Wolves-Albion verdict - Why are we so soft? Men against boys

[WonderWolf]

Just got done by Ruggerball and a **** ref.

The ****e got all the key reffing decisions but to their credit with their game-plan showed all the heart, commitment and intensity throughout to eventually dump on us.

Their defenders were outstanding in both boxes for them.

We made rash tackles and were punished. Add this to our inability to take chances, and, also possessing zero countering physicality up top against the big brutes, you then can inevitably end up with this sort of outcome.

Craft and guile is fine but it can often require a supporting battering ram to enable a satisfying end result…..where is this “solution/characteristic” for us???

MOTM: Fab – 8/10…..showing what he can be about with some super play in and outside the box.

 

[Sirstancullis]

Neto, Traore and Silva need to get into the box with ball at feet, wait for a touch and fall the **** over. Works for everyone else. I’m not saying dive like Silva did today, just to play the rules.

Silva had a great opportunity to hit the deck after contact at the begining of the 2nd half. He went on a great run past a couple of albion players one of which definitely touched him in the box, and then pulled the ball back and it was blocked. I was screaming at him to hit the deck, would have been a definite pen, particularly as we had already had 1 awarded against us and the refs normally take any opportunity to level it up. That would have been 3-1 and the game normally, but then again not the way we have been playing recently, if brighton is anything to go on.

 

[maws]

We’re struggling in all areas unfortunately. Patricio seems short of confidence, our defence are struggling with the basics, midfield too deep - not protecting the defence and not creating quality chances and our forwards having to drift wide in an effort to see some of the ball. Not sure if it’s Nuno trying square pegs in round holes with a new style of play or whether the fantastic journey with him is coming to an end. If it’s coming to an end I think Southampton’s manager would be a great fit for us.

Southampton’s manager was close to being sacked but they stuck with him, I hope Fosun see sense and do the same

 

[reanswolf]

Bit harsh but I don’t think he’s playing in the best role for him. He lacks the key attributes needed to play as the most advanced midfielder: skill and creativity.

Exactly, we need an attacking CM bbox to box, Donk is not that man.
Sadly its Mouts that needs replacing though.

 

[reanswolf]

Southampton’s manager was close to being sacked but they stuck with him, I hope Fosun see sense and do the same

Agree, Nuno must realise he has got things wrong, but hope he turns it round.

 

[Marvellous007]

I don't want to see Moutinho or Morgan Gibbs Sxxxx again ,Moutinho well past it and Gibbs Sxxxx never offers a thing ,Must return to a back 5 or drop Coady ,and please get a new forward in before the end of the window or we are going to end up in the bottom 3

 

[maws]

Agree, Nuno must realise he has got things wrong, but hope he turns it round.

Fosun should bsvk him by buying a centre forward and a new midfielder, experienced ones

 

[Deleted member yltz11841]

Nuno needs to be backed but he also has to realize when things are not working and what our weaknesses are.

We probably do need to change from 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3 but to do that we need the players that fit that formation.

 

[Deleted member 4152]

That’s just utter drivel.

He’s been ****. Today he was worse than that

 

[RutlandWolf]

TV slo-mo showed clear, solid contact, but Oliver deemed that he'd not have reached the ball... !

You Are the Ref in Shoot always said that's irrelevant if the ball is still in play when the foul takes place...

 

[Incognito]

That’s just utter drivel.

I don't think Donk is worthy of a place in the starting XI. He's not contributing enough and it's simply not enough that he runs around a lot. Him and Moutinho need a rest. Give Vitinha, OO or even Shabhani a few games.

 

[Oliwolf44]

Ive mentioned it time and again, what does mourinho say on the spurs doc as why wolves are so good and hard to play against? Aggression, aggressive in the tackle, intensity. We have none of that. All fair weather players now. We needed a tough tackling central midfielder and we signed a RB whos scared to head the ball and put a foot in and an 18yr old kid. Even today boly laughing with allardyce, semedo giving ball away last minute then stopping and jogging back. They aint up for the fight when backs against the wall. No desire and no fight. That gets you relegated.

 

[goldeneyed]

In fairness our attack was not the issue today. 3 awful goals and some unforgivable errors on top of that.

Love nuno but ffs change that midfield.

Of course it was the issue! We should have scored a minium of four. Some terrible misses. We don't have a striker and Traore's and Neto's crosses go to noone. The team are only too well aware that we have no central striker and are obviously deeply frustrated.

