WBA 1-1 Wolves: Verdict Thread

[Kenny]

What about Fabio rolling the Albion defender under Nunos eyes and he's clean through.

Yep, the lino waving his flag on that one and Dean just went with his call.

Same Lino who seemed to ignore the don't put your flag up until the phase of play has ended rule

 

[The Bion]

Yeah I think it's a little harsh on Semedo to say he can't defend. He's not exactly Lahm or (insert notable good defensive RB of your choice) but he's markedly improved even on 3 or 4 months ago.

Unfortunately for the goal he got caught without cover, he couldn't charge over without leaving a massive gap behind - the whole defence had to tack across which resulted in Saiss losing track of his man (that's not excusing him, btw)

Vitinha was excellent, RAN generally very good (though he did nearly flick out a leg in the area once or twice - he's learning, at least) and Otasowie had a poor start but kept going and showed some very neat touches on the ball with good composure. It's a fine line but good to see what happened against Man City hasn't dented his confidence too much.

Fabio earned his luck, I think. Produced some decent efforts and worked very hard. He has some growing up to do still, a couple times WBA were very high and Bartley (I think) shrugged him off as he was trying to run in behind. Once he can deal with that he'll get into a lot more promising positions.

I'm wondering if he might be capable of playing on the left next to Raul (assuming we keep Neto on the right). He seems to have a good reading of the game and awareness of what's around him - he and RAN (assuming he's the starter for the forseeable future) could develop a good understanding I think. Plus he should help give us another target and be a lot better at coming in at the far post, etc.

For what it's worth for me Podence is a WF or on the bench - he's far too sloppy with the ball and when we've played him centrally he ends up drifting wide anyway (there's a difference between that and Otasowie as I noted above btw - the latter was mostly underhitting passes, Podence just outright plays things blind a lot of the time - considering the difference in age, experience etc he really should be better)

MGW's an interesting one - he has definitely been putting himself about more in the time he's been getting. He might've realised (or been told) he has to muck in a bit more to get time. I'd like to see what he and Vitinha could do with the others playing together for more than 5-10 mins.

 

[Del Woppio]

Pleasing to see more intent, and hopefully it's the start to finding a way to play 4231, without looking insanely porous at the back. Shouldn't be that difficult in theory, but we are where we are.

On the game itself, was much better, and an entertaining game - they definitely created the better of the chances, but then we had Owen who took a while to feel his way into the game, and Adama who is a complete fucking moron flanking Fabio, who for all his incredible movement, is still pretty easy to defend against.

Tbh I think the big problem with 4 at the back, isn't the fact that it's 4 at the back - it's because of the pool we have to choose from. I don't think any of the defenders we have to choose from, save for Jonny and maybe RAN, would make a match day squad for the top 6. They all have their strengths, and weaknesses - but given that for all of them, you'd probably class 'decision making' and 'concentration' as a weakness, it's clear why it's been a problem, and we've got ourselves into a position where we only look relatively secure in a 7-0-3 formation.

I know we're not going to get three new first team defenders, and will probably only end up with one centre half and then spending months trying to figure out who his best partner is.

I'm completely done with Podence and Traore. Neither have ever done anything other than the odd 20 minute spell every few games, despite their many gifts. They're plain old not good enough in the head, regardless of their physical and technical talents.

I'm probably waffling into what should be a different thread now tbf, but if it was up to me I'd fuck Semedo off for £15mish, save a fuck tonne of money on somebody that's relatively solid and has a half decent delivery. I'd legit rather have some nothing player like Lowton if it released money and wages.

Fuck dumb and dumber off on the flanks, get a Trincao or hope to fuck we can unearth another jota from somewhere.

........................................................ Rui
Lowton til Jonny's fit..Huge Signing.....Boly.. RAN
....................Neves....... Mobile mid who can play
....... Neto........... Vitinha........ Trincao
..................... Raul

Gk
Dendonker
Hoever
Owen
MGW
Silva
Theo/new wide forward

 

[Wolvensam]

MGW's an interesting one - he has definitely been putting himself about more in the time he's been getting. He might've realised (or been told) he has to muck in a bit more to get time. I'd like to see what he and Vitinha could do with the others playing together for more than 5-10 mins.

I think this is, largely, Nuno's problem with younger players. See his comments re. Corbenau: needs to improve his defensive responsibilities etc. I think it's why Vitinha hasn't been in the side, why Traore wasn't when we first signed him and why we sometimes take so long to bed certain players in.

 

[Dinowolf]

Pleasing to see more intent, and hopefully it's the start to finding a way to play 4231, without looking insanely porous at the back. Shouldn't be that difficult in theory, but we are where we are.

On the game itself, was much better, and an entertaining game - they definitely created the better of the chances, but then we had Owen who took a while to feel his way into the game, and Adama who is a complete fucking moron flanking Fabio, who for all his incredible movement, is still pretty easy to defend against.

