wolves 2 Chelsea 5 verdict

[prawnking]

If we don't have quantity then we need quality.

Out of those 5 options you mention for 3 places, one is a kid and currently a sub at best in the PL (IMO), one is 33 and one (possibly two if we're following Nuno's 'profile' logic) is also defensive cover.

It's not a lot to cover the competitions we have, especially when one of our first-choices needs a rest, goes out of form, is suspended or picks up a knock. Anyone fancy having to play Kilman, Vallejo, Jordao, Neto or even Vinagre and MGW in the PL for a decent chunk of games? I don't.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

If we don't have quantity then we need quality.

Out of those 5 options you mention for 3 places, one is a kid and currently a sub at best in the PL (IMO), one is 33 and one (possibly two if we're following Nuno's 'profile' logic) is also defensive cover.

It's not a lot to cover the competitions we have, especially when one of our first-choices needs a rest, goes out of form, is suspended or picks up a knock. Anyone fancy having to play Kilman, Vallejo, Jordao, Neto or even Vinagre and MGW in the PL for a decent chunk of games? I don't.

What is the priority or the objectives for this season? Genuine question. Given our summer recruitment and the fact that we have an extra competition it may need a bit more realistic perspective. I didnt think would would do as well as last season and said so as soon as last season ended. That may have changed if we had signed several really top players a la city and chelsea in their prime but thats not our option at the moment.

Dont get relegated- win the league cup- go as far as you can in europe

I would take that and I will never get bent out of shape losing to a big six. We just arent up there with them yet despite the hype. Give it time. Big six points are generally bonus points. Go and take some points off Palace and Watford and progress in the league cup and Europa please.

The league is something we cannot win so its all about position and prize money and staying in this league , which we should do with relative comfort when we get going.

For me dont get relegated, win a cup , qualify for Europe and build.

 

[slink]

What is the priority or the objectives for this season? Genuine question. Given our summer recruitment and the fact that we have an extra competition it may need a bit more realistic perspective. I didnt think would would do as well as last season and said so as soon as last season ended. That may have changed if we had signed several really top players a la city and chelsea in their prime but thats not our option at the moment.

Dont get relegated- win the league cup- go as far as you can in europe

I would take that and I will never get bent out of shape losing to a big six. We just arent up there withy them yet despite the hype. Give it time. Big six points are generally bonus points. Go and take some points off Palce and Watford and progress in the league cup and Europa please.

The league is something we cannot win so its all about position and prize money and staying in this league , which we should do with relative comfort when we get going.

For me dont get relagated, win a cup , qualify for europe and build.

I seriously think a lot of fans have got this all wrong. I don't get the stay up, do well in Europe and maybe do well in a cup. That is a massive step backwards if you ask me and gives us nothing next year. You can't put your eggs in the cup baskets imo but you can put them in the league and just look at the state of it so far, the Premier League is a complete mess and all of the positions below the top 2 are there to play for. We haven't won after 5 games and we're only 5 points off 3rd so it's still all to play for and it's this we should be concentrating on right now. There isn't a big 6 right now, there's a big 2 and then the other 4 that are coming back to the pack, it's a serious chance for someone this season to close that gap and i just hope we haven't fucked that up already but i think we may have. Biggest disappointment for me is that had we played any where near how we performed in the 2nd half of last season in the 5 games this year we would be right up there but we just haven't, we can but we just aren't performing anywhere near those levels.

 

[prawnking]

What is the priority or the objectives for this season? Genuine question. Given our summer recruitment and the fact that we have an extra competition it may need a bit more realistic perspective. I didnt think would would do as well as last season and said so as soon as last season ended. That may have changed if we had signed several really top players a la city and chelsea in their prime but thats not our option at the moment.

Dont get relegated- win the league cup- go as far as you can in europe

I would take that and I will never get bent out of shape losing to a big six. We just arent up there with them yet despite the hype. Give it time. Big six points are generally bonus points. Go and take some points off Palace and Watford and progress in the league cup and Europa please.

The league is something we cannot win so its all about position and prize money and staying in this league , which we should do with relative comfort when we get going.

For me dont get relegated, win a cup , qualify for Europe and build.

I'm pretty much with you on those objectives.

Speaking for myself, one of my objectives was to get to the EL group stage; I wanted us playing every week in Europe and not getting knocked out in qualifying. Anything more than that in Europe will be a huge bonus for me.

As for the league, I'm not unrealistic; mid-table would be perfectly fine, although I'd love a top 10 to show last year wasn't a freak. I wouldn't be anywhere near as nervous or critical as I am if we hadn't made such a poor start. Even after only 5 games I don't want us flirting with the bottom 3 for long; it's mentally draining for a small squad with so many commitments

 

[prawnking]

I seriously think a lot of fans have got this all wrong. I don't get the stay up, do well in Europe and maybe do well in a cup. That is a massive step backwards if you ask me and gives us nothing next year. You can't put your eggs in the cup baskets imo but you can put them in the league and just look at the state of it so far, the Premier League is a complete mess and all of the positions below the top 2 are there to play for.

