Other than Jose Sa and a reasonably well organised defensive showing for the first 73 minutes, there wasn’t much else to extract from this performance.
A stinker would be the nice way of putting it.
Another would be a damning indictment of the chronic deficiencies that we’ve failed to address in over three years of decline.
Unlike the swashbuckling display that saw us robbed of a famous victory in the FA Cup on our last visit to Anfield, this was a passive, feeble attempt to disrupt a stuttering Liverpool side.
Too many in this Wolves team don’t grasp the nettle about the requirement to run and hassle and win all of those duels that open the game up and allow you to create.
Nunes and Sarabia were two prime culprits tonight, jogging around and waiting for the game to come to them. And when it did, they invariably slipped over or were eased off the ball. It was infuriating to watch.
I’m not surprised the latter was hooked at half time. Anything less would have been a dereliction of duty by the head coach.
Lopetegui himself probably has to take some of the heat for a negative team selection that let their creaking defence off the hook. We didn’t even engage them.
With each passing game I can see why Lemina and Dawson were considered such key additions in January. They were the two players who covered the ground and consistently did what was required.
But with Raul isolated and lightweight in attack and those around him shying away from confrontation, there was no way to establish any sort of rhythm.
This team badly needs attacking players you can hang your hat on, in the image of those combative individuals we have in deeper areas of the pitch.
There’s no shortage of technical quality from Jimenez, Sarabia, Podence, Nunes and co. But they can only perform when things are running their way and the game feels comfortable.
It’s an issue we must address in the summer if we’re fortunate enough to survive.
Based on tonight, we’ll certainly need some luck.
I felt they could have watered that pitch a bit more though….geez.
Funny how their players all seemed to have the right boots on.
Too good to go down,
No team is too good to go down. There’s a certain arrogance in teams sometimes. West Ham and Villa are fairly recent examples
Some very capable and stylish teams have gone down over the years .
I think that you might have missed just a hint of irony in Binda maan spain’s comment there Alan.
A very inadequate lifeless performance which resulted in a fully deserved and very disappointing defeat.
That we have failed for over three years to find a solution to the main issue of an inability to score goals is a massive indictment on those who run our club. The fact is that we remain clueless in the final third. Dawson and Lemino have added much needed defensive strength, but elsewhere in the key area of scoring goals we are as bereft as ever we were.
Quite why Nunes is so highly rated is beyond my understanding. Tonight he was a downright liability . There`s no way he should be included in the side. Young Hodge would acquit himself better.
My take is that the future is looking increasingly grim. It seems ever more likely that our best hope of survival will rest on the fact that those behind us are equally useless. If somehow we do manage to stay up, then surely nothing less than a major clear out of highly paid underperformers and a complete revamp of our priorities will be essential before we begin another campaign.
to add – sariaba is an awful player.
Well that was frustrating, to say the least.
We seemed to set up for a draw, maybe some more positivity and pace was required, easy to say in hindsight though. They were no great shakes in the first half, even nervous at times, we let them grow into the game and kill us off.
I don’t think its any coincidence that our two stand out signings from the last two windows, Dawson and Lemina, have proven prem experience. Others may disagree but I said at the time we should have bought Ings in Jan and haven’t changed my mind. We should have learned from Newcastle last season and their business in Jan – pretty much all signings had bags of prem experience.
I’m still confident we will stay up but it will be close.
How is Ings or anyone else going score from 50+ yards because that was the problem last night- we hardly got over the halfway line in the second half?As Mike mentioned above, it’s being clueless in the final third which is the big issue, aswell as continually passing to the opposition.Final ball quality is needed before a striker or anyone else can be effective.
I stick by my previous suggestion that at least for the first hour we should have played with Jiminez playing off Costa up front. Costa might not be the player he was but against teams like Liverpool and possibly Tottenham on Saturday his presence up front might be just what we need, supported by the guile of Raul.
