Nothing like a slug-fest in the torrential rain at Bramall Lane to bring you back down to earth with a bump.
But then there’s nothing like a Wolves fan to feel like it’s the end of the world when in fact, a miserable showing in South Yorkshire just has a knack of looking that way.
In an attempt to draw a positive from an absolutely stinking performance (for a second game in a row), I’ll state a case for it being the best thing that could happen to us, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
In short, we’re not quite good enough for the place we dare believe we might just get to, so if the past two anaemic efforts have taught Nuno anything, then it’s that two or three players are needed to improve a wilting side.
Maybe it’s the workload? But there again, so many late goals suggests we finish games stronger than many others. Maybe players are simply underperforming individually? A head scratching performance from Willy Boly would bear testament to that.
I’d put it down to both of the above, underwritten by a general thought of not quite being good enough for an assault on the top six, or four, or however you want to slice up the league table. There’s no harm in the fact as it’s such a lofty ask in the first place. And perspective is needed too. If Fosun had a three year plan to get into the Premier League – which they did – then a sixth place in the Premier League in our first season back with a few games to go would surely be the stuff of dreams? This is where we are, only with the unforgettable experiences of 2018/19 in the memory bank for good measure.
Pains me as it does to write it, we surely need an upgrade on our right back, a new centre half and most definitely a midfield leader for fixtures like these. And let’s not forget a player who can play ‘between the lines’ to carve out an opening when our obvious threats ahead are nullified. But to reiterate the point, this would be to give ourselves a shot at the Champions League. The. Champions. League.
Blogs in the past have been idly splashed with Johnstone’s Paint so it’s with no sense of entitlement I write the above. Far from it. And from a fan quite content with a mid-table finish and a European adventure before a ball was kicked this season, it’s hardly a hardship if we continue to tail off.
But there’s just a small whiff of a missed opportunity right now, that’s all. And, for the first time in Nuno’s glorious tenure, a question mark or two about team selections. This has always gone with the territory for any manager in the Molineux hotseat in the past, but Nuno isn’t any manager in the Molineux hotseat; born on a different cloud and floating high above such questioning – until now?
Obtaining special dispensation to select Podence, only to leave him on the bench when we were crying out for a different option, seemed utterly unfathomable, while the decision to substitute Adama was perplexing when he was our only likely outlet for a goal. One substitute in total, with so many available, just doesn’t stack up.
And to adopt an old fashioned train of thought which a progressive mind like Nuno’s would scowl at…How on earth can you go 90 minutes without getting more shots off on a slippery surface in the driving rain? Judging by our attempts to retain possession out there, it couldn’t have been easy for the goalkeeper to get the ball under control if it was zipping in his direction a bit more often? One solitary shot on target told its own story.
As it was, we played exactly how we did against Arsenal a few days before. I.E. exactly how Dean Henderson, David Luiz or any other opponent would have wanted us to.
It was too laboured, too passive, too predictable and, dare I say, a bit too weak in the face of a beefed up side who easily won more of the first ball, and then the second thereafter if they weren’t successful to begin with.
And for the goal itself, check out Neves’ misplaced pass down the right flank which was easily cut out a few phases before and then Saiss, under no pressure, shanking a panicked clearance out for a throw-in by the corner flag which led to a save from Patricio that he probably didn’t have to make.
In other words, it was entirely preventable and all of our own making.
We all want it correcting ASAP with Europe still a possibility. On current evidence, I’d say we might need to wait a little longer.
Great report
I to thought that taking Traore off at that time seemed a mistake, I thought at that stage we were really going forward
Plaudits to Traore who did the shoulder again and could explain why it took an hour for him to start his runs. Will be targeted anyway, why not get this treatment during lockdown ?
Looking at our bench last night it was poor quality without Neto
Podence for me has had plenty of chances and has shown us nothing and sadly with is height is about as useful as a chocolate teapot on corners etc.
Would anybody else like to see perhaps the rarely used 5-2-1-2. We played it previously if I am correct at Liverpool with Neto in the hole and the game previously I can’t remember. We also played with that with MGW the 1st time Nuno played 5-3-2 and we beat Chelsea, it was only after he went to a flatter 3 in midfield. Just possible option to get someone between the lines, something I think we desperately need to mix our game up.