Unfortunately, based on our recruitment in the summer we're not going for the same or higher position in the league. That would have required considerable investment on a small squad that had just come up, and the club chose a different way. Would have been exciting in a way if they had, but I'm not bitter that they didn't. I just think they could have struck a happy medium, and I'm not sure they've done that

 

[Alan]

What is top ten supposed to show? Realistically, the difference in quality between us in 7th and Watford in the "bottom half" last season was barely measurable.

Obviously we should aim as high as possible but being 9th doesn't magically make us leagues better than the team in 11th.

 

[prawnking]

Not saying it does haha I wasn't coming up with a watertight manifesto, just that finishing top half would make us more established in my mind than finishing 17th, whatever the points involved

 

[Johnny75]

Unfortunately, based on our recruitment in the summer we're not going for the same or higher position in the league. That would have required considerable investment on a small squad that had just come up, and the club chose a different way. Would have been exciting in a way if they had, but I'm not bitter that they didn't. I just think they could have struck a happy medium, and I'm not sure they've done that

So a team that finished 7th with a team full of players who should be getting better have no chance of finishing 7th?

That's some odd logic right there.

I have no time for our recruitment dept. at the best of times but this situation isn't their fault. This defence is far better than they are playing right now.

 

[slink]

So a team that finished 7th with a team full of players who should be getting better have no chance of finishing 7th?

That's some odd logic right there.

I have no time for our recruitment dept. at the best of times but this situation isn't their fault. This defence is far better than they are playing right now.

Agree with this. We finished 7th last season and deservedly so, we didn't add the real top quality i thought we would defensively and in midfield but this side is still that same side and possible better as players like Neves and Jota etc should be improving. They haven't been anywhere near the level they should be this season and neither have the defence. Nuno and our approach/mentality is the real problem right now.

 

[prawnking]

You both believe you can stand still, let alone progress in the PL without significant investment? That finishing 7th last year means that same squad should be there or thereabouts the following year? Especially when it's just come up??

 

[slink]

You both believe you can stand still, let alone progress in the PL without significant investment? That finishing 7th last year means that same squad should be there or thereabouts the following year? Especially when it's just come up??

I don't think any of the other sides particularly moved forward though either.

Leicester - Same team as last year as i don't think Perez has improved them because he doesn't really fit in to their team and they have no Maguire although Soyuncu looks like he could develop into a very good centre back.
Man Utd - Improved down the right hand side but apart from that i'm not sure if they're better as a side for it, they don't look any better than last year.
Everton - Lots of talk about their signings but don't think they've added much and they only have 2 centre halves. They look exactly like the team they were last year.
Chelsea - Added youth but that's not making up for the loss of Hazard imo and definitely not from what i've seen.
Spurs - Should be 3rd best if they get it together mentally and yesterday might help that.
Arsenal - No chance are they better than last year, added Ceballos who is a decent footballer but their other signings look average and the second half today was as bad as i've seen.
West Ham - Have probably improved their squad more than any one else, Fornals and Haller are very good signings and they have players that have come back from injuries that will definitely help. Will probably just do West Ham things though.

All the other sides are pretty much where they were if you ask me too, i've not seen anything from them to say that they are better than last year.


I think we missed out massively on really improving in 2 positions (cb and a mobile ball carrying cm) as i think we've improved in forward positions with Cutrone who will be a great signing and Neto but we should definitely have more than enough to challenge the other sides. We just aren't performing to the standards that are required for example Coady has struggled against a few players when they've got up against him since moving to sweeper but he's never played as bad as yesterday, he's seriously at fault for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals and he doesn't make the pass back error at Everton last season either, he clears that and then has words with Rui. The Premier League is fine margins but i'm not having that we've gone from being the 7th best to a bottom half team, tactics are off and not close to last year and players are under performing. It's up to Nuno to sort it and if he does i still think top 7 is still on again.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

Frankly, much as i love him, i think Nuno is reacting to Europe and the amount of games we have, before he needs to.
Leaving out Bennet for tactical reasons on a day when Boly wasn't available made no real sense, and for all the buzz about Adama, we did it with Doc last year and he should still be number one choice for his better defending if nothing else. We have players not up to their best yet, and if we are going to rest anyone, imo it should be them.
but it's early days yet, and we know we can play better and will.

 

[Wilf Wolf]

I don't think any of the other sides particularly moved forward though either.

