Wolves Blog

It's a blog. About the Wolves.

FA Cup

Wolves 0 Liverpool 1

Blog, FA Cup, Liverpool

Glance at the front pages on any given day and it’s easy to surmise that the world is in a state of flux.

And yet some things never change.

No shortage of effort but no cutting edge again

As sure as spring follows winter, Wolves’ cup woes and Andre Marriner’s terrible officiating are something we can sadly all depend upon.  

And while Liverpool can count themselves fortunate to have made it to a replay, they needed no such luck tonight. 

This was undoubtedly our poorest showing since Lopetegui’s arrival, with Kelleher barely tested all evening. 

As was the case in last week’s League Cup exit, the manager made plenty of changes and it was thus unsurprising to see us make a disjointed start to proceedings. 

This was compounded by Elliott’s early strike, which Sa will surely be having nightmares about tonight. Why was he so far off his line?

Unsurprisingly, the goal seemed to rock our confidence, so credit ought to go to the players for not capitulating. 

The ability to stay in games has been a welcome characteristic of Lopetegui’s tenure thus far, and served us in good stead in the second half. 

Several tactical reshuffles and the introduction of Semedo, Cunha and Nunes gave us a stronger foothold on the game, with the visitors seemingly happy to play-act and waste time. 

It was frustrating (but not surprising) to see us fail to make this count, and the watching Sarabia will be under no illusions as to what he’s been brought in to do. Just a modicum of his goalscoring record at Sporting will serve us right. 

Ultimately, an already flat cup tie ended with a whimper and eyes will now solely be focused on the league. And perhaps, with our Premier League future far from being secure, that’s no bad thing. 

Rotten performances such as this can also help to temper expectations, with tonight providing a reminder that there is still plenty of deadwood in this squad. 

If Lopetegui can deliver on the early promise of his reign and keep us up, then he will hopefully be allowed to undertake the serious rebuilding job that is required. 

Until that has been done, dreams of a return to Wembley will have to continue to be consigned. 

Liverpool 2 Wolves 2

Blog, FA Cup, Liverpool

Well, we were cheated.

I can’t draw any other conclusion having seen both their second goal and what should have been our third.

Magic moment denied – but why?

Salah is offside – plain and simple. There’s no first and second phase in that incident. Toti tries to head the ball because Salah runs in behind him from an offside position.

And then, as if by magic, no angle to prove Nunes was offside when it looked spurious at best on the scant footage that was offered.

Wolves should have won and on the overall balance of play would have been worthy winners.

The Guedes goal was a howler from Alisson but the high pressing had created openings before and after that moment.

Liverpool were on the ropes for the remainder of the first half and it took a horrible Nathan Collins shank to invite them back into the contest. The cross and finish were exceptional but it’s disastrous from our perspective.

After they went ahead with their first gift from the officials it did look like we might be edged out but there was a steady conveyor belt of breaks to offer hope.

The excellent Ait-Nouri was at the heart of things and looks reborn under Lopetegui and we can only hope his injury isn’t serious. Liverpool had no answer for his pace and trickery.

Hwang and Cunha kept the good feeling going by conjuring an equaliser and despite the game moving end to end, it was refreshingly Wolves that looked to be carrying the greater threat in attack.

That superiority should have paid off with Toti’s winner but instead we have to be content with a replay.

Hopefully that game will offer similar levels of encouragement, the same drama but significantly less bungling from those trusted to officiate.

I won’t hold my breath.

Wolves 0 Norwich City 1

Blog, FA Cup, Norwich, Uncategorized

Judging by Bruno’s post-match comments about the shortcomings of our squad, he must feel like the golden tit after again being sold short by Fosun.

Very little quality from either side

With the hierarchy continuing to weaken the squad, Bruno can’t be expected to turn water into wine forever.

A bang average Norwich side were there for the taking, but Bruno was inexplicably forced to deploy a negative 352 system with just one wide fit senior player to call upon.

Regardless of the contract situation, letting Adama go when Hwang and Neto are still a few weeks away from returning – and many more from getting back to up to speed – is unforgivable.

What makes it worse is a not-fit-for-purpose Donk chasing shadows between the lines. Expecting the Belgian to do the job of a technically gifted number 10 was excruciating to witness. Equally, playing balls over the top for Donk to chase seemed futile when he has no pace.

Neves and Moutinho were perfectly in control of the midfield for much of the afternoon. Bruno must be fuming that he had to stick an anonymous third man in there because of a lack of wide forward options.

However, there’s this nagging concern, that for all our possession, there’s a lack of clearcut chances being created. Is that down to the lack of quality movement in the final third? Silva, Raul, Podence and Trincao are probably all guilty in that department. It’s as if panic sets in of how to fashion a chance once the 18-yard box is in sight. Mind you, enough inviting balls were sent across the face of goal without being punished.

It’s performances like today and a depleted squad needing investment that makes me think we’re kidding ourselves about cup runs and any European aspirations.

Let’s face it, Bruno said as much post-match.

Chorley 0 Wolves 1

Blog, Chorley, FA Cup

I couldn’t give two hoots about a less than thrilling performance, or the lack of a more emphatic scoreline. 

All that mattered tonight was laying a certain 1986 ghost to rest and putting a god-awful week behind us.

Miles out, great hit

Yes, Chorley made it uncomfortable with their long ball onslaught, yes, we could have exerted more control in the second half at times, but we’re in the fifth round and avoided an unimaginable fallout should the unthinkable have happened in Lancashire.

