Bolton 2 - 2 Wolves - Verdict thread
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FrankMunro-371
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Hi t3ch, nice to see you back on here.
Lycan
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On the whole a very poor performance from Wolves yesterday apart from a good 10-15 minute spell in the first half and an absolute screamer from James Henry. For all our poor play and gifting them the ball in dangerous areas Bolton didn't actually create a great deal, mainly down to the back 4 who were superb. Ikeme picked the ball out of his net twice, made one quality save to deny Le Fondre in the second half and made a few crucial catches to take the pressure off us but apart from that didn't have much to do. We had more and more possession as the second half wore on but tbh I thought that if anyone was going to score it'd be Bolton killing the game off on the counter. The subs did give us a bit more momentum although I was confused with the Iorfa/Doherty sub as Dominic was one of our better players going forwards.
I'm getting more and more fed up of watching the Price/McDonald/Edwards midfield three. It doesn't work. Defensively it's sound enough through sheer weight of numbers but apart from that there are very few upsides. Lee Evans in for Price please. No idea who should come in for Edwards as if it's not going to be Jacobs there's nobody else. If these three start every game from here to the end of the season we wont make the play offs.
The game had barely kicked off when we scored our first. Great work by Batth and Iorfa to win the ball and fed it to McDonald who played a lovely ball over the top exposing David Wheater's glaring lack of pace. Nouha ran onto it, controlled it well and fired us ahead. Good finish under pressure.
In the build up to their first goal Stearman was caught up the pitch and turned which had us running back towards our own goal. I've seen a few people say that the foul was 'needless' but I thought Danny Batth had to put his foot in, he just executed the tackle poorly. Ikeme doesn't even move for the free kick which is disappointing.
For the second goal Iorfa and van La Parra get their wires crossed which allows their winger to wriggle around the back and play a ball into Clough. As soon as Clough receives the ball Batth is worrying about giving away a penalty and doesn't get close enough. Clough turns him far too easily has time to pick his spot and puts a fairly tame shot in the bottom corner. Ikeme is a bit unsighted but he has to be saving it IMO.
I'd honestly given up by the time Henry scored. Ikeme had already been up from the back, Bolton had been keeping the ball in the corner killing time and it just seemed like the game was winding down. Routine ball up the pitch which Afobe and Evans (I think) won, the ball bobbled about between them but then fell into James Henry's path. It happened in slow motion, he took a touch to set himself, the defence backed off and he let off a 30 yard piledriver. Stunning strike, we wont score a better goal than that this season.
Ikeme - 6 - He made one really good save, tipping a Le Fondre shot around the post but didn't do much else apart from pick the ball out of his net twice. I think he should be doing better with the second, he put a really weak hand on the ball and it just went through him.
Iorfa - 7 - Quality performance from ower Dom. He was solid against their left winger and put in two absolute monster tackles, taking both ball and man. One of the few players willing to have a run at Bolton and I was surprised he was subbed off.
Batth - 6.5 - On the whole a very good performance from Danny, even if he was partially to blame for the second. I don't blame him for the first, he was put in a poor position by Stearman IMO and had to do something. Despite being on top for most of the game Bolton struggled to break us down and Danny was at the heart of that, he won EVERYTHING in the air, forcing Bolton to try and find another way through which they weren't really capable of. Passing was decent if a little unimaginative. Would have been my standout MOTM if it wasn't for his crap play for the 2nd goal.
Stearman - 7 - Really quality performance from Stears, once again putting his body on the line for Wolves. Bolton got very little change out of him all game. If we're going to go up it'll be on the back of Richard Stearman and Danny Batth.
Golbourne - 7.5 - Really good performance and my MOTM. His winger didn't beat him once, he was hard in the tackle and cool in possession. Also covered really well, sweeping up behind Batth and Stearman twice and playing us out of danger. Shame he didn't have much opportunity to get forward and express himself with Afobe in front of him for most of the game. We looked better when Rajiv came over to the left as the two dovetailed quite nicely. Probably only MOTM by default though as he was the only one who didn't fook up all game.
McDonald - 5.5 - For the first 15 minutes Macca was the best player on the pitch, brushing off tackles, running at defenders, keeping possession and setting up Dicko with a lovely pass. That's the only thing that really keeps his score respectable though as for the rest of the game he was dogshit. There were a few nice touches and one or two cute passes but nothing in an area which hurt Bolton and the bad far outweighed the good. There were a lot of misplaced passes and he was caught dawdling on the ball several times.
