More fool me for getting my hopes up after the Chelsea result and thinking the hunt for the European spots was back on.
Teams with top 6 aspirations are consistent in their performances and clinically dispatch relegation candidates like Burnley – we’re neither of those.
What frustrates me most is the selection. All Nuno had to do was stick with the same starting XI that deservedly beat Chelsea (minus Otasowie for Donk) with equal amounts of creativity and character.
Neves was somewhere near his vintage best against the Blues – dictating the game with ease. Apart from a bright opening 20 minutes or so of Wolves moving the ball about nicely, Moutinho and Neves nullified each other and we lost our way from there.
Otasowie’s advanced position only muddied the waters. Why not stick with what worked in the second half v Chelsea? Otasowie providing a physical presence and Neves doing what he does best – creating.
It’s quite a worry how when we lose control of the midfield (if we ever gain the initiative in that area these days), the whole then XI lose their heads. No one can keep hold of the ball, sloppy passes galore, the defending goes to pot and the decision making is all over the place.
Fair play to Burnley. They were up for it and we stooped to their level. But make no mistake, a team with ambitions likes ours should be capable of overcoming a tricky trip to Turf Moor.
I know I’ve focused on the midfield an awful lot but I genuinely believe if we get the set-up right (back Neves and give him the right partner) then we have a chance of getting back to the Wolves of old – starting on the front foot, take the lead and manage the game from there.
Truth be told, the game was up at half-time. But when we went 2-0 behind, the prospect of going to a lopsided back four and desperately hoping for some Traore magic was confusing and one-dimensional to say the least.
The horse had rather bolted in Lancashire – a bit like any dreams of Europe next season.
I was dreading the performance the moment I saw the team.
Individually, I have no problem with any of them but to start the in-experienced Ait-Nouri, Otasowie and Kilman when you’ve already got players like Semedo still finding their feet in this league – I could just smell a defeat coming. We lacked guile, kn0w-how and physicality. If Marcel had played for instance, I don’t think either of the back-post headers that they punished us with would have materialised.
Factor in not playing with a recognised striker against a team who started the game in the bottom three and Neves acting like his boots were on the wrong feet and you’ve got the recipe for what followed.
The conditions didn’t help because a semi-waterlogged pitch wasn’t conducive to the tippy-tappy brand of football we were trying to instigate in lieu of actually engaging their defenders.
I said after we got smashed at Anfield Nuno was caught in-between with his team selection and it was the same again tonight. Either play with intent (e.g. Arsenal) or shut up shop and go on the break but these halfway house teams he’s put out this season rub me up the wrong way.
Credit Fabio for buying the penalty and scoring it with aplomb. At least he showed some devilment in those actions in what was otherwise a pretty pathetic non-attempt to get back into the game.
Bizarrely we’ve probably got a better chance against Spurs or Utd but I’m not going into those games with confidence.
Really angry with nuno why drop Marcel Otto is a cm or cdm not a false n9 don’t start me on neves and joa past there best slower than a donkey and Nelson I’m 51 could do better only positive Silva scored rant over where’s the Bailey’s merry Xmas my fellow bloggers
It looks to me that a few of the players Neves Adama are getting fed up with the chopping and changing. A settled team makes for a winning team.
We are light years away from top 6 it’s frightening how far we have fallen in 8 months.
We keep hearing about solutions, if results carry on like this then we might see the final solution….. A change of manager and I would not like to see Nuno go out like that after everything he has achieved but he is in danger of throwing it all away.
Paul
Sadly I feel the same.
Nuno has lost his way. I’ve been saying-for a while his bunker mentality of “not losing before half time” has become an obsession and now he’s trying to change it but not succeeding.
I thought last night was as bad as we’ve seen and for his sake as well as ours I hope he has some aces up his sleeve.
Never change a winning team used to be the moto.
I hear bells ringing and hope it’s sley bell’s and not the alarm bells in Jeff Shi’s office, I don’t think he will put up with this for much longer and it is clearly evident that some of the players wonder what the hell is going on.
I know it’s pantomime season but this line up would have been a disaster even on the stage at the Grand Theatre.
Most folks on here will know me for being glass ‘half full’ . But tonight was painful. My initial thought was we have been taken to the cleaners by a pub team. But that is disrespectful to Burnley who deserved the win. Being a football fan is an emotional roller coaster and tonight we were headed in a downward spiral. Just like Wolves then to beat Spurs next Sunday. As usual I will be backing us to do so . Never back against this team to come up with the unexpected. Wolves ay we.
It was pretty crap but it’s not like we were trounced. We’re just finding out that Raul was as important to us as we always thought and whisper it but a goalkeeper that refuses to leave his line no matter how good a shot stopper is always going to be a liability. On top of that Neves is rarely the player he was.
Come on Nuno, we need those solutions.
Watched the highlights again of both Burnley goals and Ait-Nouri looked absolutely horrendous on both of them. Terrifed to jump and compete with the Burnley forward! Embarrassing ….
Yep!
You know, being someone who thinks outside of the box, it occurred to me that if we do too well in December and early January, Jeff may not think he needs to sign a striker and we can just make do with who we have. So maybe losing tonight was God’s way of helping us achieve more points over the full season.
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night”
Poor, selection. very poor performance.
No one played well, one or two were very poor.
Burnley wanted it more than we did and were first to the ball.
Back to hit and hope again, no cutting edge.
We have the players but you look at sea Nuno.
Otasowie out of position like a duck out of water, Kilman looked lost and Traore is back to doing it by numbers, when he does it at all. Even Rui had a poor game. Why no Boly? What did Marcal do wrong?
Well done Fabio for your goal, you have earned it.
Onwards and sideways I fear.
Boly was injured.
That’s what I thought.
Thanks, missed that because he was on the bench.
You don’t put injured players on the bench, is our squad that threadbare.
Sorry Tim. meant to be a fresh comment.
Tim
Intended reply this time.
