Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 West Ham Utd (20/11/21)

[Captain Slaphead]

On another note, Jimenez is some centre forward isn’t he?

Agreed on today's performance, but utter sh1te for Mexico during the week

[Hamburger]

Thought Tony Gale got it spot on when he mentioned that we were a man down in midfield and Rice and Soucek needed help . Moyes was just about to put Lanzini on but then Jimenez scored . Gale said Moyes should have plugged the hole in mdfield at half time and we'd have been okay. The Wolves manager got the tactics right by outnumbering the midfield but not delaying in shifting the ball out wide very quickly. No battles in midfield just running rings around Rice and Soucek which seemed to work.

Possibly try 3 across the middle formation when required? Drop Benny, Lanzini in?

Soucek is struggling and needs a rest so why doesn't Kral get some minutes? Something not right there.

[DannyboyDJL]

I thought pace was supposed to be one of Vlasic's main attributes? I certainly haven't thought he looks particularly slow from what I've seen thus far.

Curiously, you also describe him as "strong" while another poster shortly after you described him as "lightweight"

Basically, do any of us know anything about Vlasic yet?

You might be right. I thought he looked stocky and could back into people to shield the ball, but when he tried to take them on he didn't have the speed to get past them and just gets bundled over.

[sutts07]

Need to play Fornals through the middle in games like this where the midfield is swamped.

Benrahma and Bowen still offer pace on the wings when we break and can get up to support Antonio, but Fornals offers so much more than both in that middle role.

Poor day at the office, thankfully we have not really lost any ground in the table. Liverpool were always going to get up above us, Man Utd and Arsenal both lost.

[IronRhino]

We are playing for 4th place this season and with other results going for us, no real harm has been done.

For me, the performance was more disappointing than the result. Hopefully, it was a one off and we can get back on track Thursday

[Chicken Run Supreme]

Was out and about yesterday so was dipping into website for updates and it didn’t sound good. Only just sat down and watched the highlights on MOTD which were as brief as brief can be, so can’t really read too much into that. Looked like Bowen had a good first half opportunity to take the lead but then Wolves had more than enough chances to win by more.
I think Moyes hit the nail on the head, in our last couple of games we’ve been clinical with our chances and that makes a big difference. He also admitted we just weren’t on it. Hopefully no more than a blip, but fair play to Wolves, the table doesn’t lie and they’re 6th for a reason. I’m not going to lose any sleep over the defeat, we are still 4th in the Premier League and that won’t change with any results today.
Big opportunity lost yesterday to go 2nd for 24 hours at least but big test now next week. We’ve not lost two Premier League games in a row since start of 2020/21 season if I remember correctly and with City away up next, big effort needed to maintain that record.

[Centre Half]

We are playing for 4th place this season and with other results going for us, no real harm has been done.

For me, the performance was more disappointing than the result. Hopefully, it was a one off and we can get back on track Thursday

The disappointing thing about yesterday though is this was a really important game given our next two league fixtures.

We could easily be on a run of three league defeats on the bounce. The table is looking a whole lot different then come Christmas.

[ashbanki]

The loss of Ogbonna, should have been the ideal opportunity to mix it up and play a match up formation which was so successful against teams like Wolves,last season,imo.

[westlondonhammer]

We had a few chances but Wolves deserved the win yesterday...fair play to them

Not often we have said in the last year or so that we've not turned up but yesterday that was the case and a few looked leggy. It happens.

Wholesale changes midweek.

[funky chicken]

And as poor as we were, Wolves still only beat us 1-0.

If Bowen had buried that header…..

[steps]

And as poor as we were, Wolves still only beat us 1-0.

If Bowen had buried that header…..

Thought he had two good chances, the header and the one in the last 10 that he put over the bar.

We were flat yesterday. Poor first half, Antonio looked jetlagged or something. Wolves turned the screw in the second half and you could tell the goal was coming.

We applied a bit of pressure in the last 15 but didn’t really look too threatening. Bowen’s chance that I mentioned and Yarmolenko had one that he could of hit with his weaker right, I thought it would of caught Jose Sa off guard but Yarmo shifted it to his left and the momentum was lost.

Lingard would of been perfect yesterday. Moyes didn’t have a lot to work with in terms of subs but I think he tried to do what he could. Not sure what the deal is with Kral but he doesn’t make our bench but walks straight into the Czech team.

Bad day at the office. The away support seemed quite flat too. Wolves a drab and depressing place I won’t be in a rush to go back.

[Diogenes]

I think the side needs freshening up a bit and keeping the squad on its toes and competition for places. I would be tempted to put Diop in rather than Dawson to provide a better balance (Zouma looks happier right side). I would definitely find a place for Lanzini and probably Vlasic or Yarmalenko (at the expense of Benrahma and/or Fornals). I thought the three subs yesterday improved our performance and did better than those they replaced. If we had a suitable option at C/F I would look to drop Antonio or at least have the option of substituting him, but we don't. Next Sunday is the ideal opportunity to ring such changes where its a shot to nothing.