Price - 2.5 - What's the point in him if he can't keep possession? I'm talking basic 5-10 yard passes here, not anything difficult. He was completely inept with the ball yesterday and I was delighted when Ken gave him the hook because I was getting more and more frustrated with him and probably would've stormed out and missed the equaliser if I'd been forced to watch him for much longer. I don't buy this 'he does unseen work off the ball' either, I find that he's incredibly naïve when it comes to picking his opportunities to press the opposition. Far too easy to work the ball through or around him. Darren Pratley just tore him up. I'm a big Jack Price fan and I think he's got a big future at Wolves but sometimes he's just so lacklustre and it pisses me off.
van La Parra - 7 - Worked hard to protect his full back all game but ended up being turned in the build up to their second goal, not really his fault but he could've done better. He and Iorfa need to work on that side of their partnership but that will come with time. He was always available as an outlet when we looked to counter attack and ran right at the heart of the Bolton defence several times, the only player who looked like he wanted to try something different. There were a few morons around me screaming at him to put the ball in the box instead of cutting back but he had no option. We took advantage of Bolton's lack of pace at the back in the first minute but after that they changed up and forced us to play into their hands. Rajiv was the only one dropping deep or trying to pull players out of position instead of just lobbing it in for Wheater and Ream to head away. Good performance, shame those around him weren't on the same wavelength. Really disappointed stood amongst Wolves fans yesterday to feel the negativity towards him. I hope he doesn't become a scapegoat as he played well today but still got pelters.
Edwards - 3 - Was he even on the pitch? Completely anonymous.
Afobe - 6.5 - A bit of a 'Kortney Hause' performance. A lot of encouraging signs and looked solid enough but he's so clearly not a winger. In our decent spell at the start of the game he was excellent, he can glide past players with ease or he can run them over with brute force. We need to be getting him into better areas though, it might've worked if he had been allowed the opportunity to come off his wing and support Nouha in the centre but mostly he just looked lost.
Dicko - 6 - Showed great pace and a lovely finish in the first minute of the game but a poor game overall. Once Bolton changed up and stopped him running in behind he had no plan B. There was no attacking spark from him as we pushed on in the second half and our moves often broke down with him. I noticed him wincing and clutching at his back a few times in the second half so he's clearly still injured.
Evans - 6 - Came on and offered a bit of much needed bite and tenacity in the centre. Didn't come off for him all the time but at least he tried to do something different. Within the first few minutes of coming on he'd been booked for a strong but late challenge on Pratley, gave away a free kick but did slightly change the flow of the game. Pratley had been running roughshod over our midfield all day but not a peep out of him after that. Showed a willingness to shoot from range as well although it was blocked off.
Henry - 7 - He honestly didn't have much of the ball until he scored. Bizarrely, he came on in a like for like switch with Edwards which left Afobe out on the wing. It wasn't until they switched that he started to have an influence, linking up well with Doherty down the right hand side. Absolutely incredible goal. Might be the best I've seen in the flesh. As soon as he hit it I knew it was in, maybe even a little bit before that. As he was shaping up to shoot all I could think of was the rocket he scored away at Orient last season. Brilliant celebration as well, he deserved that after the stick he'd been getting after the last two games.
Doherty - 6 - Didn't have much time but looked ok. Put a few crosses in and worked hard.
Ref had a good game I thought. There were a few strange ones but there always are and they evened themselves out.
I thought the Wolves fans were fantastic, especially in the first half. Incredible celebration for the equaliser, there will be a few Wolves fans feeling a bit silly today after walking out early. The new Afobe song was shit though. Keeps running, when he's on his back. Keeps shooting, when he's on his back. Keeps turning, when he's on his back. Keeps scoring, for the gold and black. AFOBE! clap clap clap (x4). It's one of those ones that just keeps going and going but it'll never catch on so in the end you get about 10 fans singing on their own for 5 minutes and feeling very pleased for themselves and the rest of the crowd wondering what the fook's going on.
The Macron is a shit stadium in a small shithole attached to a bigger shithole. There weren't many Bolton fans there and the few that were hardly made a sound until about 3 minutes towards the end and they shut the fook up fast when Henry scored. Brilliant to get a last minute goal over those bastards for a change, it's usually the other way round. Good meat & potato pies though
I'm getting more and more fed up of watching the Price/McDonald/Edwards midfield three. It doesn't work. Defensively it's sound enough through sheer weight of numbers but apart from that there are very few upsides. Lee Evans in for Price please. No idea who should come in for Edwards as if it's not going to be Jacobs there's nobody else. If these three start every game from here to the end of the season we wont make the play offs.
