The most impressive team Premier League history? The best Pep has ever managed? Better than his best Barca?
So many questions, so little answers when it comes to Manchester City, which sounds just about right for us and every other side to come across them.
If they’re not the most perfect sporting spectacle since Torvill and Dean’s Bolero then they’re close; toe-looping through whatever obstacles we threw in their path with effortless grace, spinning Nuno’s mind in the process.
He may as well have thrown a bouquet of red roses onto the pitch when Chris Kavanagh blew for half-time, in a match so one-sided that the ref would have waved it off in the first round or two, were it a boxing contest.
This is Manchester City for you, combining panache with pugilism to ensure that lightning could never strike in the same place twice – not that we really thought it ever would.
It’s been a few blue moons since we won 2-0 at the Etihad but City have added a triple salchow or two since then, while our routine was all too predictable – if not understandable – under the circumstances.
Knowing that Nuno would park the bus, City wheeled out four sports-cars of their own and revved them up top, not allowing us out and creating chances at will. It was another way to skin a cat, and this cat had used up all nine lives just making it to half time a goal down.
An improved second half reached a high point when Coady nodded in bravely from Moutinho’s free kick, but you still sensed we needed to be flawless from then on to nick the most outrageous of points. Sadly for us we weren’t, and those figure skaters kept gliding through on goal.
And thereby lies the difference between this year and last. When a late surge saw us take home the spoils, ever player was on point; executing their tasks with laser-like precision as was so often the case during the high points of last season.
We’re a pale imitation of that side right now and Adama Traore’s aberration for their second goal summed this very point up. When revelling as last season’s hero he could do no wrong all game, but was painfully poor in possession at the critical moment of this one, attempting to dribble around three players deep in our own third rather than give a simple ball to Neves. Within seconds, Jesus slammed the ball home, in a goal that did Semedo no favours either, owing to shoddy positional play. Owen Otasowie deserves more sympathy having just come onto the pitch cold, but those heavyweights in sky blue still scented blood and delivered another telling blow. Mahrez did the rest and there was still time for Jesus to cap a pretty biblical collective performance to give the scoreline a fair reflection.
Positives were Coady’s first Premier League goal from a Moutinho free kick, a quite remarkable performance in goal from Patricio (one of his best yet?) and an improvement in fortunes when switching back to the 3-4-3 with Adama and Neto either side of Silva. And dare I whisper that the young Portuguese is looking better?
Probably best to leave it at that and doff our caps to an extraordinary side, who we were always skating on thin ice against, to be fair.
It mostly felt like we were playing against 15 – they always had at least 2 options for passing and their pass accuracy (and speed of pass) stats must be amazing. The score line was a bit unfair with 2, perhaps 3, of their goals scored when we were dead on our feet, having had such a runaround for so long. Yes, there was something of a purple patch after scoring and some solid defending for much of the game, but we ran out of steam against a remarkable team. Only seems about 5mins since they and Pep were being written off.
Over the game as a whole, I think that he score line was probably a fair reflection. City are just a magnificent team. Brilliant individuals, and coached to perfection.
That we were still level just ten minutes from the end, owes much to the magnificent performance of Rui, but also says a lot for our character.
But it`s surely time to accept reality. This is where we are. Decent, but no more than that. Last night`s game demonstrated very clearly the huge gap that we still have to cross if we are to compete against the best. That begs one question. Just how serious is the intent of Fosun ? I guess we`ll know soon enough
I think you got this spot on mate. They’re a brilliant side and we don’t offer the same resistance as in previous years.
If we’re getting into the detail though, what disappointed me most, particularly in the first half, was how often we were architects of our own downfall, giving the ball away in terrible areas of the pitch when the press wasn’t even that severe. We needed calmer heads and better decisions.
Credit to them for digging in and making a proper game of it second half. We had them by the balls for about 5 minutes after the equaliser and with better finishing may have taken the lead. After that though, we were back to making mistakes.
Adama gave the ball away in the build-up to their second, but he wasn’t the only culprit. Neto, who had a terrible game and was petulant all night when the team needed a mature performance, switched off and allowed Walker to put that ball across. I know it’s frustrating when you’re an attacker who wants to drive forward, but we setup to defend and he should have dug in better for the team. Then Semedo played them all onside and couldn’t get the ball away before Jesus scored. He’s good between the boxes but always seems to punctuate decent performances with costly defensive errors and wastefulness in attack. I don’t know if he’s capable of cutting that out of his game.
I don’t need to highlight Ottasowie’s mistake for the third, but why the hell did Nuno send him on at that stage in the game anyway? What was there to gain for anyone there?
Rui should have tipped Gundogan’s shot around the post for the fourth goal but gets a pass for an otherwise great display.
Other notes…
Our season can be defined by the ball ricocheting off Dendoncker. Last night it was into his own net, which is funny when you consider how many he’s shinned at the other end of the pitch that have gone straight to the keeper, wide or over the bar. There wasn’t much he could do in that instance, but he was exposed defensively a few times and if Boly is fit again, should come back in on Saturday.
Hoever did alright defensively, but his distribution was awful. He has the stature and raw attributes to be a decent defender. I wonder if he would be better served as a centre half on the outside of a back three?
Good summary Ben. Agree on all points.
At our very best we might have been able to stifle this exceptional City team into giving us a point but with the individual errors all over the pitch they were never really going to be threatened by us.
I suppose we take solace in the fact that in that form there may not be a team in Europe that can live with them.
