ball, shoot or pass at the right time, second to almost every ball, clueless on our own throw ins and set pieces, watched them on theirs, couldn't raise a meaningful threat on goal or show any urgency. Started after 30 minutes against Arsenal, continued today. Need more determined men in the team, who can make their presence count, unfortunately carrying to many lightweights like Trincao, Hoever et al, who drag us back and castrate the team.

 

[jonesy]

I can’t. Trying to stay positive. **** it, I’ll have a go..

Sá: Didn’t deserve to be a sitting duck. Our best defender too. 8/10.

Hoever: oh boy oh boy. There aren’t enough characters. I won’t bother. 1/10.

Kilman: Did okay. Nothing more. 6/10

Coady: Battered by Antonio Episode 8463528393 4/10.

Saiss: What. The. ****. Were. You. Thinking? Totally left his man for the goal. Looked shocking since he came back from ACON. Boly please. 3/10.

Marcal: Lol. 1/10

Neves: Didn’t stop. On his own in midfield. 7/10.

Trincao: Don’t want to see him again. No time for players who don’t put any effort in whatsoever. 1/10.

Hwang: Anonymous. Usually is. Grabbed a few goals and does nothing else. 3/10.

Silva: Well done, kiddo. Deserved more today. 7/10.

The eagle-eyed of you would have spotted one glaring omission.

Leander ****ing Dendoncker: My god. My god. I have never seen anything like it. He’s become a parody of himself. He was West Ham’s best player by a mile. He literally put West Ham through 3 times. Can you get your head around that? 3 times.

Then, his big moment. On his own around the edge of the box. Turn and shoot. Just have a go. Oh no no no no no.. don’t be ****ing ridiculous, I’m gonna lay it back 20 yards for a ****ing CB who rarely shoots to have a pop.

Never want to see him in a Wolves shirt again, and I don’t ever remember feeling that way about a player since the Johnson/O’Hara days.

Sorry Bruno, you’ve done an incredible job, but you messed it up today.

On to the next game, hopefully without Marcal, Hoever and Dendoncker.

Sure we never had it as good. We have a great squad and fosun are just the best owners for backing Bruno. Did I mention we never had it as good?!?!!’

**** off again with grade D ****e with poor poor players.

Try and happy clap your way around that mess today.

Donk,saiss, Coady hoover, Marcal, trincao hwang all a ball of ****e and Shoupd be sent to West Brom. Oh we never had it as good so these players who don’t give a **** are quality!!!

Clear out needed starting with the owners !!