I was pleased to see Vitinha, who should feel extremely hard done by for falling behind Gibbs-White in the pecking order, get his chance tonight. He’s shown more control and quality on the ball in his handful of cameos in recent weeks than MGW has done in two years.

Although he didn’t play quite as advanced as a 10 tonight, what he offers between the lines would be suited to a role behind Raul or Willian Jose in a 4231, if Nuno was to return to that set-up. 

As for the goal, all I need to say is that a certain Ruben Neves would have been proud of such audacity. 

I found it bizarre seeing Cutrone start, as he awaits his return to Italy. His link-up play was woeful and Fabio’s wasn’t much better. Ok, the service wasn’t the best, but both fell way below the required standard.

The first-half showing was satisfying. An early goal allowed us to go on to control the first 45 through Moutinho and Vitinha, rather than engaging in physical warfare and playing into Chorley’s hands. 

That platform gave us the chance to see the game out in the second period. It was like a Nuno performance of old – take the lead and control proceedings in and out of possession.

Two games away from Wembley and the sudden purchase of a proven and experienced number 9 at least gives us a some optimism to cling onto.

Wolves 1 Crystal Palace 0

Blog, Crystal Palace, FA Cup

I saw a couple of comments on social media earlier about not caring much for the FA Cup and wanting to concentrate on the league.

I must say I was of the opposite view – a cup run would be most welcome amid turbulent goings on at the Golden Palace.

Adama has come alive

Talking of Palace, they were once again the most obliging of opponents at a time when we needed to pull out a performance.

Give messrs Neves and Moutinho time and space on the ball and they’ll spray about glorious passes at will. No one more than me appreciates a stylish playmaker, so I’m glad our twin maestros are starting to get back to their best together. They just need the right system and set-up to shine.

I’m aware I bang on an awful lot about the Wolves midfield, but I’m firmly of the belief that when Neves and Moutinho are on song, the pressure is taken off the defence and we can concentrate on supplying Neto and Adama with the right service.

As for the Spaniard, a confident Traore is an unstoppable Traore. You could tell by the way he was mixing up his game, whether that was a cross from the right, driving into the box, or cutting inside and unleashing 20-yard thunderbolts! 

And a word for Semedo. A promising relationship is starting to form on the right between Nelson and Adama, with the former another growing in confidence. He’s improving defensively and starting to find his feet in attack.

It would be churlish to be too critical after a pleasing performance for the most part, but when will we sharpen up our game management? Adama could have been carrying a knock, but his early night inevitably gave Palace the encouragement they needed to pile the pressure on. Conceding the upper hand has cost us in the past and it will continue to do so in the future. Thankfully Palace were hopelessly limited in the final third.

Anyway, now for the fourth (and fifth) round draw on Monday night. Chorley anyone?  

Wolves 0 Man Utd 0

Blog, FA Cup, Man Utd

A dazzling light show and booming pyrotechnics played out to a Stairway to Heaven soundtrack to millions of households.

…It was as if Christmas hadn’t even arrived.

The hand of Doc – the closest anyone came to winning a drab cup tie

Let’s pretend it was December 24 instead, and a shared name in the hat for round 4 is the present under the tree. It’s a hat that does little for our appearance, along with a ball we’ve got little use for. Some cash would have been much more useful instead.

Thankfully for Nuno, money is something he should also be expecting from Fosun, like the obligatory pound notes from the relatives, falling from the obligatory cards that you glance to read.

The gaffer needs to get spending and his team needs some help, pronto. To call it a squad would be spurious in the first place as it isn’t one. It’s a commendable, talented side plus one or two kids, which always ends each game reverting to first XI mode. It’s a clutch of 21 names on the back of a programme, featuring Jordao, Kilman, Vallejo and Cutrone – the latter two are surely off anytime soon, if they haven’t left already.

We’re not so much thin on the ground, but absolutely shot to pieces, with only Pedro Neto purchased over the summer (effectively) when we were crying out for reinforcements back then – before a Europa / Premier League advent calendar opened up, featuring 36 windows and counting.

To then play last season’s conquests over Man Utd on the video-walls before kick-off was somewhat arbitrary, as that squad was actually stronger than the one we’re working with right now, only with a fraction of the workload sapping both body and mind.

The excitement and anticipation of a great cup tie that never got going

Neto is worth a mention, as his performance embodied the team’s as a whole. Very brave on the ball, always scheming and showing, but lacking in quality or composure to break down a Manchester United side who were wasting time at the death to take a replay back home. Our little Portuguese is young. We have come far.

In order to maintain the incredible position we find ourselves in, and to even gate-crash the elite that VAR is so crookedly protecting, we need some reinforcements. Otherwise, spectacles like this are the most we can hope for. It’s not that we were bad. Far from it. We just looked five or 10 per-cent off the giddy highs we’ve been spoilt with under our Bearded Wonder. Like the ones we were being reminded of on the video walls.

The worry is it’s a brooding beard, with Nuno’s haunting dark eyes demanding as much attention today as his hat-trick of first punches when we’ve won in the past. He knows those full-time festivities aren’t formalities when you’re playing five games in 12.

When Benny Ashley-Seal is picked over Cutrone, then the Italian’s days are numbered. And when looking at Leicester City – a team we aspire to catch – you can see where we’re still playing catch-up. A player in the James Maddison mould would be worth his weight in gold.

A key to open the door? A ‘target man’ to feed off the many crosses we don’t convert? An Alfred N’Diaye 2.0 to deal with Vicarage Road vigors? In short, a Plan B for spectacles like this at Molineux.

Nuno has a list of those things he wants.

An FA Cup replay won’t be on it.

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