Time to move on. Bring on Villa
Having being totally outplayed, except for a 3 minute spell in the second half, it was an achievement to be 1-1 after 80 minutes, and their fans must have been somewhat worried about the outcome. Poor judgments by both Tarore and Ostasowie ended our fight, but against such a talented team, as least we were in the game for a long time. A win on saturday will be just the tonic that we need.
City are at a higher level this season. No doubt. We are certainly not at the level of the last two seasons. Currently on a trajectory to finish with 47/48 points which will be 11 or 12 less than last season. So the facts are undeniable. However, many have commented this is a season of transition with changes in personnel. I think draw a line under it, solid mid table finish and then we will see what Fosun are all about in the summer transfer window where we will need to further bolster the squad.
Agreed, Cheesy, I think the sensible bloggers are in agreement and realism has to take centre stage. City are” simply the best, better than all the rest ” as Tina Turner rightly says.
But Tina is far better looking than any of City’s players!!!
Yes, we made mistakes but what a class act Man City are. I was in awe watching them last night and Jill even questioned who I was supporting!
I had written this one off before kick off tbh so ….. Bring on Villa
Excellent assessment of the game Ben, thanks. For me the outcome was neither here or there in terms of our season, however, it was a watershed moment for me in terms of the bigger picture and our 10 year plan . Post game on the blog there was a lively debate between Paul AD67 and Cheeseburger of Death. Broadly, and apologies to them both for simplifying, there was a polarised view. In the one camp, we have come a long way, this is a season of transition, be patient with 10 year plan. On the other side, was a questioning of whether Fosun are still committed to the plan and a view that we should invest heavily and consistently as per Man City have done to challenge them and others in the top six. The reason for me that the game was a watershed is that whatever we have achieved over the last almost 5 years and whatever we are aiming to achieve over the next 5, I think the gap has widened between us and city this season. Look at their bench and compare it to ours. Yes, we’ve had injuries but so have they e.g aguero, ake and until recently de bruyne. I think this summer is absolutely critical and will persuade a lot of wolves fans one way or another in what is an increasingly polarised debate as to what the next 5 years will bring. I salute what Nuno and Fosun has achieved, we have set up a fantastic base camp from which to press on for the summit but know the terrain becomes even trickier and we will need the very best mountaineers to make it.
Sutton we have no idea what Fosun will do over the next few years. That goes for every owner of every football club.
All I can say is so far even if they’re not always getting it right, so far there has been no unwillingness to invest. Who knows if that will continue?
Yes the gap is wider this year. We’re not quite as good and they’re better.
The truth is they’re one of a small few that are better this season. In fairness Villa are too but it really couldn’t have got much worse.
The gaps between sides will always fluctuate and I don’t know about you but I refuse to shout for regime change the first time we hit a relative rocky patch.
Everton, West Ham, Leiceter have also improved.
Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal – and particularly Sheffield United – have joined us in being worse this year
No I’m not calling for regime change. I’m just flagging that I think the summer is going to be pretty pivotal in convincing our collective fan base that the 10 year plan is still on track. Fair enough if things get recalibrated, it’s about expectations being managed I guess
Its not only expectations that have to be managed. FFP will also be a major factor.
We can only hope Fosuns pockets are as deep as their stated ambitions.
Tim Spiers thinks Fosun’s 10-year plan has changed to their 20-year plan.
Happy days
No more championship for at least 15 years
Just wonder if, realistically, we will ever be able to complete financially with the likes of City and United . . . . . . . .
Great write up Ben. Nice to see someone is living in the real world. Shocking first half not a effort or shot on there goal. Your right regarding our team of last season and this shows how we have let standards slip.
City are what I would love Wolves to be you only have to look at there bench and ours to see the differences between the clubs and there owners. City’s bench packed with internationals, quality like for like with that on the pitch were as Wolves benched packed with kids.
Nuno parked the bus which meant we spent the whole of the first half yeah Cheesy repelling wave after wave of attack I wasn’t to far off with the score either Cheesy.
We offered nothing in the first half showed them way to much respect . Coady got his goal why doesn’t he go up for set pieces and corners more often according to Talking Wolves Nuno has told him not to.
Reason why I have my doubts about FOSUN not a vendetta they done nothing to me so why would I have one.
1. Sacked MD Darylwinkle or whatever his name is not replaced him, he said that he and Jeff disagreed on direction of the club.
2. Stadium redevelopment. 2 years since pictures of the new Molinuex were splashed all over Express and Star and plans approved nothing since in fact could of built the Steve Bull and the South Bank in last 12 months while there have been no fans allowed in stadium.
3. Planning permission granted for 500 seat stand between Steve Bull and South bank last year nothing happened also why …….what sort of ambition does this project to fans temporary stand.
4. Transfer policy. Based on sell on value, ones for the future yet team needs strengthening here and now. Net spend on transfers in the black.
5. Owner with a personal fortune near £7 billion mark.
6. One man board Jeff no communication up date with fans on Stadium/vision plans for future for months.
7. Lack of transfer funds made available to Nuno in January who had to back pedal on his assessment of the squad when he first said it needed strengthening then said the solutions were in the squad and Jeff eventually relented probably due to fan pressure even then we don’t buy anyone we loan a striker.
8. Statement of intent by Jeff when he first arrived ” not going to make up the numbers going to compete with the top six ”
It not just investment in players , we go on about getting more revenue in yet we are looking at building temporary stands for 500 fans what’s happened to 40,000 to 50,000 seat Molinuex this investment does not come under FFP rules.
