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

[darlowolf64]

Well I've finally made myself watch the extended highlights of the game. Such a wasted opportunity to be 2-0 up with 10 minutes left and let them back in.
Watching Dendoncker's defence of the first goal, fair enough put your hands behind your back, but in doing so he opened up the only part of the goal Deulofeu could put the ball. Square up to him and there is no shot on.
Ruddy dives a fraction later and he saves the penalty. I really don't know how he didn't get something on the winner... It was all just fractions but every one of them went against us!
As for after, Sorry Dan, I guess being used to attending the American Football gave me a false sense of the pubs not being dicks!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

As for after, Sorry Dan, I guess being used to attending the American Football gave me a false sense of the pubs not being dicks!

It's a good job you've built up credit over the years...

 

[Deleted Cyber]

We'll never play a full strength side in the early rounds of the League Cup irrespective of the opposition. Too little of the season gone.

I get that if we are in europe but dissmissing the chance of silverware for any team outside the big six surely needs to be reconsidered. Naturally we need a depth of squad but I would not want a third year of penalty shoot out losses.

 

[Norman Deeley]

I get that if we are in europe but dissmissing the chance of silverware for any team outside the big six surely needs to be reconsidered. Naturally we need a depth of squad but I would not want a third year of penalty shoot out losses.

Brian Clough is famously quoted as saying that the most important trophy he won wasn't the European Cup, but the Anglo Scottish Cup (that'll test a few memories...) The reason was that it started the habit of winning trophies. I know we have won the Champ under Nuno, but if we are really going to become a force then we need to win something as a Premier League team, and realistically for the next 3-4 season that is one of the cups. So next year my view is that we should take the League Cup very seriously.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

The Big Green Coach Co bus we were on was excellent, air con worked great, stopped at Warwick services on way down for a breakfast bap and coffee. Didn't stop at all on way back which was fine as it was very subdued and everyone just wanted to get home.

I was on one of the Big Green coaches but mine was freezing!

 

[Langers]

I was too gutted to post on Sunday, and was busy yesterday so didn't post then either, but fucking hell, what a day of contrasting emotions.

Everything was amazing until the 94th minute. Got the coach from Wollaston with the Stourbridge Wolves and had a right laugh on the way down - although whoever thought it was a good idea to take a dump in the already blocked toilet with 78 blokes on it needs shooting. Thank god for Cherwell Valley services. Stopped at Wealdstone FC for beers which was heaving, but a brilliant atmosphere.

As for Wembley, it's a hole of a place. Concrete everywhere, nothing interesting of note outside the stadium so I just went inside rather than try and find another pub.

I've been a few times to Wembley, and I have to say that I love it inside and was completely dumbfounded when some people said the atmosphere wasn't great, or that we didn't sing loudly enough. From where I was (519) it was amazing. Weird.

As for the game, I refuse to get angry with the team and sorry - I WILL say that we need to remember where we've come from and that we should be proud of the team. I found it very disappointing to read quite a lot of posts slating them. Of course we should have held on, and I was as distraught as anyone when the ref pointed to the spot, but I can't bring myself to be angry with the players who have given us such a superb journey. If that makes me a misty eyed happy clapper then so be it. Because we'll be back and we'll be better.

The journey home seemed much longer, and it was a LOT quieter. Until one bloke threw up down the gangway of the top deck when we were only 10 minutes from Stourbridge.

I've absolutely loved this season, and I've never felt prouder of my team - but the season isn't over yet - I'd love us to secure 7th spot, not that it'll be easy. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I don't think many fans are angry with the team to be fair, and if they are it'll be short lived. I think it's fair to be critical of the way we managed the last 20 minutes plus extra time, we really played poorly. But, and I know it's not the done thing to criticise Nuno, I think he carries a good deal of the responsibility. We were already starting to sit way too deep and his substitutions compounded that. He got it wrong IMO, but hey ho, he's got more than enough correct to earn forgiveness. It's just a tough pill to swallow when we had it in our grasp and handed it to them on a plate.

 

[Kenny]

The only sub I would question was Jota but we don't have access to what they have on the bench.

Bennett coming on made sense as they were lumping balls into the box and he is better than Saiss at dealing with that and Saiss a few days earlier had given us a masterclass in how to shut a game down v Man Utd when he played in midfield.
Moutinho was gone.