 

[goldeneyed]

Cant expect to get results with sloppy defending like that. In fairness we were good going forward, Neto and Silva in particular were our 2 bright sparks but it was like we went to sleep start of the second half and switched off defensively.

The players let us down today, knowing how much this game meant to us. Above all else, they have let themselves down, for all our good attacking play, you cant expect to win when you concede 3, cheap goals like that. 69% possession, 23 shots and **** all to show for it. Its not about possession, its what you do with that possession.

Very, very poor. Nuno and the boys will be under huge pressure now, and they only have themselves to blame.

Silva was not a bright spark. He just did a bit better than in the poor past and got his goal at last. No way is he adequate for what we need right now.

 

[Deleted member 5910]

I don’t care what anyone says we was cheated out of a clear pen when Gibbs handled the ball with both hands . Only person that can handle the ball in the box with both hands is the goalkeeper.

TBF, Silva fouled the keeper leading into it. Had a little look then nudged him in the ribs, which forced him to spill it straight onto Gibbs.

 

[Wolves Heathen]

Like all of us on here im well peed off with the result, and Im not calling for Nuno to be outed, but for goodness sake lets go back to a back 3/5 the trial of a back 4 means we look like conceding every time the other team attacks..

Patricio; 12 months or so ago i was praising him for begining to come off his line and grabbing crosses, Im not blaming him today for not saving penalties, but generally he seems glued to his line and is not giving the defence any confidence. 6
Semedo; Money down the drain, he is not better than Doc, in fact Hoever is a better player from what i have seen so far and deserves to be given a run in the team. 6
Boly; Defensively looks short of what we know he is capable of, attacking wise he was always a threat in and out of their box, scored and assisted for us, and assisted for them. 7
Coady; Since we have gone to a back 4 he has become increasingly fragile and again gave away a needless penalty, this seems to have impacted on his leadership which seems less noticeable, he has now stopped going up for corners. 5
Saiss; was preffered at LB mainly due to his heading ability, but he doesnt offer anything going forward. 6
Neves; For whatever reason he never got going in the game either offensively or defensively, really disappointing. 5
Moutinho; Ran around a lot, but as usual didnt create anything, I really cant see what he brings to the team at the moment. 5
Donk; Headless chicken springs to mind, cant score, cant create, apart from getting red necked cant see what else he brings. 5
Adama; Had a good first half without to much end product, second half he was another that huffed and puffed but didnt bring the house down, not fully fit. 6
Fabio, Had his best game and took his goal well in a calm manner which bodes well for the future, put himself about a bit more than usual, but again faded in the last 20 minutes or so. 7
Neto; Some good and not so good bits, put over a few good crosses but no one on the end of, seems to be trying to hard at times, noticable to me that he seemed to pace himself through the game. 6

Subs;

MGW; Was he actually brought on ?, i didnt notice anything positive but did see some missplaced passes. 5
RAN; Brought on to give us some extra attacking ability, helped offer Neto some support. 6
Cutrone; Given his usual 10 minutes in which time he should have done better with his chance, seems Nuno doesnt trust him to have longer than 10 minutes which begs the question, why bring him back ?. 5

A horrible team to lose to, make no mistake we are in freefall and cant stop conceding goals no matter who we try in a back four, 2 goals at home to this rabble, 3 goals away at Brighton should be enough to take the points.. Nuno needs to forget playing with a back 4 we dont have the players for it, go back to a back 3/5 and trust in what we know best, the alternative to that doesnt bear thinking about for the team or manager..

 

[Ned]

Exactly, we need an attacking CM bbox to box, Donk is not that man.
Sadly its Mouts that needs replacing though.

Yep.

Mouts would be good for games where Neves can’t get his passes off and something a bit more tricky is needed.

 

[Trojmiasto]

Thank **** no fans there see this.

Don't you see it? How does a squad that pushed for Champions League football a few months ago go to being on its knees with various 'fans' demanding removal of the manager and board.

We're not a pack. Scenes of RCDE Espanyol are so distant, where thousands made the trip despite having no tickets to follow a team that were in League 1 few seasons beforehand.

The strength of the wolf is in the pack. We miss the fans. Simple as that. You can hound on the players, the manager and the board as much as you like, but the team rose because it was that - a team.

