Wolves 0-1 Liverpool: Verdict Thread

[Leigh Griffiths' Hairline]

Was a heroic defensive performance. RAN absolutely dominated Salah eho didnt get a sniff. Kilman and Coady both excellent too.

Adama had his best game in ages, and really was our only outlet. I don't understand why he was taken off tbh - he didnt seem that tired and was our only real counter attacking threat. Trincao was an odd player to bring on at that point in the game, would have preferred Podence.

Typical that RAN goes off injured and Hoever completely goes missing vs Salah at the first attempt.

The squad look fucked and urgently needs more bodies. There is no way were are getting through this Xmas period without some injuries to key players. I hope RAN isn't out for too long - I can't bear to have to watch Marcal at LWB again...

 

[Johnny75]

Thought Lage got it wrong today.

Fabinho had acres of space every time Liverpool win the ball and drifted wherever he wanted and at no point did Lage change to stop this.

His subs are far too late. Adama and Hwang should've been hooked at 65mins with Moutinho (who made a difference immediately) and Trincao (if Pod isn't fit don't put him on the bench) coming on.

Traore was fairly decent with the ball but a passenger off it, has the awareness of a lemming and Liverpool picked him off easily.

Kilman gets better every game, the covering he did for Semedo (who was pretty crap) was magnificent and his tackle on Mane brilliant.

RAN is a full back and a bloody good one. His personal battle with Salah was worth the ticket price, defensively masterful.

Hwang was awful in every aspect of his play, I really wouldn't be buying him at all.

A gutsy display and an obvious kick in the bollocks to lose it so late.

On Liverpool, they are one of the greatest teams I've ever seen. Their press isn't just a linear press towards the opposition goal but a 360 degree press which is why we ended up booting the ball aimlessly most of the time. And also why Adama looked so poor.

Their movement off the ball is a different level. They don't just move one or two players off the ball, it's 4 or 5 and often on different sides of the pitch. It's impressive to look at. We look like statues in comparison.

That's the difference between a world class manager/ coach and an average one.

 

[sycophantia]

Mostly agree with Johnny75, although I didn't think Hwang and Semedo were that bad, Semedo won quite a few of his battles and Hwang worked hard without creating anything, tbh most of our players were chasing shadows for much of the game.
Caveat, I wasn't at the game, I assume Johnny was and as has been mentioned earlier its hard to get actrue perspective from a 3" screen

 

[Jinky]

Thought Lage got it wrong today.

Fabinho had acres of space every time Liverpool win the ball and drifted wherever he wanted and at no point did Lage change to stop this.

His subs are far too late. Adama and Hwang should've been hooked at 65mins with Moutinho (who made a difference immediately) and Trincao (if Pod isn't fit don't put him on the bench) coming on.

Traore was fairly decent with the ball but a passenger off it, has the awareness of a lemming and Liverpool picked him off easily.

Kilman gets better every game, the covering he did for Semedo (who was pretty crap) was magnificent and his tackle on Mane brilliant.

RAN is a full back and a bloody good one. His personal battle with Salah was worth the ticket price, defensively masterful.

Hwang was awful in every aspect of his play, I really wouldn't be buying him at all.

A gutsy display and an obvious kick in the bollocks to lose it so late.

On Liverpool, they are one of the greatest teams I've ever seen. Their press isn't just a linear press towards the opposition goal but a 360 degree press which is why we ended up booting the ball aimlessly most of the time. And also why Adama looked so poor.

Their movement off the ball is a different level. They don't just move one or two players off the ball, it's 4 or 5 and often on different sides of the pitch. It's impressive to look at. We look like statues in comparison.

That's the difference between a world class manager/ coach and an average one.

Agree with 90% of this. I personally disagree with the suggestion that Adama should have been “hooked” on 65 mins as he was genuinely our only attacking outlet. I sort of get what you’re saying, though, in that if you’re gonna take Adama off, you do it earlier rather than in the 85th minute which is what he did and it allowed Liverpool to step up on us even further (eventually leading to a goal).

I like Lage. I think he’s been royally done over by Fosun (hi Jeff), but the one big criticism I have of him so far is his timing and the impact of his substitutions. Doesn’t help having such a weak bench lacking options, but even so, some of his changes have been odd. I certainly wouldn’t have brought Trincao on yesterday, for example.

 

[Johnny75]

Agree with 90% of this. I personally disagree with the suggestion that Adama should have been “hooked” on 65 mins as he was genuinely our only attacking outlet. I sort of get what you’re saying, though, in that if you’re gonna take Adama off, you do it earlier rather than in the 85th minute which is what he did and it allowed Liverpool to step up on us even further (eventually leading to a goal).

I like Lage. I think he’s been royally done over by Fosun (hi Jeff), but the one big criticism I have of him so far is his timing and the impact of his substitutions. Doesn’t help having such a weak bench lacking options, but even so, some of his changes have been odd. I certainly wouldn’t have brought Trincao on yesterday, for example.