People will say COVID has hit us hard but it’s the same for every club and I would refer them to point 5. our owners worth best part of £7 billion.
I might be completely wrong and FOSUN come good on their promises starting this summer with a decent transfer budget I will happily hold my hands up to Cheesy and everyone else I really hope I am but to me the signs which I have seen with previous owners are there above.
Just a point on City’s owners they actually sound Wolves out when Morgan was in charge they looked at buy us, why they didn’t God only knows probably Morgan had £ signs in his eyes asked to much and that what makes it all the more guorling seeing City they have and will continue to invest even despite the effects of COVID.
To be fair Paul. If you see how I finished my comment above I did say we will see what Fosun are really all about come the summer transfer window. Who knows what they will do. Time will tell.
I know mate fair play to you…….Look all I want to know are FOSUN serious about taking us to the next level if not if they have changed their mind fair enough…….but tell us don’t lead us on come clean we can all move on them.
That’s the crux of it for me Cheesy.
Paul excuse me for not living in the real world. I’m my world you can’t always have what you want when you want it.
Stamping your feet screaming “I want I want” doesn’t work.
As I said on the other thread, unless you’ve got a spare billion you’re going to have to live with Fosun’s timeline.
No one stamping there feet as you put it I’m making observations my views.
Look again fella I don’t ask you to read my blogs or care. If you don’t like or disagree with me fair enough, then don’t read my blogs it’s as simple as that.
Where’s the fun in that?
I disagree with you, you disagree with me.
And sorry I didn’t realise it was your blog!
Not mine , I never said it was keep on reading and disagreeing not bothered either way.
Blimey, I didn’t know you had such views mate,
Why haven’t you mentioned them before?
Utw
As Paul so eloquently puts it, if you don’t like my blogs, don’t read them.
Memo to Paul:
How do we know we don’t like, or like, something, until we’ve read it?
But you CAN expect the current custodians of OUR FOOTBALL CLUB to honour their promises or if not doing so at least explain why.
I think you’ll find it difficult to seriously challenge Paul’s 8 points.
And I haven’t seen anyone actually call for regime change as you indicate above.
Fosun have been of great benefit to WWFC to date, but it’s pretty clear that, at least for the moment, the brakes are on and we are perfectly within our rights as the club’s major stakeholders to ask questions as to why.
Back in the day as CEO of a large UK Corporation I made the decision to source a proportion of our base raw material from a Chinese manufacturer. This involved visits to mainland China
What I found was, to say the least, surprising. The product was first class. The plant superbly laid out ,and equipped with state of the art machinery. Service levels were outstanding. But there was one huge difference, which is very relevant to our situation at Wolves.
Personal attitudes. The understanding of everyone as to their position / status and their unwillingness to challenge it.
Decisions from above are routinely accepted at all levels, the philosophy of bowing appropriately and getting on with it, universally applied. To voice a contrary opinion could well have dire consequences.
And that`s just what we`ve got with Mr Shi, by his own admission a man with limited football knowledge and experience. A well trained puppet who knows his place in the Fosun hierarchy. It`s not his place to question or to suggest. His role is to follow and apply. In good times when Fosun says sing loudly, he will become the best tenor in the choir. In times when his masters are less bullish, he will suddenly lose his voice.
My take is that Thelwell quickly sussed this out and departed. It appears that Dalrymple dared to challenge, so he was out. And that leaves Mr Shi in sole day to day charge of our Club, a man well used to deference, and obeying instruction from his masters.
This is not necessarily bad for the Club– but only for as long as Fosun remain committed to their plan. The real problem will arise if the plan is significantly amended, since there will be no one to challenge and fight for us. Certainly not Mr Shi. Then what !!
Mike
Very valid summary of the cultural philosophy and attitudes prevailing at WWFC. Jeff Shi was shouting from the rooftops when told to do so and has become the Jeff The Invisible since. Whether some accept it or not. it’s pretty obvious that our owners have, at the very least temporarily, cooled on their initial high profile ambitions for Wolves. And I believe the departure of Laurie Dalrymple marked a watershed in the whole Fosun / Wolves scenario. Basically he took on the head office man and as usually happens he lost. And my view is that we have in real terms gone backwards since. Certainly on recruitment Jeff Shi (in cahoots with Mendes / Fosun-Gestititute ) seems to be in sole charge which has seen the “ones for the future” strategy take precedence over the present – a flawed strategy imo as you have to attempt to do both in conjunction. The golden future won’t arrive unless you look after the present.
But Semedo, Marcal, Podence and Jose are not ones for the future. They are for the here and now. Whatever you think of them.
Yes but Doc and Jota were still for the present and realistically Jose and Marcal are only cheap temporary stop gaps.
Would have been more than happy wit Podence and Semedo as additions to the squad’s quality / depth rather than just replacing players sold at joint profit of around £50 million.
Big spending Wolves is a myth – net spend on players under Nuno is around £200 million in 4 years.
You always seem well researched pj so I’m sure you’re numbers are correct.
We all know how good forum have been but you’re numbers show that they have been unbelievably successful with such a small spend .
What you think of the quality in our team for money spent, we must be the envy of many premier league club.
Also , it’s time we move on from jota, Neto is an upgrade and semedo is an up grade on Doherty from the start of next season ( and with money in the bank)
Utw
Marney
Agree with all that and of course we have to move on.