I sometimes (reluctantly) used to defend Moxey on the grounds that he was carrying out his bosses’ wishes and I’m inclined to give Shi the same latitude for the moment. Think it comes down to Fosun’s real intentions and with everything that’s going on in the world I think there’s a fair chance they are’t sure themselves.
We’ll all have to watch this space like with so many other issues in the near future.
Happy Christmas.
You were lucky ……it could have been four. For a team to be described as being championship,long ball,pub team,anti football Burnley played you off the park.
You even use the pitch as an excuse.
Maybe if your players played as a team instead of individually and took pride in
playing for the old gold then you might beat a team like Burnley.
Last year we finished 10th,2 years previously 7th (qualified for Europe.) & with our resources that is unbelievable.So give us a break.Good luck for the rest of the season.
Up the Clarets.
Burnley were the better team on the night and deserved the win. No question. What Dyche has achieved with the money available is also highly commendable. Would I prefer my team to imitate aspects of Burnley fc? A boring style of football, a whites only team selection policy and racist fans. No thanks, enjoy your win, safe in the knowledge that what you take pride in no one else wants anyway.
I haven’t seen any comments making excuses about a deserved defeat, but all the crowing about “hammering us” is over the top. As for all this “poor little Burnley” it doesn’t really wash.
PL clubs no longer need bums on seats to succeed as most revenue come s from elsewhere so after 5 years in the Prem. you aren’t being y as well run as you think you are if you are cash starved.
And no comments about mega rich Wolves are appropriate either please. Our very well run has a total NET SPEND on transfers over the last 4 years of less than £200 million. Probably not much different to yours.
Best to stick to your own site really if you want to crow.
Good luck to you too as well for the rest of the season as Burnley, like Wolves, is a proper football club mainly devoid of armchair supporters.
Burnleys net spend OVER 10 YEARS is 54million….we owe nothing but for a small club Covid has hit us badly,Takeover is imminent with 200ml.being mentioned. Maybe then we will have the funding for some incoming players.Yes we are little in the sense that we represent a small town, population 75,000.We are one of the oldest clubs in english footie & a founding member of the English League.Burnley FC.is run by local business people but to move to the next stage we need finance.Not crowing but sick of the jibes,racist,pub team,long ball etc.
Jingle bells baby & stay safe.
Was completely gobsmacked at the team selection. For a man who used so few players last season NES certainly likes to shake it up occasionally. Boly and Marcal on the bench with Barnes and Woods on the field spelt disaster. Add to that the opening commentary stating Barnes hadn’t scored in 17 then we all knew what was coming. After the Chelski game I thought Otasowie may have done enough for a start but not where he ended up. Moutinho and Neves just do not work well together where they played today. I think the partnership is stifling Neves creativity and it is time for Nuno to back the younger man and play him correctly before we lose him to a poacher. Don’t mind losing when you feel the team have given it a good go but today was awful. I always dislike playing Burnley and this goes back decades. Awful team to watch and probably the best in the league at time wasting and cynical play. That said that beat us with ease today but left with a sickening feeling in the gut because it was definitely a missed opportunity. Love Nuno to bits but please my friend don’t go down the road of referee blaming. Anyone who watches Mason knows he is a bad ‘un but let’s just keep that to ourselves. The likes of Colin can say that but Nuno you have more class, let’s just agree it was a bad day all round. 2 positives, excellent penalty by young Fabio, well done young man. Thank the stars none of our fans made the journey up there for that. Merry Christmas all.
Oh dear.
Just read Nuno’s comments slating Lee Mason. He may be right but it’s out of character and it sounds like a touch of desperation, because it doesn’t justify the performance.
Having been at Wembley for the Sherpa Van final it pains me to see that the arrogance we used to (back in the day) associate with the obnoxious followers of say Arsenal or (then) Leeds and Liverpool has now fully taken hold with the Gold.
Brothers in arms back then, I thought we shared a common experience. We dragged our two old proud but damaged clubs back from the brink of oblivion. Yes Wolves fans, we were both one bad season from extinction. Look at you now. All cocky and arrogant.
So let’s look at you now. Look at how your new snooty sense of entitlement, that’s based on what exactly? The Portuguese bearded whinger? Seriously. You were so naive, so poor, so far away from being in that game that you sound and look pathetic. scratching for reasons why. You lost and you’ll lose lots more. You’ve lost the class. Just another West Ham. Detached from their club history, culture and place.. Play in a different colour, you just stained that one.
You’ve make a good point there Mr Doherty.
I also attended the SV final and to see two “proper” clubs attract 80,000 to the old Wembley (around 50,000 more than England a few weeks earlier) was quite incredible.
We chatted to Burnley supporters prior and after the game and the comradeship was amazing. Two famous old clubs in the basement of the football league.
Well done last night – Burnley were streets ahead of Wolves in every department.
Bedfordshire Old Gold
Sorry Mr, Doherty
I strongly disagree.
I also attended the Sherpa Van Final and it was indeed a memorable occasion and a great day out for all of us.
HOWEVER
I don’t know what you think gives you the right to come onto the Wolves Blog with your high and mighty. “holier than though” criticism of what you call arrogance.
Maybe words such as expectation or ambition would be more appropriate; some of us have stuck through tis club through very hard times, particularly during the eighties but also have seen some very good times. We know our club has POTENTIAL, particularly under the current regime. That is not arrogance but realistic desire for a level of success which we believe to be achievable.
So leave us to look after our own affairs and you look after yours, eh.
And yes you thoroughly deserved to win last night; but you beat a team at the bottom of it’s game – not arrogance just the truth.
Nuno` post game rant at the referee was just bang wrong. The guy might be a useless whistleblower, but he was useless for both teams. It made not one iota of difference to the result.
We lost Nuno, coz they wanted it more than we did, and they played better than us. You put out the wrong team. For all this time Nuno you`ve preached about the need to maintain the same solid defence, on the basis of the essential need to play as a unit, understanding and complementing each other. So what happened tonight. ? Marcal having played really well against Chelsea, gone. Boly gone. In comes the inexperienced naive French kid who can`t defend. Why ? The result ? A defensive shambles, making a team which barely ever scores seem like a formidable attacking force.
