Arsenal 1-2 Wolves: Verdict Thread

[Tony Towner]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1333328160910422016

When this is the mentality of the professionals then Football still has a long way to go

(Also, fuck you Deeney - I still remember when you called Jiminez a loser. Cunt.)

By the very definition of a concussion a player isn't in a fit state to make that decision...prick

 

[Langers]

Should we maybe start a dedicated Raul thread?

I also liked what I saw of Silva. Lots to still improve, obviously, but he did alright.

Not a bad idea that - I'll start one

 

[AndyWolves]

Not sure if it's just me but yes, it was reckless, but I don't hold Luiz accountable for what happens - same as Stephen Hunt with Cech. I think there was genuine intent to play the ball, it was just incredibly reckless.

Intent is irrelevant these days, if that ball had been on the ground and luiz went charging in and caught Raul after he'd cleared it we wouldn't be having this conversation - it would be a clear ref

 

[Langers]

Raul thread - https://www.wolvesforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/get-well-soon-raul.36760/

 

[Tony Towner]

We can't speculate anything to do with his recovery - we don't even know what kind of operation he had, whether he needs another one etc.

He's comfortable in hospital and has been able to see his family - that is literally all that matters at the minute.

Appreciate that we all want to see him back in a Wolves shirt but I would say that we assume he won't play again this season and work back from there.

Exactly, the headline injury sounds terrible, but like all broken bones there are levels of severity. A lad who plays with my son, got knocked off his bike, fractured his skull and was playing again in 10 weeks, through to Ryan Mason who didn't play again. No point at all speculating with so little information

 

[Langers]

With regards to the performance, I think there's a lot of positives to take:

• Excellent performances from Neto, Podence and Traore - a proper threat going forwards. Definitely the latter's best game of the season
• Silva looks to have intelligence beyond his years. I was impressed with him
• Marcal was steady throughout - I like the way he keeps things simple
• Great to see Moutinho run the game - I never doubted we'd see him at the top of his game again
• Above all, the professionalism and character we showed after Raul's injury - superb to play as well as we did under very difficult circumstances

 

[Paul]

Why have you gone all Powerpoint Presentation with your posts ???

I used to have to sit through meetings with people like you, you're just one step away from producing an anacronym, aren't ya ?

 

[sycophantia]

Seeing a few people talking about Fabio needing to 'bulk up' etc and to a certain extent thats true, it will be a while before he reaches Rauls level of physicality, however last night I thought he 'put himself about' quite well and didn't see him shirk any challenges, got knocked of the ball occasionally but that happens to all players. At one stage he came together with an Arsenal player down by the touchline and went down, thought he was going to roll around but fair play to the lad, he got straight back up and back into the game, he's going to be fine in that respect. He also seems to be intelligent on the ball, made good decisions when to hold up, run with the ball and pass it quick.
I'm quite excited about the kid. Of course he's going to make mistakes and have poor games but hopefully the fans won't get straight on his back.

 

[Paul]

I'm quite excited about the kid. Of course he's going to make mistakes and have poor games but hopefully the fans won't get straight on his back.

You leave Jinky out of this

 

[Langers]

Why have you gone all Powerpoint Presentation with your posts ???

I used to have to sit through meetings with people like you, you're just one step away from producing an anacronym, aren't ya ?

Don't make me break out the dated clipart....

(I will call it LOUT - Langers' Outdated Use of Text)

 

[YoungWolf]

It was a very good performance. We dominated at the right times I felt and the football was very fluid, especially through Podence I felt. He's such a clever player and good to see him being more of a goal threat too.

Defensively, the only times I felt that worried about our shape was when they tried to play behind our full backs (happened to Semedo a bit more than Marcal as you might expect). I imagine that will be where Nuno wants to improve when we play with a back four, but it's a process for sure.

