Wolves 2-2 Everton: Verdict Thread

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Let's go...

 

[Premier Quality]

We looked very nervy first 20, but then settled so hopefully that’s out of the way. We had very little from the wing backs, and Diogo was poor - and Helder was bloody awful. Bonantini was poor too, but vinagre and MGW looked lively when they come on, much more offensive. Neves was awesome, really fantastic, and Jiminez impressed me too, took his goal well and his al round play was excellent.

Hoping we improve from here.

 

[Siggy]

Everything PQ said except AI though Bonatini did well when he came on. I also thought we were much better balanced with Vinny on the left.

 

[Tredman]

Way too harsh criticism of Jota, ran his socks of and created most of our best chances.

Good to see Bennett play so well, doc was a bit shit. Like to see Jonny on the rightt and Vini on the left next game.

 

[The Bion]

Not sure how to feel about that one honestly. At the moment I'm disappointed but its as much in the performance as the result - we could easily have lost that if Everton could string another pass or two together in the 2nd half. Costa and Jota both having off games really hurt us as we basically had little to no penetration down the flanks - Cav would've been a great option to have at that point. Or Traore, obviously. Boly was also very poor by his own standards. Rui did what he had to, Jonny was fine, Moutinho tidy and Raul took his goal well (albeit thought he should've done better with the 1-on-1). Bennett & Coady ok but both had a couple of awkward moments (having said that, Bennett broke out some terrific passes 2nd half). Neves will take the headlines of course but even he was below par, played some poor passes and gave it away more than once. Bennett probably MotM.

Hopefully it's just nerves and they have it out of their system now as we won't be playing 10 every week.

 

[Del Woppio]

Jota and Costa were absolutely bollocks today, don't anybody say we don't need Adama after that showing. Joao was really disappointing. Against ten men, low pressure pressing, players in front of him, time on the ball... It was set up for him to penetrate and he played safe other than a few obvious balls to wing backs. I think we were generally very slow on the ball - in this league people won't get dragged around by passing at the pace we did today. Everton kept excellent shape, we never really looked like creating much, we only really had one other chance.

Thought the wing backs did well tbh, the were an outlet for the big switch, and mostly controlled, laid off to Costa/jota and moved well, but the forwards let them down today. Yeah they both put some shit crosses in but they were better on the ball than the two ahead of them today.

 

[east-coast-wolves]

First half, the passing was off. Everything was a bit forced. Improved as time went on.
Think Jota, Boly and Costa (and Neves on occasion, though he was good overall) wanted a bit too much time on the ball. You won't get that anymore.
First goal Boly should do better, second goal Neves let Richarlison run off him, good finish though. Both were too soft.

Gibbs-White looked very dangerous in his cameo, and Jiminez was excellent I thought.
Not perfect but a good start and we can build on it.

 

[big mean bunny]

You can see that Jota and Neves perhaps a half second slower with decisions that was needed, compared to say Moutiniho. Plenty to work on but plenty of promise too, really liked Jonny, positioning wise he looks very astute and looks a good combo with Vinagre who I personally thought was a great impact sub, which you don't often say about a defender.

 

[jlo]

As said on the other thread, can't be too downhearted by that. Yes Everton were there for taking in the second half, but this team will only get better. The foundations are there. Some shaky moments and we really seem to be lacking good crossing from the wing, otherwise promising games for Raul, Jota, Neves, Moutinho, even Vinagre and Bonatini looked good as sub options. Costa is too hot and cold but he'll have good games this season. Doc gets in the right positions, but lacks end product. Need to see more of Jonny but he had more threat than Doc.

Can't be getting the criticism for Jota - and I have been critical of him in the past. Bennett was solid, but I can't see him keeping Dondoncker out the team for long.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

It was a game of different spells. Everton were on top until Jagielka was sent off, and then we closed out the half well.

I thought we looked a little bit hung-over from the summer, lots of wayward passes going out of play in the 1st half.

2nd half we improved but we still don't look sharp. Jota took an extra touch on everything, Costa tried his best but looked off the boil. Moutinho and Neves were absolutely class, two Rolls Royce players in midfield. Ruben's goal was Beckham-esque.

I thought Boly looked dodgy at times, not helped by Rui's wayward passes and Jonny and Doherty were awful, especially Doherty. He is a creative abyss. 5-6 good moves broke down due to either his poor touch or his inability to cross even a simple ball into the centre. He will be found out this season.

Raul looked very good, was in the wrong positions a lot in the 1st half but adjusted in the second and really improved as the game went on and I was delighted he got his goal. Bennett was solid all game.

Overall it was more than decent, we looked very good at times, but we still have lots to work on, in defence and attack. Still though, it's a good point to start the season with.

Atmosphere sounded incredible on tv.

 

[Dolph06]

For me, the defence was shocking. Even against ten men we got carved open with ease three times, Everton had the same rustiness as us and I would say this is more the reason they didn't capitalise on their chances. Why Tosun didn't fee Walcott the ball when he was through I'll never know, and the one towrds the end where their player over-hit the cross when it was 2-on-1, stupidity. Hard to see that as a signal for the remainder of the season as it's the first game but it was quite apparent that the level of opposition is a lot higher than The Championship. We'll be OK, I don't believe we'll finish below 12th but even with Everton's experience and ability we should not be playing for that long against ten men and the opposition look like the more likely to score.

I also thought Everton looked really good so we could have been playing a potential top 6 team there which makes the result a little more palatable (I would have taken 2-2 before kick-off but not under the circumstances of the game) given our relatively poor performance. Richarlison was very dangerous. If it had stayed 11v11 I think that scoreline might have been a little more different in Everton's favour.