I am on record as praising our overall recruitment since Fosun took over, but you have to admit that over the last 18 mots it has become, at the least “eccentric”. Great value for money to a point, but as it stands £55 million for Cuitrone and Silva plus half a season’s wages for Willian Jose doesn’t look great.
And I do think Fabio will come good, but not yet convinced that it will be £35 million good.
And yes £200 million on what we have and have had does represent very good value but I am always at great pains to dispel the myth of “megabucks / Portugal B” Wolves etc to idiots from elsewhere. In PL terms it’s far from a fortune.
Believe it or not I love this football club and have done since I was a young boy back in the days of Stan Cullis.
I’ve seen it all and in that context Fosun will take some beating, but on the other hand they did make some very loud noises 3 years ago and have since gone into hiding. at-least for the moment.
The trouble with having one person in charge is its one person’s view, plan there is no one there to say…..hang on why don’t we do this.
A certain Adolf Hilter is a classic if extreme example what can happen when one person is in charge……..we all know how that ended.
We conquer Europe
He lost 2-0
Ha, so he did.
He could start quickly though and got ahead at halftime so,,,,
What has Adolf Hitler got to do with Wolverhampton Wanderers
Great summaries. It was a tough watch as a lot of games have been this season. Adama, of whom I’m a big fan, was mightily culpable for the second goal, losing it in an unecessary dribble then not even tracking back to atone for his error.
But all around the pitch, for us , players were falling short of this tough if not impossible challenge. I’ve always thought we are better with a three in mid-field, 2 up top, and five at the back. Otherwise we get overrun in key areas, and don’t get the ball to our attacking threat.
At least then we compete and do not resemble a team of schoolkids chasing shadows for the best part of the first 45 minutes and then various minutes of the second when Nuno tells them to play a higher line.
One of either Saiss or Dendoncker for me has to help out Neves and Moutinho in that key central area. But who to play as a front 2? When we had Jiminez and Jota there was really no debating but now? It’s a real conundrum? With both of our Centre forwards looking short of Prem quality, I suppose it has to be Traore and Neto, but maybe Jose and Neto, giving Adama a rest for his sins in this game.
It’s really irrelevant me saying it as Nuno knows his best formations and players? Us fans only speculate about team selections and formations when we are playing crap! But last night’s selection two right wing backs? What was that all about?
Of course we should have lost this game but we were beaten before kick off. A glaring sense of panic every time we got the ball. They are Premier League players yet convinced themselves, thanks to the defeatist attitude of the boss, they couldn’t even make a game of it. Cheltenham Town ran them much closer recently, and you suspect a lower league side going there in the cup would have showed more fight and bravery.
Too many fans seem to be prepared to brush it off as ‘but it’s City’. West Ham turned up at the weekend, gave it a good go showing some real quality and almost got a result.
Nuno’s policy of not competing first halves of games almost spectacularly paid off but getting anything out of this would have been a scandal.
Agree Rich……prepare yourself for a lot of dislikes but the truth hurts mate.
Rich
I also felt that from the off we were almost playing to manage the magnitude of defeat rather than at least trying to get a result. And when we did start to play we actually looked the part for about 20 minutes.
It’s all part of the bunker mentality Nuno has developed.
Personally would rather lose 3-6 playing with some belief.
Not only that Rich, but the approach we adopted to this game was completely wrong and Ill-considered. When you’re up against a an ultra-high performing team like Citeh of today or Barca in their golden days, the worst thing you can do is sit back, offer nothing offensively and hope to steal a point. Doing that plays to the opponent’s strengths. Do that and you voluntarily concede possession to them all the time and that’s ideal for them. They love possession for goodness sake.
Instead we should have strived to attack them and force them on to the defensive whenever we could. Putting them on the defensive is certainly not their strength, it’s their weakest area and doing everything we could to play as much of the game as possible in their half of the field would have been much better for us.
Most managers, Nuno included, look to try and grind it out and it results in their team hanging on for dear life for the whole game desperately hoping that they’ll not concede while allowing the oppo to play around our box and threaten to score throughout the whole match. It’s doomed to end in disaster most of the time.
Yes, Nuno needs to wake up to that I think and oh! Another thing. Can somebody please tell Adama that he is allowed to pass the ball to a teammate please? Because of his reputation, he now seems to think that whenever the ball comes to him he has to try to run with the ball and ignore any other option. He does it all the time and it cost a goal at a crucial time yesterday.
City look like becoming the greatest team in PL history. On top form, as they were last night, they are unstoppable. With the score 0-0 and our bus firmly parked, I began to dream of holding on for the bore draw, just to spite the TV commentators. At 1-1, I began to dream that my bet, Wolves to win and BTTS , at 26/1 would come in! When Traore blazed over with the score still 1-1, I began to wake up…
Some positives from the match. Patricio back to his best,. Silva settling in, just needs more match time. Coady got his long deserved Wolves PL goal and has now equalled his scoring record for England! I think we can hold our heads up high, or high-ish. We lost a bit of concentration towards the end and just played into City’s hands. Onto Villa to make amends.
Fair summation Dances. I think the loss of concentration towards the end can be explained. Every Wolves player was knackered. A bit like a boxer who has taken too many hits to the body and is all set up for the knockout.
Was it Bill Shankly who said, it’s very tiring not having the ball ? Whoever said it, it’s bloody true!
