FA Cup Semi-Final: Watford 3-2 Wolves Verdict Thread

[Deleted Cyber]

any of you lot go to the signal box at euston? My daughter works there and said wolves fans were a nice bunch but no-one would give her a scarf lol!

 

[Langers]

Had a day and a half to reflect before making any comment.

Gutted is the only term I can use. yes we should have seen it out, however, that is football and it only takes a moment to change a game. In hindsight (isn't it so easy to be wise after the fact!), Jota coming off made it a lot more comfortable for them as he had ripped them a new one all afternoon. Freed up extra men to come forward. Cav just not as good an option.

Don't know why we suddenly dropped so deep, Nuno could be seen screaming for them to come out more.

Can't blame Ruddy, Delofeu did what all the explayers say you should do, hit it early and back across the keeper, as they are nearly always set for the near post strike.

I am disgusted by some of the crap I have seen posted (on the MIX, not here), you would think it was the bad old days again. We don't have a God given right to win football matches, and though it sticks in the craw, congrats to Watford for hanging in there and not giving up.

Finally, much I wished for him to succeed, I cannot see Adama getting any better, he has had a full season under Nuno, and his final ball, his passing and awareness are no better.

We go agsin, I love this team.

Agree with all of this.

 

[Kenny]

congrats to Watford for hanging in there and not giving up.

This is big point for me. Yes as fans we will look at our team and take apart where we went wrong etc but fair play to Watford. At 2 down they could have folded and let the game drift. They didn't, they battled back and forced us into the errors we are discussing. They didn't fluke it, they earnt it. Congrats to them and best of luck, although if we finish 7th I will be cheering City on like a nutter on the 18th, if we don't I hope they win (but Deeney gets sent off of course...)

 

[Deleted Cyber]

If that happens (Cyber) then so be it as everyone knows full well at the start of the season that 7th guarantees you nowt.

I didn't fancy us at all in the 2002 playoffs, we were mentally gone and hadn't played well for ages while DJ was refusing to swap out players who were clearly physically spent. Plus we were still picking Mo Camara every game, a disaster is an inevitability at some point if you do that.

Its a bugger though as it means I will be paying out beer to Darlo and £20 to you!

Still worth it for the year we have had. I think that squad will have learnt so much and I can only echo what Langers has posted above. I am gutted, I am upset but I cant blame a single player. They have been a magnificent collective in terms of effort this season. Yes, we need some extra depth, yes some of the players need moving on or upgrading to get us where we want to be but this season so far (despite any disappointments) has been fucking awesome.

 

[Sniffer]

This is big point for me. Yes as fans we will look at our team and take apart where we went wrong etc but fair play to Watford. At 2 down they could have folded and let the game drift. They didn't, they battled back and forced us into the errors we are discussing. They didn't fluke it, they earnt it. Congrats to them and best of luck, although if we finish 7th I will be cheering City on like a nutter on the 18th, if we don't I hope they win (but Deeney gets sent off of course...)

I didn't feel that they would get back into the game at 2-0. We were coping comfortably and had a couple of opportunities on the break, where we should have made it three. One was Doherty inside the area, another Neves in acres of space and I think he gave it straight to their centre half with plenty of options on. Their route back into the game was a wonder goal that I didn't see coming. When he hit it I thought it was wide and I couldn't believe that it went in. I felt sick from that point onwards and still do. They put us under pressure afterwards but did Ruddy have a save to make? As for the penalty, I still think that it was a soft one and if the ref didn't give it I couldn't see it being overturned on review. You see them given though and the rest is history.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

I'm still struggling to come to terms with what happened on Sunday. Perhaps that's an insight into my own mental state, but I cannot bring myself to watch the highlights or even allow myself to glance at my YouTube feed in case I see one of the many fan videos from the day. Just felt so broken at the end of the match. Defeat felt like a foregone conclusion at 2-2 to be honest and I just felt sick for the whole of extra time. Presumably a lot of us felt the same, which is why it fell so flat during extra time.

We've had some great moments this season - far more than at any other time in my lifetime - and I'm sure I'll get back to the stage where I can consider the bigger picture. But the disappointment of Sunday will dominate my week this week for sure.

On the specifics of what went wrong - the irony is that so much of what has gone right this calendar year has been down to the influence of Dendoncker whereas both with and without the ball he wasn't at his best at all on Sunday - the first goal and the penalty aside (and having not been able to watch any highlights, I can't comment on those particular incidents).

I do think our ability to keep hold of the ball in the last 10 minutes was down to the substitutions. Jota is such a great outlet for us when turning defence into attack. Neither Cav nor Traore could replicate that. I feel like Neves and Moutinho would have kept the ball better than Saiss and Dendoncker (but I take Kenny's point about Moutinho being out on his feet). We started just "clearing" the ball without any regard for where it was going - and that isn't something this team usually does. I put that down to nerves, the occasion and naivety.