The game had barely kicked off when we scored our first. Great work by Batth and Iorfa to win the ball and fed it to McDonald who played a lovely ball over the top exposing David Wheater's glaring lack of pace. Nouha ran onto it, controlled it well and fired us ahead. Good finish under pressure.
In the build up to their first goal Stearman was caught up the pitch and turned which had us running back towards our own goal. I've seen a few people say that the foul was 'needless' but I thought Danny Batth had to put his foot in, he just executed the tackle poorly. Ikeme doesn't even move for the free kick which is disappointing.
For the second goal Iorfa and van La Parra get their wires crossed which allows their winger to wriggle around the back and play a ball into Clough. As soon as Clough receives the ball Batth is worrying about giving away a penalty and doesn't get close enough. Clough turns him far too easily has time to pick his spot and puts a fairly tame shot in the bottom corner. Ikeme is a bit unsighted but he has to be saving it IMO.
I'd honestly given up by the time Henry scored. Ikeme had already been up from the back, Bolton had been keeping the ball in the corner killing time and it just seemed like the game was winding down. Routine ball up the pitch which Afobe and Evans (I think) won, the ball bobbled about between them but then fell into James Henry's path. It happened in slow motion, he took a touch to set himself, the defence backed off and he let off a 30 yard piledriver. Stunning strike, we wont score a better goal than that this season.
Ikeme - 6 - He made one really good save, tipping a Le Fondre shot around the post but didn't do much else apart from pick the ball out of his net twice. I think he should be doing better with the second, he put a really weak hand on the ball and it just went through him.
Iorfa - 7 - Quality performance from ower Dom. He was solid against their left winger and put in two absolute monster tackles, taking both ball and man. One of the few players willing to have a run at Bolton and I was surprised he was subbed off.
Batth - 6.5 - On the whole a very good performance from Danny, even if he was partially to blame for the second. I don't blame him for the first, he was put in a poor position by Stearman IMO and had to do something. Despite being on top for most of the game Bolton struggled to break us down and Danny was at the heart of that, he won EVERYTHING in the air, forcing Bolton to try and find another way through which they weren't really capable of. Passing was decent if a little unimaginative. Would have been my standout MOTM if it wasn't for his crap play for the 2nd goal.
Stearman - 7 - Really quality performance from Stears, once again putting his body on the line for Wolves. Bolton got very little change out of him all game. If we're going to go up it'll be on the back of Richard Stearman and Danny Batth.
Golbourne - 7.5 - Really good performance and my MOTM. His winger didn't beat him once, he was hard in the tackle and cool in possession. Also covered really well, sweeping up behind Batth and Stearman twice and playing us out of danger. Shame he didn't have much opportunity to get forward and express himself with Afobe in front of him for most of the game. We looked better when Rajiv came over to the left as the two dovetailed quite nicely. Probably only MOTM by default though as he was the only one who didn't fook up all game.
McDonald - 5.5 - For the first 15 minutes Macca was the best player on the pitch, brushing off tackles, running at defenders, keeping possession and setting up Dicko with a lovely pass. That's the only thing that really keeps his score respectable though as for the rest of the game he was dogshit. There were a few nice touches and one or two cute passes but nothing in an area which hurt Bolton and the bad far outweighed the good. There were a lot of misplaced passes and he was caught dawdling on the ball several times.
Price - 2.5 - What's the point in him if he can't keep possession? I'm talking basic 5-10 yard passes here, not anything difficult. He was completely inept with the ball yesterday and I was delighted when Ken gave him the hook because I was getting more and more frustrated with him and probably would've stormed out and missed the equaliser if I'd been forced to watch him for much longer. I don't buy this 'he does unseen work off the ball' either, I find that he's incredibly naïve when it comes to picking his opportunities to press the opposition. Far too easy to work the ball through or around him. Darren Pratley just tore him up. I'm a big Jack Price fan and I think he's got a big future at Wolves but sometimes he's just so lacklustre and it pisses me off.
van La Parra - 7 - Worked hard to protect his full back all game but ended up being turned in the build up to their second goal, not really his fault but he could've done better. He and Iorfa need to work on that side of their partnership but that will come with time. He was always available as an outlet when we looked to counter attack and ran right at the heart of the Bolton defence several times, the only player who looked like he wanted to try something different. There were a few morons around me screaming at him to put the ball in the box instead of cutting back but he had no option. We took advantage of Bolton's lack of pace at the back in the first minute but after that they changed up and forced us to play into their hands. Rajiv was the only one dropping deep or trying to pull players out of position instead of just lobbing it in for Wheater and Ream to head away. Good performance, shame those around him weren't on the same wavelength. Really disappointed stood amongst Wolves fans yesterday to feel the negativity towards him. I hope he doesn't become a scapegoat as he played well today but still got pelters.
