Wolves 1 - 2 Liverpool Verdict Thread

[playtheace]

Yep, thought our corners were excellent last night. Clearly some work had gone into them

Yes, definitely worked on those short corners and also our first free kick was mixed up too.

 

[The Bion]

I'd say set pieces in general. Neto had some quality deliveries.

 

[Charlie Wolf]

I think everyone was desperate for Traore to take it past van Dijk in the second half. I got the impression he was knackered at that point and the early shot was a sign of tiredness.

From my view in the NB, it looked like VVD did not move across towards Traore, suggesting he didn’t want to be directly culpable if they conceded, playing the percentage game of either Allison saving or Traore miss hitting or blazing the ball wide or over. Unfortunately it was the latter, two or three more strides and he would have been in the box with possibly a better chance and even being brought down for a pen if anybody had caught him. Agree it was a tired effort

 

[White Wolf]

Traore was very good and his development over the course of the season is unreal. But Neto was seriously good as well, he is progressing fast now. Could have a real player on our hands soon. Not bad for a favour to Mendes eh?

 

[BGreenWolf]

Yeah- Traore's pulling all the headlines, but Neto's growth over a very short space of time is incredibly impressive. That space on the team is his to lose now.

 

[Jinky]

I'd say set pieces in general. Neto had some quality deliveries.

The one he whipped in low across the box in the first half was a great ball and no one gambled on it. I thought Raul would have been all over a cross like that but it seemed to catch every one out!

 

[Parkins left foot]

I'm not going to pick faults with that performance because I thought we were superb. I've not seen Liverpool look that uncomfortable or rattled for a long time. They know they were very fortunate to come away with 3 points. We were the better side.

We were a joy to watch at times and to boss possession like we did in the 2nd half was brilliant. Was that REALLY Wolves? Controlling the game against the European champions and arguably the best team on the planet right now?

Weird to say that I enjoyed it even though we have no points to show for it but all I ever want to see from Wolves is a good, positive, committed performance and we certainly saw that.

Biggest downside? The excellent Pedro Neto is less than half my age. Ridiculous.

this.

All of it

Every word

he is a third of my age almost!

Back home & still happy about having lost to the best team in the league by a long way given the performance the team put in - Boly & a fully fit Jota would maybe have been just enough to have put us over the line in the second half as we had them backpedalling at times & for a defence marshalled by the superb Van Dijk that is something. Salah was superb, his immediate control of the ball makes as look as if he has velcro on his boots to hold the ball that close.

Everyone of our players came out of that with credit & Nuno out thought Klopp.

As for Neto (who is only just over a quarter of my age & potentially younger than my grandkids if I had any) he is improving game by game & has the potential to be really superb. One run in the second half took him past 2 & a pass was on to Raul (I think) - tried to beat a third & got crowded out but at 19 thats just an experience issue.

Diogo's late chance was difficult to take cleanly - a fully match fit Jota might have got it but he had only been on for 20 mins having been out for a few games & unsurprisingly he looked just a little bit rusty - am sure that the touch will come back the more he gets on the pitch.

 

[Pablowolf]

The one he whipped in low across the box in the first half was a great ball and no one gambled on it. I thought Raul would have been all over a cross like that but it seemed to catch every one out!

A few of us wondered if he actually meant to do that.

 

[Walnut]

The header from Doc was, I thought harder to miss than score. The look on his face said it all. He's not been at his best for a few games now.

 

[Trips]

The header from Doc was, I thought harder to miss than score. The look on his face said it all. He's not been at his best for a few games now.

A lot of the season I'd suggest, and definitely the last 6 weeks or so. We absolutely need to be looking at upgrading there in the summer.

 

[Parkins left foot]

The header from Doc was, I thought harder to miss than score. The look on his face said it all. He's not been at his best for a few games now.

Alisson is a decent keeper so might have saved it anyway, but to not get it on target from there was criminal

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

Not waning to lever crazy criticism, but doc has lost his mojo in the lat few weeks. i hope the holidays changes that because down the right with Adama he has been stunning.
he will come back, just...when?

 

[lemonjelly]

for a neutral, that must've been phenomenal. 2 excellent teams, high quality football, bits of end to end stuff, and some amazing skills.

2 liverpool fans have been to see me at work today. Both think the toughest 2 games they've had this season have been against us. Napoli are the only other team that threatened them.

And we did! For parts of that 2nd half liverpool were desperate not to concede, knowing if they did, they'd lose.

