This game had me thinking about A Christmas Carol.
In the first half we were given a tantalising glimpse into the future and what this team might become under Julen Lopetegui.
High pressing, winning the ball back in great areas and using that disruption to create clear chances to score.
After Lemina won it and Cunha blasted it into the corner Wolves were purring and probably should have had a second. Leicester were all over the shop and the home crowd was quieter than Tiny Tim.
Instead we over committed and got Scrooged on the counter, with Sa inexplicably digging into Vardy’s ankle having done the hard part in driving him wide of goal.
From there we were simply haunted by the mistakes of the past.
Off came Mario and with Ruben and Moutinho restored to the engine room we were back to knocking it side to side, more in hope than expectation of creating a chance.
It was a well crafted winner for Leicester but another familiar failure in not dealing with a cut back. Everyone was sucked in and nobody tracked Castagne.
There was little hope of recovery because they defended deep and the personnel on the pitch have shown time and again they can’t break down opponents sitting in a low block.
Our best chances came via long distance pot shots from the skipper, which is the same old yarn we’ve been spinning for years now.
The positive is that this game reinforced the idea that where we’re going is infinitely better than where we’ve been in the last year.
In the present, we still need a couple of points to turn that dream into reality and ease the fear of our untimely demise.
If we commit to the brighter future and don’t slip back into the errors of the past – I’m confident we’ll get them.
Seems we are betwixt and between at the moment. Like Thomas says let’s glimpse to the future. This game today is gone and if any team is going to end a dismal run it will be Wolves. All we can do is look to the next game. I reckon Southampton and Forest are gone. I will hazard a guess and say the final place will be between Everton. Leeds and Leicester. For us Palace at home represents a chance to get those 3 points that will surely see us safe.
Football. A competitive sport.
Two teams trying to win.
At the highest level, the stakes are, well, high. No team wins every game.
Today Leicester were literally fighting for their survival. At home. They won a tight game.
That’s all.
We absolutely are on the up. So let’s keep today’s disappointment in perspective.
We are an improving team under new leadership in the world’s toughest league.
7 points from the last 4 games.
We will be fine. The rebuild will continue in the Summer.
Oh, and Lemina was subbed due to a hamstring injury.
UTW
Well said.
Before the penalty, we were playing the best football I have seen from a Wolves team for yonks.
The crowd were on their back and Leicester had the look of a relegated side.
We were first to every ball and pressed and harried the poor foxes until they just retreated into their den with their tails between their legs.
Then came Jose Sa’s brain fade.
If it hadn’t been for that I think we would have won by two or three.
But after the goal we went back to the Wolves of old. And bringing Neves, Moutinho and Podence on only underlined the step forward we had made by, perhaps fortuitously, coming up with the Melina, Gomes, Nunes midfield. (Still not too sure about Sarabia).
Three points thrown away by one act of madness and then not being able to counter the momentum it gave to a very poor Leicester.
We’ve got to do better against Palace.
We are nowhere near safe yet after another jackal and Hyde performance,
First 30 mins we had them on toast and the crowd were on their backs and we could have easily scored 2 or more goals to kill them off.
But from that moment of the unlucky penalty ( Sar accidentally caught old man Steptoes heel while chasing him away from goal) they were inspired and the crowd woke up to cheer them on to victory as we started to misplace passes and go back to being second best at lose balls and to slow in attacks in the second half .
The substitutions didn’t work and we hardly threaten their goal with the new replacements and they had far better chances and look faster and sharper and could have easily score more.
Nothing comes easy with supporting Wolves a win there could have almost put as safe but that’s the life of being a Wolves fan ,we always do it the hard way
With old Roy’s boys,Brighton and Vile , next 3 games we need to get the points to stay up.
