The Hand of Willy verdict thread

[Tredman]

Moutinho is brilliant. And I love Traore, bollocks to anyone who says otherwise

 

[Jabbawolf]

Moutinho is brilliant. And I love Traore, bollocks to anyone who says otherwise

He looked a bit lost defensively, so think those who think he could be a RWB will probably now realise that won’t be happening anytime soon - however, going forward he was like poo off a shovel, and put in good crosses - he will be a handful to even the best defences.

 

[BillyDee]

I love Traore, bollocks to anyone who says otherwise

Even Manchester City, Champions of England, European Elites doubled up on him...

 

[White Wolf]

Surprised our possession was that low, thought we had more of the ball than that. The statistic tells none of the story though and anyone who says that we held City to a draw would be totally wrong, we matched them throughout the match and a point was a very fair result. Saw far more attacking intent from us than most teams did at home to City last season - even Man United parked the bus at home to them last year.

Patricio: Really, really good save against Sterling. Saw the replay and looks like it is going right in the top corner so an impressive save. Made some other solid stops but that was the only time he was properly threatened, which is testament to our defence. Very one-footed and his distribution wasn't particularly good this game when going long, most goal kicks we gave the ball straight away with 75% of them going towards Doherty but Jiminez was not winning any of them 2nd half either.

Jonny: He got a lot of praise in the Everton game but I he left no real impression on me, good or bad. This time I was very impressed, looks a very solid defender and not too bad going forwards either. Linked well with Jota at times but Diogo having a poor game meant not much of their interplay came to anything. Nowhere near as fast as Walker which made attacking with pace down the left difficult but he looked aware that he was not beating Walker in a race and made a good pass towards Jiminez on the break though unfortunately it came to nothing.

Boly: I can't say much about City's goal but ignoring that he was immense. Made two brilliant tackles against Aguero to stop him when he looked certain to score and was generally a rock at the back. Looked like a good low header when I saw it but seems to have come off his arm and been offside as well! Lucky break I guess.

Coady: Pretty good. There was one time in the first half hour where I thought he was too slow at closing down which could have given away an opportunity but otherwise seemed solid. Strong in the air. Thought he won the ball for his yellow card.
Bennett: Sterling made a few runs on him which he had no idea about, one time when Sterling beat him he made a really good challenge to run away from him and through on goal similar to when he stopped Richarlison.

Doherty: He's the weak link and Man City were aware of this as the focus of their attacks was down the right, but they didn't tear him apart like I thought they would. Costa helped cover a bit better than normal so Doherty wasn't properly exposed which made it easier - when he was one on one against Mendy he did struggle. Made two foul throws which is an unforgivable sin, idiot.

Moutinho: Really good, had the better game of the two midfielders. Solid defender and can tackle well and his passing is only slightly below the standard of Neves. Feels like a proper upgrade on Saiss, and it's nice to have another creative player in the middle when Neves is not at his best. Really good cross for the goal.

Neves: First 20 minutes he was playing at a very high standard, all over the place and spraying passes about. Turned Kompany with ease to win a foul. Tackled well and got a few good blocks in. After that though he faded, passing was not as accurate and he kept giving away silly fouls. Tackling is still his weakest area, sometimes he just doesn't need to commit.

Jota: Wasn't very good. Wasted one chance where he wanted too many touches and perhaps should have scored, was unlucky late on with a volley from a Traore cross. Like Neves he kept making stupid fouls, was behaving very petulantly at times. Didn't think he looked all that threatening going forwards.

Jiminez: Very good first half, but was poorer after half-time. Couldn't win much in the air and struggled to bring anyone else into the game, everything he tried didn't work.

Costa: Much better than vs. Everton, seemed a lot more threatening and beat Mendy a number of times. His defending wasn't too bad this time either which prevented City running rampant down our right.

Traore: There was one time very soon after coming on where he mishit a very simple pass about three yards in front of him to a City player which made he laugh but otherwise he was threatening. As expected his is good running forwards and beating his man and the two crosses he put in were in dangerous areas. For this type of scenario - playing against a team which is pushing forwards for a goal late on in the game I can see why he would be useful and he was.

Vinagre: On for about 5 minutes so hard to say anything about him. He's fast.

They weren't any City players which stood out to him, which is thanks to us defending very well.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Anyone heard from that Huddersfield gimp?

 

[Alan]

Costa had two very good moments but overall was still quite poor, I thought. His first touch is bad more often than not and like Jota he seems content to run into two defenders and lose possession. Better than the first two games, I suppose, but still too poor for this level, IMO.