 

[jlo]

Fair points on defence. Rui wasn't helped by the very deep positioning. As harsh as it would be on Bennett, Dondoncker coming in and Vinagre starting left and Jonny right next game might be what's needed. Long term I might even think Saiss could play the Coady role too, but there's no doubt strengthening here will take place in January.

 

[jlo]

Spare a thought for Machin getting drenched in the corner, although I'd rather have been there just for the atmosphere than watching from home!

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Negatives
If we defend like that we won't be taking many points off teams in this league.
Boly had his worst game in a wolves shirt. I am glad he has it out of the way
Coady looked a bit exposed at times
Midfield a bit lightweight

Postives

Bennett showed enough to say he could be competent even as back up at this level
Raul look a steal. Well taken goal
Neves up and running.

So could the shape be tweaked a bit to 352 with Dendonker coming into midfield.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

For me, the defence was shocking. Even against ten men we got carved open with ease three times, Everton had the same rustiness as us and I would say this is more the reason they didn't capitalise on their chances. Why Tosun didn't fee Walcott the ball when he was through I'll never know, and the one towrds the end where their player over-hit the cross when it was 2-on-1, stupidity. Hard to see that as a signal for the remainder of the season as it's the first game but it was quite apparent that the level of opposition is a lot higher than The Championship. We'll be OK, I don't believe we'll finish below 12th but even with Everton's experience and ability we should not be playing for that long against ten men and the opposition look like the more likely to score.

I also thought Everton looked really good so we could have been playing a potential top 6 team there which makes the result a little more palatable (I would have taken 2-2 before kick-off but not under the circumstances of the game) given our relatively poor performance. Richarlison was very dangerous. If it had stayed 11v11 I think that scoreline might have been a little more different in Everton's favour.

Yes, defensively we looked naive. Coady backed off on a few occasions, 1 of which resulted in their second goal. He just needed to stick a leg out to close down the angle for Richarlison. Hopefully Nuno will go through this with him on the video and Conor will learn.

 

[YoungWolf]

Surprised by some of the negativity to be honest. That wasn’t an amazing performance but we were fine, even at one nil down in my opinion.

We needed to get the ball to our wingers in the inside channel more for me. Needs a bit more time for Raul to click with them but there were some good moments.

Second goal is very poor one to concede though. Slack from Doc, Bennett too tight and Coady too deep and far away. Nuno will be annoyed by that one. Will need to work on defending the counter attack more as they were able to break away too easily with ten men but I think that was more individual mistakes than a problem of our system.

Two very good subs in Vinagre and Leo from Nuno. Would have put Jonny on the right but then it was his first competitive game in England. Leo offered a lot more depth to our attack even if it did imbalance us slightly. But it allowed Jimenez to peel away and that’s how he scored his goal in fact. Morgan did well when he came on too!

The quality of our goals was a huge bonus too. We will have no troubles in this league. Especially once we have more options, like Traore and Cav. And Dendoncker at the back or to play in midfield.

Really like Jonny, Joao is a classy football and Raul is going to be a fans favourite. Very good forward and will never let the defence rest. Don’t think Costa and certainly not Jota were terrible like some are saying. Both caused problems but never quite had the conviction with what they did with the ball.

 

[Jinky]

Steve McManaman absolutely slaughtered us on BT Sport when they went down to 10 and we continued in the same shape and were moving the ball around with no urgency. He couldn’t get his head around why we were still playing three at the back up against one striker - and leaving Raul isolated. There’s no doubt that we looked much more threatening when we had Leo up there supporting him.

I think Nuno & the boys will have learnt a MASSIVE amount today. We can’t be too disappointed with a point against Everton. They’re the best side in this division outside of the top 6, in my opinion. Pleasing that we kept going to get a point.

 

[The Bear]

McManaman needs to hang his head in shame. He's clearly never watched us before as that's how we've set up for the last 12 months. Utterly negative and clearly biased commentary. Which was confirmed when he was caught on mic just after the final whistle saying "Don't like Wolves".

Scouse prick.

 

[Tredman]

Surprised by some of the negativity to be honest. That wasn’t an amazing performance but we were fine, even at one nil down in my opinion.

We needed to get the ball to our wingers in the inside channel more for me. Needs a bit more time for Raul to click with them but there were some good moments.

Second goal is very poor one to concede though. Slack from Doc, Bennett too tight and Coady too deep and far away. Nuno will be annoyed by that one. Will need to work on defending the counter attack more as they were able to break away too easily with ten men but I think that was more individual mistakes than a problem of our system.

Two very good subs in Vinagre and Leo from Nuno. Would have put Jonny on the right but then it was his first competitive game in England. Leo offered a lot more depth to our attack even if it did imbalance us slightly. But it allowed Jimenez to peel away and that’s how he scored his goal in fact. Morgan did well when he came on too!

The quality of our goals was a huge bonus too. We will have no troubles in this league. Especially once we have more options, like Traore and Cav. And Dendoncker at the back or to play in midfield.

Really like Jonny, Joao is a classy football and Raul is going to be a fans favourite. Very good forward and will never let the defence rest. Don’t think Costa and certainly not Jota were terrible like some are saying. Both caused problems but never quite had the conviction with what they did with the ball.

Excellent post.

 

[Alan]

Very interested to watch the match when I get home but at first blush I have to say that not taking three points after being a man up for so long HAS to be a disappointment.