Wolves 0 Watford 2; The back down to earth with a bump, Verdict Thread

[Paddingtonwolf]

I think you are being INCREDIBLY harsh on Jiminez there Cyber. We had a crap day yesterday, no doubt, but I think you have to give a lot of credit to Watford. They set up to emasculate our wing backs. It totally worked. They flooded midfield and negated Neves and Moutinho. It worked. Excellent tactically by Gracia.

And that's why we didn't look like getting back into things after a mad minute.

My concern is that other teams might see it as the blueprint to dealing with us. Nuno has to work on that. I am sure he will all week, and we go again against Brighton.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Only caught the latter stages commentary online plus MoTD, but impressions were that Watford negated our forward momentum by flooding into midfield, helped enormously by us not being at the races in the first half. Second half we improved, but Watford didn't need to do anything other than be solid by then.

Nuno has intimated that a bit of complacency had occurred with no changes to the starting line up. He won't be happy, but that wasn't the only reason we failed. There is a case for a bit of a change though - Cav is the obvious in for me & could be for any of the front 3 (though probably Jota is the most vulnerable). Would also like to see what Vinagre & Dendoncker can bring to the table to change things a bit.

The Int break is a pain - Jiminez looked a bit off after what would have been a draining trip to the America's & Jonny not fully on his game after an emotional first full cap.

Don't see it as a long term problem - just needs Nuno to go and have a little think as to the next steps

 

[Freddeno]

I think we need to wake up some players that you feel are too sure to start every game..start Traore and Cavaleiro instead of Jota and Costa for example just to get a reaction..defence is fine though

 

[Johnny75]

I wouldn't even start Traore in a game of FIFA.

Far better as an impact sub.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Traore was red raw awful when he came on, as bad as he was vs Southampton but without the one good bit of play that helped get us a goal. He is nowhere near ready to start games.

Jota was alright, not sure why he's getting flak again. Jimenez wouldn't have started if we had someone better than Leo to be the stand-in, he was clearly bushed. It's an area we'll fix in either the next window or in the summer. However to slag off Raul is just weird, that's the first game he's had all season where he's not been in the range between good and excellent.

We don't score enough to go 2-0 down in that kind of fashion and come back. Especially not when Moutinho's having his worst game by a mile for us and Neves is also off the pace.

No need to panic although I do think Cav will start at Brighton. Vinagre did himself no harm either.

 

[Kenny]

Vinagre did himself no harm either.

Also wins the award for the best foul not given by a shit ref

 

[Tredman]

Traore was red raw awful when he came on, as bad as he was vs Southampton but without the one good bit of play that helped get us a goal. He is nowhere near ready to start games.

.

Do we have to go through this every game? Yes he didn't look great, but for him to look great you have to give him the ball when he doesn't have 3 players round him.

You could be equally say cav looked red raw awful.

I get that Traore, his behaviour and way of playing get up some people's nose, but we shouldn't single him out every game, especially when there were players as worse or worse in the game.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Wouldn't slag Raul off - just don't think he was ready to start this one. Agree that Leo is not the answer, but Cavaleiro is capable of playing there & would have brought something else for their defence to think about. We will, I suspect, look to bolster that position in Jan if there is a sensible deal to be done.

Jota was OK, but seems to be taking an extra touch over what he did last season - you will get even less time in this league.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

When he doesn't stand stock still on the halfway line waiting for someone to give him the ball, run straight into opponents or have a first touch that goes five yards away from him, I won't call him out.

Cav was alright when he came on, he had magical things like "movement" and "technique" to add to the mix. Should have at least hit the target with his header though. Don't know where Adama was at the time, probably looking confused 50 yards away.

Question: Based on his sub appearances vs Man Utd (wasted a glorious chance with a ridiculous shot), Southampton (awful bar one run), Palace (about five minutes, gave it away every time) and Watford (did practically nothing right), would you start him at Brighton? I wouldn't.

I wasn't singling him about, I was responding directly to someone saying he should start.

 

[Tredman]

Wasn't it Traore who got the ball over to Vini who crossed it over to Cav?

Personally I thought Cav wasted his chance, no idea why he thought coming across to the right was helpful.

Traore can't ghost in to space, but then neither should we expect him to - that's not his game.

Edit - Traore is way better with his passing and crossing than I thought he was (he played a really good cross field pass at one point), the problem is he can't do it when he is running at his speed, but neither could anyone i guess.

Edit edit - don't think he should start either, but at some point we need to address our lack of chances created and he is still our best attacking threat, regardless of his other difficiencies.

 

[Keef]

Couple of questions,is there anybody in the reserves scoring goals at the minute that's worth giving a go?
And anyone we think might be on the way out in January from the first team,because they're not good enough?
I'm not looking to start arguments on here,just curious from people in the know who attend regularly

 

[Freddeno]

Yes, I think Traore should start a game now..not easy to come on late in every game and try to make all the difference..football is a squad game and I think he should start if not just to rest players that has played every game and not delivered as we thought and not feel he has to change the whole game in 10-20 mins..same with Cav

 

[Freddeno]

I really like Jimenez with his overall game and think he has been very good but wouldnt mind we buy a poacher in the squad too in january

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

We don't want a penalty box poacher, if we did we'd have kept Afobe and seen how he got on. Any striker we sign has to be able to link play, Nuno is very specific about this. Take it up with him if you disagree.

You can't pick Traore "just because", he isn't a good enough player to start in this team. Not right now anyway, I'm dubious whether he ever will be.

 

[Freddeno]

Every team need goalscorers..guess you cant have both

 

[Tredman]

We don't want a penalty box poacher, if we did we'd have kept Afobe and seen how he got on. Any striker we sign has to be able to link play, Nuno is very specific about this. Take it up with him if you disagree.

You can't pick Traore "just because", he isn't a good enough player to start in this team. Not right now anyway, I'm dubious whether he ever will be.

Apart from the last sentence that's spot on.

Only way i see Traore starting is if we start Cav on the other wing and expect him to tackle back more (he's better at this than Costa and Jota imo) - than you can let Traore be the luxury free player.

 

[Premier Quality]

The problem is, Costa keeps shape and is neat and tidy - but hasn’t scored this year, and created very little despite playing the majority of minutes.

Traore doesn’t keep shape and isn’t neat and tidy, but has scored and created quite a bit despite playing a minority of minutes...

Personally, I’d drop costa for Cav, but Traore deserves a chance to start at some point, to see whether he can continue to have such an end product all game, or whether he disrupts the shape so much that he’s a negative impact at the moment.

I’d hope Dendonker is nearly ready soon too.

 

[Tredman]

Tbf Costa scored in the cup and created the goal against utd

 

[Parkins left foot]

Not seen enough from Traore to think that he deserves a starting spot - against tiring defenders he 'can' be lethal, but not shown the thinking power to outwit people early on when they are fresh (that could well be due to the fact that he has not been used till late on though).

Would feel that we need to use Cav more - he is a more physical presence than either Jota & Costa and has shown that he is capable of finding the net. Would not be a downgrade to include him ahead of any of those two.

 

[Freddeno]

Football is not always about thinking and tactics..sometimes is just about pace and scoring..complex sport..if you have one of the fastest players in the world starting the other team have to react to that and probably change their gameplan too