Neto's best game for us, and showing a lot of aspects to his game, not a one trick pony. Raul was superb. Neves was fucking immense last night - did so much work! All the back 3 were superb, some of doncks passes were fantastic. Jonny was involved in a lot, but was very good defensively. And some of the skills adama showed last night were awesome!

robertson could have gone with that shirt pull on him in the 2nd half, he was already on a yellow.

We deserved better in both games v liverpool this season. Genuine contenders for top 4. The team knew we were capable of winning. The fans knew as well.

 

[Norman Deeley]

If you'd been told last night was the first leg of a Champions League quarter final you'd have had no trouble believing it.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I really think top four is on, but we simply have to keep the same level as last night in every match left to have a chance. No let up.

If we do that next weekend we can destroy United at Old Trafford. Which would be amusing.

The fact that we were at absolute 100% and Liverpool still somehow found a way to get the win says a huge amount about them under Klopp. Sure, they may not be as pretty as Manchester City, but they are brilliantly efficient and clinical, and they will be worthy champions.

 

[lemonjelly]

That was a fantastic game of football from start to finish, we were brilliant and just a Jota pass and a bit of luck away from 3 points tonight. Gutted to not get anything but we’ve got a nice break now, hopefully Podence signs and we go again at Old Trafford.

Adama was brilliant apart from a couple of terrible moments in our half. Neves absolutely ran the game at times, he was superb. Tbf they were all great.

I never knew steve bruce posted on here! :icon_wink:

 

[lemonjelly]

Difficult to be too critical after a performance like that, but I have seen some comments floating around regards Coady. Love the bloke - proper leader on and off the pitch. The improvement he has made over the last few years has been nothing short of sensational. But almost certainly a position that we need to look at improving in the summer if we want to make the step up to the next level.

Some of the criticism I have seen from last nights match on him is a bit harsh (not on here, btw). People saying he "ducked" for their first goal and was easily side stepped for the second etc. My concern with Coads is that he is playing a role that is almost custom made for his skillset - but he isn't the quickest player in the world and more often than not, comes out on the losing side when isolated 1 v 1. Couple of times last night Liverpool got through by targeting him and he was bailed out by Rui. He doesn't win a great deal in the air either.

As I say, love the bloke and he certainly has a part to play, but if Fosun/Nuno are as ruthless as we are led to believe, I can see him and Doc being two of the first positions they'll look to improve in the summer.

As for Adama, he is well and truly out there now - everyone is talking about him. I don't think it will be too long before a big club come sniffing around (Klopp has singled him out in both games this season, for example). I think we are sometimes too quick to assume our lads will be off as soon as a big offer comes in - I've seen people thinking Neves will bugger off in this very window if a big club came in with a bid, for example! - but Adama will realise that his step up and his beginning to realise some of his potential is down to Nuno and the background staff. Why would he jeopardise that by moving elsewhere? I reckon the squad is as close-knit as they get and they're all invested in the project of what is being built here.

I don't think any of our big name players will move on in the summer, especially if we secure European football again. The one who I would be most worried about being tempted by a move to a proper big club would be Raul, given his age etc.

On coady, I think you're missing how positionally he ensures he's in the right place so much. Also, you're missing the passing. Of course we're always looking to improve, but I'd suspect Kilman could be the long term replacement. Coady is pretty integral.

Agree we'll likely see competition for Doc in the summer.

Adama might not make the mistake afobe made. He probably knows he's hitting peak form at the mo, but will want to develop further. He's unlikely to be jumping ship now. International football for him first. get that in by excelling here with regular first team football, then maybe consider a move.

Raul was back up at Benfica. He moved because he wanted to play. He's now playing. At his age, he's going to want to continue playing. Given that, I doubt he'd go this summer too.

Nuno & his staff are the ones to hold onto. If we can keep them for 2 years, we get to the potential to be building a legacy, which could result in tom harks post on another thread becoming reality.

 

[Pompey Wolf]

If you'd been told last night was the first leg of a Champions League quarter final you'd have had no trouble believing it.

Said exactly this to my dad last night. Seriously high level game, particularly the second half.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

It was. An honour to be there as a Wolves fan. Obviously the Liverpool fans in attendance will have seen a lot more of those level of match-ups than we have!

But...

We mustn't kid ourselves that we are there yet. We are clearly a team on an upward trajectory, but there is a huge amount more work and improvement to get to where it is a contest of equals CONSISTENTLY with the Liverpool red machine. Or indeed Manchester City, despite us getting 6 lovely points off them this season.

 

[Carrotdude]

The next step at the moment is winning the ‘easier’ games more consistently, turning those draws into wins. Main problem is going behind every week tbh!