I won’t think we’re safe until we’re 10 points clear of relegation with 3 games to go if it goes down to the last 3 very difficult nervy games to get the points, then us fans might need to buy several new pairs of underpants
C o d I hope you’re right with your safety line at 34 /35 points
Don’t worry chap. The PPG served me very well in our promotion season. Way back in January 2018 I used PPG to predict our promotion would be sealed at Cardiff away. As it turned out it was Blues home next game. I am very confident we need maybe 1 point. Probably 2 . But never under estimate goal difference which is giving us in effect another point.
A very disappointing result after going 1-0 up. As has been said, until the penalty we looked really good. However, I don’t think Sa was entirely to blame for the pen because he had to go out to meet Vardy, forced him wide but then if you look carefully he loses his footing and slips into Vardy’s ankle; of course that’s still a penalty, and it did change the momentum. More important though, the second half surely demonstrates how important Lemina is in midfield and how lacking in creativity both Neves and Moutinho actually are. Very poor game management from us and I don’t think we’re safe yet. If we lose to Palace I will be very worried indeed that we’ll need something from Arsenal away on the last day. Grrrr!
Sadly, James, Neves seems to have decided that his future lies elsewhere. We should all be grateful to have witnessed his greatness during his time with us but surely now is the time to move on.
Similarly. old Father Time has caught up with Moutinho, and now he appears to have little to offer.
The new Wolves format, which revolves around pressing and midfield energy / control, must be allowed to develop and grow. And that surely means that Lemino and Gomez, who epitomize this approach, must become our mainstays in the midfield
Neves has always given 100% in a Wolves shirt and to suggest otherwise is totally disrespectful. He may have the odd ineffective game but has been head and shoulders above every other player this season. Without him we’d almost certainly be below Southampton.
In my opinion, we lost today because of a couple of ridiculous decisions made by our coach.
In the first half, playing in the way and with the formation we have recently demonstrated is our future, we were quite outstanding. High pressing and huge energy from Lemino and Gomez had Leicester all over the place. Then Lemino is taken off, and we lost his verve, determination and pace.
Why ? Is this tinkering really necessary ? Had we retained the starting format I believe we would have gone of to win the game
The introduction of Nevez and then Moutinho had no positive impact. Rather we reverted to type — endless sideways passing with no dynamic forward momentum.
But perhaps the biggest error of our coach was his omission of Jiminez from the squad. He must have known that Costa would be good for only around the hour, but when he was inevitably withdrawn, we had no one with similar qualities to replace him. This situation would have been ideal for the introduction of Raoul allowing Cunha to continue to play off a main striker. But now Cunha was left alone up front– a position in which he is patently inadequate. At a stroke, and entirely predictably, we were left toothless
Is it the case, I wonder, that Jiminez is being left out for non footballing reasons we know nothing about ?
The massive game against Crystal Palace looms. Please coach, Lemino and Gomez in midfield, and an immediate return to the mode of play which brought such great improvement — and results –against Chelsea and Brentford.
Agree Mike J.Lo got it wrong today subs were totally ineffective and why do managers tinker with a winning team…..if its no broken do fix it.
Mike.
As usual agree with you on everything except Jiminez. But I think you have touched on the central issue – Jiminez possibly shouldn’t be playing football and certainly hasn’t looked as if he should be (or even wants to) ever since “the accident”‘. And it’s a situation which we have failed to address adequately over 3 seasons (5 transfer windows).
PJB I agree with you that regrettably, given his life threatening injury, we will never again see the real Jiminez.
But the fact remains that for now he is the only option available as an alternative to Costa. We have no one else in the squad who can perform the role of a maim striker able to hold he ball up, and off whom Cunha can play. So what do we do when Costa is withdrawn ? Hwang, Podens et al are no real options.
It seems to me that without Jiminez on the bench we`ll lose all scoring potential for the rest of the game– as was clearly demonstrated today. So gong forward he must surely be in the match day squad
Tis strange as Jiminez recently had a run of a few games and looked to me to be playing himself into form, so can only imagine it’s for none footballing reasons that he’s not playing.
I don’t buy this leaving at the end of the season either, as needs must at the moment, at least as an alternative to when Costa is fading….
Clearly Raul is gone at the end of the season. There probably was a falling out between the two.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t play again.