The there`s Otasowie. The guy`s a defender. Widely acknowledged as being brilliant in midfield against Chelsea, tonight, ludicrously he `s played up front as a quasi number nine. Where`s the logic in that ? Then after sixty minutes he`s subbed, when both our midfielders Nevez and Moutinho are playing like donkeys, making zero contribution to the game. How long is it going to take to realize that these two, simply don`t play well together ?
The worst thing of all is that as a team we played without any method. Sideways, backwards. Loads of possession. Zero penetration. We never looked like scoring in open play. Without Raul up front we`re just lost. Easy meat for any well organized defence.
Football is like life. You either go forward or you go back. Standing still is never an option. So for goodness sake Nuno get it together. I urge that you return to the basic principles that have worked so well for so long. On tonight` showing if you fail to do so we`ll quickly be slipping back into the basement.
Mike
Couldn’t agree more.
As soon as a manager starts blaming the ref. for a defeat which is partially self inflicted (no reflection on Burnley) then the alarm bells start ringing.
Nuno does not look a happy man and is tarting to appear confused and lost. Gone is the charismatic, cheerful and charming man we know and love. His magic touch also seems to have deserted him.
Will the real Nuno please stand up.
That was utter tripe.
With such a large and I presume well-paid backroom staff, you would have thought we could get our team and tactics right by now after two years in the Prem.
Everyone knows what Burnley are about. They are big and they are direct. On a wet Monday night in Lancashire, you need brawn and motivation as much as skill and nous. Not much of it was on show last night I’m afraid.
Performance-wise, let’s start at the back. Patricio was too static at crosses and didnt command his area well. It seems to be a running weakness of his.
Kilman is tall but skinny and was dominated by the Burnley forwards. I could see that even before a ball was kicked. He needs bulking up if he is to improve at this level. On the other side, Marcel is a much better natural defender than Sais and could have prevented at least the first goal – why was he not selected, especially after his fine display against Chelsea?
Is Ait Nuri ready for the Prem – no he aint! Afraid to go forwards with the ball – when he got it, he invariably passed it back to Sais as soon as a Burnley player got within a couple of yards of him. He cant defend and was partly at fault for at least the first goal. The other players seem to avoid passing to him – even when he was free. Why is he even on the pitch when he offers no more than Vinagre did? Samedo had a better game than he’s had recently but the more I see him the more I question his value to the team. We all know he’s not a great defender now but does he make up for that as an attacker? I don’t see any evidence so far. He’s neither created anything for anyone nor been really close to scoring himself as yet. So 35M quid for someone who can’t defend or create or even looks like they can score goals…..make you wonder.
Is Neves out of form or is he being stifled by Moutinho? He played well against Chelsea. Moutinho offers nothing going forward and he hasn’t the legs to support the forwards. He doesn’t offer any goal threat. At least Neves has a good shot. The two cannot play together as one or the other is wasted. I would go with Neves and have someone more dynamic to complement him.
I guess Nuno thought Ottasowie’s size could unruffle the Burnley defence. I get that. Ottasowie has size but obviously not the technique or nous to hold the ball up or beat a player to go in on goal. He didnt do too badly putting himself about but when he won the ball, there were no players around him to help out and the play would just fizzle out.
Neto and Podence couldnt find a way through the packed Burnley defence. Sometimes you need to just get the ball and bodies in the area – don’t try to be too clever. On one of the few times this happened, Silva got the penalty. We do seem to need a Plan C – be more direct and get the ball into the penalty area at every opportunity and roll the dice.
Let’s be more pragmatic for once.
There are signs than Nuno is starting to feel the heat by uncharacteristically criticising the ref in the press. And there will be even more heat if we lose to Spurs and Man U.
Soon we may be in amongst the relegation group. Nuno has to step up and prove to us that he can go to the next level.
“Working hard”, “finding solutions”, “one game at a time”. We know its “very hard” Nuno its the Prem after all.
Think Wolywolf did the summing up nicely
Nuno may even get a touch line ban because we all no you cannot openly criticise a referee and was a stupid mistake by him
Burnley did what Burnley do and we were not prepared for it
Merry Christmas to all fellow bloggers and let’s all hope for a happier New Year
Our problem is the midfield I’m sorry to say neves and joa thanks for your memories but no running no goals no assists set pieces dire they have to go merry Xmas i kneed a hair of the dog
Please start using me, Binda. Your posts would then make much more sense.
I was amazed at the starting line up, especially the dropping of Marcal against a team like Burnley. The rest of it seemed a bit inevitable really and one can only hope for and expect a return to more tried and trusted methods in the upcoming games.
On the plus side, Fabio got a goal. That’s it really
Not much to add. Sad to admit, but Mr Doherty’s post is uncomfortably ringing true.
I too was at the SV final, we had a few beers with the Burnley lads and we did both have a sense of pride and relief our respective teams had survived.
Are we are in danger of being too cocky and with a business minded owner we as fans maybe are becoming complacent, we have money and Uncle Mendes.. Don’t they say pride comes before a fall?
The pressure to perform in the greed league is high, too much riding (financially) league position and kudos of being one of the big 6.
Nuno, used to talk about being humble, it was one of or key attributes, perhaps last night was a lesson to go back to being humble and restore our well being in the eyes of other fans?
Burnley played to their strengths, fair play to them.
I went to my first game in 1967 and home and away many times. I will always love my club.
Is it time to reset, go back to being humble and restore ride in the old gold and black.
Just my ramblings to a blog I enjoy reading.
Pretty disrespectful to say we stooped to their level – you could see in the second half their defence was superbly organised, in a way that we have expected from our own defence when everything is in place, and we couldn’t pick the lock. And they took their chances.
Pride*. Doh!
Wasn’t going to comment as that performance was bloody gutless and hapless. When playing Burnley you need to compete and fight, they’re full of English grit and spirit, and also are ruthless and very professional in what they do.