Mind you, where does this leave Nuno’s default counter-attacking strategy? It worked well back in the day when we had Boly, Doc, Jimenez and Jota firing on all cylinders.
I think that’s just it though dances, nuno knows he needs to dominate games more, probably since the exit of the Europa league.
He did try it this season but we were found wanting- no preseason to implement it- players unable to adapt quickly enough or maybe not having the right players?
I believe we will start next season playing four at the back and dominating games more .
City are unbelievable though, they can switch formations, change things up from the bench and hurt any team .
Ya never know, that maybe us one day
Utw
Brilliant game by City, typified by Pep’s attitude of being upset at our audacity to score and give them a scare for the next 10 mins. That’s why he and his team are the best in Europe, bar perhaps Bayern. Fair result too, in the end, Rui avoided a rout. No point looking at individual errors for the late goals, the lads were mentally and physically drained by then, the trip to Newcastle was clearly not ideal. We had 4 quite inexperienced players on at the end, still missing Boly/Raul/Dan and Jonny not match fit so the outcome was inevitable. Learn and move on.
Here’s a new take for you which shows Pep was rather worried beforehand.
It has hardly rained in Manchester over the past fortnight yet the pitch resembled a suet pudding. Why would this be?
After last year’s stunning performance, Pep evidently needed to try and nullify our fleet footed forwards and what better way than ridiculously overwartering the pitch in the days before so that it became extremely heavy. Despite having the best team in the league he wasn’t going to take any chances so, in a way, there’s a compliment for you.
Or even overwatering!
Did look extremely heavy ped.
The after match interview was respectful also.
He said he thought we were one of the toughest teams in the prem to set up against.
All things considered I was pleased with our performance.
Wow first of all City are probably the best team in world football now
They work tremendously for each other number of time when we had the ball we got surrounded by 3/4 city players was unbelievable
Pitched looked to be twice the size because of their movement
We gave it all with what we had but in the end when we went toe to toe they damaged us
We are quite a way from where we want to be, players were eased off the ball by strength and some of our players pace is well short
We will learn a hell of a lot from that experience (hopefully) because we were beaten by a top top team
To get there we must evolve and not become a selling club, as City have evolved
Go back to when Shi is reported to have said to Fosun when asked if we needed any money and his reported reply was No
Well if we are to get anywhere near City in future years we do need more funds in the next transfer window
Leave this year as a transitional year for Nuno to evolve the team (hopefully he can do it).
Reminded me when I played table tennis and we draw the top team in the West Midlands to beat them we had to get just 4 points out of 21/game. Needless to say even hoping for lucky edges and their mistakes we never got near them
Support Wolves for ever so we go again put this game behind us and go and stuff the Vile
Jeff out!
I am convinced, on appeal, that the result will be overturned and the three points awarded to us.
A sporting event is supposed to be fair, both teams given an equal chance.
But City cheated blatently all match.
They wouldn’t give us a go with the ball.
Next year, if City somehow manage to avoid relegation this season, we should take our own ball and play them at their own game.
I actually thought there were some positives to be gained.
We didn’t roll over and die until the last few minutes, and had them worried for long periods as they couldn’t get a second goal.
For all their possession stats, their attempts on goal were dealt with adequately.
And may I remind y’all, we did score the first two goals of the game!
But, as my headmaster used to put on the vast majority of my school reports, must do better, plenty of room for improvement.
If Boly was fit enough to be on the bench, why did he not play?
How has Kilman blotted his copy book?
Why persist with Traore when he hasn’t produced any end results to his runs, apart from Leeds, in over a year?
Why bring Otasawie on with two minutes left, when it was obvious any sub would need more time, especially against City, to acclimatise to the game?
Yes, we all thought we would lose, but with a bit more concentration, we could have sneaked a point.
Anyway, as stated above, water under the bridge and all that, we only beat City when they are reigning champions!
Liverfool next home game, current reigning champions, easy three points for us!
FOwbap
An exceptional City squad. Not just in their skill on the ball but in their ability to regain possession very quickly (and high up the pitch) when it was lost. Their pressing at times was relentless and even when we were able to move the ball out of our half the sheer physicality of the likes of Rodri, Laporte and Dias saw it quickly returning in our direction. The inevitability of the result even makes its hard to feel disappointed.
Kudos to Rui for an exceptional evenings work.
On a positive note, we don’t have to play them again this season…
With all due respect, I completely disagree. The commentators were saying the same thing as you about how City were dominating us and how overpowering they were as I was saying to myself “Don’t they watch us play? We’ve been playing that way for 2 1/2 years.”
At some point they realized that with all of the possession City had, they really only had one or two good chances during the first half.
As for the three second half goals, I missed the last one but I thought one of their players fell in front of Traore, effectively blocking him. I would have thought the whistle should have been blown. Forgive me because I can’t review that to see if I was remembering correctly.
Anyway, if we would have kept it to 2-1 or 3-1, I wouldn’t have been too upset but 4-1 doesn’t look very good.
Tough game, I was hoping things would be all square at halftime, so to be all square at 80 minutes had be happy clapping.
It wasn’t to be though and the best team won .
Last six games- won 3 drawn 2 lost 1
Not too bad at all and if I’m not mistaken, Liverpool are the only top team that we haven’t beaten since returning to the premier league so I fancy it big time.
I won’t be content that our luck has averaged out for this season until we get the injury time penalty and all three points against da villa Saturday.
Then it’s just send Sandwell down and ruin a few teams end of seasons hopes and draw a line under 20-21 .