Lemina stayed off with a hamstring issue, Costa went off for Hwang who has been far more effective than Raul over recent weeks. Imo Costa should have come off that early though and he was not happy about it.
‘shouldn’t’
Couldn’t agree more … I thought that we went to shit when we took costa off – we couldn’t get the ball, to stick in the final third, Lamina too
Poor substitutions . If I was going to tinker it would have been Toti off and Bueno on
UTW
You don’t keep players on the pitch if they have a hamstring problem. A week or so out is much better than 2 months.
Same old Wolves and same result a loss. This game was there for the taking but as on to many occasions this season we bottled it again.
With 1.0 up we relaxed and let them back in it was as if we thought the game and result was in the bag complacency has been the undoing of us all season.
The game was there to be won and had we taken our chances we would and should have.
Back to the drawing board for the umpteenth time this season…..frustrated is an under statement.
Frustrating,yes, but back to the drawing board? Hardly. This is what a relegation battle is all about as the season culminates. Highs and lows. Things were never as good as some suggested after the last two games and not as bad as they now appear.
No need to panic, time to keep cool heads; a point would have been good today though. We’re all playing guessing games as to where the line is but my take is that 37 points should see us safe and if we can’t get 3 points in 6 games we don’t deserve to stay up. My main worry is that we lose the home matches we shouldn’t so with Palace and Everton to come we need to change that, because the likelihood of coming away from OT or The Emirates with anything isn’t great, local derbies (Villa) are notoriously unpredictable and Brighton away isn’t really one of our favourites is it?
Before today I thought it was all over bar the shouting, now not quite so sure.
Big, big night on Tuesday and we really can’t afford to lose.
2 questions for the forum.
What’s happened to Sa?
And why oh why did he take Lemina off?
Just found out it was a hamstring injury
Another point. Under J Lo 24 points from 19 games represents a massive upsurge in form from 10 from 15. As others have said we seem to be in flux between the side that has gained loads of valuable points and what happened today when the pressure was on. I am confident J Lo keeps us up and then it is over to Jeff . Clear out? New signings ? Both ?
Yes, yes and yes to those three questions Cheese
Maybe the rumours that Wolves are going to sign a Spanish national team goalie are not that much of a long shot.
What rumours, John? Thereare rumours and then there’s absolute ****. He’s on £150k a week and would cost a ridiculous sum And,oh yes, he’s more error prone than Sa!
If Nuno can bring in Portuguese players, why can’t Lopetegui bring in Spanish players?
When does his contract end?
I guess he just signed a new contract.
Just tragic …the result is tragic and I’m not watching mat h of the day…it was there for the taking and perhaps we should if played Neves from the off…
I feel we are back in the shit ….ore vallium needed…
Can’t see us getting too much from palace they can sit deep and have plenty of pace which are right hand side does not like at all ,jlo I’ll need a proper game plan as he will against Brighton
Sa has become a massive liability his decision making and his distribution are nothing short of abysmal .
What has happened to the guy from his first season with us when he was stupendous ?
Ruddy would have been a better bet his shot stopping was almost as good and his distribution was way way better.
I see another keeper between the sticks next season.
Expect more fopahs before season end.
Maybe he misses Coady, who was the great organizer of our defence.
A quick butchers at the Premier League standings means I am clutching at straws for positives to take away from the King Power, in the absence of points.
Sadly I realise we’ve been doubled by both Foxes (6-1) and Leeds (6-3). Which ever way you look at it, that normally equates to an utter bollox of a season.
And our path to survival looks littered with a few more banana skins yet. Once more, my brothers, we must turn our heads skywards in fervent prayer, and hope the arch deacon isn’t a Villa supporter.
I can feel a cheeky Links grin on the horizon, and our defeat elevated in the MOTD rankings. All totally unnecessary. Where’s Traore when you need him?
1 lv & COYW.