Good point
It is another option Nuno could switch to
Oh forgot to add Boly’s performance was shambolic
Can I say his worst in Wolves colours
Perhaps the Arsenal comments have gone to his head
Wonder if we are getting reactions now to the constant press comments like
Traore is going here and Jimenez is going here (best to go from Mexico manager)
Do not think they will be but it must play on there or there agents mind
Really good read mate, very measured. I agree that we shouldn’t get carried away and that we are still making phenomenal progress. It would be disappointing to miss out on Europe after such a brilliant season, but not the end of the world (though it would make it more difficult to keep hold of our best players).
Fully agree we need to improve our options in defence and midfield. Saiss is a makeshift solution at centre half, despite his solid performances since transitioning there. Doc doesn’t really have any competition, unless Buur is a more prodigious talent than we’ve been led to believe. Moutinho and Neves are exceptional and Dendoncker is a useful option, but none afford us the chance to mix it up in games like last night’s. And we all know Jimenez could do with some cover, though I suspect Campana could prove to be a useful option in the long run.
Those are conundrums for Fosun and Nuno to solve. In the meantime, all we can do is try and win our remaining games. Sunday will be a stiff challenge but Everton have had an indifferent season and shouldn’t be baulked at. Then on to Burnley and Palace, who are hard to break down but certainly beatable. Not expecting much from the Chelsea game but you never know.
Up the Wolves!
“We have to talk about Willy”.
What’s happened to our rock at the back?
He’s not been himself since the lockdown.
And in the last couple of games he’s been, quite frankly, poor.
His distribution, which was never his strong point, has got markedly worse, and he looks off the pace and leaden footed.
It’s probably unfair to pick him out in another all round under par performance by the entire side but his, to me, is the greatest slide from grace.
In spite of our collective failings I still thought we would get away with a draw, but the unkindest cut came in what used to be Nuno time when Willy was comprehensively out jumped from a corner that we really didn’t need to concede. Although Rui probably felt he had to go for the mis hit shot that was actually trickling wide.
And another thing!
In the first couple of minutes, Adama went on a run and was fouled. No change there then.
What was rather worrying, was the yank on his shoulder by the defender after the initial foul.
It dislocated his shoulder again.
Cynical? Preplanned?
Probably not….??
But it’s not the first time it’s happened and, now everyone knows his weakness, you can bet your season ticket that it won’t be the last.
Not much more to say really.
In a very ordinary match, lacking any real quality, Sheffield seem to want it more and probably deserved the three points.
As the PMDG’er will testify, I am not a happy man!
I don’t think the defender yanked his arm this time – looked like Adama threw his arm back to fend the defender off.
This was a championship game.
The podence and campana this is a little strange to say the least, even mgw would have offered some energy and a chance to give a few players a breather before the next game because I think I can already name our starting 11 against Everton
Man U and Chelsea are a level above us right now and we are not finishing above them , we can still finish above the north London clubs though which is still a big step in the right direction
Hopefully Neto is fit and firing to lend a hand
So it’s 9 points from 5 games since restart which isn’t too bad
12 from 6 games would be very acceptable from my point of view
We are still going to win the Europa btw
Keep the faith
Stay in the pack
Utw
I am in the gloom camp I am afraid .
We are not creating enough chances to win games .Saiss in particular needs upgrading and we desperately need an attacking midfield option to give us alternatives .As others have said Nuno needs to be more willing to try options off the bench as these results are going to get us nowhere .
Having got ahead of ourselves with talk of the Champions League with this momentum and our competitors form we may well not make even the Europa League group spot .If we don’t even qualify through the league for the Europa in my view there is nil chance of success in Germany in this year’s competition as the team will be mentally shot .
I appreciate we are well ahead of the Fosun plan but the limitations are now being exposed in the team .
They simply must beat Everton or the season will certainly drift away .
Some great comments above, all valid and reflects our collective disappointment to two defeats against much better sides where we had convinced ourselves we should win. We were out of sorts in both games and had the chances to have won both, Sheffield were much better than us in doing the simple things well and deserve to be up there with us atm. A week is a long time in football- 7 days ago I could not see us losing another game, now I can’t see us winning one.. We have become predictable and teams now spend more time in plotting to exploit our weaknesses, where before we were the team that upset the odds. It’s a sign we are now recognised as a very good side, capable of beating anyone on our day.. Yes, we need new recruits to offer something different and reach the next level but now is not the time to panic, we have had our share of luck this season. Given Nuno’s contribution to date, we should retain the faith in his team to restore confidence and direction.