We needed Meaty big and bulky against them and needed to be on it every second of the game. We were too nice and unprofessional, Neves fell asleep on the pitch when robbed by their midfielder who then hit the crossbar with a beauty.
It could well have been 4-1. Nuno haranguing the referee was uncalled for, the only bright spot for me was Silva who looks to have a great attitude and fight.
Nuno picked exactly the wrong team to play Burnley, maybe it was injuries I don’t know, but Boly and Marcal needed to be out there as did Silva up top. The kids have promise but you can’t expect them to step up right away. We’re weak up top, in midfield and at right back at the moment. They’re the questions what are the solutions? Within the squad or via the transfer market.?
Oh and praise were it’s due for Sean Dyche and Burnley, they must have fantastic team spirit and in Pope, Taylor, Mee and Tarkowski they have a back line of massive quality and fight, add an other and that would be a good England back line.
Maybe that’s just a blip and we’ll learn the lesson and move on, but Nuno has to see where the shortcomings are and seek to bolster them.
Up the Wolves
A few thoughts….
Our success over the last three seasons has come from consistency. Tactics, formations, player selection have all been consistent. This year we seem to have a different line up every game for no logical reason. Perhaps we should go back to what works for us until we have the players that will allow us to evolve our style?
I don’t agree that Neves and Moutinho can’t play together as they have managed it successfully for the last two seasons, however it’s not clicking at the moment so perhaps a choice does need to be made?
Last year after 14 games we had 20 points and were 6th. The exact same tally now sees us 11th. We seem to either play really well and win or really poor and lose. Last night was definitely the latter and Burnley fully deserved their win.
Finally I totally agree with Mr Doherty. Where has this arrogance come from? There is no divine right to win a game of football and the attitude of some fans in demeaning other sides and demanding success is like that of a petulant child. Considering our recent history we should be more humble than most.
And well done Fabio, the first of many I hope!
Have a good Christmas one and all.
Hmmmm. Nuno got that completely wrong.
Hmmmm hindsight ..great isn’t it .
It wasn’t hindsight when i saw the team sheet though .
Oh poo, i thought ,those kids are going to have the fright of their lives against this lot…that was an understatement.
Sending kids out to do a man’s job it’s like sending rookie recruits out to fight the s.a.s. on their turf in the dark with their hands tied behind their back…i thought.
Then , i thought, perhaps our adored leader has something up his sleeve and we are going to dance around these battle hardened troops and make them look like a bunch of fairies.
Fat chance !
Smash otasowie every chance you get early on, that’s seen him off. Scare the living daylights out of ait nouri with a few growls that’s him gone. Now your down to nine and that’s about what it looked like our nine against their eleven.
In hindsight i’m not going to dissect nuno’s balls up he knows he cocked that up good and proper.
But what does get my goat is how can a man who has led us to the promised land with such aplomb make such an outrageous, ridiculous, blatantly obvious error in team selection against such a simple to work out team as burnley. Even us “the ignorant hordes” knew he had dropped a major goolie
We all knew this wasn’t a time for an experiment this was a time for experienced hard men against a rock hard no nonsense side who were as usual late getting their act together but on the rise.
Please stop this cobblers nuno it’s doing my head in!
( and living amongst the vile its embarrassing )
Nuno, we love you to bits but your pedestal is built on humility and good grace, we are so proud to have you as our manager. Forget about Lee Mason, we know he’s not the best but talking about him demeans you not him. Focus on the team.
I can see what you were trying to do last night, still trying to find solutions to the number 9 vacancy but even if it had worked, this was a wet night in Burnley and coping with Burnleyball presents different challenges.
Just in case your scouts and analysts missed it, for the first goal, Semedo is attacking as he should until Podence’s touch sells him short, Burnley attack the vacant space and Kilman is overloaded. Taylor has run 80 yards to get to our byline with neither Podence or Semedo anywhere to be seen. While this is happening Saiss is asleep and unaware of Barnes while AitNourri is casually jogging back two yards on the wrong side of Barnes to defend the far post.
Their challenge is pitiful and lightweight. 0-1.
For the second goal, a rehearsed move. Burnley park their two tallest players on the far side for the free kick, one of them pins Otasawie, the other gets a free header, the aim is to reverse the ball back to the other post where their forwards are lurking. Why isn’t Kilman out there to challenge? We line up like tin soldiers in the middle marking no one in particular, once again Saiss and AitNourri are caught in the wrong position and offer a lightweight challenge. 0-2. Game over.
Going forward became a problem when Burnley sussed it out, without a mobile centre forward to worry about, their back line was secure and untroubled, allowing all the rest to push on 10 yards and press all our possession. Sideways was the only option for Neves and Moutinho to keep the ball, their brains are wired to find Raul without looking, and that suited Burnley. Fair play to them, it’s not pretty and it’s predictable but it keeps them in the division .
From our point of view, disappointing yes but given the personnel who are fit and available, it was a risky plan that didn’t work. Spurs and ManU to come, just remember a few years ago it was Wigan and Walsall.
To Newt and the Burnley fans.
Spot on guys.
I looked at the team sheet and shit a brick.
I honestly and truly had a knot in my stomach because all week I was dreading us cocking this up again, we just cannot get round these types of defensive teams.
That knot stayed with my throughout the game and I still have it now.
Nuno, you well and truly fucked up last night, that was a ridiculous team to put out against a Burnley team.
Beware the ides of March mate.
Well and truly embarrassed from Pendeford…
We all know that Nuno has this thing about working with a small squad & usually it’s been ok. But now we’ve senior players out injured, Donk, Jonny, Raul and then Boly clearly not fit, hence on the bench. This leaves no real cover except for the under 23s.
OK Silva came in but we’ve still no real cover at CF so that has to be a priority. I think we need to strengthen in other areas as well desperately. We need (IMO) another 4 or 5 senior players so that if we get injuries then it’s not such a drama & the team can cope.
Last night we were utter crap, the passing was non existent, the drive & determination from last week gone & there was a can’t be bothered feel!
