Trudging away from the Reebok at 5 o’clock yesterday, I’d already come to terms with this painful defeat, which could well cost us dearly come the end of the season.
In fact, about twenty minutes into the second half, I’d realised it wasn’t going to be Wolves’ day. Having hit the inside of the post twice, only to see the ball bounce along the goalmouth and out to safety on both ocassions, it was clear that luck certainly wasn’t on our side.
View from the away end (click to expand)
Matt Jarvis should have equalised after motoring away down the left, cutting inside superbly, but then delaying his shot a second too long with the goal at his mercy. He was actually fouled inside the penalty area prior to getting his effort away, but I wasn’t surprised to see the referee turn away the muted appeals.
The tricky wide man also stung Jussi Jääskeläinen’s hands in the first half, latching onto a flick through and firing in a vicious first time shot, that the Bolton keeper did well to turn around the post.
Just not our day. Luckless in many respects.
But luck had nothing to do with our poor defending.
We generally did well from set pieces, doubling up on Kevin Davies and staying tight on the likes of Knight and Elmander. But in the crucial moments prior to half-time we switched off and got punished.
Guedioura didn’t do enough to stop Lee dancing passed him on the byline, Kevin Foley allowed the Korean to come in too far and when the ball was played across, whoever should have been marking Knight wants shooting.
You have to say it had been coming though.
Craddock and particularly Berra didn’t do well enough to repel the threat of Bolton’s front two, all too often flicking balls on to help their cause rather than heading them away to safety. That allowed them to construct a handful of excellent opportunities, which needed smart saves from Hahnemann and a goal line clearance to keep the scores level.
Berra was poor. There’s no hiding from that fact and he needs to improve if he’s to keep his place in the side. He positions himself well most of the time and is excellent when the crosses are raining in, but he’s just not being strong enough, quick enough or good enough on the ball to cope with the demands of the Premiership. I’ve been his biggest fan at different points of the season, but recently he’s disappointed.
I felt disappointed with Ward, Guedioura and Henry too. There was too much dilly-dallying on the ball from those three, which constantly saw possession surrendered easily.
David Jones seemed the only midfielder capable of getting the ball out of his feet and picking out a proper pass. He was man of the match for me with an excellent all round performance; coming within a hairsbreadth of capping it with that superb free-kick that walloped against the post.
There were other decent showings from the likes of Jarvis, Foley and the evergreen Kevin Doyle, but we just never did quite enough in the crucial moments of the game to come away with a result, which is hugely disappointing.
There wasn’t enough desire to go out and get that goal to put us in the driving seat. It was only when we went behind that we showed a bit of spark, which is just so typical of many of our away performances this season. Then of course, there’s that lack of cutting edge, which is proving crucial when the half-chances do come our way, as there’s nobody out there to strike the killer blow.
That looks like it could cost us.
We’ll need to show more in our other relegation showdowns against Burnley and Portsmouth or we’ll almost certainly be hearing the unmistakable hiss of fizzy pop.
In the meantime, we’ve got Man Utd to look forward to next week.
Goodie!
I thought Adlene was our best player, Henry was good as usual but Jones really fustrated me. He looks too slow. And he doesn’t think quick enough to create any real chances. It was a decent free kick that hit the post but what is this rubbish of them flicking it up?
We didn’t create any real, clear cut chances which is our problem. We need to have two wingers or they will just double up on Jarvis. Foley played well again, but I’d rather have him at right back.
Nonsense Louie, Dave Jones is the one shining light from yesterday. Adlene was partially at fault for the goal and for long periods was anonymous. Jones is the only one in our team who can pick a pass, although his flick and voley is slightly annoying!
Henry is the most frustrating player we have. The times yesterday he could have played the ball forward to an unmarked Jarvis, but chose to play it back to Berra or Craddock. Normally defensively sound I agree, but when we counter his side and back passes slow our attack down to nothing – frustrating!
Yesterday we spent far too much time hoofing the ball in the air. Bolton are a big team we ain’t – bad tactic me thinks!
Blame me for Adlene’s performance – I put him in my fantasy league team as a ‘secret weapon!’ and thats always the kiss of death!