Edwards - 3 - Was he even on the pitch? Completely anonymous.
Afobe - 6.5 - A bit of a 'Kortney Hause' performance. A lot of encouraging signs and looked solid enough but he's so clearly not a winger. In our decent spell at the start of the game he was excellent, he can glide past players with ease or he can run them over with brute force. We need to be getting him into better areas though, it might've worked if he had been allowed the opportunity to come off his wing and support Nouha in the centre but mostly he just looked lost.
Dicko - 6 - Showed great pace and a lovely finish in the first minute of the game but a poor game overall. Once Bolton changed up and stopped him running in behind he had no plan B. There was no attacking spark from him as we pushed on in the second half and our moves often broke down with him. I noticed him wincing and clutching at his back a few times in the second half so he's clearly still injured.
Evans - 6 - Came on and offered a bit of much needed bite and tenacity in the centre. Didn't come off for him all the time but at least he tried to do something different. Within the first few minutes of coming on he'd been booked for a strong but late challenge on Pratley, gave away a free kick but did slightly change the flow of the game. Pratley had been running roughshod over our midfield all day but not a peep out of him after that. Showed a willingness to shoot from range as well although it was blocked off.
Henry - 7 - He honestly didn't have much of the ball until he scored. Bizarrely, he came on in a like for like switch with Edwards which left Afobe out on the wing. It wasn't until they switched that he started to have an influence, linking up well with Doherty down the right hand side. Absolutely incredible goal. Might be the best I've seen in the flesh. As soon as he hit it I knew it was in, maybe even a little bit before that. As he was shaping up to shoot all I could think of was the rocket he scored away at Orient last season. Brilliant celebration as well, he deserved that after the stick he'd been getting after the last two games.
Doherty - 6 - Didn't have much time but looked ok. Put a few crosses in and worked hard.
Ref had a good game I thought. There were a few strange ones but there always are and they evened themselves out.
I thought the Wolves fans were fantastic, especially in the first half. Incredible celebration for the equaliser, there will be a few Wolves fans feeling a bit silly today after walking out early. The new Afobe song was shit though. Keeps running, when he's on his back. Keeps shooting, when he's on his back. Keeps turning, when he's on his back. Keeps scoring, for the gold and black. AFOBE! clap clap clap (x4). It's one of those ones that just keeps going and going but it'll never catch on so in the end you get about 10 fans singing on their own for 5 minutes and feeling very pleased for themselves and the rest of the crowd wondering what the fook's going on.
The Macron is a shit stadium in a small shithole attached to a bigger shithole. There weren't many Bolton fans there and the few that were hardly made a sound until about 3 minutes towards the end and they shut the fook up fast when Henry scored. Brilliant to get a last minute goal over those bastards for a change, it's usually the other way round. Good meat & potato pies though
Lord Knows
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Listening to the radio commentary on WM which was far better than usual due to having Wolves club captain Sam Ricketts as co commentator. Though obviously careful to not speak out of line he did say that Nouha Dicko had spoken in midweek about his concerns about how the ball was fed into the box, particularly into his runs, and that he wished for service into central positions rather than having to collect in the corners of the box.
There was then a debate on the distances required to slide those through balls into central positions and by whom because Kevin McDonald was usually far to deep to play them with precision.
The other key point made by Ricketts that Wolves now were playing to much off the cuff through midfield rather than retaining certain patterns of play that had served them well during the early season ball retention period.
There was then a debate on the distances required to slide those through balls into central positions and by whom because Kevin McDonald was usually far to deep to play them with precision.
The other key point made by Ricketts that Wolves now were playing to much off the cuff through midfield rather than retaining certain patterns of play that had served them well during the early season ball retention period.
Edgmond Wolf
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I thought RVLP was poor
Yes he runs with the ball
Yes he has pace
But
No end product
No crosses that created an opportunity
No shots on target
Missed a sitter
Ran into blind alleys when he had chance to cross
Flatters to deceive
Yes he runs with the ball
Yes he has pace
But
No end product
No crosses that created an opportunity
No shots on target
Missed a sitter
Ran into blind alleys when he had chance to cross
Flatters to deceive
Lycan
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You're completely missing the point. It's not enough to just say 'no end product', 'no crosses'. There would've been absolutely no point in just knocking the ball into the box and hoping for the best, Nouha was never going to win a header against their mutant centre backs, Afobe wasn't backing up on the other side and Edwards was nowhere to be seen.