Adama really wasn't our only attacking outlet. The amount of times he killed any chance of attacking was so frustrating.

And it was all down to his lack of movement off the ball, which admittedly, you can't see on the TV. But he is what he is nobody is ever going to change that.

As I mentioned it wasn't the fault of Adama we had no control, that's down to Bruno and the brilliant Liverpool.

I'm not sure why both Bruno and Nuno make such bad substitutions, I can only think it's a stats thing as subs that late rarely change the game.

Tactically I'm starting to think 3-4-3 with these players/ tactics needs a tweak as it's not working (not basing this on the Liverpool game, more a general thought).

 

[Mel Evo]

Agree with 90% of this. I personally disagree with the suggestion that Adama should have been “hooked” on 65 mins as he was genuinely our only attacking outlet. I sort of get what you’re saying, though, in that if you’re gonna take Adama off, you do it earlier rather than in the 85th minute which is what he did and it allowed Liverpool to step up on us even further (eventually leading to a goal).

I like Lage. I think he’s been royally done over by Fosun (hi Jeff), but the one big criticism I have of him so far is his timing and the impact of his substitutions. Doesn’t help having such a weak bench lacking options, but even so, some of his changes have been odd. I certainly wouldn’t have brought Trincao on yesterday, for example.

I know I’ve said it before, but that’s only once on here and my family are having to put up with it since I saw Trincao taking his tracksuit top off… Once you’ve gone 2 up top that’s a crazy decision. I rather like Trincao but not then, not there. I’m not sure what work is going on with our attacking training but, the better drilled we look at the back (and they were superb yesterday until, gahhh) the more indecisive and unplanned we’re looking up top. A(n absence of) coaching issue? Hwang looked better before he’d had time to do any meaningful training.

Maybe I’m not allowing enough for the fact that it was Liverpool.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Liverpool are just a machine. Brilliant side.

 

[big mean bunny]

Liverpool are just a machine. Brilliant side.

Yup, it's not just the players, they have a fantastic system and their recruitment has mostly been top notch. I get they have the odd blemish like Keita etc (although he has look okay at least finally this year).

Personally after years of being annoyed by them I actually find their success refreshing in the sense its about as deserved as any of the elite clubs who are able to spend 70million on a keeper or CB etc.

I think we need more balanced views on other teams and their fans and less "I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire" comments, but maybe I have just gone soft and am missing the point of the Internet...

 

[Templeton Peck]

They may have changed the strategy, however the fact that there are teams who can spend 100m each transfer window it takes absolutely spot on recruitment and a lot of luck to keep pace

I think it would help if we hadn't spent £36m on a kid who looks League 1 level and 12.5m on an unproven RB that we didn't need.

 

[Templeton Peck]

Hwang has dropped right off and if he isn't scoring he doesn't offer much at all. I'd send him back.

The window needs to enable Lage to go 4-2-3-1 IMO. Centre back top priority by a mile. Jonny, RAN, Kilman and a new CB would be good enough.

 

[Carsy]

I think it would help if we hadn't spent £36m on a kid who looks League 1 level and 12.5m on an unproven RB that we didn't need.

Ofcourse it would.

Would also help if our striker didn’t injured and isn’t currently the same player.

Such is life

 

[Carsy]

Agree with 90% of this. I personally disagree with the suggestion that Adama should have been “hooked” on 65 mins as he was genuinely our only attacking outlet. I sort of get what you’re saying, though, in that if you’re gonna take Adama off, you do it earlier rather than in the 85th minute which is what he did and it allowed Liverpool to step up on us even further (eventually leading to a goal).

I like Lage. I think he’s been royally done over by Fosun (hi Jeff), but the one big criticism I have of him so far is his timing and the impact of his substitutions. Doesn’t help having such a weak bench lacking options, but even so, some of his changes have been odd. I certainly wouldn’t have brought Trincao on yesterday, for example.

I agree regarding his subs, but I’d almost hold fire to see when he actually has a proper bench to see how he plays it then.

Let’s be honest, our bench currently is feeble so I’d be worried making changes as well

 

[Carsy]

Adama really wasn't our only attacking outlet. The amount of times he killed any chance of attacking was so frustrating.

And it was all down to his lack of movement off the ball, which admittedly, you can't see on the TV. But he is what he is nobody is ever going to change that.

As I mentioned it wasn't the fault of Adama we had no control, that's down to Bruno and the brilliant Liverpool.

I'm not sure why both Bruno and Nuno make such bad substitutions, I can only think it's a stats thing as subs that late rarely change the game.

Tactically I'm starting to think 3-4-3 with these players/ tactics needs a tweak as it's not working (not basing this on the Liverpool game, more a general thought).