Silva grew into the game. He's still got some physical development in him (he can seem quite sluggish at times I think) but he's clearly an intelligent football and he got into some promising positions in the box which is most important I think. In Raul's absence he will be getting some important minutes earlier than expected so let's hope he can progress in this time.

In general though, so proud of this group. I think it's why it annoys me when I see people on twitter doubt them, make sarky comments about the style or are negative, they've given us so much in the last 3 years and that won't change.

 

[Langers]

In general though, so proud of this group. I think it's why it annoys me when I see people on twitter doubt them, make sarky comments about the style or are negative, they've given us so much in the last 3 years and that won't change.

Completely agree with this - couldn't have worded it better.

I really do think that a lack of preseason, a short change over from a record breaking campaign in terms of duration and fragmented training sessions due to unnecessary international breaks has hindered our progress somewhat. I think it's clear that we're trying to do things differently - our transfer activity also points to this - but this doesn't happen overnight. Nuno will have been frustrated that preparations haven't been as easy for us as he would have liked and (god, I get so sick of saying this) it requires some degree of patience from a section of our support.

I also think we need to expect some degree of inconsistency until Nuno's ideas are properly implemented, and some of the new signings settle into the Premier League as well as the squad/system.

I don't mean to offer all this up as an excuse for some of the flat performances we've seen at times so far this season but when our methods are largely adapted on the training ground, I think an element of patience is required - the more time Nuno and his staff get to work with the players, the better the results and performances will be.

 

[Paul]

Mentioned it last night, a few times Semedo and Moutinhio were against three attacking down our right and they just played round them

 

[sycophantia]

Absolutely, we've improved every time Nuno had had time with the squad for a while before games.

 

[sycophantia]

Mentioned it last night, a few times Semedo and Moutinhio were against three attacking down our right and they just played round them

Is this down to Traores defensive frailties? Although I think he did more defensively than usual last night. Marcal is obviously a better defender than Semedo atm but he also had Conor inside him and Neto also gets through a decent amount of defensive work.

 

[Wolvensam]

In general though, so proud of this group. I think it's why it annoys me when I see people on twitter doubt them, make sarky comments about the style or are negative, they've given us so much in the last 3 years and that won't change.

Spot on. I don't think I can ever accuse this group of players of giving less than 100% over the last three years. It isn't always good enough - sometimes teams are just better than you - but they never slack off.

 

[Tredman]

Defensively, the only times I felt that worried about our shape was when they tried to play behind our full backs (happened to Semedo a bit more than Marcal as you might expect). I imagine that will be where Nuno wants to improve when we play with a back four, but it's a process for sure.

At times I thought our passing among the back 4 looked a bit 'risky' - Boly & Coady need to get used to having less time and less free players to pass the ball around if we are playing in a back 4 (or Rui needs to get more involved...). A better team than Arsenal might have taken advantage more.

 

[sycophantia]

At times I thought our passing among the back 4 looked a bit 'risky' - Boly & Coady need to get used to having less time and less free players to pass the ball around if we are playing in a back 4 (or Rui needs to get more involved...). A better team than Arsenal might have taken advantage more.

yeah its still in its infancy I suppose, no doubt thats one of the aspects Nuno will be working on, unless of course he feels we need to go back to a back 3 against Liverpools forward line

 

[Carrotdude]

I think Silva’s clever forward play in the build up to the first goal has gone a bit under the radar, I thought he was excellent and showed he has more than just the finishing ability we’ve been told about. His movement off the ball is excellent too and he was making good runs into the box when the wide players were in crossing positions which was great to see.

 

[Wolvensam]

I think Silva’s clever forward play in the build up to the first goal has gone a bit under the radar, I thought he was excellent and showed he has more than just the finishing ability we’ve been told about. His movement off the ball is excellent too and he was making good runs into the box when the wide players were in crossing positions which was great to see.

Mentioned it in the Raul thread but my favourite moment last night was Coady going over to Silva to celebrate and talk him up for his forward play. Excellent captaining towards a young lad who had been thrown in the deep end.