Now, just look at this forum to see how divided and fickle people are. Silva's first goal from open play and a vastly improved performance from Everton overlooked. Neto and Traore's bursts on either wing. Boly being back and being instrumental in both goals. Two goals in the first half.

Please, please, please don't let defeat to the hands of the carrier bags divide and ruin the work that's been done. Try living with your family thousands of miles away and completely unable to see them. Let's get behind him and the team,because he's right - the answers are within.

 

[goldeneyed]

I still think too much goalscoring emphasis is being put on Dendoncker. He would be ideal sitting next to Neves whilst somebody else, maybe somebody new, causes havoc and offers a real threat instead.

Agreed. He is a very good player as a defensive midfielder or CB but he is not an attacker. We need an attacking midfielder (for the umpteenth time!).

 

[goldeneyed]

I don't think Donk is worthy of a place in the starting XI. He's not contributing enough and it's simply not enough that he runs around a lot. Him and Moutinho need a rest. Give Vitinha, OO or even Shabhani a few games.

Donk is not the problem. It is expecting him to make up for the lack of an attacking midfielder that is the problem.

 

[Incognito]

He’s been ****. Today he was worse than that

Agreed. I really don't know what people are seeing with Donk. He runs around a lot, yes, and gets a couple of tackles in, breaks up play, every now and then. BUT nothing to write home about. He's not forward thinking enough and does not score goals. The latter is the only reason to play him but it's not happening. Vitinha, in the minutes he's had on the pitch, has played well. He is more attack minded and I'm pretty sure he can get back and defend when needed. Yet he has not had a look in since Brighton. Nuno needs to stop this favouritism towards certain players and really start finding solutions.

 

[Incognito]

Donk is not the problem. It is expecting him to make up for the lack of an attacking midfielder that is the problem.

I hear you but I'd still like try alternatives, instead of him and Moutinho. I'd try Neves, Vitinha and OO as a midfield 3 (or even Shabhani in there). Donk has a place on the bench for sure because of his versatility but he's not a starter for me, not on current form.

 

[Ned]

I hear you but I'd still like try alternatives, instead of him and Moutinho. I'd try Neves, Vitinha and OO as a midfield 3 (or even Shabhani in there). Donk has a place on the bench for sure because of his versatility but he's not a starter for me, not on current form.

Donk is good at what he does and, in this team at least, there is a place for him in and/or around the starting 11. However, we should not be asking as much from him in terms of creating chances. It’s always confused me as far back as the first season in the PL why, when playing a 3 man midfield, we give the attacking freedom to the only player in there who can also play at the back.

Agree with changing the midfield up. Neves, for me, is our most important player and we need to get the right balance to bring the best out of him.

 

[Greeno]

Very poor. When did you start supporting Wolves? 2018?

After he got Manager of the month I think... October?

 

[Deleted member 4152]

I can't help but wonder

Where are all those posters from last season that wanted the Black Country Derby back?

 

[Deleted member 4152]

Donk is not the problem. It is expecting him to make up for the lack of an attacking midfielder that is the problem.

Is he not supposed to be the attacking midfielder?

Or is that Neves?

Or Mouts?

Or do we not play with one? Is that Fosun fault as well?

 

[Wolfman jack]

Regularly baffled by Nunos substitutions going back even to Wembley. The solution was surely to go back to a 3/5 at the back, take off Mouts, probably for Vithana but dont, please take off your skipper and leader and your best midfielder. Just dont understand Nunos thinking sometimes which probably explains why Im not a football manager.

 

[Royal wolf]

I can't help but wonder

Where are all those posters from last season that wanted the Black Country Derby back?

I wanted it back because I really look forward to the games (god knows why) but I just wish our fans would show some humility when we’re doing well.

 

[Black Coffee]

Second half was awful West Brom were their for the taking and we ****ed up big time. The worry is how we keep shooting ourselves in the foot by conceding terrible goals the 3 goals today were criminal goals to concede. What is amazing the last 3 seasons we have been resilient in defence this season we have been bad.

It was unbelievable Nuno started Saiss at LB today he offered nothing and we looked so unbalanced. RAN should have started as soon as come on Neto seemed to come more in to the game

I love Moutinho but again today he offered nothing and the game just passed him by. At first I didn't agree with this but he does indeed look like a player who's legs have gone.

 

[molinew]

Donk is not the problem. It is expecting him to make up for the lack of an attacking midfielder that is the problem.

