Wolves 1-0 Aston Villa: Verdict Thread

[Freddeno]

Appreciate the thought but think you’re overestimating my influence.

haha

 

[Kenny]

Erm.

I know we all want to forget the Brighton game, but....

Missed the word "home"

So I have Jinky'd my post

 

[AndyWolves]

Not that I'm petty but our last two games have really chucked a spanner into villas European aspirations

 

[Wolvensam]

We also won with JLo in a tracksuit today - the curse is broken!

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Guessing it's home games

It should say that then

 

[HanDoJin]

Honestly, given where we were when he arrived and that we’ve had Costa, Hwang and Podence as our goal ‘threat’…Lopetegui (despite clear faults) has worked miracles.

 

[Wolvensam]

His main fault is the three at the back nonsense which needs to stop - it invites needless pressure with 10 minutes to go. He has worked out his best team now though at least and adapted very quickly to the Premier League, to his credit.

 

[jd1981]

Can’t emphasise how ecstatic I am that we’re staying in the PL and have done it comfortably in the end.
Remember just before the resumption asking what % everyone gave us of staying not many gave us above 50%.
Good transfer window followed by creating a siege mentality the more you look at it the Dawson signing looks really astute business.

 

[Kenny]

The late 3 at the back has worked...Everton away being the best example. Obviously it has failed as well but that's fine...now.



Going forward hopefully a good window and more of his own players we will see us being able to see out games without formation changes to often.

 

[Freddeno]

His main fault is the three at the back nonsense which needs to stop - it invites needless pressure with 10 minutes to go. He has worked out his best team now though at least and adapted very quickly to the Premier League, to his credit.

Totally agree with you there, just invites pressure..only issue with subs and some team selections but Im sure he knows the players best with fitness levels and such regarding the starting XI

 

[HanDoJin]

Would be keen to see an Emery v Lopetegui points comparison since they both started their jobs this season. Can’t be arsed actually looking it up myself though

 

[Wolvensam]

Emery has won 12 of 19 matches. Lopetegui has won 9 of 19 (albeit I did look very quickly).

Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui to BBC Match of the Day: "I hope [we are safe]. Of course this victory is about the merit of the players. We arrived here five months ago with 10 points after 16 matches at the bottom, four points from the team above.

"We were in a very bad situation with bad belief and low morale. The players have worked very hard and we have suffered. In the last game against Brighton, it was tough for us but they showed quality again. We have played against the best team in the second half of the season and we deserved to win. We are happy for the players.

"I have won the Europa League and played with Sevilla in the Champions League but, for me, this is the most important achievement. I want to highlight the club, the staff, the owners, the players and the fans. Without our fans all of this was impossible. They had a big disappointment in the last match against Brighton and today they showed their best."

On the recovery from the Brighton defeat: "We tried to be honest with the players to tell them they are not this team. Maybe they can have a bad day but they are not this team. In football, you can win or lose but the most important thing is to say we put it all in the pitch. This is my only demand and they did it today.

 

[The Bion]

Assuming we beat Everton we'll finish with at minimum 1.5 ppg under Lop this season - pretty much on par with Nuno's best

-edit- apparently Bueno was tactical according to JL. Maybe take him out of the firing line after last week

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Ground it out. The first 20 minutes was exactly what we needed - pressing all over, forcing mistakes and a high tempo, everything that last week's debacle wasn't. It was a fairly even game that they shaded on clear chances; Watkins should have buried his header first half (assuming there wasn't an offside in the build-up) and Mings had to score off the free kick at the back with 20 to go. But tough. Not our problem if you pass up good opportunities.

Again at 1-0 at home I'm comfortable these days - take the Leeds aberration out and we've only conceded 2 in the league at Molineux under Lopetegui.

There were no realistic fears beforehand but they're totally banished now. Let's look to next season.

Sa: Jekyll Sa today. One brilliant save from Buendia and he dealt with them trying to box him in off set pieces well enough. Didn't piss around with the ball either. He's too inconsistent long term, if he was like that all the time then we wouldn't have a problem. But well done today.

Semedo: No attacking output to speak of but was fine defensively bar a couple of slack passes out.

Dawson: Classic Dawson performance, headers and blocks wherever we needed them. Even had time for some top drawer keeping the ball in the corner near the end. Exactly the signing we needed, I was sceptical but delighted to be wrong on this one.

Kilman: Much like Sa you don't get this often enough. Where he was diffident and lethargic last week he was strong and definitive today.

Toti: Love a header in off the bar. Especially with a towering leap. Really was a superb goal. Did well on the ball too, just a good squad member, glad we've got him.

Nunes: A couple of trademark parks level passes first half but did well enough, mostly on the defensive side. Needed that after his Hunt vs Watford effort at Brighton.