How we played in extra time, especially the 1st half is all based on their penalty. Players already with heavy legs now trying to sort out their heads and its friggin hard.

 

[Langers]

Not much would have been made of the subs if we had held on for a few more seconds. Agree with Kenny re: Jota coming off, we lost our main attacking threat after that. Watford were petrified of him.

We were just gone after that penalty, in the stands and on the pitch. Can't remember the last time I felt such a sucker punch.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I agree with Jota being a mistake, but I also think Neves and/or Moutinho was a mistake. We had no one left on the pitch who could put their foot on the ball and keep possession. They completely dominated in midfield and we just kept giving it back to them and inviting more and more and more pressure. They naturally had the impetus anyway but those subs allowed them to seize it and run with it and we couldn't get it back at all. If Moutinho was shot fair enough, but to take both him and Neves off was asking for trouble. And we got it.

 

[Kenny]

The atmosphere was fine up in 515 although it must have been home to the weak bladder fan club. From the 20th minute people just didn't keep still. A constant flow of people walking to the concourse and back.

 

[Langers]

We made the changes to hold on in order to win the game, and not with extra time in the back of our minds. It didn't work, it was cruel, but them's the breaks.

519 was also the WBFC - fortunately I was on the very back row so I just stood up so people constantly walking past me wasn't so much of a pain. No way I was buying more beer in the ground after they stung me for £5.90 for a pint of piss.

 

[Kenny]

I agree with Jota being a mistake, but I also think Neves and/or Moutinho was a mistake. We had no one left on the pitch who could put their foot on the ball and keep possession. They completely dominated in midfield and we just kept giving it back to them and inviting more and more and more pressure. They naturally had the impetus anyway but those subs allowed them to seize it and run with it and we couldn't get it back at all. If Moutinho was shot fair enough, but to take both him and Neves off was asking for trouble. And we got it.

Mout was certainly struggling so he had to go off. He had been supreme but you could see from the 70th minute on he was struggling. Couple of times he took an age to get the ball out of his feet. I think the Neves sub was tired legs as well. On Jota I can only presume something was wrong as he had taken a battering in the 2nd half. Who knows.

A year ago I watched the most dramatic injury time I had ever seen at Cardiff and a year later the most heartbreaking. It was a killer but after a night of getting it out of the system, I can happily say to myself that game was the start of what we will see and I won't be waiting 21 years for the next moment like this. Is it 2 years since we sat and watched Lambert's Wolves bore us to death v Blackburn? (although exciting scenes in injury time as we had our 1 shot on target), our progress has been rapid in terms of team development (I mean Andy Lonegan -John Ruddy - Rui Patricio is our keeper progression in something like 15 months), £35m striker and a club that knows howe to do stuff off the pitch.

6 games left this season and we will be finishing in the top half of the Prem. I would have pissed myself laughing if someone had said to me during that Blackburn game this is where we will be in 2 years time.

 

[Kenny]

We made the changes to hold on in order to win the game, and not with extra time in the back of our minds. It didn't work, it was cruel, but them's the breaks.

519 was also the WBFC - fortunately I was on the very back row so I just stood up so people constantly walking past me wasn't so much of a pain. No way I was buying more beer in the ground after they stung me for £5.90 for a pint of piss.

One bloke on our row pissed off on 89 mins and oddly reappared in the 117th min!

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Can't remember the last time I felt such a sucker punch

Norwich play offs after spunking a 9 point lead against the shit only for them to pip us for second then we cocked up the play offs to Norwich. Thats the closest to this pain I have felt this century. Before that it was Torquay winning at Molineux when we were going for back to back football trophies. Promotion that year lessened the blow.

Heres what I fear will happen. Wolves composes themselves, go on a run to get this out of our system inlcuding getting further points off Arsenal and Liverpool and handing City the title. We then finish seventh. Watford have lost 10 on the bounce to City. They are due a win and someohow win the cup thanks to a sending off. You know how sometimes the planets align.Watford must be thinking its their year after that comeback.

 

[Trips]

The atmosphere was fine up in 515 although it must have been home to the weak bladder fan club. From the 20th minute people just didn't keep still. A constant flow of people walking to the concourse and back.

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

 

[ndorsetwolf]

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.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

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.

 

[Langers]

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.

 

[Banjo]

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.