Improving the squad so that we can trust our replacements to see out a game will obviously change things and I'm sure we'll have many more occasions like an FA Cup semi final ahead of us under this new regime. but the manner of the defeat - to throw away a two goal lead - is something I'm still finding very hard to take.

I feel similar to this. I can't bring myself to watch the highlights either. If we had just gone down to a straight forward 2-0 defeat it wouldn't have been half as bad but the contrast in emotions from the joyous celebrating and singing from Raul's goal onwards to that last minute penalty was an absolute sickener.

I am so proud of everything that Nuno and the team have achieved in the last 2 seasons and hopefully I will look back on this in a few years time when we have achieved so much more and think 'what was I so gutted about' but I can't remember the last time that a football match broke me like this.

I'm sure the team will get a great response from the fans on Saturday and hopefully we can carry on now and end the season on a high.

 

[Tony Towner]

Yeah, the play off defeats are the occasions that I can recall being utterly dejected, but this does feel very different. We are going to get better, the club is going places, whereas the play off defeats felt like a massive setback in terms of where the club was going. And others may disagree, but I don't feel let down by the players, not this time. Disappointed - absolutely. Gutted - definitely. But not let down, and definitely not angry.

And of course, it's not the end of our season.

I think Sunday was as gutted as I've been since 1995 given the manner of the defeat. If we'd lost 2-0 it wouldn't have felt so bad, the difference between this and the other play off defeats '95 aside was the immediacy of the pain. Palace was an uphill struggle after losing the away leg, 2002 was just an inevitability - comparable with extra time on Sunday really - you know how it's going to end you just needed to wait for it to play out and Albion was such an exceeding of expectation it was easy to be pragmatic. From other Cup defeats, Torquay was bad, but we'd been to Wembley the prior year and Arsenal were at a different level to us, even though McGhee killed any chance we may have had with his team selection. I cried my eyes out in '81, but I was only 8 so I'll give myself a pass on that one.

I was angry after the game, more with the situation than any individual particularly. All of Nuno, Ruddy and Jota in their post match interviews said we threw it away and lets face it we did, the manner of the first goal seemed to kill our confidence, we pride ourselves on our defensive shape and all that went out of the window. Anger has now moved to disappointment.

 

[Kenny]

Watford had spells where they dominated the ball. The 5 minutes before our 2nd they were causing us problems but their decision making in the penalty area let them down. 2 decent chances in the 1st, one over the bar when maybe should have scored and the Coady block right on HT stopped a certain goal. It was our game to win and we didn't but our failings in the last 10 mins comes from what Watford did and how we reacted. Compare Watford to West Ham, who at Molineux gave up completely at 1-0 and then went home at 2-0

 

[Jinky]

I knew today would be tough anyway, as it's my first day back in to work after 2 x weeks of paternity leave, but the result on Sunday hasn't helped at all. Just sort of an empty feeling.

I don't think it's been helped by a few things that have happened since the match ended; Deeney's interview and calling Raul a "loser", Deeney & Holebas claiming they've been racially abused online, video's of Wolves & Watford fans scrapping after the match, the abuse Raul has had from the likes of Luther Blissett for putting a mask on to celebrate - cup all of that with the manner in which we lost, and it's all left a sour taste in my mouth. Watford have been terrible winners and I hope City smash them in the final.

I was pleased to read Nuno is taking the squad away to Marbella again after the Saints game. Get them away from everything for some breathing space and some sun on the skin. Regroup and come back refreshed, ready for the final 5 games. Worst thing that can happen from here is we fall away and end the season in 9th/10th place. It's been an unbelievable season up to this point and I want us to have something to show for it, come the final whistle at Anfield.

That said, it'll be tough. Watford seem to have created some bad blood with us now & will be up for that game - Southampton away this weekend will be tough. They're fighting & scrapping to stay in the division and we'll be on a downer from the semi final defeat (don't care what anyone says, the players will still be feeling that). Arsenal & Liverpool are both extremely tough games (and of course Liverpool will be fighting to win the title) - even Fulham at home will be more difficult as they're down and the pressure is off.

I'm grateful for the experience of Sunday, and I hope this is the first of many - but it doesn't make it any easier to take!

 

[Donegal Wolf]

I think Sunday was as gutted as I've been since 1995 given the manner of the defeat. If we'd lost 2-0 it wouldn't have felt so bad, the difference between this and the other play off defeats '95 aside was the immediacy of the pain. Palace was an uphill struggle after losing the away leg, 2002 was just an inevitability - comparable with extra time on Sunday really - you know how it's going to end you just needed to wait for it to play out and Albion was such an exceeding of expectation it was easy to be pragmatic. From other Cup defeats, Torquay was bad, but we'd been to Wembley the prior year and Arsenal were at a different level to us, even though McGhee killed any chance we may have had with his team selection. I cried my eyes out in '81, but I was only 8 so I'll give myself a pass on that one.