If getting yanked at half time last week was meant to be a kick in the ass for them, I don't think it really worked.

 

[Tom Hark]

Don't want to get carried away by today, but I think we're improving game on game and certainly looked fully entitled to be sharing a pitch with the best side in the world. (3-0 v. Arsenal, was it?) Plenty still to come from us and I can see us doing really well against the teams who'll be around us, and who'll hopefully end up below us, in the league.

Anyone heard from that Huddersfield gimp?

Licking wounds instead of windows, I expect.

 

[YoungWolf]

Costa had two very good moments but overall was still quite poor, I thought. His first touch is bad more often than not and like Jota he seems content to run into two defenders and lose possession. Better than the first two games, I suppose, but still too poor for this level, IMO.

If getting yanked at half time last week was meant to be a kick in the ass for them, I don't think it really worked.

Alan I couldn’t disagree more. Costa gave Mendy a very tough time and as usual worked hard

Can’t agree with people saying Jota had a poor game. He does need to stop giving it away in his own half but don’t forget the guy is 21. Guardiola clearly was worried about him on the break to the point they had to adapt their tactics in the first half because of Diogo.

 

[The Bear]

Costa had two very good moments but overall was still quite poor, I thought. His first touch is bad more often than not and like Jota he seems content to run into two defenders and lose possession. Better than the first two games, I suppose, but still too poor for this level, IMO.

If getting yanked at half time last week was meant to be a kick in the ass for them, I don't think it really worked.

He was our best outfield player today IMO just ahead of Moutinho. He got forward well and defended well too.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Alan I couldn’t disagree more. Costa gave Mendy a very tough time and as usual worked hard

Can’t agree with people saying Jota had a poor game. He does need to stop giving it away in his own half but don’t forget the guy is 21. Guardiola clearly was worried about him on the break to the point they had to adapt their tactics in the first half because of Diogo.

I thought Jota did well except for niggly fouls around the box which we must cut out. Costa was better at times than the last two games. Traore however gives something completely random. And if that's the standard of his end product I am fine with it. Two dangerous crosses.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Anyone heard from that Huddersfield gimp?

Yep we exchanged a pm pre game. Very quiet at the moment. I don't have the heart to rub it in.

 

[Alan]

He was our best outfield player today IMO just ahead of Moutinho. He got forward well and defended well too.

I can get disagreeing, but best outfield player? That's, uh, really hard for me to understand.

Too many attacks went to him and then died. Not as many as Jota, but still too many for me accept, personally.

 

[Jinky]

Was disappointed to see the criticism of Costa in the match day thread and am dumbfounded that it’s still going on in here. Costa was excellent today. Look at the opposition he was up against for crying out loud. Every one of them deserves a massive pat on the back this evening.

There were, of course, a few things we could have done better - but to have given a team of that quality a proper match says it all.

 

[east-coast-wolves]

Missed it today sadly but am very excited for motd. Sounds like we were excellent all round.

Set pieces becoming a weakness again? Got to wonder if the way Nuno likes to set up for them is a bit suspect as we should be well drilled in them by now. Haven't seen it so no idea what it was like.

Either way, bloody hell what a result that is.

 

[Norman Deeley]

Just to put that result into perspective for people who want to be critical, Man City are currently favourites for for the Champions League. That's ahead of Real Madrid, Barca, PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich. I thought we were bloody excellent.

 

[Deano]

Costa and Jota were both loads better. Their best games of the 3 so far.

 

[Dire Wolf]

Just to put that result into perspective for people who want to be critical, Man City are currently favourites for for the Champions League. That's ahead of Real Madrid, Barca, PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich. I thought we were bloody excellent.

Exactly. I don't know what some people are expecting.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Was disappointed to see the criticism of Costa in the match day thread and am dumbfounded that it’s still going on in here. Costa was excellent today. Look at the opposition he was up against for crying out loud. Every one of them deserves a massive pat on the back this evening.

There were, of course, a few things we could have done better - but to have given a team of that quality a proper match says it all.

Anyone who didn't take heart from seeing a Wolves team play like that against that sort of quality needs their lumps felt.

 

[Tredman]

Just to put that result into perspective for people who want to be critical, Man City are currently favourites for for the Champions League. That's ahead of Real Madrid, Barca, PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich. I thought we were bloody excellent.

[emoji106]

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Not long back in. That was a superb game of football.

Shit. We just went toe to toe with the best team in the country, and probably the continent. And we didn't park the bus, we went for it and played our way. And we thoroughly deserved a point. Both sides did. It was excellent entertainment.

And boy it was loud in there as well.

So much positivity to take from that today. We look the real deal in this division.