Leicester - Same team as last year as i don't think Perez has improved them because he doesn't really fit in to their team and they have no Maguire although Soyuncu looks like he could develop into a very good centre back.
Man Utd - Improved down the right hand side but apart from that i'm not sure if they're better as a side for it, they don't look any better than last year.
Everton - Lots of talk about their signings but don't think they've added much and they only have 2 centre halves. They look exactly like the team they were last year.
Chelsea - Added youth but that's not making up for the loss of Hazard imo and definitely not from what i've seen.
Spurs - Should be 3rd best if they get it together mentally and yesterday might help that.
Arsenal - No chance are they better than last year, added Ceballos who is a decent footballer but their other signings look average and the second half today was as bad as i've seen.
West Ham - Have probably improved their squad more than any one else, Fornals and Haller are very good signings and they have players that have come back from injuries that will definitely help. Will probably just do West Ham things though.

All the other sides are pretty much where they were if you ask me too, i've not seen anything from them to say that they are better than last year.


I think we missed out massively on really improving in 2 positions (cb and a mobile ball carrying cm) as i think we've improved in forward positions with Cutrone who will be a great signing and Neto but we should definitely have more than enough to challenge the other sides. We just aren't performing to the standards that are required for example Coady has struggled against a few players when they've got up against him since moving to sweeper but he's never played as bad as yesterday, he's seriously at fault for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals and he doesn't make the pass back error at Everton last season either, he clears that and then has words with Rui. The Premier League is fine margins but i'm not having that we've gone from being the 7th best to a bottom half team, tactics are off and not close to last year and players are under performing. It's up to Nuno to sort it and if he does i still think top 7 is still on again.

The gap to the six teams above is was pretty large and we were always going to struggle to make up that ground. Of the teams below us the three that look most likely to overtake us are Leicester, West Ham and Everton. Leicester may have a similar squad but don’t have the handicap of Puel being in charge,West Ham have strengthened up front and haven’t lost their first four games as they adapt to a new manager and lots of new signings like last year. Everton have an excellent squad and have added good players to a team that underperformed last year whilst we over performed and haven’t added much quality.

I do agree we needed to improve on Bennett (and Coady) and add a real challenger to the established midfield three, preferably a player with more going forward. The fact we didn't is part of the problem, the other part is teams have learnt they can pressure us and we frequently give possession away cheaply.

 

[Johnny75]

You both believe you can stand still, let alone progress in the PL without significant investment? That finishing 7th last year means that same squad should be there or thereabouts the following year? Especially when it's just come up??

Spurs got to the CL final and finished third without adding a single player. It really isn't about spending money to better your team. Nuno proved that last season by getting the best out of these players. Rodgers will be doing the same as Leicester boss.

The weak link with that is if the manager is having a bit of a mare with his selections. I'm sure Nuno will get this right but it may take some time.

 

[Tredman]

I think now we've qualified for the EL we might see more stable Thursday / Sunday teams.

 

[Carrotdude]

We had a bit of a struggle last year before Nuno tweaked the system, I could see him changing something again to try and improve our league form.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

I think we need a bit of back to basics.
Bennet, Cody, Doherty.
Adama on bench as a great sub for the last 20 mins.
Move Neves up the pitch a few yards to supply the strikers.

 

[northfield wolf]

After that crap Saturday, i am starting to worry, i have seen this before, Boly come back, and as for Jesus, just nowhere near good enough. I sincerely hope this was a bad day at the office, if we fail against Palace and Watford, the panic button will be hit.

 

[prawnking]

Spurs got to the CL final and finished third without adding a single player. It really isn't about spending money to better your team.

Come on... This is the same complacent stance that was all over the summer transfer thread towards the end of the window... It's near-impossible for us to strengthen, we're better than our peers anyway... Now we finished 7th last year so the players should be able to do the same again... That's really not how it works, you're not guaranteed anything based on the previous season unless you're an already established huge club that's been benefitting from PL money for years and years (like Spurs in your example), and even in those cases they make significant team improvements regularly.

We're far from a surprise package anymore, slink looks down his nose at Everton and Chelsea... mate we've literally just had 8 goals put past us by them! Bit of humility wouldn't go amiss. Everyone knows how we play, everyone knows our personnel. The reason why the summer looks a missed opportunity is that, aside from possibly Cutrone, we have nothing else in our arsenal aside from that first XI.
Moutinho or Neves tired or not firing? Tough. You've got a raw MGW to carry the team. Bennett drops down from being at the very top of his game (where he's perfectly fine)? You've got Miranda part 2 or a futsal rookie. Jota temporarily taken a regressive step? Have to put Neto in, who is a talented kid with not much football to his name and not even necessarily a striker.

Now we were never going to be able to cover all those issues and eventualities, but I'm not sure we covered any of them, again with the probable exception of Cutrone for Raul.

Having a small squad with big quality disparity (which is what it looks like to me right now) is a recipe for a tough old season and probably objective missing. So even though it's right to say that Nuno's selections and the way we play and the form of our best players are responsible for our poor start, have so few other strong options hampers things even further

 

[big mean bunny]

I think it's mindset issues and always wanting to believe Wolves will let you down. Already more bothered about the league game Sunday and getting a win, than the Braga match.

Which I know is wrong, but can't shake my false dawn of last year worry.