Newcastle 1-0 Wolves: Verdict Thread

[Lupo]

Dreadful performance, another Friday night horror show. None of our players excelled but Hwank was woeful. I really do not understand why we committed to buying him in January when we could wait until the end of the season. Trincao was poor too and by all accounts doesn't want to be here next season.

Hwank should have been pulled at half time (if not before), surely Neto has 45 minutes in him? I would have brought Chiquinho on at some point, like him each time I see him, gets stuck in and looks to make things happen, good crosses into the box though wasted on Fabio with his Alan Davies hair though he did ok again last night.

Cannot understand why Bruno waited so long to make a change and we were a goal down by then. Sa was rash with the challenge and it was a penalty but jeez did Wood know what he was doing. I like Sa a lot but have no faith in him to save a penalty from what I've seen so far.

Not scoring against a side who shipped 5 a few days ago is poor and we have over 2 weeks to
wait now until another 'winnable' game against Burnley which will no doubt follow the same blueprint as last night

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

It wasn't the board who played a young lad in a midfield 2, who in the first half looked overawed

Well, it was the board that gave Lage little choice but having to?

 

[PuntsWolf]

Thought Cundle was OK actually, first 10-15 minutes apart. He's very much in the Moutinho style and so playing both together is only a last resort, that's not on Bruno. The negative mind set for 3/4 game, especially early on has to be on Bruno, that's happened too often this season.

The desire to play deep and contain all the time is just so bizarre, especially against Newcastle.

He says he was scared of Shelvey being able to hit balls over the top so played deep, but we can’t keep going into games against rubbish teams being scared of what they are doing if we have any ambition of being a top team.

I think his hands were tied to an extent. I think his plan was to play 5-3-2 with Hwang and Fabio, as that’s what he tries to do in these games where he plays deep, I don’t agree with it but he keeps doing it.

Instead as he genuinely only felt he had two CMs he had to go with the 3-4-3, and Trincao came In. Unfortunately you can’t play the contain when the front 3 are going to hide and be that bad in possession when they get it.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Instead as he genuinely only felt he had two CMs he had to go with the 3-4-3, and Trincao came In. Unfortunately you can’t play the contain when the front 3 are going to hide and be that bad in possession when they get it.

Only felt? Is there a question here? It's a fact isn't it? We had Moutinho and Cundle, the latter playing only the 2nd (league) game of his career.

 

[Derby Wolf]

Only felt? Is there a question here? It's a fact isn't it? We had Moutinho and Cundle, the latter playing only the 2nd (league) game of his career.

Saiss on the bench who's played a good chunk of his 200 appearances in CM.

So yes, 'felt' he only had two if Saiss isn't considered.

If he did want the 5-3-2 he could have had Saiss and Moutinho deeper and Cundle a bit further forward (as he was in the final 10 when it was all too little too late)

 

[Walnut]

An absolutely woeful performance. If Bruno can take any positives out of that, then he as definitely lost the plot.
I felt sorry for Fabio as he had no support from Trincao or Hwang who were utterly useless.

 

[sycophantia]

The desire to play deep and contain all the time is just so bizarre, especially against Newcastle.

He says he was scared of Shelvey being able to hit balls over the top so played deep, but we can’t keep going into games against rubbish teams being scared of what they are doing if we have any ambition of being a top team.

I think his hands were tied to an extent. I think his plan was to play 5-3-2 with Hwang and Fabio, as that’s what he tries to do in these games where he plays deep, I don’t agree with it but he keeps doing it.

Instead as he genuinely only felt he had two CMs he had to go with the 3-4-3, and Trincao came In. Unfortunately you can’t play the contain when the front 3 are going to hide and be that bad in possession when they get it.

Haven't listened to any post match interviews, he talks shit most of the time, as did Nuno, but did he really say he was worried about Jonjo fucking Shelvey? That's a sackable offence in itself. I wish managers would just keep their gobs shut sometimes.

 

[sycophantia]

An absolutely woeful performance. If Bruno can take any positives out of that, then he as definitely lost the plot.
I felt sorry for Fabio as he had no support from Trincao or Hwang who were utterly useless.

Me too, wasn't just Hwang and Trincao though, the centre midfielders we had to play aren't that kind of player, plus our wbs also were miles away, Jonny tried a few times but he was having an off night too.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Yeah if he said that about Shelvey that's laughable, Newcastle had just got gubbed 5-1 by Spurs, if we'd have got at them early in a similar fashion to how we started against Villa then we'd have been in a great position.