Neves: Comparatively quiet on the ball but did all his defensive work well and you could see at the end what this meant to him. I don't want this to be a goodbye, it probably will be, but it's days like today I'll remember just as much as the spectacular goals.

Lemina: Stood up to a good Villa midfield and mops up danger so many times. He can actually shoot from range, I wish he'd try sometimes. Minor quibble though.

Neto: Working his way back. He's not the Neto of old yet but then he's hardly played for two years. We're as well playing him now because he's an asset who we need to deliver next season.

Cunha: A couple of splendid runs with the ball in the first half. Still indecisive in front of goal and you do wonder where the numbers to back up the fee will come from. But he did well enough.

Costa: Tries. Tries really hard. But he's not up to it, sorry. Should have buried his chance at the start of the second half but I never have any faith in him scoring those chances. We can't go along with a striker who never looks like scoring. Give him a good send off vs Everton, he deserves that but let's move on please.

We've got away with the Lage fiasco, I'm now eager to see how and where we build on the platform we have.

 

[Jinky]

Lemina & Dawson in particular shows we should put a lid on the OTT stuff when it comes to signings that don’t look particularly ‘exciting’ on paper. Every squad in the PL needs players like them and they’ve had a massive influence on why we’ve stayed up. Delighted with them both and would be more than happy to see more signings of that ilk in the summer.

Toti was brilliant today, but I’ll have to give MOTM to Lemina who was everywhere.

Credit to Sa after his ‘performance’ last weekend. Made a fantastic save from the Buendia shot & the Watkins header.

I thought we did very well to go in at the break with Atwell giving them absolutely everything, but he swung it back in our direction a bit in the second half. He really is a car crash referee.

Anyway, top result. Delighted for Lop and you could see how much it meant to him at the end.

 

[YoungWolf]

 

[ROVERT47]

1-0 wins are hard going when you get to my age.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

A note for Villa's fanatical support who made the level of noise I'd expect off Fulham/Bournemouth/Watford.

 

[Alan]

On Cunha, I really like him as a footballer and it’s clear that he’s rushing things (presumably because he’s not put up any hard numbers since arriving), but if I’m his mate I’m ripping him mercilessly for the rest of his life.

How are you gonna let John “World’s Widest Footballer” McGinn catch you on a breakaway, dude??

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Ground it out. The first 20 minutes was exactly what we needed - pressing all over, forcing mistakes and a high tempo, everything that last week's debacle wasn't. It was a fairly even game that they shaded on clear chances; Watkins should have buried his header first half (assuming there wasn't an offside in the build-up) and Mings had to score off the free kick at the back with 20 to go. But tough. Not our problem if you pass up good opportunities.

Again at 1-0 at home I'm comfortable these days - take the Leeds aberration out and we've only conceded 2 in the league at Molineux under Lopetegui.

There were no realistic fears beforehand but they're totally banished now. Let's look to next season.

Sa: Jekyll Sa today. One brilliant save from Buendia and he dealt with them trying to box him in off set pieces well enough. Didn't piss around with the ball either. He's too inconsistent long term, if he was like that all the time then we wouldn't have a problem. But well done today.

Semedo: No attacking output to speak of but was fine defensively bar a couple of slack passes out.

Dawson: Classic Dawson performance, headers and blocks wherever we needed them. Even had time for some top drawer keeping the ball in the corner near the end. Exactly the signing we needed, I was sceptical but delighted to be wrong on this one.

Kilman: Much like Sa you don't get this often enough. Where he was diffident and lethargic last week he was strong and definitive today.

Toti: Love a header in off the bar. Especially with a towering leap. Really was a superb goal. Did well on the ball too, just a good squad member, glad we've got him.

Nunes: A couple of trademark parks level passes first half but did well enough, mostly on the defensive side. Needed that after his Hunt vs Watford effort at Brighton.

Neves: Comparatively quiet on the ball but did all his defensive work well and you could see at the end what this meant to him. I don't want this to be a goodbye, it probably will be, but it's days like today I'll remember just as much as the spectacular goals.

Lemina: Stood up to a good Villa midfield and mops up danger so many times. He can actually shoot from range, I wish he'd try sometimes. Minor quibble though.

Neto: Working his way back. He's not the Neto of old yet but then he's hardly played for two years. We're as well playing him now because he's an asset who we need to deliver next season.

Cunha: A couple of splendid runs with the ball in the first half. Still indecisive in front of goal and you do wonder where the numbers to back up the fee will come from. But he did well enough.

Costa: Tries. Tries really hard. But he's not up to it, sorry. Should have buried his chance at the start of the second half but I never have any faith in him scoring those chances. We can't go along with a striker who never looks like scoring. Give him a good send off vs Everton, he deserves that but let's move on please.

We've got away with the Lage fiasco, I'm now eager to see how and where we build on the platform we have.

Excellent summary.