Utw
Here’s a question for everyone. Why would someone called Ruben Semedo have “N Semedo” on their jersey?
You were watching the BT Sport coverage as well then were you Tim?
To be fair, the commentator did correct himself later.
And as the famous Admiral once said, as someone asked him just before the Battle of Trafalgar, about his uniform jacket being a bit too garish:-
“There’s no ‘arm in it”.
Why did the expert commentator come out with the comment “city have a very strong bench tonight”
Absolute joke
City basically have 2 full teams that Pep can rotate at his will
No matter how much better City were than us… no matter how many times we gave the ball away or chased shadows… no matter the amount of great saves Rui made, or how many goals we presented to them on a plate…
…The memory that will live with me for as long as I draw breath, and try to cram my ever expanding girth into a ‘Large’ Wolves third strip shirt…
… Is the look of sheer, grim, “I will not be bloody denied!” determination on Conor Coady’s face as he fought his way, through the flailing mass of Manchester City boots, on to the end of Moutinho’s inch perfect cross to head our equaliser.
Maybe it WAS our first touch in their penalty area.
Maybe it WAS the first attempt we had on goal.
But who cares?
It’s that attitude, that grit, that fight, which exemplifies all that is good about the man… and the club I support.
And it will stay with me long after the pain of the defeat has faded into the statistical compost heap of history.
So you like him a little bit, then, Doogle??
Whatever gave you that idea?
Yes, I do. Even if I can’t spell his name properly.
It’s actually Conor Coady.
Whoosh.
It’s irony Tim.
Or should it be irrony?
There’s only one Cona Cody, one Connor Coady There’s only one Conor Coady.
We seem to have progressed as much as we can with Nuno and the amount of money Jeff is willing to put into the team.
I know Jeff thinks he is a footballing genius and can progress without any money from Fosun but this season should tell him otherwise.
In the last two seasons, he could brag to the chairman that we were the best of the non “Big 6” and were self-financing. This season, we are not. Leicester, West Ham, Everton, and maybe even Leeds and Villa are ahead of us without the much bigger revenue stream.
Is finishing 10th going to attract fans in China, which seems to be one of the main plans for increasing our revenue stream?
Is Chairman Guo going to be happy with a mid-table team that plays a relatively bland style of play? Will Pedro Neto stay here if he is restricted in his offensive play?
So what are the options?
How much can Fosun increase spending while remaining inside the rules? Would that amount make a significant difference?
Is Nuno too set in his ways? Is he capable of unleashing our players’ full offensive potential or does he still require them to play within his defense-first style? Why can’t midfielders get the ball to the CF more often rather than passing sideways and backward? Are they judged more harshly if they try to pass forward and give up possession and therefore don’t try? We have seen a short demonstration of what Diogo could do when playing under a different coach with a different style and responsibilities. Is that just a fluke or would it continue if he hadn’t been injured?
Would it help to change the wage structure? Even if we can get a bargain on a world-class player, many of them demand more than 100,000/week, which seems to be the limit.
One of the cheapest ways to move forward is changing the coach. Of course, there will be some risk but it might pay off in a completely new style of play that unleashes the talent of our forward players. Of course, who is going to come here if Jeff tells them there will be no additional money spent on new players?
Big Sam.
He will be out of work come the season end.
Nuno out!
He’s crap!
Done nothing for the club!
Worst manager in the history of the universe.
If I wasn’t going to get shit from the blog namby pamby, butter never melts in their mouth nazis, I would disagree vociferously, but I am not allowed to use mild expletives, nor even proper swear words, as I might offend a lady’s bike or something, so I will refrain.
I still think you talked bollocks above, but then again, most people on here think that about me, and I love it, so don’t feel insulted!
We are all entitled to our own opinion, as long as it agrees with a certain other person who has hogged the blog recently. ( and it’s not Stilton or me)
Have a lovely day, y’all.
Why don’t you point out what you disagree with?
Are we still the best of the non “big 6”? That used to be our excuse for not progressing further.
Here here
Still can’t communicate with regressing back to your childlike self Clive…..will you ever grow out of those short trousers.
Any way me hogging the blog makes and change from you and your ” Click” I’ve got my own opinion don’t need to be in a gang.
Firstly, I haven’t regressed to my childlike self, I never left it.
Who wants to be a boring adult?
Secondly, I wear shorts, and T shirts for about 10 months of the year, and will never grow out of them, it’s too friggin’ hot!
And whether you like it or not, you are in a gang………………….The Wolves supporters gang, like wot the rest of us are.
I really hope we can get together at a Bloggers Ball in the near future, so you can buy me a pint, and we can have our disagreeing opinions face to face, like I’ve done with Stilton in the past, lovely bloke that he is!
Have a great evening.
Love from Texas.
Fair play……..Peter Pan.
It’s one way of looking at it but I would suggest having Nuno sacked is still a minority view amongst Wolves fans. Indeed it is a notion that many will find repulsive. Nuno deserves much more respect. End of.
I thought the same of Barry Douglas. And Sako. And Bonatini.
Nuno said of Bonatini that sometimes teams just outgrow certain players.
Maybe the same goes with managers.
There is no clique Paul. Just a number of bloggers on here who have a different outlook to you. You shouldn’t get so wound up about it. No one minds you having a different opinion but you should expect to get challenged . I dish it out enough on here and folks make it clear when I step out of line. Fair enough.