However with having such a lack of flair and pace available to him, he should have played RAN, who would have at least got us further up the pitch, although i can defend that to an extent as Marcal has been decent against Villa, but as soon as Podence got injured RAN should have come in. Or Semedo, with Jonny switching over, but again that's hindsight as moving Jonny would have appeared mad after his previous two games.

I don't think Lage had a game plan of us being so bloody passive, but the players he put out there were always going to be with so little pace and flair, BUT there was only really Semedo (is he 100%?) and RAN that may have given us that flair.

I've really liked what i've seen so far from Chiquinho, i really like his desire and character, i know others don't feel similarly, but i'd much sooner see him in the side than Hwang or Trincao, and was surprised to see Campbell coming on ahead of him last night.

However one thing that none of us know is how they are performing in training, what their attitudes are like, how Ramadan effects Saiss and RAN, we just don't know. I would have started both Saiss and RAN last night, but would they both be fit enough?

 

[Tony Towner]

Well, it was the board that gave Lage little choice but having to?

It's not as binary as it's all the boards or Bruno's fault.
To summarise Del's good post earlier, it's the boards fault that we had the squad we did last night, but it's Bruno who utilised it the way he did.

There is a team you could have put out that didn't wave the white flag from kick off, there were changes to be made from the bench that could have addressed the issues which were clear and obvious from the first minute. There was a mentality that could have taken the game to the opposition who shipped 5, 5 days earlier. All that is on him

 

[Tony Towner]

Yeah if he said that about Shelvey that's laughable, Newcastle had just got gubbed 5-1 by Spurs, if we'd have got at them early in a similar fashion to how we started against Villa then we'd have been in a great position.

However with having such a lack of flair and pace available to him, he should have played RAN, who would have at least got us further up the pitch, although i can defend that to an extent as Marcal has been decent against Villa, but as soon as Podence got injured RAN should have come in. Or Semedo, with Jonny switching over, but again that's hindsight as moving Jonny would have appeared mad after his previous two games.

I don't think Lage had a game plan of us being so bloody passive, but the players he put out there were always going to be with so little pace and flair, BUT there was only really Semedo (is he 100%?) and RAN that may have given us that flair.

I've really liked what i've seen so far from Chiquinho, i really like his desire and character, i know others don't feel similarly, but i'd much sooner see him in the side than Hwang or Trincao, and was surprised to see Campbell coming on ahead of him last night.

However one thing that none of us know is how they are performing in training, what their attitudes are like, how Ramadan effects Saiss and RAN, we just don't know. I would have started both Saiss and RAN last night, but would they both be fit enough?

Everyone is different, but Benzema scored a hat trick on Wednesday night after only eating 15 mins before kick off. Saiss gave an interview explaining how he's conditioned himself for Ramadan a couple of years ago. Given the way he talks here including breaking the fast if he deems it necessary I'd say that it's unlikely to be a factor in his case

Saiss on balancing Ramadan and football

Romain Saiss has explained how religion has impacted his life not only as a footballer on the pitch but also as a person off it, as he celebrates Eid fo...

www.wolves.co.uk

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

It's not as binary as it's all the boards or Bruno's fault.
To summarise Del's good post earlier, it's the boards fault that we had the squad we did last night, but it's Bruno who utilised it the way he did.

There is a team you could have put out that didn't wave the white flag from kick off, there were changes to be made from the bench that could have addressed the issues which were clear and obvious from the first minute. There was a mentality that could have taken the game to the opposition who shipped 5, 5 days earlier. All that is on him

Yeah i'm not saying it is binary, but I think it's more on the board, they've had years to buy us another midfielder and simply haven't, so performances like last night are a symptom of that.

Also mentally it must be very difficult for the players who have spent a week preparing for a game that included Donk and Podence to suddenly not have either player in the side, that does not excuse how sloppy our passing was though, even Kilman who is usually so good on the ball gave it away plenty of times, inclduing in the build up to their offside goal. That's not the managers fault is it?

As i said above we don't know the fitness of those who were available, no one complained about playing Trincao after how he performed v Villa and Leeds, so there is a huge amount of hindsight there, similarly with Hwang, there had been nowhere near this amount of criticism prior to last night, and there weren't many obvious options beyond that. Many don't like Chiquinho, no one knows what Campbell is like at this level, so whilst he should have removed Trincao and/or Hwang far sooner, starting them both was far from a crazy decision that "waved the white flag"

As i've said i'd have played RAN and looked at Saiss too, but who knows how fit they are, even with the benefit of articles such as you've posted above.

 

[PuntsWolf]

I personally don’t think if we’d have been anymore successful if we’d played 5-3-2. Hwang would have been just as shit, Fabio just as isolated and the team just as deep and safe reverting to hoofs up the pitch with the same level of success. We were in a 5-4-1 out of possession anyway for all of that first half.