[Up the Junction]

This is in reference to you lot, apparently. Well done, all.

https://www.molineuxmix.co.uk/forum/ind ... st-7046273

[Wilko1304]

A mess. Back 6, two midfielders sitting in front of them, barely a player actually marked. No pressure on the ball.

That continued until they scored, pretty much.

[Crossd_Hammrs]

Well done Wolves. Played a good game. A shame some antics crept in in the last ten minutes, but other than that can only grumble that they made a couple of cynical fouls to stop counter attacks (as did we). Everything else I could say about them is positive, especially Jiminez - quite a contrast to our much-lauded lone striker who continues to confound me. But it seems we've had good strikers (Hernande, Haller) but alledgedly they didn't fit our system, so no doubt the same would be true if Jimenez pulled on the claret and blue. I really don't know what kind of striker we really want, but I'm fairly sure Antonio can't really be the answer to that question - he doesn't have enough technical ability, composure, or decision-making. But he's quick, strong and hard-working. (Following his Jamiaca goal maybe he needs to shoot from further out so the ball has time to come back down. ) .
But poor decision making is something I could say about our front three for most of our games. I've been a bit concerned about our lack of cutting edge during open play for some time - I'm convinced Bowen didn't mean to play in Fornals against Liverpool, whereas we missed quite a few similar opportunities for final balls in that match. Our run is too heavily dependent on set pieces - and following the Ogbonna-Allisson debate last match, Antonio was an utter turnip to blatantly obstruct the Wolves keeper today when we ought to have scored.
We had good spells today, at the start of each half, but lacked a cutting edge (again), and really lack someone in that Lingard role to run at defenders, drive into the box and provide both a direct threat and have enough awareness to release an open teammate.
When we do drive at the defence, we end up with disappointing final execution. We made two chances from open play today, but one of those only came about because we woefully misplaced the intended pass and pounced on the loose ball.

I'd like to see Lanzini get a bigger opportunity, I think he could do what Lingard did. I'd like to see more of Vlasic, he looks decent but also as though he has shackles on - he needs a run to show us what he can do and gain confidence. Yarmolenko did alright again - he seems to be putting in more effort in his last couple of appearances and was unfortunate today that Antonio got in his way a coupl e of times as he tried to come inside for a shot.
And it's great that Johnson is getting a chance, but I still think Coufal should be first choice when fit - he offers more going forward and as good as Johnson is defensively, he seems to hoof half-clearances into the middle of the park a fair bit.

I've started typing most of these comments on numrous games this season, then changed my mind - deciding to just enjoy the results and stick with the positivity. But although today wasn't as disappointing as the Brentford and Palace games (I hold the inept ref responsible for Southampton) I'm starting to lose my belief.
Well on to Rapid Wien and then Man City.

I thought the ref was excellent today - only thing I can criticise is that he didn't award Zouma a freekick when tripped.

[The Sherriff]

Not sure if this was just a bad at the office or the reality of squad depth starting to kick in.

Mickey looked ****ed. Fans and team were flat.

Neves was the best player on the pitch by a country mile. Why we didn’t do anything to nullify him was mystifying. He ran the show.

Rice was heavily pressed throughout, no complaints about the result. Wolves worth every penny.

Chasing a goal and the only options off the bench are Vlasic and Yarmolenko. Never forget this is the **** show the owners have left the manager to deal with.

[BigFatSam]

Antonio has looked really poor for the past 3/4 games now imo but still managed to have key involvement in goals. Yesterday he was poor and didnt. I’m really concerned about him to be honest as he seems to go through patches of brilliant and awful form. We really do need a striker to compete.

[Albie Beck]

Woves outdid us at our own game really. We perked up when Lanzini and Vlasic came on which tells a story about who went off.

Let's see who plays Thursday and how they shape up.

[Up the Junction]

The opposition view: Wolves
https://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=136446

[bubbles1966]

Forwards are not going to do much when they are starved of supply. That happened yesterday.

The usual passing lanes were comfortably closed off and from around the time of their first shot until they scored we had <30% possession. They forced the ball towards those least able to either pass it or work it out of a tight situation. That led to it being constantly turned over.

Our players' usual positions yesterday:



Why is Fornals sitting on Cresswell's lap?

It was evident from very, very early in the game even when we were on top. It smacks of perceived threats/perceived weaknesses in that part of the pitch.

It is easy to conclude that Masuaku (or similar) should have been holding Cresswell's hand, with Fornals (or similar) playing where Benrahma was as soon as it became evident we were losing both the physical and possession battles.

Antonio and Bowen clearly had the run on them at times but weren't worked into the game often enough. The removal of Bowen was strange.

It's also the case that subbing full backs isn't necessarily a defensive choice as well. That might have been worth doing.