Sound thinking Prawny. We urgently need urgency and commitment up front to make things happen. So what have we got to lose ? To continue in the same way with virtually no presence in the opponents box is surely not an option.
But we`ve all known this fundamental truth for ever and a day, so unfortunately any change to basic philosophies is unlikley. I`ll not hold my breath
Are Brazilians and half hearted Iberians the best guys for a relegation dog fight , cos that’s what’s happening. I’d take Steven Hunt right now
“Perform when your winning , you only perform when your winning “
We are in serious battle to stay up, those u think we will survive easily are deluded, let’s get molineux rocking Saturday, final thought is Keith downing better than nunes, he is too lightweight, should be dropped, adama should play a match with no oil, its slowing him down, I hope 3 teams are worse than us, imagine if last game arsenal kneed win for title, we kneed win to survive omg, wolves aie we.
We are in serious battle to stay up, those u think we will survive easily are deluded, let’s get molineux rocking Saturday, final thought is Keith downing better than nunes, he is too lightweight, should be dropped, adama should play a match with no oil, its slowing him down, I hope 3 teams are worse than us, imagine if last game arsenal kneed win for title, we kneed win to survive omg, wolves aie we.
Sorry for posting twice.
Question: What is, apparently, very highly thought of and sought after, has ambitions of playing for a top six club, wears number 27, ambles on to a football pitch, and then very cleverly disappears until he leaves the football pitch some time later?
Answer: Matheus Nunes.
The improvement under Lopetegui has been incredible but tonight wasn’t a great performance. The first half we did okay out of possession with some good pressing but the second half was very poor to put it politely. At least JL was honest in his post-match assessment that we didn’t deserve anything.
Like others I’m struggling to see why at the moment Nunes is being shoe-horned into the side in a position that doesn’t suit him (he’s a central midfielder who is best at picking up the ball deep and running with it) at the expense of Podence who is our joint top scorer this season.
Perhaps in the next match a cameo from Neto (fitness permitting) would be welcome as at least he forces defenders backwards.
Two very lose-able games coming up against Spurs (H) and Newcastle (A), which means the table could look uncomfortable in a few weeks time.
This will go down to the wire.
I was out until 9 last night so only managed to see the last bit pre Liverpool goals.
Just my take but my immediate thoughts were..
Lightweights
Uncommitted
Don’t like the cold
Wanted to get on the coach.
Lots of ability but as long as they don’t get stuck in and show some passion instead of trying to out play teams we are at a great risk of being a multi million squad in the championship.
The questIon from the movie” “The Gladiator ” which states “Are you not entertained?” The answer from last night is NO NO, and another NO!
That was painful viewing! For two seasons we just don’t look like scoring. Ninety minutes, one shot on target. Whether we play in the Premier league or the Championship next season, something really must be done. Either the players or the system just change, but that was a hard watch!
No, not entertained! Frustrated!
Very true St Kitts and the constant thread in this shambles has been our sole CEO/MD since the departure of Laurie Dalrymple.
Uh Oh.
I can feel a storm brewing. 1 lv.
Question: What is the ONE place on a football pitch that all Wolves attackers seem programmed to avoid at all times?
Answer: The opposition’s 6 yard box.
Maybe extend that to the whole of the opposition penalty area.
Yep, here it comes.
Is it a coincidence that our best signings in recent times are NOT Gestitute clients?
Unlike Guedes and Nunes Jan. signings Sarabia, Dawson, Gomes and Lemina actually look as if they WANT to play for Wolves whereas Guedes made it clear from day 1 that he didn’t relish his transfer here and Nunes clearly has his mind elsewhere – either back in sunny Europe or on the River Mersey. As always there is an exception to the rule, on this occasion Jose Sa, but with a total outlay of around £140million on the enigmatic Silva, inconsistent Semedo plus the above pair can we really believe Mendes is still our “friend” or is he just taking the pi$$, specially when he also seems hell bent on shamelessly trying to get Ruben Neves out through his revolving door as quickly as his avaricious hands can do so.