We’ve conceded a goal from a pen 10 seconds after having the ball up the other end and we were looking the better team. I don’t think we’d have been any more creative.

The issue was the mindset, which he could have changed before a ball was kicked and took until half time to do it. He didn’t trust the options he had on the bench, but Chiquinho and Campbell couldn’t have been any worse.

 

[Tony Towner]

Yeah i'm not saying it is binary, but I think it's more on the board, they've had years to buy us another midfielder and simply haven't, so performances like last night are a symptom of that.

Also mentally it must be very difficult for the players who have spent a week preparing for a game that included Donk and Podence to suddenly not have either player in the side, that does not excuse how sloppy our passing was though, even Kilman who is usually so good on the ball gave it away plenty of times, inclduing in the build up to their offside goal. That's not the managers fault is it?

As i said above we don't know the fitness of those who were available, no one complained about playing Trincao after how he performed v Villa and Leeds, so there is a huge amount of hindsight there, similarly with Hwang, there had been nowhere near this amount of criticism prior to last night, and there weren't many obvious options beyond that. Many don't like Chiquinho, no one knows what Campbell is like at this level, so whilst he should have removed Trincao and/or Hwang far sooner, starting them both was far from a crazy decision that "waved the white flag"

As i've said i'd have played RAN and looked at Saiss too, but who knows how fit they are, even with the benefit of articles such as you've posted above.

I think you are overplaying the Podence and Dendoncker missing impact on mentality stuff. Neither even travelled to Newcastle, so it's not like they pulled out a hour or so before the game. His Shelvey comments would suggest we would have played the same way, sitting back, even if they both started As for hindsight, I said when the team came out on here I'd have played Saiss instead of Trincao. Obviously it doesn't mean it would be any better. I also can't have he can only play 2 in midfield because he's only got 2 midfielders. What happens if Moutinho does a hammy, do we only play one in there, because we don't have anyone left?

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

I think you are overplaying the Podence and Dendoncker missing impact on mentality stuff. Neither even travelled to Newcastle, so it's not like they pulled out a hour or so before the game. His Shelvey comments would suggest we would have played the same way, sitting back, even if they both started As for hindsight, I said when the team came out on here I'd have played Saiss instead of Trincao. Obviously it doesn't mean it would be any better. I also can't have he can only play 2 in midfield because he's only got 2 midfielders. What happens if Moutinho does a hammy, do we only play one in there, because we don't have anyone left?

I thought Donk and Podence was much nearer to kick off/on the day, so you make a fair point there.

The Shelvey comments are ridiculous, I agree. Would you have dropped Trincao? Fair enough. Would have been a brave decision by Lage given his recent form though.

What does happen if Moutinho does his hammy? It's a very interesting question, is it Saiss and Cundle? Fucking hell! And that's a question that goes back to the board and how they have fucked Lage, January was a disaster, and much like Raul getting injured and not having adequate back up ruined last season, it feels like Neves getting injured and not having adequate back up has ruined what could have been a superb season this.

 

[SSB]

Meh.... feel sorry for the fans who went that far on a Friday for that dross..

Still up here about to leave after an expensive couple of days. Usually a great night out, but the football ruined it.

 

[redvictor]

Still up here about to leave after an expensive couple of days. Usually a great night out, but the football ruined it.

Feel for you fella...

 

[AndyWolves]

Cundle playing 2/3 games this season isn't a massive issue in my book

Not hooking / changing two clearly ineffectual players is an issue. We had options who could not have done worse.

 

[redvictor]

I personally don’t think if we’d have been anymore successful if we’d played 5-3-2. Hwang would have been just as shit, Fabio just as isolated and the team just as deep and safe reverting to hoofs up the pitch with the same level of success. We were in a 5-4-1 out of possession anyway for all of that first half.

We’ve conceded a goal from a pen 10 seconds after having the ball up the other end and we were looking the better team. I don’t think we’d have been any more creative.

The issue was the mindset, which he could have changed before a ball was kicked and took until half time to do it. He didn’t trust the options he had on the bench, but Chiquinho and Campbell couldn’t have been any worse.

I really like Chiquinho. I wish he would give him more than 10 mins. He couldn't be any worse than Trincao! Hwang is being played out of position. He's not a winger.
If Man U lose today it's still not over. There will be plenty of twists and turns till the end of the season. I think they are the team which will drop points regularly.
It's up to us not to keep fucking ourselves over every time we get a sniff of the top 6.

 

[redvictor]

As i said, it's still not over. Nice to see Man U are equally as shit as us sometimes. I think it will go to the last game.