I think Henry is a very good player, and suits “backs to the wall games” immensely. However, when we are looking to attack (either when trailing or against the weaker teams in the division) he leaves a lot to be desired. I think that, in that sense, he’s not an “every game” player like I think Adlene should be, but more of the anti-Milijas. One or the other depending on the situation, but not both.
Henry was appalling, and needs to be dropped. Ward is a liability, and I’m sick of seeing him at left back…trouble is…who else is there. Zubar is erratic and too easily beaten, and as for Blake..what a waste of a substitute. Terrible performance against a shocking side.I really can’t belive we have 3 teams below us, we are so poor, it’s embarrassing.I agree that Guediaora was the best player, and Doyle again run his socks off. But dear oh dear, do we look a bunch of misfits or what
Finally someone who agrees with me, ………..WE ARE SHIT.
No other word will fit, and anyone who sez Henry played well didnt see the match.
He strolled around as if he was King of Wolverhampton……….instead of The Jester.
Crap, crap and utter crap.
Ashamed to be a Wolves fan today.
No ambition, no accountability, and no skill.
Fuck ‘em, I’m not going to any more games this season, they dont deserve my support.
FOWB
Henry just seems to play the ball sideways – in all the games I have watched live this season (which is most home games) it has driven me mad.
He seems to dwell on the ball just long enough for the opposition to get defenders back in place.
The Express and Star said he should be in with a chance of player of the season – who wrote that the Albion reporter?
Another game lost to our relegation rivals, it’s becoming a habit, and could ultimately cost us. Neither side seemed to play that well, and if the two shots that hit the post had gone in, we all would be chirpy today.
Louie – i think criticism of Jones is harsh, he’s looked good since he’s come back in. I agree that Foley needs to go back to RB. We should play Keogh in RM. At least he’s attack minded.
The game at Burnley’s going to be massive now, could be a season definer.
Think Jones does more than Milijas was managing in his 60mins displays!
I thought henry was rubbish, poor defending overall. We need someone to complement doyle, so we have two people who can score when they get a half chance . Keogh or vokes?
Ebanks-Blake, come on. Keogh is half the finisher of Sylvan as is Vokes. all different players but if a finisher is what you want its SEB
The writing was on the wall before a ball was kicked in anger. Bolton, no goals in 505 mins of football were always going to score against us. It’s what we do. We play well against good teams and poorly against bad teams, and if you have a bad run that you need to break then invite the Wolves over, we’ll go out of our way to help you break it.
The game was on live over here, I stupidly sat with my Wolves shirt on eagerly awaiting the game. We were on a reasonable run, playing well, defensively sound for a change, so how could we lose?? I was disappointed with the goal, Adlene was lazy at the bi-line but why didn’t Craddock stay with Knight. Knight took two steps towards the play, Craddock stood stiill, Knight scored, Craddock was nowhere. 30 seconds from half time! If it wasn’t so depressing it would be funny!
Berra is a shadow of his former self, trouble is that his former self wasn’t really that good either. He always looks tired, breathing heavy and slow and cumbersome.
Looking back at this season, people keep telling me that it’s the lack of goals that has cost us, that’s not it at all, its because we have a defence that struggled in the fizzy pop league. We have the worst defence in he league and if we get relegated it will be because of that and not because we ain’t scored enough goals.
Our system is set up to protect our defence, so is it any wonder we don’t score. If our defence performed as it should then the rest of the team could venture forward more, safe in the knowledge that our back door was closed. Trouble is our back door is wide open with a huge neon sign above it inviting all and sundry to visit.
In a weird way I’m still reasonably positive that we’ll stay up, perhaps not because we deserve to, but because other teams deserve to go down more than we do – Karma is a bitch Mr Coyle!
Anyway onto Man Ure – lets hope Wes Brown slips and allows Mr. Doyle in for a 1 – 0 !
Jed, we don’t have the worst defence in the league, we have the sixth worse defence in the league. I’m quite happy with that, now to start scoring some goals!
Have to disagree on Berra – I think he has been cr@p from day one! Poor distribution, one pace, weak headers. Just about got away with it in the CCC – but then in that league even Mancienne looked like a world beater at centre half!