Totally agree. Dare I say, given his experience playing there in a back three, he might be a better option at centre half than Coady. Certainly more mobile and better in the air. All round just a very worrying performance. There are teams worse than us in this division but we've all seen before what happens when a team goes on a shocking run, heads drop and the club ends up in a tailspin. Newcastle and Brighton both have a goalscorer who might be the difference. Praying we can turn this around and act decisively in this window, despite reports about no new signings. Fingers crossed today is the wake up call the players, manager and club leadership need. We looked absolutely devoid of ideas going forwards and hopeless defensively.

 

[Deleted member 11157]

I'm just trying to convince myself it's a derby anything can happen and all that but in amongst the shock and anger I am seriously worried about how they applied themselves. Thought Fabio had a right good go at it but most else looked like a bunch who just turned up tried to look busy and went through the motions. Completely disjointed, no cohesion - we just didn't give WBA a game. Pushed side and bossed by a seriously lacking WBA. It was awful from the off.

There have been some encouraging performances this seasons even when the results have sometimes gone against us and while I have been prepared to adjust to a season of development etc there is a time when players need a toe up their backsides. This is the one you don't lose. Hard times for everybody but I hope Nuno can put a bit of fire in their bellies to carry them through the season. Wipe the slate regroup and go again boys. UTW.

* If I hadn't seen such riches I could live with being poor *

 

[Oliwolf44]

I can't help but wonder

Where are all those posters from last season that wanted the Black Country Derby back?

I called for it and i most whole heartedly apologise. But never did i foresee us playing the game with no fight and give up.

 

[Andywolf74]

Southampton’s manager was close to being sacked but they stuck with him, I hope Fosun see sense and do the same

I agree that I wouldn’t want change immediately but think it would make sense to behind the scenes be considering options for a possible change of manager in the summer. I’ve felt for a number of months that even when we win we rarely do it comfortably and often invite pressure in the closing stages. I still remember our first season up and in September playing Burnley off the park. We only won 1-0 but it could easily have been 4 or 5.

 

[ricki herberts moustache]

I can't help but wonder

Where are all those posters from last season that wanted the Black Country Derby back?

Playing footy with passionless mercenary players, in empty stadiums, in order to keep revenue coming in is simply a very bad idea.

At the moment the EPL is pretty dead to me. Not wolves though: always here for Wolves regardless !

 

[Deleted member 9202LYK]

I don't want to see Moutinho or Morgan Gibbs Sxxxx again ,Moutinho well past it and Gibbs Sxxxx never offers a thing ,Must return to a back 5 or drop Coady ,and please get a new forward in before the end of the window or we are going to end up in the bottom 3

100% agree on MGW.
Mouts should be sitting the bench now unless we’re playing big guns.
Show some appreciation for what he’s done for us?

 

[Deleted member 9202LYK]

I think we now know for sure just how good Jonny and Raul are.

 

[WW1963]

Southampton’s manager was close to being sacked but they stuck with him, I hope Fosun see sense and do the same

True. Don't be surprised if they sack him when Saints are in less of a pickle than after the Leicester hammering.

There's little rhyme or reason in this game.

 

[Milijas]

Another tepid performance by a team that you can visibly see the confidence ebbing away with every misplaced pass, with every over hit cross, with every defensive mistake punished.

I could accept the Burnley loss, they bullied us and I put it down to us having a bad day. I was bereft after the United game and throwing away a point. Brighton was Watford/Braga all over again. Everton highlighted our frailties. Today was a shambles.

Another Brighton but infinitely more disappointing (which says a lot because Brighton nearly earned me a divorce!). A proper knife wound to the heart and a reminder of how insignificant hundreds of international caps and how little future potential means if the opposition have more desire and will to win. Genuinely I wouldn't choose to swap a single Albion player for any of ours, not one.

Today we saw our defence of which all of them are full internationals players being given the run around by players I've never heard of. We had a midfield comprising of full internationals being overrun by Jake Livermore and a bloke from Walsall.

Fabio got a goal and for a while looked more than up for it. The give it to Traore and Neto to win a corner tactic worked a treat, unfortunately when they didn't win a corner they had absolutely no idea what to do and invariably smashed it across the box to nobody.

Patricio - Getting fed up of watching him grasping at thin air as the ball loops into the net. Made one decent save to prevent them from going 2 up. Dived the wrong way for both penalties.