Or possibly Nunes just isn’t very good. And don’t give me that s**** about Guardiola and his opinion of him.He was taking the P.
Bang on! Nunes,Cunha are ok players nothing more, nothing less. Neither particularly suited to the PL, and so not worth their price tags . Our obsession with spending small fortunes on players from the mendes stable that are wholly unproven in the PL is coming back to haunt us. Compounded by the utterly useless Shi strategy, whatever that even is now, will see us go down sooner or later. JL has done a decent job in improving what is a completely unbalanced squad but given the position he inherited ,even with a decent return of points , we are still deep in the mire. God help the future of Wolves if we go down, as financially it will be cataclysmic.
Phew, glad that’s blown over. Could have been a lot worse. And we didn’t lose any children. 1 lv.
Couldn’t agree more but I think Semedo is back on some sort of track ,as for Mendes a cuckoo in the nest methinks
Well i’m looking at it with a degree of positivity. When J Lo took over we were hopelessly adrift with 10 points from 15 games. Today we are on 24 points from 25 games. 15th and 3 points above the relegation line. This will be a slog to the end but I reckon 4 wins from 13. With the odd draw thrown in will be enough. J Lo has got us 4 wins from 10 so I keep the faith.
Having taken time to reflect, these are still early days of JLo’s tenure. We must be patient.
We were probably guilty of over exuberance following the previous game against Liverpool and have now been brought back down to earth- there were always going to be bumps in the road.
Of the remaining 13 games, we will be underdogs in say 6 and can expect only a minimal points return and I include Spurs in that. The 4 wins you look to will be against fellow relegation candidates and these are the key games- Leeds/Forest/ Leicester and Everton. Points from Villa, Palace and Brentford will then see us safe.
Let’s hope Julen can find a way to score the goals needed because we cannot keep clean sheets and it’s ridiculous to rely on own goals as a previous poster suggested.
We can only keep the faith, stay positive and fully support the lads.
Only positive from last night is that we now have a little daylight between our GD and Everton’s.
The central defensive partnership was another positive. Some excellent blocks, interceptions and tackles by both.
Good day all bloggers, hope manager makes changes Saturday, nunes should be benched, 2 up top , kane will score his customery goal against us, has new manager bounce gone , come on Julian earn your hefty wage packet, wolves aie we, God bless u all
As Mike has said and I have many times why was a out and out striker not brought in, in January and yeah there is a argument to say who….and who would want to come but money talks and for me that where we haven’t been willing to go that extra mile .
Just look at the money we’ve have spent on average strikers Hwang £12 million the Lad from Germany £15 million not to mention £38 million on the boy wonder Gomes another £15 million and hasn’t started a game yet and what do they all have in common they are not proven goal scorers all had average goals record before we brought them aside from the boy wonder who was playing reserve team level football.
We are in this mess because we have failed to stock the most important position in the team striker goals win games and at the minute we couldn’t score one from our forwards for all the tea in China.
And panic buy in January hasn’t helped neither the fact the guy making all the decisions stil hasn’t a clue about football despite the fact he’s been running the club for the past five years……this has been coming.
Im sure Jeff would point to the unfortunate felling of the Austrian as well the hope that Raul would return to form. Everyone agreed Costa was worth a punt in our position. But yes we should at least have some kids knocking at the door.
Yeah….I’m sure he would I would point to his goal record which was very average in a league weaker than the Premier League.
Fully endorse your post CHW.
Since the days that Jota was GIVEN to Liverpool by Mendes and Jiminez was poleaxed by a Brazilian thug we have spent a fortune on false 9’s, “inside forwards”, wide men. attacking midfielders, in the hole forwards (whatever they are) or anyone other than someone who knows where the goal is and please nobody tell me they aren’t there – they are if you pay the market price. Instead we have acquired numerous expensive signings who haven’t succeeded or even come close.