Roll on January & Im hoping Jeff & co have already been planning ahead for a decent window – not a future team one but a now one, it’s needed!
Have a good Christmas everyone.
On a lighter note, I predicted three results wrong on the trot and they didn’t let me down…!
Maybe there are things going on that we don’t know about which explain some of the frankly bewildering goings on at Wolves these past few months. I almost hope so otherwise I am left thinking that something is seriously wrong somewhere.
The last game I saw live was the thrilling 3-2 away win at Spurs in March when we looked every inch a side destined for the top 4 or at worst the top 6. We were strong, settled, exciting, adventurous, full of power and pace and with a nice blend of experience and youth with everyone knowing their role and the overall team philosophy. Contrast that with what has gone on since culminating in last night when we looked disjointed, tentative, predictable and a mid-table side at best and at worst a side going backwards towards the Championship.
At Spurs our back three were solid, reliable and settled. Last night we looked unbalanced with two left footers either side of Coady and decidedly dodgy every time a ‘workmanlike’ Burnley attacked. If Boly was fit enough for the bench why wasn’t he fit enough to start? The folly of not buying a right sided centre back once again screamed out at us all.
At Spurs our wing backs were superb, fast and excellent and got forward at every opportunity. They contributed one goal and two assists. Last night our wing backs looked hopeless and hapless in equal measure. Semedo £37m? You are having a giraffe! Why sell Doc to sit in Spurs reserves? Why drop Marcal and play the inferior Ait-Nouri?
At Spurs our midfield purred and ran the show. Last night they were anonymous. Ruben Neves is an amazing talent but the way the team is being set up now is stifling him and robbing us of his precocious talent.
At Spurs our front three of Traore, Jimenez and Jota terrified the opposition with their power, pace and quality and contributed two of our three goals. Last night with Jota sold, Jimenez injured and Traore benched we had two decent but lightweight wingers and a central defensive midfielder for some reason playing up front. The second folly of not signing a quality striker as competition for Jimenez is on a par with not signing a right sided centre back.
Continually switching from 343 to 4231 or whatever system we ended up playing last night – 415? – is doing us no favours either.
I keep hearing that this is a transitional season and its all about evolution. Fair enough I guess but surely transition or evolution are about a gradual and managed change for the better? What we seem to have done is ripped up what we had and tried to bodge together some sort of stop-gap solution that sadly is failing miserably.
For me our current malaise was summed up perfectly with Burnley’s opening goal. Semedo got forward well but then the link up with Podence broke down on the edge of the Burnley box. At that point Burnley’s Charlie Taylor was the closest player to the home goal. A few seconds later he was crossing for Barnes to put Burnley ahead. Where was Seemdo? He was still slowly jogging back and had barely crossed the half way line when the goal went in. Not good enough and not good full stop.
Like I say maybe there are things going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about . I really hope so otherwise our decline in the past 9 months is extremely worrying.
OODCL
Willy is not left-footed but seems to prefer to play on that side. Last night’s game would have been a good time to use someone like Ryan Bennett. No nonsense.
Why didn’t Boly play? As I have theorized on here before, Nuno is all about coaching and drilling the team in what he wants them to do for each particular game and if Willy missed some training sessions during the week, then he ain’t playing.
This team has stagnated since it got to the Premier League. 57 points. 59 points. Probably would have gotten around that much this year if the team was injury-free.
Something has to be done and, as we can see, Fosun are done pumping money into the squad. We now have to be self-sufficient.
I’m toying with the idea that Fosun thought we would be a bigger hit in China and the sale of millions of Wolves tops would generate a lot more revenue than it has and that is why we are fairly stagnant in our position and squad makeup.
Ryan bennet plays for Swansea now, Timmo.
Keep up.
Yes, and he would have been an inexpensive option to keep around for these types of games – which shows you that Nuno will not keep a big squad even if it gives him some toughness and experience to use a few games a year.
With the crystal ball you seem to have, Timmy babe, I wonder if you play the lottery.
Sometimes Tim talks sense and here’s an occasion.
Great Post BLW. Good points one and all. I was at the same game and we were sublime. Only a guess, as I have no inside knowledge but the one difference is Jeff makes all the decisions now.. we have no board members like before, who probably had a say in club and footballing affairs?
I have worked extensively in Asia and China. Their management control is very different to a western style democratic boardroom.
For Nuno to be so rattled, plus some of the other footballing decisions does make speculation rife.
By the way good luck on Xmas day.
BLW
You allude to an issue raised by several of us over the last few months – WWFC current transfer strategy. It makes little sense and building for the future doesn’t really cut it if you’re buying kids who don’t make it and “upgrades” which aren’t.
I make no apology for referring again to the sale of Jota again as it left us well short of firepower even before the Jiminez catastrophe. And the on field consequences of same are also inexcusable – we had 2 years to find cover and have come up with Cuitrone, Campana and Silva for a combined £55 million. Doc v Semedo still has to be played out but at least made sense on age grounds.
Your questions re background shenanigans are not unfounded.
Full of good sense, Bedford.
Just before Christmas, is the wrong time to suddenly find out that there is no God.
Gods often move in mysterious ways, their wonders to perform.
They have a purpose. And they stick to it and see it through.
We are not fit to question their acts or their motives.
Gods are above the actions, rantings and ravings of mortals and always smile benevolently and forgivingly upon us all, no matter what tribulations we’ve been through.
Yesterday, with his scathing attack on Lee Mason, Nuno finally revealed that he is no Deity. He is feeling the pressure and looks all too human.
We are desperately in need of consistency, and until we get it, we might well see more of these all too human traits.
Unlike Thomas, I looked at the selection and thought that, Semedo apart, it was pretty decent and certainly good enough to win the game.
But, we looked totally disjointed.
In hindsight, we should have stuck as near as possible to the team that beat Chelsea.
Momentum is such a huge factor in football and we had it after the last game.
But, going back to the Christmas theme… it’s easy to be a Wise man in hindsight.
I especially like the god that incite genocide or child sacrifice. What’s not to love about that?