Mancienne was too good for the CCC. He got an England call up because he was so good in it.
Berra is doing fine, we conceded one game in that match because Craddock failed to mark Knight properly
Macienne is far too light weight to make it as a centre half in the Prem. He’ll end up like an Alan Smith at Newcastle, some talent but will never have a natural position. Don’t think he’d make the first team of any top half side on what I have seen this season, let alone Chelsea.
Feel you can only play Berra or Craddock as neither have any pace. I would play Craddock as at least he has chiped in with a few goals
Anyone going on Saturday? Don;t forget to take a pegging board !
Live on ESPN over here, so not going to this one. At least I can cheer myself up by watching Harry Hill if we are three nil down at half time!
yet another poor performance and dismal result.
i knew things were’nt going to go well when i had to watch the game in the middle of the Bolton end. It was like being at an audition for the remake of Deliverance; without the banjos.
To the match; seems to me that if youre chasing the game against relegation rivals, you do something more imaginative with your substitutions EBB has been struggling to adapt to the Premiership all season, so lets bring him on again !
Vokes or Hoff ( 7’6″ – 2.5 million ) would surely offer an aerial threat and physical support that Doyle needs. Poor, poor Kevin. whats he done to deserve this ?
A few thoughts.
1) Its not as simple as: we’re not conceding many but we dont score enough, therefore the defence is ok but the attack is poor. Its a numbers game – Jarvis is the only player who regularly gets anywhere near Doyle.. its hard to score goals when you commit so few men upfield. And the reason we commit so few men is because the defence needs protecting. It was noticeable how vulnerable we looked as soon as we started to chase the game.
2) I would not have considered Mancienne a viable option up against a long-ball team like Bolton, launching bombs to Davies & Elmander. However, he was excellent against Rooney at Old Trafford – matching him for pace and nipping in when possible – and I hope Mick remembers this. Berra is not in great form and ‘horses for courses’ it should be Mancienne to play against United.
3) I agree with some of the above comments that Karl Henry was poor on Saturday – the 2nd 45 mins were his worst of the season. However, I disagree with the view that he is generally poor. He has had some terrific games this season and is, I feel, still the best option in his position.
My frustration with him is that I’m starting to get the impression that I believe he is better than even he believes he is. One of the first things you learn playing the game is, as a general rule: (only) give team-mates the ball if they are in a better position than you. Why is his first instinct to pass to Hahnemann/Craddock/Berra? There is more than one form of bravery in football, he is a decent passer and he should back himself to hit Doyle and Jarvis more, especially when chasing the game.
Morning Adam. Pretty much agree with all of that mate.
I hate seeing us play 4-5-1, and hate knowing when we walk into the ground that we’ll get 1, maybe 2 decent openings per 90 mins.
We’re like a piece of toast when you’ve got no butter left. You scrape round the sides of the tub, frantically dig out every last bit from the bottom, and then try in some folorn hope to reach every part of the bread.
You just can’t spread it thinly enough and it leaves you with a dry, bitty taste in your mouth.
4-5-1 is the best option we have, as there simply isn’t enough quality to play any other way. Its the best way of getting as much butter out of the empty tub!
I could argue the whys and wherefores behind this, but better to save for another time.
Everyone on this blog, bar one person, predicted we’d either draw or win on Saturday, I was one of them!
The loss just reinforced what I didn’t want to accept – that we’re battling to finish 4th bottom and don’t have enough quality.
Good points Adam.
Against United I think we should either bring Mancienne in as you suggest or push Zubar into the middle and drop Foley in at right back. Berra needs to be taken out.
Will that happen? I’d say probably not.
I get frustrated with Henry because I see the value that he brings to the side, but like you say (more eloquently than I’m about to put it), he’s a complete fucking pussy when he gets on the ball.
He takes his Makelele role too literally and thinks he’s doing the right thing by playing the simple pass. Whilst this is ok at certain points in the game, he needs to learn to be more ambitious and forward thinking when it’s absolutely imperative to attack quickly.
If he did start threading passes forward he’d be one hell of a player.
Will he start doing that? Probably not.