I was angry after the game, more with the situation than any individual particularly. All of Nuno, Ruddy and Jota in their post match interviews said we threw it away and lets face it we did, the manner of the first goal seemed to kill our confidence, we pride ourselves on our defensive shape and all that went out of the window. Anger has now moved to disappointment.

Was going to post something but this more or less covers it for me as well (although as a 11 year old was just past the crying stage). Still gutted now.

Unlike some on here I never felt comfortable at 2-0, throughout the game they were getting into decent situations but nothing was coming from them, but just basically ground us down in those last 20 minutes, through their pressure we lost shape, couldnt put a foot on the ball and the occasions when we did get in there final third made bad decisions.

Aside from that, Deeney has gone to that dark special place in my head to keep John McGinley company, the carrier bags at the start were shit, Watford did a much better job with their flags (plus when they scored looks far better waving a flag then a plastic bag), I was in the Sports Bar as well before the game and it was grim, went to go in there afterwards took one look and thought sod it will wait in the queue for the trains. As for the beer in Wembley I have a high tolerance to drinking crap (and only queued to get one as my young lad wanted something to eat), but that was fucking awful, add that to a very short lists of pints I could not finish in my life.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'm over it now. Let's face it, we aren't quite ready to take on a full strength City side - and they would be full strength even if they make the CL final, it's two weeks after the FA Cup final - on our own terms at this point. 9 times out of 10 we're losing that game by at least a couple of goals. Losing a semi-final, losing a final, it's all the same.

Great run, great season, wish we'd have got the job done on Sunday but we didn't, that's football. We'll be back, stronger.

 

[Pablowolf]

515 was pretty good atmosphere. Saw one woman moaning at kick off about people standing, but nobody else. 1 guy in my row was in and out of his seat what felt like every 20 minutes, needs to pop and see his doctor I'd suggest

I popped to the doctor with a suspect bladder and have told you the stories of what was done to me over the following weeks and months. Horrifying stuff.

 

[SSB]

Only just ventured back onto the internet since the game. Quite refreshing a couple of days off social media. It's just in the real World everyone wants to dissect the game with me, even non football fans...even when I say "I don't want to talk about it"

 

[jlo]

Felt the substitutions were right also, except bringing Cav on at that point made less sense to me. I dont like Traore, but at least if we were lumping clearances out he would've caused Watford a few more worries.

I actually felt confident about extra time because I thought we'd been the better team completely. Shame the confidence went though, players stopped running as much and so that was it. Was gutted after the game but got over it quickly. This is a journey, and one thing is clear - Wolves are back. So much to look forward too now.

 

[Langers]

Because I stayed off social media a lot since the final whistle, I hadn't seen the furore over Raul's celebration until today. Why the fuck is this even an issue?! Player scores at Wembley to put us 2-0 up - if you can't celebrate then, when can you? Is it any different to taking off your shirt to display a message underneath, or jumping into the crowd etc?

I thought it was great - one of the best moments and best feelings I've had as a Wolves fan to be honest. The highest high that came before the lowest low!

(Not going to comment on Deeney - don't give a fuck what other players say about ours TBH).

 

[b3h]

Thought it was really cool. Don't see why people would class it as backfiring either cuz it wasn't Raul that scored 2 own goals was it

 

[Kenny]

Because I stayed off social media a lot since the final whistle, I hadn't seen the furore over Raul's celebration until today. Why the fuck is this even an issue?! Player scores at Wembley to put us 2-0 up - if you can't celebrate then, when can you? Is it any different to taking off your shirt to display a message underneath, or jumping into the crowd etc?

I thought it was great - one of the best moments and best feelings I've had as a Wolves fan to be honest. The highest high that came before the lowest low!

(Not going to comment on Deeney - don't give a fuck what other players say about ours TBH).

It's all a bit odd. I guess if you don't know the reason behind it it looks a little strange but I am confused as to why Deeney was even asked his feelings on it. A question that should have never have been asked unless he popped on the mask and it had something about Watford on it and he celebrated in front of their fans and flicked them the V's.

All that has come out of this is Troy will find it hard to have a relaxing holiday in Mexico and has joined a club with members such as Jeremy Clarkson and Donald Trump...

 

[b3h]

Deeney is just jealous he can't fit his big fat head in a mask

 

[darlowolf64]

If Deeney knew anything about Mexico or Mexican heritage and Lucha Libre he would realise that they are worn as a tribute to history and the mask is considered sacred to a degree.
It was Raul "honoring" his friend and nothing more... It was also pretty cool

 

[Johnny75]

Deeney's a cunt.

Adama Traore should be sold, I don't care if it's not to a football team.

Still gutted.