Can we all please not forget the massive improvement under J Lo. 24 points from 19 games for a team in terminal decline. This bloke has rescued us from certain relegation. Just took 7 points from 3 games and we lose at Leicester and we get the inevitable extreme reactions. Blah blah blah. Blah blah. Flippin eck. Get some perspective.
Surprise. SECOND on MOTD when we lose.
I imagine Lineker had something to do with that!
And in the post match discussions… not one mention, not a single word .. nothing .. about Wolves performance or table standing.
Balanced or biased ( by influencer Lineker)
Nice to see you and yours yesterday Twix, you and Stu Wolf looked like a couple of butchers dogs, fit as fiddles.
Match of the day had nothing in common to the match we watched. we murdered them in the first thirty minutes, the home crowd were shell shocked.
M O T D never gives a balance view. Lineker bow your head in shame.
Great to see you too Witley and Sean … you looked good yourself mate .. always smiling and living life to the full…. just how it should be …
Typical wolves think we are safe, 2nd goal first half game over, sorry neves, moutino is now the past, get young tarore in, palace always win at molineux, my heart can’t take this, time for more whisky, wolves aie we.
Just to help your heart,Binda, Palace have actually lost three out of the last four times they’ve trod on Molineux ‘ s hallowed turf and, thankfully, Zaha may well be out with a groin strain.
The first half hour of the game reminded me of of the Arsenal v West Ham game, where the Arse were cruising 2-0 in the first 10 mins, then arrogantly took the mickey by just passing the ball around with no incisive penetration. They drew 2-2. We were so far in control of the game, but after the goal we seemed to be quite happy being one up.
The main deficiencies I see are :
1. In open play, we seem reluctant to shoot at goal unless we are in the penalty area.
2. Our set play (corners and free kicks) are distinctly innefective. I did not see one kick going anywhere near our attackers’ heads.
3. When everyone is half knackered in the last 15 mins of the game, why not bring the likes of Traore to bully the opposition.
4. …and speaking of Traore, why not give him a go at CF. His speed is brilliant, but so is his heading ability.
5. While most think the jury is still out with Sarabia, I believe we have better currently sitting on the bench
I am sure JLo reads these comments and taking notes. Watch the difference in the next game 🙂
In the PL, all teams have technically gifted players, and the margins between success and failure are often small in games. In reality, there is little to choose between the bottom dozen or so teams this season, other than those qualities of focus, determination, concentration etc within games. We were in total control yesterday until Sa’s mistake and the momentum in the game shifted at that point. Unfortunately we didn’t wrestle it back because of an unfortunate injury to Lemina and not for the first time substitutions that proved counter productive. Lopetegui is doing a decent job with a squad that is still in transition and he will probably need at least a couple of windows to get the players he needs to play the system he wants. This current squad somehow needs to get the 3-4 points needed to secure our PL status over the next 6 games and then the next stage of transition can begin. I expect at least half a dozen outgoings in the summer. There probably needs to be more but to do so would probably be too disruptive. The malaise created over the last 3 seasons will not be turned around quickly despite everyone’s efforts. We are where we are, we just need to survive .
Sutton
Can only agree with your assessment of the upcoming rebuild and don’t think it augurs well for an immediate bounce back to Nuno era standards in the immediate future; comfortable mid table is probably the best we can hope for next season which is leaving Fosun’s 10 year plan for European super club status looking a bit optimistic to say the least.
Looking to the immediate future potential departures in order of likelihood look to be-
Jiminez
Traore (Adama)
Guedes (permanent)
Moutinho
Neves
Nunes
Semedo
Ait-Nouri
Costa
The enigma that is Fabio
Would include Neto if he was fit
Whilst the commitment level of some the above has been often lacking the sheer potential weight of departing numbers will leave a huge vacuum for “the recruitment team” to fill and recent history would suggest they’re not up to it. So we can only hope Jeff (the recruitment team) will review the policy of leaving the majority of dealings (in AND out) to the machiavellian Mendes and allow a free hand to the manager to oversee his own recruitment and then back him, as to be fair he did in January. And look what an instant improvement it made. Lesson learned Jeff?