All of that aside, I couldn’t care less what anyone says about Saturday’s performance, we should have had a point. It wasn’t a lack of quality (we’re easily as good as Bolton), it was simply the lack of desire from the outset, which didn’t materialise until the second half.
We need to get out of the blocks quicker away from home.
I’ve been to a lot of the away games this season and we’ve been under the cosh in the first half in every one of them, simply because we’re second to practically everything.
More urgency needed from the start. We know if we can get our noses in front with this 4-5-1, it’s difficult to break down so we have to be more ambitious and go looking for that first goal.
Totally agree Thomas – Berra needs to come out and Henry does not get the ball moving forward quickly enough (I’ve been sayingg it for months now!).
As for the Bolton game its another must not lose game lost. Sick of hearing how well we played and we matched them etc. You simply do not score points for that. I would rather play cr@p and sneak a one nil from an offside goal of Craddock’s shin!
Still think the lost points from home games against Hull, Blues, Portsmouth and Wigan will be the ones that cost us come the end of the season. Teams that stay up tend to beat the teams around them at home.
Every team needs someone like Henry. all the top team want a defensive midfielder who does the simple pass.
He has been one of our best players this season (why he is rumoured to be attracting interest form several premier league clubs) and I hope he keeps doing his ‘sideway’ balls. He knows his limitations and when the others go bombing forward he hangs back to cover.
I still say we should play the stiffs this weekend, then let the PL decide if that’s our best 11, based on previous performances.
I dreamed last nite that Rooney decided to take a weekend vacation to shag Wengers daughter, and although he didn’t play, still managed to score three aganst us!!
Is that fucked up or what??
Talking of goals, what is our record home defeat?
I was there when Liverpool bought Alun Evans from us and then stuffed us 6 – 0.
FOWB
I was there that night too Clive…Alan Boswell in goal? and didn’t Evans get “glassed” in the Tavern in the Town
I don’t think it was glass night then, but certainly not long after.
It was a saturday afternoon game, I remember coz I was at boarding school and my English teacher was a scouser.
Some years later I met up with him while I was playing for the Polytech, and he was coaching some other uni side.
He’d told them I was lethal with my left foot, used my right foot to stand on, so I scored a couple with my head.
Geoff Wright, if your reading this, Liverpool is Royal Blue!!!
Anyway, I still feel the PL have put them selves in the shit coz now who is to say which is our weakened side, coz all of our players are crap, so lets play all the reserves, and put 3 keepers in defence. And let them try to fine us another 25 thousand. We would certainly make the headlines and get Terry off the front page.
Who gives a shit who he’s been bonking anyway, she must have a white stick and a guide dog, coz he’s on my fuckin ugly footballer list.
Can y’all tell the margarita mixer has been in use again?
Scooped, I just got a call from the slimebag, he needs your early bird money to pay his next installment on his yacht.
FOWB
Next installment?? This must be a new one then as he paid cash (out of his £2.1 MILLION bonus) last time we were in the Prem.
As for a ‘lethal left foot’ – yes it was dangerous if you were a corner flag!
If you ever scored 2 with your head it must have been when you were trying to nut the ref!
And Goff Wright reading this?? Do me a favour. For an old teacher of yours to still be alive would mean he’d be front page in the Guinnes Book Of Records as the worlds oldest ever person!
And folks its true, he did go to a boarding school – for grls!!!!
With a champions leeague game a few days after, is it likely Ferggie will play his full eleven, maybe the Premier League will decide
I do wish MM would stop describing our current formation as a 443. If we had the players to play it well then I think it can be an effective formation. However, we’re playing Foley allegedly as a right sided ’striker’ and Jarvis who does all his best work with the ball at his feet running at people from deep, as a left sided ’striker’! The way we play the formation is a very flat 451 (or even a 541 because Henry plays so deep behind the others). We desparately need to either drop Foley or drop Zubar and move Foley to right back. Our best option to bring in now is Keogh but why on earth did we not bring in an attacking winger in January? Instead we were in the market for another right back!
In respect of the opening line of my previous message-I meant 433. Although if we could play 443 it would certainly give us a better chance. Although I’m sure MM would still only play a maximum of 2 attack minded players out of the 12!