I think we all know that Burnley do not play anything like Chelsea so I’m curious why everyone thinks we should pick a team to play them based on how well they played against Chelsea.
Isn’t most of the discussion on this thread about us needing a different type of player to handle their physical nature?
But we went less physical at the back ,Tim.
I too was happy with the team sheet, I could see good reasons for dropping Boly, even if he wasn’t injured. And Ait Nourri ? Didn’t he get praise after the previous game. And Otasawi, also highly praised, whereas many on here asserted that Fabio was too lightweight Neto and Podence, both match winners, scoring at will. Kilman, cool, calm and assured.
In fact we played well for 20 mins didn’t we ? could have scored.
Barnes almost decapitated Rui, and who ever have expected that 60 yard run to the byline before chipping over that perfect cross.
Hey ho.
I’m not sure about Nuno’s comments on the ref. As he said, he felt it was right to speak out, and his behaviour has always been so gentlemanly before, maybe he had a good point, or was it frustration, and disappointment that his gamble hadn’t come off ?
And after all, Burnley were on an unbeaten run. I live in striking distance of Turf Moor, would have gone in normal times.
Glad I didn’t !
Unlike Thomas, I looked at the lineup and thought “Well it is Pantomime Season”
There is no such thing as “God” except in mythology and fairy stories and sometimes football, we are raised to believe that nasty things will happen to you if you criticise or do not believe, unfortunately, Nuno was placed on that pedestal, he and his staff have worked magic over the past few seasons but what he built is now beginning to crumble.
First of all, we have a team with Podence and Moutinho. We are not built for the tough, physical games. Nuno and Jeff are not going to get 4 or 5 additional players so that we can play that way for 2 or 4 games a season. We just have to live with that fact.
Secondly, I thought it was a good idea to put Owen up near the top. He is big and more physically mature than Fabio. That being said, he is apparently very laid back and that may not be a great trait when the other team is roughing you up. You have to put on your game face and push and hit back. I said that about Diogo a couple years ago. He needed to take some yellows and show the other teams that he wasn’t going to be pushed around.
Even the commentators said around the 30 minute mark that the referee probably didn’t see what happened and just called the free kick because the Burnley player fell down. So if Burnley commentators noted it, it must have been pretty obvious that Mason wasn’t holding up his end of the deal.
We have always had trouble with some teams at the bottom part of the table and we are just going to have to live with it and not over-react.
Maybe we will get 3 or 4 points out of the remaining games of the calendar year. We play better against teams who are our equals (that’s just in case some Burnley fans are still reading the blog).
Again, have a nice last week or so of the year.
Burnleys net spend OVER 10 YEARS is 54million….we owe nothing but for a small club Covid has hit us badly,Takeover is imminent with 200ml.being mentioned. Maybe then we will have the funding for some incoming players.Yes we are little in the sense that we represent a small town, population 75,000.We are one of the oldest clubs in english footie & a founding member of the English League.Burnley FC.is run by local business people but to move to the next stage we need finance.Not crowing but sick of the jibes,racist,pub team,long ball anti football etc.
Jingle bells baby & stay safe.
December 21st.
Winter Solstice.
The shortest day.
(The Longest Day was a great movie, remember the German with his boots on the wrong feet?)
So we went outside at sunset to watch Jupiter and Saturn align for the so called Bethlehem Star, the first time they’ve been this close for 800 years, ( remember that, Stu?) and it was pretty.
Then three funnily dressed blokes turned up, riding camels, and I told them to fuck off, they were four days early!
I am trying to find something light and entertaining about yesterday, after the Turf Moor train wreck.
We love Nuno to bits, but that team selection was a total clusterfuck.
The only possible saving grace is that it taught our frail youngsters that life in the big league is not always about playing Chelsea.
However, the worrying thing for me is that we have only played really well once since footie restarted last season, and that was the second half against Chelsea.
The reasons are many, but for me, the bottom line is bottle.
The old saying is:
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Unfortunately, the rest of the saying, which definitely applies to us at the moment is:
and when the tough get going, the going gets tougher.
We don’t have enough bottle in the side, to fight, to fist shake and rattle sabres.
For all you naysayers out there who are having a go at Neves, I say bollocks.
He proved how good he is when Moutinho didn’t play in midweek.
For all you fans of Traore out there, lauding up his skills and speed, I also say bollocks.
No football brain, going for the byline most of the time, and once again crossing high for our two giants up front.
Imbecilic!
And why oh why, yet again, do we not drive into the box at every chance, especially playing a rugby team of giraffes, to get penalties?
We did it in injury time, and it worked.
If I can see this, surely Dr. Nuno can.
Yes, Dr. N, you got it wrong.
Three years ago, liquid football abounded and we attacked and over ran all opponents, pretty much.
Why can we not do that again?
As we used to sing,
Attack, Attack, Attack.
I never go on the blogs of other teams, I don’t have any inclination to read about lesser mortals.
So to all you Burnleh fans who have come on our blog to slag off, gloat and try to put two syllable words together in coherent sentences, I also say a resounding
Bollocks.
We are upset right now, but we WILL bounce back and we WILL get it right, eventually.
I hope.
FOwb
In order of priority –
Agree on Neves
Agree on Traore = birdbrain. one trick pony – reverted to type.
Agree on Burnley clogfeet invading our site (see above).
Agree on Nuno ( see above)
Happy Christmas
Traore is a one trick pony. Speed.
He had a purple patch middle of last season. But was never productive before. Nor is he now. Nor is that likely to change in the future. He appears to have no football brain.
Solution. Sell him in January and use the cash for a much needed quality striker reinforcement.
PS. The mega transfer numbers suggested in the summer are now pie in the sky. Time to get as much as we can and move on.
Sorry but I just can’t have this absolute bollocks people are coming out with about Traore. Anyone who thinks he’s a one trick pony is a blinkered blind man.
Yes, he can go up blind alleys but he’s our most dangerous player by far. That’s why other managers double or even treble up against him.