Tbh I think the big problem with 4 at the back, isn't the fact that it's 4 at the back - it's because of the pool we have to choose from. I don't think any of the defenders we have to choose from, save for Jonny and maybe RAN, would make a match day squad for the top 6. They all have their strengths, and weaknesses - but given that for all of them, you'd probably class 'decision making' and 'concentration' as a weakness, it's clear why it's been a problem, and we've got ourselves into a position where we only look relatively secure in a 7-0-3 formation.

I know we're not going to get three new first team defenders, and will probably only end up with one centre half and then spending months trying to figure out who his best partner is.

I'm completely done with Podence and Traore. Neither have ever done anything other than the odd 20 minute spell every few games, despite their many gifts. They're plain old not good enough in the head, regardless of their physical and technical talents.

I'm probably waffling into what should be a different thread now tbf, but if it was up to me I'd fuck Semedo off for £15mish, save a fuck tonne of money on somebody that's relatively solid and has a half decent delivery. I'd legit rather have some nothing player like Lowton if it released money and wages.

Fuck dumb and dumber off on the flanks, get a Trincao or hope to fuck we can unearth another jota from somewhere.

........................................................ Rui
Lowton til Jonny's fit..Huge Signing.....Boly.. RAN
....................Neves....... Mobile mid who can play
....... Neto........... Vitinha........ Trincao
..................... Raul

Gk
Dendonker
Hoever
Owen
MGW
Silva
Theo/new wide forward

Thank fuck it's not up to you

 

[YoungWolf]

Apart from weird Lowton bit it’s pretty similar to what the rest of us have been saying tbf

 

[Jinky]

Just finished watching it ‘live’.

How bloody good is Vitinha?! That was a fantastic performance from him. So positive with the ball and so classy in possession. A complete breath of fresh air. Absolutely no idea why Nuno took him off - to me, that handed some of the initiative back to Albion. Starts every game for the remainder of the season, regardless of who else is fit, please.

Otasowie put in a promising performance - as did Fabio. Those two & Vitinha gave us exactly what I was hoping for - a bit of energy and some positivity going forward. Well done to them all.

Coady played well tonight, as did Rui bailing us out a couple of times. Semedo played well, but that goal is on him and Saiss. We all know we don’t have the players right now for 4 at the back, but I’d rather we played like that and created chances going forward (and letting the odd sloppy goal in) than the boring, predictable 3 at the back stuff that we’ve had for much of this season.

Adama had me shouting at the tv. How can a professional footballer not see clear & obvious passes to teammates in better positions? Felt for RAN who made so many good runs off the ball but Adama just kept hold of it.

All in all, a much better performance (though can’t say I was hugely impressed with Nuno’s substitutions). Shame we couldn’t grab a winner or hold out at 1-0, but I don’t see Albion surviving from here.

Vitinha MOTM (obvs).

 

[Del Woppio]

Apart from weird Lowton bit it’s pretty similar to what the rest of us have been saying tbf

and I only pulled that name out because I couldn't think of one and I got told off by Jonny last time I suggested signing in a position without putting a name on it.

For the avoidance of doubt, I don't want us to sign Matty Lowton - but if we can claw back some transfer money and save ourselves £50k/w in wages, I'd happily swap him for somebody less talented but more solid, if it allows us to get more out of the 2 and the 3 in front of the 4.

 

[sycophantia]

I've generally been a fan of Traore (he's never going to be consistently good) but he's really starting to piss me off when he receives the ball with one defender to beat then stops, puts his foot on the ball and waits for 2 or 3 to surround him before giving the ball away.
Probably Silva's best all round performance I think, put himself about, held the ball up, laid it off and deserved his bit of luck....nowhere near the finished article but quite a bit of improvement imo.
I'd like to see MGW given more game time even if it means shoehorning him out wide....can't be worse than Podence.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

First and foremost I enjoyed it as a game of football, which I haven't been able to say about too many Premier League games lately let alone Wolves games. Just freshening up the team made a big difference for us, and while you'd never want to start next season with that XI, there was more energy there and we certainly linked our attacking play better.

A lucky stroke for Fabio on the goal but a) the move deserved something in itself and b) he's earned that, think of the ones where a keeper has pulled off a worldie or he's hit the woodwork. Could well still end up our top scorer...and he makes such a difference just by making runs, pressing the opposition and looking to attack the ball, none of which José ever bothers with. That should be the last we ever see of the latter, barring injuries.

A disappointing goal to give away - aren't they all - but you could feel it coming. Fuming with both the lino for stopping a clear run in on goal for Fabio for a non-foul and then Showbiz Mike stopping us taking that free kick. Such nonsense, nothing wrong with either.

We absolutely need to work on stopping crosses as we aren't great at defending them when Boly (get well soon big fella) is on the pitch, never mind when he isn't. Adama is still more negative than positive as he has been most of the season and Podence is getting absolutely nothing right at the minute, I'd be interested to see his pass completion stats since he came back from injury, must be rock bottom.

RAN over the last few weeks and Vitinha just tonight might well have inked themselves a permanent deal if they hadn't already.