Irrelevant of the Liverpool game (which is basically a free hit), my worry with the current incarnation of the 343 is our inability to score. 0-0 draws again Burnley and Norwich are really poor results. Those are the games we should be looking to win

 

[Wilf Wolf]

I agree regarding his subs, but I’d almost hold fire to see when he actually has a proper bench to see how he plays it then.

Let’s be honest, our bench currently is feeble so I’d be worried making changes as well

You can’t prevent an injury, you have a choice how to spend your money. Fabio, Hoever and Semedo all look well over-priced.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I know I’ve said it before, but that’s only once on here and my family are having to put up with it since I saw Trincao taking his tracksuit top off… Once you’ve gone 2 up top that’s a crazy decision. I rather like Trincao but not then, not there. I’m not sure what work is going on with our attacking training but, the better drilled we look at the back (and they were superb yesterday until, gahhh) the more indecisive and unplanned we’re looking up top. A(n absence of) coaching issue? Hwang looked better before he’d had time to do any meaningful training.

Maybe I’m not allowing enough for the fact that it was Liverpool.

I don't think it's just because it was Liverpool, we have failed to score in 3 consecutive games, including against 2 of the bottom 3. We are in the bottom 2 of goals scored this season. Our attacking play is a problem, no matter who we are up against. A big problem. Raul isn't getting in scoring positions enough, our inside forwards and wing backs contribute the square root of fuck all, and we look about as threatening as a 5 year old girl at her first ballet lesson.

Hwang looked good to begin with, but has regressed so badly that I really wouldn't bother keeping him once his loan is up and I certainly wouldn't waste any of our limited transfer budget on him. His ability to control the ball with his first touch is woeful, and apart from working hard to help out defensively, his contributions to the last few games has been non-existent. He's rubbish.

All that said, we are still in a decent position at the moment, and we look a solid, well organised outfit, that can be tidy on the ball at times. We just lack penetration and speed of passing and speed of movement. It's a problem that is a hold over from the past couple of seasons: our attacking build up play is slow, ponderous and predictable. I think that isn't just coaching, it's a problem with the quality of the players we have IMO.

 

[Johnny75]

You can’t prevent an injury, you have a choice how to spend your money. Fabio, Hoever and Semedo all look well over-priced.

Nearly £90m right there. Somebody should be fired for that. It’s embarrassing that only one of those players is good enough and even he’s playing a role he isn’t suited for.

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Nearly £90m right there. Somebody should be fired for that. It’s embarrassing that only one of those players is good enough and even he’s playing a role he isn’t suited for.

Nuno was!

 

[Wilf Wolf]

I don't think it's just because it was Liverpool, we have failed to score in 3 consecutive games, including against 2 of the bottom 3. We are in the bottom 2 of goals scored this season. Our attacking play is a problem, no matter who we are up against. A big problem. Raul isn't getting in scoring positions enough, our inside forwards and wing backs contribute the square root of fuck all, and we look about as threatening as a 5 year old girl at her first ballet lesson.

Hwang looked good to begin with, but has regressed so badly that I really wouldn't bother keeping him once his loan is up and I certainly wouldn't waste any of our limited transfer budget on him. His ability to control the ball with his first touch is woeful, and apart from working hard to help out defensively, his contributions to the last few games has been non-existent. He's rubbish.

All that said, we are still in a decent position at the moment, and we look a solid, well organised outfit, that can be tidy on the ball at times. We just lack penetration and speed of passing and speed of movement. It's a problem that is a hold over from the past couple of seasons: our attacking build up play is slow, ponderous and predictable. I think that isn't just coaching, it's a problem with the quality of the players we have IMO.

Agree completely about Hwang. If we’re going to retain our solid defensive base the changes to bring goals will have to come from the wide forwards. Burnley prioritised not giving Raul an inch as they knew there was little threat if they kept him quiet. Other teams will do exactly the same. Neto looks a good way off returning so other than an extra body in midfield I think we should be looking for someone to chip in with goals in January, be that another forward or an advanced midfielder. Won’t be popular with some but a player like Linguard could make a huge difference.

 

[Carsy]

You can’t prevent an injury, you have a choice how to spend your money. Fabio, Hoever and Semedo all look well over-priced.

No I know. I’m just playing devils advocate.

There isn’t a club I know who gets 100% of deals right though, is there.

We’ve had some exceptional business to get us to a certain level and then some shoddy ones.

Unfortunately for us the shoddy ones have all happened around the same period.

 

[Wilf Wolf]

No I know. I’m just playing devils advocate.

There isn’t a club I know who gets 100% of deals right though, is there.

We’ve had some exceptional business to get us to a certain level and then some shoddy ones.

Unfortunately for us the shoddy ones have all happened around the same period.

The shoddy ones have been two or our three biggest ever fees. The other one of those was Raul who had proved himself. To get two such big ones wrong is always going to leave you short.