Not living in the past but back in 1978(?) our provincial football club, then privately owned, with a combination of nous, guts and ambition went out and broke the then world record transfer fee to sign Andy Gray as a striking partner for John Richards; now that’s what I would call ambition and intent.
In contrast with all their resources what have Fosun actually achieved in 7 years? On the field promotion from the second tier, a feat also achieved latterly by several local business men and even Steve Morgan, but precious little else despite the grand plans back in 2016/17. Infrastructure? – an increase in ground capacity of around 2k. Hardly turning into the golden era promised by Guo and Jeff and certainly not with the serious threat of relegation which we now face.
Meanwhile the Gestitute Agency (part owned by Fosun) seems to be thriving very well at least in part as a result of their involvement in WWFC transfer dealings (£300 million on expenditure alone).
The golden era of Fosun is looking increasingly like a mirage oasis in the desert or a pot of gold under the rainbow.
I’ll tell you that they aren’t there PJB. Market price has nothing to do with it.As proved over recent months Chelsea are willing to pay well above market price to secure supposed top players and prevent opponents from acquiring them. Every knowledgeable football fan knows they are lacking a quality striker but even they can’t get one. Do you think that’s deliberately shooting themselves in the foot or possibly,maybe there’s no-one of the required quality out there? Even Lukaku, a top striker for Belgium wasn’t good enough (as proved at Man U also), nor is Aubameyang.
So exactly are Wolves going to get.?If you were in charge and had say £50m to spend who would you bring to the golden palace?It’s easy to say that is a scout’s job but don’t you think that they have been trying? Here’s your chance to be that scout.
Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, the after blast gets you on the follow through. Played right into the basket there CHW. Cheers.
If you think it’s that easy get a quality striker don’t you think that the club would have got one? The fact is that very few exist who can operate at premier league level where they are facing many of the best defenders on earth. To say that money talks is over simplifying matters . Would Haaland have gone to Bournemouth if they had a billionaire owner?Of course not.
If a club like Chelsea who can offer higher wages and champions league football can’t get anywhere near to acquiring a top striker what chance have Wolves? None that’s what. That’s why we have to shop for younger talent in the hope that they will develop into top players. And that’s where it’s gone wrong so far with Cutrone being an abject failure and the jury very much being out on Silva and Cunha.
Irrespective of the striker situation we have to be more threatening anyway and the delivery/final ball is generally so poor that any forward we have has to feed on scraps.
Think you forget all the grandiose claims and projections by the mighty Fosun when they came into Wolverhampton all guns blazing. BS and forked tongue spring to mind.
“Nuno had a dream”. It’s turning into a nightmare due to lack of investment for over 2 years before the ridiculous panic buying of the last few months.
Now your putting out the fire with gasoline Hinds. Please.
Ivan Toney Ings Abraham before he went to Roma for less than we spent on Hwang, Cutronie, Nunes the boy wonder. Money fritted away by that footballing genius Jeff
A creditable 2-0 defeat to the wounded Scouse, from our top quality Premiership outfit. An early Moutinho goal would’ve upped the anti, but it wasn’t to be. At least the lads got out of Merkyside alive, which might’ve been tricky with 3 points.
Of course, nobody can afford to even look at the flip flops just yet, or dream of sitting on a sun kissed veranda sipping Shiraz. Cold baths and a bunch of nettles recommended (by an oversexed monk in the 13th C.)
At least we can’t lose 4-0 at home to Burnley this season.
1 lv & COYW.
Let’s take stock of our newest players and their production (goal wise)
1. Nunes – 0
2. Cunha – 0
3. Dawson – 1
4. Sarabia – 1
5. Gomes – 1
6. Guedes – 2
Seems to me we should begging Guedes to come back (there’s something wrong with this team that players of that caliber show up and forget where the goal is)