Last night for instance, he created more in his cameo than his colleagues did the whole game.
The problem was that Nuno put him on the right side and he played to instructions, setting up Neto for example. The problem was that we had no one in the middle capable of capitalising on his crossing. Nuno missed a trick by not getting him to drive through the middle.
I agree that Traore is a one of a kind player and it is up to the coaching staff to teach him how to use his talent. Slowly they should be introducing new ideas to him as to what to do.
It seemed to work last year but the other teams’ coaches have figured it out. Nuno and his coaching team have to come up with new ideas for him to implement or just have him draw one or two defenders to him to give our other players more room.
What’s wrong with having him draw two or three players to the touchline, then pass it back to Nelson to distribute into the area opened up by those players he has drawn into the corner?
I think Nuno refuses to change his style and he refuses to change other players’ roles on the pitch to accommodate that extra area that they can use because “we won’t change the way we play”.
Last year we were praising Nuno for Adama’s success instead of praising Adama. Now we are blaming Adama instead of blaming Nuno for not finding solutions to other coaches’ responses to his success.
This roller coaster ride is exhausting.
Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy, Healthy New Year to you all!
WGH!
Just changing tack from the performance last night. A question…..if we are in transition and building for the future, which players do bloggers think we are building around? This is now Nuno’s 4th season and his contract has been recently extended so fast forward 3 years and who do we think are the key men at that point who will have us in the top 4? 3 years from now our current first team squad will have 9 players 30 or over:
Moutinho 37,ruddy 37, Patricio 35, marcal 34, saiss 33, boly 32, Jimenez 32, coady 30, Semedo 30.
It is reasonable to assume we need to identify successors to most, if not all of these in the next 3 years and that doesn’t include strengthening we think we may need to do elsewhere in the squad so it seems like we have quite a task on our hands to me.
Semedo is 27
My bad. Thought you were giving current ages.
What is going on with our corners ! Most never get into the box and end up with
our back four ! We have players waiting in the box for delivery which never comes.
If it’s a set move to deliver from a different angle ,get the procedure right ! If it’s Nuno inspired it’s an error ! Now my pet subject Silva , yes he won the penalty and slotted it as any forward should ,but his around game is poor he carries no threat and am amazed he has got to this level , I just don’t see it and I know a player when I see one !
I’m with you 100% on this, these short corners, pass back a & give the ball away are driving me mad!
Take the corner properly, get it in the box & aim for the net. Simple!
Maybe the intrepid reporters at the E&S should ask Nuno at the press conference if the statistics indicate we are having any more success with them than the regular corners.
The mood he’s in at the moment, probably not a good idea!
(If I could do a smiley face imoji, there would be one here. But I can’t).
Mark it’s
One of these :
Followed by one of these –
Then this )
But close together one after the tuther.
🙂
So I was taking my mom to get some dental work done today and some woman who worked there noticed me wearing my beloved Wolves Europa League jacket. She was clearly from England and said Wolves were always her father’s favourite team.
First time anyone has noticed and mentioned it.
Do we get to see a picture of you in it Tim?
Every time I try to take a picture, the lens breaks.
It seems Nuno put out a team with the emphasis mostly, but not exclusively, on size. But Otasowie as a centre-forward was never going to work, and whilst Silva might be physically lightweight he at least would have had some idea of the sort of movement needed to move big CHs around. Precisely where Kilman was supposed to be playing I’m still trying to work out. I assume the Donck and Boly were out injured (even if Boly was on the bench), but why was Marcal, who is nothing if not physically competitive, not playing ? It clearly wasn’t a game for RAN.
I’m assuming that Nuno was rotating the squad because of the 2 big upcoming matches – or maybe his backroom staff have no longer got their fingers on the pulses of the opposition ? Fair do’s to Burnley who always do what it says on their tin.
I seem to remember in our first season back in the Prem when we finished 7th. A 5 game losing streak in November. Panick setting in. We were also abysmal against Huddersfield (twice). Cardiff. Brighton and a few of the other strugglers. So shit happens like last night. But we were alright in the end and we will be again. I anticipate a totally different game against Spurs. I expect our players to be wounded and up for it. I expect another shit referee. And some more crap from VAR . I want 2020 to end. I want the summer to come and Covid to go. And right now want a beer. So I’m gonna have one. Xmas ay it. Wolves ay we!
We are missing our wing backs Dougherty and Jonny , Dougherty for his ghoasting in on the far post and Jonny who I love , the new Dennis Urwin 7/8 out of 10 every game with a threat going forward. Called VInagre early doors as hopeless, impetuous ,poor decision making and dreadful final ball .He actually tried to take
on Kyle Walker of Man City for pace not once but twice and of course got no where. Next thing he is shipped out to Greece who say they made a mistake signing him and want shut of him ! Too many poor signings under the brilliant Nuno for me but maybe it’s not down to him who we sign. Thought we gave up on Catronne too soon but apparently he was homesick ! Marcal is solid but slow to get forward not sure about Semado or the other one that I cannot spell !
I shouldn’t even try when you struggle with Semedo.
Lap,
We have relied on Mendez to much the Championship winning squad had a good mix of British and Portuguese players now there is only Coady and say Kilman who is not a regular or ready judging on his Burnley performance.
We have totally ignored the British market and that has alter the balance of the team.
When we look at signing a player the over riding priority seems to be about there sell on value not what they can bring to the team now.
I do believe that Nuno has had some of these signings imposed on him he might not say it in public but it looks that way for instance Catrone he never really trusted him.
This goes back to Jeff and FOSUN until they concentrate on the first team and getting in quality signing that are first team ready and look at the whole market and not run to Mendez every window I cannot see our recruitment improving.
FOSUN say they want success well in football that comes at a price.
Just wondering. Do we have scouts any more?
Paul, you must be poorly bad or something, that’s two posts now without whining about Jota!
Merry Christmas
whats with this idea about Jota I havent ” moaned ” as you put it about Jota or even mentioned Jota for months.