Given last week and where we are in the league, the performance was more important than the result there. We learned more from a 1-1 playing like that than if we'd had our patented 1-0 win where we hardly ever attack but nick a goal, then hang on. Obviously I want us to win every game, not least against that lot, but we had to show an appetite to change things up a bit and try something different. We did and quite a lot of it came off.

 

[GLASGOWOLF]

Really impressed with the performance.

Traore and Podence really dont make tge right choices.

Vitinha, RAN and Silva were fucking excellent.
Otasowie, did some real good stuff, unfortunately his passing in the first 15 let him down.
MGW was really good when he came on.
Our back 4 was solid today.

We had a 10 minute spell in the second half when they were on top and grabbed a goal.

We dominated the rest of the game.

I am sure the 4 points will be of aome consolation for them in the Championship next season.

The future looks rosy with the youngsters

 

[Tony Towner]

This is going to be something that winds me up forever

https://twitter.com/x/status/1389292772390223876

It's a 3 on 1, but 2 of the 3 were Traore and Podence. The chances of scoring were low

 

[Wolvensam]

Just read Nuno's postmatch. Sounds a lot like some of the team changes today were off the back of that Burnley performance. Attitude is referenced quite a lot.

 

[Dinowolf]

Apart from weird Lowton bit it’s pretty similar to what the rest of us have been saying tbf

Really? "if it was up to me I'd fuck Semedo off for £15mish"

Well, don't include me because I think that's rubbish

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

Dominated the first half, and so we should because Albion were a very poor side. Second half too open.

Not overly impressed by OO, and spent most of the game thinking Maitland-Niles would have been so much better for us. Willing to cut OO some slack as it was his first game in quite some time and he is just a youngster, but didn't see anything today to suggest he is good enough. US commentators said something about Nuno having previously been critical of OO for decision making/lapses of concentration/something along those lines.

I don't understand why people hate Semedo so much. What he cost us is now irrelevant and he is better than anyone else we could realistically get.

Having Pod on the pitch at the same time as Adama is probably too much of a luxury for a mid-table side, but the club knew what we were getting when we signed him. He is not a teenager with potential, but a finished product who lacks consistency. He has CL experience (and tortured Spurs iirc), but there is a reason we were able to buy him - bigger clubs did not want him. I don't think it would necessarily be a bad decision to keep both Pod and Adama, but if they both have an off day we are going to struggle to create enough.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Not sure on the Maitland-Niles assessment, he looked exactly what he is, a bang average player who can sort of fill a hole in a few positions but will never excel at any of them. We already have Leander Dendoncker to do that. His ceiling is probably where he is now, he won't improve much more, he's been playing first team football since 2015. He didn't do anything impressive at all tonight.

I didn't want him last summer and I don't want him now.

 

[From Distant Shores]

Not a fan of 4 at the back, but if we must play it then that’s how. Vitinha was excellent and defending from the front.

Their goal totally on Saiss. Donk was poor as per.

I feel that Otasawie was as much at fault for the goal as Saiss. He stood and watched their fullback stroll down into the empty space.

 

[Tredman]

Dominated the first half, and so we should because Albion were a very poor side. Second half too open.

Not overly impressed by OO, and spent most of the game thinking Maitland-Niles would have been so much better for us. Willing to cut OO some slack as it was his first game in quite some time and he is just a youngster, but didn't see anything today to suggest he is good enough. US commentators said something about Nuno having previously been critical of OO for decision making/lapses of concentration/something along those lines.

I don't understand why people hate Semedo so much. What he cost us is now irrelevant and he is better than anyone else we could realistically get.

Having Pod on the pitch at the same time as Adama is probably too much of a luxury for a mid-table side, but the club knew what we were getting when we signed him. He is not a teenager with potential, but a finished product who lacks consistency. He has CL experience (and tortured Spurs iirc), but there is a reason we were able to buy him - bigger clubs did not want him. I don't think it would necessarily be a bad decision to keep both Pod and Adama, but if they both have an off day we are going to struggle to create enough.

OO is 20 and started his second game ever. Saying he was equivalent to a player in his 4 or 5th season is not a negative.

He’s clearly got all the physical attributes to be some player - there are very few players around able to win and run the ball with his athleticism, if he can progress (and that’s a big if) he has a huge ceiling.

 

[Paul]

OO is 20 and started his second game ever. Saying he was equivalent to a player in his 4 or 5th season is not a negative.

He’s clearly got all the physical attributes to be some player - there are very few players around able to win and run the ball with his athleticism, if he can progress (and that’s a big if) he has a huge ceiling.

As I'd said before, OK now for cameos, but give him a another year of development and he'll be something special, I think

 

[Tony Towner]

OO looked what he is a central midfielder asked to do a job wider than he's used to. Another who on occasion made bad choices positionally or with poor passes, but unlike Traore and Podence has the benefit of inexperience as an excuse. I can see the high ceiling, but I can also see a low floor - if he makes similar mistakes more centrally then it'll be costly. I think there's a wide range of possibilities as to where his career goes. I wouldn't be surprised if in a years time he's ahead of Donck and first choice for that role, neither would I be if he's failed to play in anything other than cup matches and is Grasshoppers bound