Semedo - Ran forward a lot with the ball before either disappearing down a blind alley or finding himself with absolutely no options. Defensively he makes Jamie Smith look like Paolo Maldini.

Saiss - Our most consistent defender in recent weeks, seems reasonable to stick him at left back then. Didn't really do much wrong but rarely tried to overlap Neto.

Boly - The footballing equivalent of Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men. Big, strong but thick as ****. Gave away a penalty in the opening minutes by making a rash challenge that didn't need to be made. Redeemed himself with a goal to put us 2-1 up but then was part of a second half defensive performance that Paul and Barry Chuckle would have been embarrassed about. Just when you couldn't love him any more he was caught on camera grinning from ear to ear whilst talking to Big Fat Sam at full time.

Coady - How quickly the mighty have fallen. It's not too long ago he was looking at home playing for England. Today he defended like he was playing for the England blind team and somebody had forgotten to put the bell in the ball. Stupidly gave away a penalty, despite trying to convince Oliver he didn't touch his opponent. Subbed, rightfully so.

Neves - Neves translated from Portuguese means the wonderkid who sits an inch infront of the defence. His performances recently have been the one glimmer of light but today he was off the pace by a mile. There were times he was far too deep, WBA quickly worked out that they just need to press him and give him little time to influence the game. They did it well to be fair, he gave the ball away cheaply, got caught in possession too often for my liking and when he did venture far enough up field not to be able to smell Coady and Bolt's armpits he did **** all.

Moutinho - Trotted about like the secret lovechild of Steve Corica and Steve Sedgley. Often found pointing in front of himself before spinning 180 degrees and passing it back to somebody else. I love Moutinho, genuinely the best player I've ever seen play for us but I can't remember the last time I saw him have a decent game. Today he was crap.

Dendoncker - Early on he looked our only threat and then after seeing the incredible influence that Neves and Moutinho were having decided to play the false midfielder position too. Where have those runs into the box gone? Tried to decapitate Knobgrass but couldn't even do that right.

Traore - Won many corners by running like a freight train beyond the Albion defence. Whacked a fair few Tony Daley-esque crosses as high and wide as he could too. Enjoyed shouting at the telly every time he fell over and then sat on his **** for about 30 seconds before getting to his feet. Has the tactical sense of Donald Trump on Mogadon. 9 times out of 10 when Semedo broke forward Traore found the most innovative way to stand as close to an Albion player as possible. Lost the ball by being a greedy ****er and thinking he was Maradona before Boly hoofed the nondescript Albion player up in the air for their first penalty.

Neto - At times looked like he was going to have to do it on his own. Other times he adopted the Traore approach of getting to the by-line and kicking the crap out of the ball. He's going to be a fabulous footballer, I look forward to reminiscing about when he played for Wolves.

Little Annie Silva - He actually put himself about and scored a very very decent goal. One run in the second half opened up the Albion defence but he couldn't quite cut it back for Neto. Other than that he had a thankless job.

Subs.

Gibbs-White - Offered more than our Portuguese wonderkid did but not enough to actually influence the result.

Ait-Nouri - At least offered some support for Neto and helped give us a bit of width.

Cutrone - Had the chance to salvage a draw for us when all alone in the box but sadly for us he showed far too much faith in his own ability and shinned a volley into the ground harder than a Barnes-Wallace bomb. A definite case of ambition outweighing talent.

All in all it was a nice reminder of the kind of disappointment I usually reserve for reminiscing about mid 90's derby games and the look on my wife's face after sexual intercourse.

West Bromwich Albion can continue to go and **** themselves.

Read through a few posts wanted to get to the end but had to reply to this..

Gibbs White did more than who? I'll tell you f###ing nobody! Not a fan but today he must have completed about 20% passes he was utter ****. He has done nothing positive for this team ever.

 

[Jay Jay de Wolf]

Congratulations to Sam Allardyce the only happy Wolves fan today..

Lets hope this is their only consolation that Sam and the **** fans have at the end of this season..
Plus also they still go down.

 

[Coshamwolves]

So the second penalty? One minute earlier Semedo was body checked by Bartley, Oliver said no foul. How did he them see the penalty in a much smaller contact? Pure joke by him

Yep, not making excuses for our overall performance, but that **** Oliver was the 12th man and was VAR even working?