Sure, it was a disappointing performance and result. Two of those in a row now. And in all honesty, taking into consideration who we were playing, we didn’t rip up any trees in our first three post-lockdown games either. Some of our most reliable performers have been off the pace and there seems to have been a general lethargy infecting the team.
Nuno has always been at pains to emphasise the importance of the backing the fans give to the team. I’m sure all teams feel the same but maybe we need it more than most.
However, I ain’t gonna get all depressed and hysterical over this blip on our progress. We have been brilliant for large parts of this season and I still have to pinch myself whenever I look at the league table. It’ll take a lot more than a couple of dodgy results to change that situation.
Too many players had yet another off day. Like others have said I can’t understand taking off Traore, let alone leaving Podence on the bench, may as well put the lad on for his pace alone or given Campana 5 or 10 minutes.
But we’ve been here before, coming away freezing cold & miserable after watching us being beaten by Grimsby a few years back for example! It’s the same feeling. Fed up, peed off etc after a game you felt you should have won, yet didn’t.
I was so cheesed off I went to bed leaving husband & son watching Liverpool.
Maybe it’s the crowd missing affecting the players? I don’t know. But I expect an improved performance on Sunday!
COYW
Not the best performance but I
still thought we were going to win it, until our 6ft 10in defender decided otherwise. A lot is being said about the poor performance of Boly and Saiss and whilst I don’t rate Saiss, I thought our worst player last night was Jonny.
We have now lost 2 games on the trot and lying in 6th. Not bad really and I am pleased where we are. But to move forward we need even better players than we have. Who? I don’t know but Nuno will.
I expect.
Fully expected to win that one after the poor form v Arsenal. But entitlement is not something I’m used to as a Wolves fan.
Thought we played better than v Arsenal but still did not look like getting the ball in the net more than on a few occasions. That’s just not going to win us games.
Change up, freshen up, yes he has to because teams are well used to our play now. Pull Adama’s shoulder out as early as possible, if Jota gets past you haul him to the ground and give us no space by high and relentless pressing.
Boly’s uncertainty on the ball is worrying, maybe he should switch back to the left? Who
knows?
But we move on, hopefully we can restore our great season with a few wins starting on Sunday. But that’s a tough ask, Everton are becoming a good team under an excellent manager. Some good preparation required and as Nuno said we have to up our standards.
Up the Wolves!
It’s interesting that you should say about switching Boly to the left.
I have always thought that, despite being a right hooker, he played his best on that side. Never looked hurried or worried, and linked with the attack a lot better.
It was really to fill in for Ryan Bennett (who I would have kept), and accommodate Saiss, that he was moved to the right.
So maybe Willy should dress left!
Yes agree or go with Kilman if Boly has Somehow lost his form & confidence since coming back from injury. He is making a number of errors and doesn’t look as confident on the ball.
But none of us really knows the reasons, only hope that they get it going again for the remaining games.
I fully agree with your comments.
In my view, Ryan Bennett was the most solid of our defenders– no frills just sound basic defending that we could always rely on. In my view a far better bet than Saiss, who has always been prone to error and who has a suspect temperament. Saiss can offer something in midfield, but cannot be a long term solution as a central defender.
So for our remaining games, why not switch Boly back to the left, and give Kilman a decent chance in the side ? So far with limited opportunities he has show considerable promise, but he is now in his early twenties, and surely this must be the time for us to evaluate whether he has a genuine first team capabilities at this level. If not, the acquisition of a top central defender must surely be a real priority this close season
So. Like. You know. I was thinking.
If Wolves are tired because their season started so early, even with three months off, what is going to happen when next season starts after almost no rest? Did the backroom team work them too hard during the shutdown and that is why they seemed fit when they got back? Were they physically fit but not mentally rested?
Can Diogo really take his mind off the game and recharge if he is playing video soccer when he’s not at practice? What about the rest of the team?
What is going to be done about Adama? There is no time between seasons to do anything about his shoulder.
On the positive side, Adama was able to get his hair done.