After we turned them with pace in the first minute they dropped their defensive line deeper. We had fook all answer to that except to just ram it down Wheater's throat and it just kept coming back at us. We needed people to drop deeper, turn and run at them but Rajiv was the only one willing to do that (until Henry came on).
I agree that he could've had a few more shots, in the second half we had a few opportunities on the counter with van La Parra carrying the ball out. I kind of wish he'd have gone on his own and had a shot rather than passing it to his useless teammates.
After we turned them with pace in the first minute they dropped their defensive line deeper. We had fook all answer to that except to just ram it down Wheater's throat and it just kept coming back at us. We needed people to drop deeper, turn and run at them but Rajiv was the only one willing to do that (until Henry came on).
I agree that he could've had a few more shots, in the second half we had a few opportunities on the counter with van La Parra carrying the ball out. I kind of wish he'd have gone on his own and had a shot rather than passing it to his useless teammates.
Lord Knows
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Afobe wasn't backing up on the other side and Edwards was nowhere to be seen.
Why? Whats the game plan?
Why? Whats the game plan?
sycophantia
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You're right that putting good balls in the box if there's no-one in there is pointless but RVLP's passes and crosses are 90% poor, plus he doesn't go past defenders often enough for me, looks to come inside or turn back to Iorfa too often. I think he's worth his place in the team currently (just) as his pace does worry defenders into poor decisions/challenges. Think he'll be rotated with Henry more often when Sako's back.
As for our midfield, don't know what to say, McDonald is good at times but falls apart under pressure, thought Price added a bit of stability when he came back but if he's not performing needs changing but for who, Evans maybe although I've not seen him have a good game yet. I thought 50% of our defensive problems in November were down to Mcdonald and Evans/Rowe. With this combination we don't get enough tackles in or close down the opposition quick enough.
As for our midfield, don't know what to say, McDonald is good at times but falls apart under pressure, thought Price added a bit of stability when he came back but if he's not performing needs changing but for who, Evans maybe although I've not seen him have a good game yet. I thought 50% of our defensive problems in November were down to Mcdonald and Evans/Rowe. With this combination we don't get enough tackles in or close down the opposition quick enough.
Lycan
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I have absolutely no idea. It was appalling at times. van La Parra was the only forward player trying to do something about it.
Edgmond Wolf
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RVLP missed a sitter, he was offside but he didn't know that
There were countless opportunities for him to deliver the ball in the box where we had three....yes three...waiting for the cross and he failed to deliver the cross
He was poor.
He flatters to deceive by his pace and running with the ball
There were countless opportunities for him to deliver the ball in the box where we had three....yes three...waiting for the cross and he failed to deliver the cross
He was poor.
He flatters to deceive by his pace and running with the ball
Lycan
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Literally never happened and it wouldn't have made a difference even if it had. Crossing the ball into the box was exactly what Bolton wanted us to do, they dealt with it so easily every time we tried.
YoungWolf
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I think if we aren't going to play a tricky, technical player in the no.10 position then I think we should be trying to move to a 4-3-3, I think it could be McDonald, Evans and one other who is more mobile. 4-2-3-1 is quite a defensive and restrictive formation anyway I feel, especially if you have someone like Edwards as the player behind the forward. I like Price, and I think he's a good player to have in the squad but think for him to be a regular fixture he needs to have more of a contribution in the attacking phase (though he isn't helped with lack of movement in front of him)
Still, it's another game unbeaten at a ground we never win at but I think it showed again we miss Sako (obviously) and that we need more options to call on off of the bench when we are struggling.
HAzelGroveWolf
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Did anyone else that posts here get caught up in the shambolic policing of train travel back to Manchester?
I've been there a few times without issue but yesterday...
I've been there a few times without issue but yesterday...
Dinowolf
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t3ch
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:beerchug:
I've got some catching to do, not even familiar with all the starters! Iorfa, VLP, Afobe... :confused-smiley-013
Edgmond Wolf
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Depends if the cross is on the floor or picks out a man
North West Wanderer
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Crossing the ball has such a low success rate.
Lycan
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Why doe La Parra gerrit in there?
pavlosmacwolf
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the wall and Ikeme's positioning behind it, is just never right. Clough had an open door.