I remember the debate about whether we should keep Paul Lambert and stock the team with seasoned Championship players or get a European coach we never heard of with some young but quality players form there, too.
Many wanted the status quo and thought that an unknown coach who was unfamiliar with the Championship and English football would be a mistake.
I personally think they were wrong – nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I see Sheff Utd have beaten Villa. What does this mean in Doom and Gloom land? What with their fabulous transfer window, style of play, brilliant season compared to ours. Just relieved it wasn’t us who lost to them. There would have been meltdown on Twitter amongst our ‘fans’.
Just noticed Sheff Utd played with 10 men for 35 minutes. Shock horror. Villa should be thrashing teams like that. And magnificent Leicester couldn’t beat Burnley. Wolves should be thrashing sides like Sheff Utd and Burnley don’t you know?
Very droll, if you have the benefit of a sense of humour in your ‘click’.
There is a lot I could say about the match. The strange team selection, the bizarre formation, the non-sensical substitutions, the largely abject performance……but let’s not be negative. On the plus side Patricio once again proved just what an outstanding keeper he is and those 19 minutes after Captain Fantastic scored his first ever Premier League goal were magical. I was in absolute shock. Truly my flabber had not been so gasted for many a year.
We move on.
OODCL
Ben & Thomas have said it all. Superb summaries.
Nuff sed from me.
Great write up Ben. Thank you for taking the time to eloquently put to paper (or internet) a passionate and fair assessment of the game.
My take on things on this occasion is that I am honestly taken aback that there are so many fans upset and over reacting at the result. Am I not correct in my recollection that the reigning champions Liverpool just recently lost to City by the same scoreline? I mean, seriously, did anyone really expect us to get anything out of this one? What the heck are you all smoking? Send me some :-).
City are 14 pts ahead of second place and all but already won the title. They have enough quality in depth to field an A team and a B team and they would take 1st and 2nd places. Guys, come one, sure, flukes happen but, really? We played the game, rode our luck and put on a fight at 1-1, but eventually the best team one. No shame here. Nothing to see. Move on.
With respect to some, personally i think some humility and respect are in order. Let’s be clear about one thing: FOSUN owe you/us nothing. OK? NOTHING! They own the club. They bought it and have brought us manna from heaven. They have made our dreams come true again. We were lost all those years flailing in the ebbs of the lower divisions, owner after owner, false dawn after false dawn. We were a dodo! Laughing stock! And then Fosun came along and gave us life out of nowhere. They gave us the best years since the days I was watching the Doog as a boy. They pulled us out of the swamp we were in and established us as a competitive Premier League outfit, who on a good day is now feared by any team. Respect! Please.
Make no mistake, I have said this before, this is a business, and like all businesses, it needs to be profitable. I believe Fosun are totally committed to making Wolverhampton Wanderers successful; why wouldn’t they? They want their business to be successful. But the path to success is not always obvious and sometimes required patience. It’s true that this season we took a step back for a variety of reasons: Covid, injuries and hiring mistakes. But amidst all that, to be still placing mid-table in the EPL – hey, I’m a happy camper.
Like John Mayall puts it: “You can always make a list of what’s going wrong, But your list of blessings will be twice as long.”
No, I’m not going to get upset because we lost to City. No, I’m not going to be upset because we won’t place top 6. And no, I’m not going to disrespect Fosun or Nuno or the players who are trying to get the best they can from this season. I’m going to continue to enjoy the journey and look forward to where it will take us. And be grateful for the fact that for the last few years, people in the street in California now recognize the Wolf logo on my cap when I walk by. Nobody had a clue what that was before Fosun!
Go Wolves!!
Total respect to you too, GoWolves, just as eloquent as Ben and truly sums up how most of us humble and grateful fans feel. Look forward to more of your posts. That California sunshine must suit you!
Hi GoWolves.
Can you please confirm the John Mayall track and album, as I don’t recognise it?
Just asking for a 73 year old!
Cheers
Yes, of course, it’s from a song called “I Can’t Complain”. It’s got some fun lyrics. As one would expect from the master Bluesman. Enjoy!
The album’s called “A Sense of Place”.
Thanks mate not familiar with that album. I’ll have to look it up.
Shhhhh , you’ll get called a happy clapper if you carry on being all sensible like that .
Seriously though, brilliant post , anyone who thinks they have seen all this before with previous owners haven’t been watching the same team as I have over the last 50 years.
Fosun and nuno are the best thing to happen to wolves for many decades, they at least deserve respect and more than a little patience during this covid era .
Utw
Thank you Go for a good summing up of how many of us view Fosun and all they have brought to Wolves and those of us who support them (good times and bad).
To those who (despite FFP) would like them to chuck money at the club and if they don’t would like to see them gone who are you expecting to see replace them? There are n’t more than a couple of oil rich sheiks around and probably only one Russian(to whom even our feeble government won’t give a visa) prepared to throw a couple of super yachts worth at the Wolves.
There is nobody else likely to be interested in a smallish club from an obscure part of an island off Europe, so give thanks for Fosun and support them, the coach and the players.
I’m not looking to replace them, I asking them to honour there promises and we are not a smallish club IMO you might think so.
Paul, out of curiosity, what are you referring to when you say “honour their promises”?
Oh do change the record.
What promises have been broken?
The only one I can think of is they promised to get us out of the Championship in three years and they did it in two.
Brilliant post a proper Wolves man.
Is Beckham’s wife’s business profitable?
Awesome Go Wolves. Absolutely spot on. It has been said before on this blog….. perspective.