Its you and one or two other bloggers keep on about him bringing him up…………move on he has gone whether I agree with that or not………..I have moved on its about time you did…!
Is that all you can come back with……..!
No, I forgot to mention Ryan Bennett, and Mattress Doherty, currently of Spurs reserves, and Danny Baath, and Ivan Cavaleiro, and Heldup Costa, and Leo Bonatini, and lots of others.
Just think, if they were all still with us, there would be no room for Raul or Jonny when they come back.
Heavens to Betsy, what will we do!!!!
Oh, and Jota.
On a serious note, E flat I think, y’all have a very Merry Christmas with your family, and let’s hope 2021 is a little bit better than 2020.
Hasta La Pasta
Adios.
Months??? Pull the other one.
Your alter ego, PJB, still mentions him too.
I know we are in lock down but…….get a life. Can you not deal with people disagreeing with your view is that it.
As an emergency worker I come across your kind every day then they go to Court.
Can’t work out what you are on about here, Paul.
Totally agree Paul.
2019/2020
20 points from 14 games
2020/2021
20 points from 14 games
Just saying
Europa league. Just saying.
Excellent point, Ped Ant. Last year we had Europa league games coming at us left, right and centre. This season, there ought to be much more time for planning. Apart from the next two games which are ridiculously close together.
So
That was the pits
Team selection had Burnley players laughing as they came down tunnel… I watched
If the plan was to play backups good enough to take points off Burnley no one explained to them how
Villa tore them apart but couldn’t shoot
We did neither
So… at least we have some rested/ recovering players ready for the next 4 games
OODCL
So what are we waiting for??
Talk around Traore being sold worry me somewhat. Even with Mendes influence, weve been unable to attract better players than ones sold and at a significant price.
If we’re not careful, everything may continue unravelling at a faster rate.
Purchasing good upcoming youngsters is something I really applaud but doing that at the sacrifice of the firsteam is somewhat native.
I was looking at this article from the Guardian about the top 100 players in world football.
Two things. Do you think Jota is better than Jimemez and do you think Jota would even be on the list if he wasn’t playing for Liverpool?
With the benefit of hindsight, most of us would not have put out such an inexperienced side against arguably the one most predictable team in the PL. The topsy turvy nature of recent results, bizarre selections and the uncharacteristic outburst against the Ref by Nuno leads me to think that the events of this year are taking their toll on our leader. The changes wrought by Covid to ongoing team preparation, uncertainties after International breaks, Rauls horrendous injury coupled Nuno having no contact with his family for months on end must surely be wearing him down . I’m sure Jeff and all the management team look into and after everyone’s mental health but Nuno may be showing signs of severe stress? I hope that the FL deal with Nuno’s uncharacteristic remarks about Lee Mason leniently- everyone needs extra support and sensitive handling in these difficult times, not least the supporters, some of whom are becoming more vocal in questioning Nuno’s judgement. We all need to take a deep breath, remember that this is the club we love and everyone involved with it needs support until we beat the pandemic and get back to full stadiums. Happy Christmas one and all.
No doubt that Burnley are a decent team and Sean Dyche has worked wonders with the players and money at his disposal. This approach can take you up the table as Burnley proved a few years ago and Sheff United did last season. But, our expectation at Wolves are higher and we have had a lot more money to spend.
Why in god’s name are we vulnerable in the six-yard box to physical players and high crosses? This is basic League One stuff. I think Burnley worked out Patricio”s weaknesses in the small box. No command of his area. The unfortunate absence of Boly was a major factor in our defeat. Basically, Burnley wanted to win more than we did, and out-fought and out-ran us.
Nuno’s baffling team team selection was almost set up to lose, with young Owen O played ludicrously high up the pitch. I backed us to win with both teams to score, at 9/2. I should have waited till the team sheet was out, but I was too busy at work and almost missed the early kickoff.
If simply getting bodies into the opposing six yard box gives you more chances, why weren’t we doing it instead of pussy-footing round outside the penalty area like a reserve Barcelona side that had been doped? What has happened to Neves? Some serious errors but a decent long range attempt. He is a shadow of the player he was.
The one bright spot for me was Silva coming on and at least getting stuck into the mix in the Burnley penalty area. He earned us the penalty and put it away with ease. But, too little, too late. Nuno also lost his composure with the criticism of the referee. Nuno simply did not select a Wolves team able to cope with Burnley’s physical approach. In this Nuno’s, fourth season in charge, he still can’t cope with physicality.
We’ve had trouble with teams like Burnley since returning to the Premier League, even with Raul on the team, so why are we reading so much into this game?
Like I said before, just because we win a game or two it doesn’t mean we are going to reach the Champions League, and just because we lose a game or two, it doesn’t mean we are going to be in a relegation fight.
That’s our lot in life unless something changes at head office with Fosun.
Enjoy Christmas and remember, Santa is immune (or got a vaccine shot) so you can’t use that excuse.
Tim, have agreed with just about all you have added to the review of this game.
Apart from dropping Marçal I my team selection matched Nuno’s. I thought it would be backs to the wall and would require three at the back and in midfield. Realising Boly and Donk were carrying injuries and suspecting the Lancashire Kray brothers at the heart of the Burnley defence would try and knock the crap out of Fabio it seemed logical to try and hold out for a breakaway smash and grab.
I didn’t realise we had half a dozen seasoned, physical players that could have been brought in. Nor did I realise that Kilman would be dreaming of a white Christmas as their full-back would sprint 70 yards then still beat him over 5 important yards.
People are re-writing history re the Chelsea game. It was two flashes of brilliance that tipped the game our way after just about withstanding a battering. There was nothing particularly glorious to retain and anyway injuries dictated we couldn’t. At present without Raul, Traore represents a a world quality selection of vinyl albums when we just possess a CD player, Nice album covers though.
Burnley are now truly a crap version of Leeds of the 70’s. Westwood showed a bit of a Giles cameo, and Wood could be Mick Jones in a bad light. But all of their cheating tactics were there in abundance. Dyche definitely is the Revie love child.