But before all this those on the pitch, including several of the above, have to roll up their sleeves and fight all the way to the survival line whatever it takes. They have allowed our great club to drift into a crisis so that’s the least they owe us before they move on to the next step of their lucrative career journeys.
I think Nunes, Semedo, Silva and Neto will likely stay PJB but otherwise I think your list is probably going to be pretty accurate. Of course, we are both only speculating but overall it gives a sense of the scale of change and transition we will be facing.
Think we are safe? . THINK AGAIN
I feel we should all pause and get things into perspective :
Wolves are extremely unlikely to be relegated. Several bookmakers were offering 33/1 shortly after yesterday’s games had finished, so this reflects their opinion. They reckon there are seven clubs more likely than us to go down. Furthermore, it seems to me some of the players play better when relegation threatens. In some cases maybe in their own selfish interests.
We seem to have a manager who could bring success over the next few seasons. It’s pleasing he’s had the common sense and self-discipline to stop his own stupidity on the touchline. It has to be accepted that success will partly depend on good fortune; selling players at good prices and buying new players who gel together which is not entirely foreseeable.
Finally, if things do go strongly in the right direction, enjoy it whilst you can. Only the best of the best managers bring more than three good years to a club. I’m not sure why, maybe overpaid and self- indulgent players simply decide they want a new face in charge. Loyalty, integrity and always doing your best seem to be values which are increasingly hard to find.
Unlike other outlets at least we’re not laying blame for this result at Neves’ doorstep.
For me the turning point, Sa’s brain fart aside was when Costa came off.
Whether it’s him or someone else, going forward we definitely need a player able to play that role .
That’s a lot of points weve coughed up this season and usually because we don’t get the second goal
So two Tuesday please lads
OODCL
The performance and scoreline, up to Sa’s brain fart challenge for the penalty fully deserved the credit being lauded .. we were by far the better team .. Leicester looked down and out … so that mad moment, imo, certainly changed the dynamic … helped by the vociferous crowd… not that we weren’t making some noise.
I’d go as far to say that their second was down to sloppy defending with Toti switching off at the vital moment … and Toti it was missing a good opportunity at the other end in the later stages…
I can’t help but summise that we gifted the Foxes their two goals and after that found it difficult to get control … and although Costa didn’t have the same impact as the previous week .. his replacement Hwang offered even less..
As is now usual Semedo went awol on a couple of occasions and the introduction of Mouthino took away our forward passing momentum for side to side, but non incisive, passing.
I thought our substitutions were a bit bizarre with Hwang and Podence adding very little… where perhaps Adama would have been more influential.
Still not there yet .. so hopefully a win on Tues will calm my nerves … although I’m not panicking just yet …
Don’t thinkAdama would have contributed too much as Leicester packed their defence which would have offered little space for him to run, still can’t see why we’re looking for left backs when we’ve only got one right back unless there going to give lemikister (?) a go when Semedo gets his 10th yellow
So…….. here is how the table looks with PPG projected to game 38…… I am not including anyone from Leeds upwards because I think they are safe. But I will include WWFC as a barometer. Here we go :
LEEDS 34.44 -21
LEICS 33.25 -13
EVTN 33.25 -22
NTMF 32.06 -33
STHT 28.50 -29
WWFC 40.38 -17
It will take an almighty swing for Wolves to be dragged in but we are not out of the woods yet.As the games go by it will look better. But I want one more win to neutralise the Arsenal away horrors of a last day melting pot for points. The mid week fixtures over Tue/Wed/Thu should make everything clearer. Including a potential titanic clash Leeds v Leicester. If you look at it from an absolute perspective Everton /Leicester can only achieve 46 points max. So in this respect we win 4 and draw 1 of the last 6 we are ABSOLUTELY safe! This scenario invloves Everton and Leicester winning every match. So as games tick by the safety line is coming in to view. Out of darkness cometh light as we move on. Personally 3 points v Palace will do me the world of good. I will also argue safety is assured.