Excellent GW. brilliantly put.
Still shaking my head in absolute disbelief at the number on here who predicted anything better than a defeat in this game.
Total respect for your opinion kiwi but its one thing hoping for a win against what was the most efficient team I have seen i the Premierleague but I don’t think we could have drawn against this lot . Was like England trying to outplay Germany in the late 80s /early 90s
Was never going to happen, not even if we wanted it.
And boy did we want it..
.
Thanks kiwi , now I feel a bit silly having bet on us and the draw !
Called loyalty and being Wolves.
Response to Nameless!
I really don’t understand that comment “used to be our excuse for not progressing further”.
Why on earth do you think Fosun have any need to find any excuses, justification or apologies. I’m pretty certain they don’t recognise a need to apologise.
They took on a club that had managed to cling onto four miserable premiership seasons out of the 29 seasons it has been in existence. We were the very definition of a Championship club, and our crowds reflected it. Pretty much the same definition that Peace applied to our Sandwell neighbours who have managed 13 seasons in the Prem.
We are not the ‘chosen’ people and the Mol is not situated on top of an oil field of gold deposits. The whole financial sub-structure that keeps this club established as a true Premier League Club for the first time in its history is provided by Fosun. If they choose on occasions to balance their books by reducing their investment or even realising their investment that is their right and entitlement. Much as people would wish it to be otherwise they are not a registered charity.
Hopefully Fosun will approve a business case that ‘refreshes assets that have been struggling this season. But, in spite of all the injury and confidence issues Nuno still manoeuvred his team into a position of being on level terms with ten minutes to go on the home territory of the best club team in Europe (therefore arguably the world).
This people blaming Nuno for bringing on Owen in a game that was already lost make me smile. How is he supposed to appreciate the demands of football at this level. Do they recognise the growth in Fabio since his introduction by getting playing time. Owen’s problem wasn’t nerves at the introduction, it was over confidence and I suspect it’s a lesson he will remember for a long time.
To ignore all the other factors influencing Nuno’s progress this season proves to me Nameless that you are an Accountant ( or should be). You seem to know the price of everything and the value (regarding Nuno’s worth to this club) of nothing.
Another brilliant post JackoMac, refreshing and insightful after so many derogatory comments about our owners. I, too, see no benefit in a blame culture being applied to our young, talented players who will gain immeasurably being involved against, as you say, arguably the best club side and Manager in the world. We should count our lucky stars to being part of this upturn in our fortunes. I have never looked forward so much to each match, as I do currently. The naysayers need to be careful for what they wish.
I agree wholeheartedly about your view on the introduction of Otasowie. It won’t have felt like it at the time or I suspect for the next few days but I will be amazed if he hasn’t learned a massive lesson in those few minutes. That’s how careers are developed. Young players should get only one thing from fans – encouragement. If they keep making the same mistakes, they will be subject to the natural selection laws of football, sooner or later, but as fans we have a role to play in not heaping further pressure on them whilst they are learning.
You sure read a lot into one sentence. I never said anything about apologizing and I said our excuse, not their excuse.
Anyone who thinks revenue is not related to success in the Premier League is living on cloud nine.
Most of us here recognize that FFP is a way to prevent ambitious lower revenue generating teams from spending to catch up to the top teams and therefore are also, effectively, agreeing with me.
So if Wolves need a new centre back and a new attacking midfileder, who are they going to sell in order to finance them?
Any ideas?
Probably Traore, possibly Neves, may also cash in on Saiss or maybe even someone like dendoncker. I hope personally they all stay but I think summer acquisitions will be self financing. I think they will also free up wages in the budget by not signing any or few of loan players i.e. Vitinha , ait- nouri and Jose.
From Twitter
#Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso has reportedly been identified as a possible target for #WolverhamptonWanderers this summer.
Didn’t he coach AC Milan when Cutrone had that great season?
Any half decent striker can have a good season in Italy.
Look at Lukaku
Give it a rest, Tim. Cutrone has never had a great season.
Yes it was a drubbing and yes the gap in quality is a little depressing but there are still 11 games left to complete our season. That’s when we should take stock…not now.
50+ points would not be failure. I still believe we can get there and for me the key is to see progress in playing style and player development because that and not just big wages is what will persuade new talent to join us over the year or two.
OODCL
Satisfactory proceedings resumed down at The Poorthorns this evening and a slice of irony in Big Sam moaning at the refereeing. .. ….
Dean Smith saying he is hopeful that greasy will be back to play against us on Saturday.
Greasy has been away practicing new ways of falling over…..
If we are to keep any feint hopes of being in the mix for seventh place I think the game v the villa can pretty much be filed in the must win category. 2 games in hand and 5 points ahead of us and with games ticking down, anything other than 3 points means securing safety would be the only other thing left open to us if we were to lose.
7th place the last 2 seasons was achieved on 57 and 59 points.I think Burnley got there on 56 points once. So we are looking at approx 22 to 25 points from the last 11 games. So call it 8 wins from 11. Yes. A slim chance and Villa a must win as you say Sutton.
I think West Ham and Everton have improved a lot this season so getting 7th will require more points.
While we’re all squabbling over relatively unimportant matters, can we spare a thought for former Wolves midfielder Tom Bennett who tragically lost his 17 year old son Luke this weekend. Reports say he was retrieving a football from a pond with a metal pole when he accidentally touched an overhead power cable.
Every parents worst nightmare.