Good report I agree with all that is said.I would just add that given our players unquestionable talent(after all they did the double over Man City)it is, in my opinion ,the lathargic lack of the will to win that I see as the problem.The players seem to have stopped caring, and are playing with very little application and hence I dont think they care if they win or lose.I really never thought I would be writing this way about this set of players.It may be that some of them have had there heads turned by some of the media speculation of big money transfers,and if that is the case then Wolves would do well to sell a few players as quickly as possible.Therafter build again.
I was totaly rattled last night by the dreary predictable style of play we have adopted since the return .
Hence my rant on last night blog.
Pass back and recycle is fine all the top sides do it thats how you keep possession but if thats almost all you do throughout the entire ninety minutes and then litter it with misplaced passes you are not going to get results you just get virtual stalemates which is what we almost got last night until sheffield got lucky with some slap happy panic defending .
We didnt deserve to lose but we certainly didnt deserve to win either.
Expectation was high after our three on the bounce wins and so it should be we were expecting a gradual improvement each game but as the opposition have improved we have not, we seem stuck in some well rehearsed play where everyone knows their lines only occasionally some one fluffs theirs and it falls apart for a moment.
The start of the season was a little like how its gone now its as though we have slightly lost our way and dr nuno really needs to settle things and get back to basics .Do the things we do well and play to our strengths and stop giving the ball away in important positions at crucial times in a game.
Last night was a classic example of that.
It is becoming increasingly obvious we need upgrades in certain positions in order to move on.
Sides that dont upgrade stay where they are or worse drop away to where they came from we have seen this many times over the years.
Have we reached the stage where that needs to happen ?
If we really are to progress to where fosun want us to be then definately.
Right back , left centre half , attacking mid, alternative striker all come to mind.
Some of the better players will require top european football before much longer or they will be off, we have to give it to them, we have to be the club top players want to come to not get away from.
Last night was depressing to watch to say the least i hope nuno will find a way to re invigorate the team to perform in the way we know they can.
Beating everton has gone from a good bet to an evens bet or even worse.
Which wolves will turn up is anyones guess will it be the carefree ultra aggressive attacking side we all want to see or will it be the ultra conservative constantly recycle boring side we have seen just lately.
Nuno may as well throw caution to wind and go for it in my opinion .
He has little to lose .
But he may just get his and the players mojo back.
Excellent review, Ben, best in many a year.
You put so eloquently into words what many of us have been thinking, but have been scared to voice for fear of verbal retribution.
Nuno IS fallible.
We have become a team so predictable that we are easily nullified.
We won the first three after lockdown because the opposition were dire, but we still struggled.
We all put it down to us not getting out of second gear, but the last two games have proved that at present, we only have two gears.
With the rumoured change for next season, that allowing five subs will become permanent, our scant squad will become even more exposed than now, unless we get some new and different faces in.
The team picks itself at the moment, which is not how it should be.
Lack of form and complacency especially creep in, and bingo, five mediocre performances on the trot.
With apologies to our younger viewers who never had the pleasure of seeing him, we need a Kenny Hibbitt, a box to box attacking midfielder, with shots and goals from all over.
As well as competition, and in some cases, replacements for several positions.
However, as we all knew, having Fosun on board was always going to be a roller coaster of a ride, and these blips are just part of it.
Lest we forget in the gloom of two defeats on the bounce, we did do the double over the reigning Champions, amongst other great results.
Wouldn’t it be fabbo to at least do the same next season?
Imagine Klippy Klopp’s face then, eh?
Keep the faith, dear viewers, we am Wolves, ay we, and nothing is ever easy or simple.
And, don’t forget, it looks like an old West Midland rivalry is going to be resumed next season.
Agreed, great report Ben and well put Clive. Like everyone else I was so dissappointed to watch that shambles of a game we played last night and the 4 previous games. We scraped past Bournemouth, Vile and WH, yet everyone else is putting many goals past them. The only player that seems to be giving his all is Dendonker, the rest would struggle to get in a EFL team. The two wing backs have forgotten how to put a cross in. Jota just runs with the ball until someone takes it off him. Neves could not hit a barn door from 20 yards, what the hell is happening. If we stay above 10th this season I will be surprised. After watching the last 5 games I would not be upset to see us off load most of the team to anyone willing to pay silly money for them. We could then buy a team of players who want to win. Sheffield Utd are the perfect example of a team who give their all for the cause. I appreciate what they have achieved to date, but there are no excuses for how they are performing now. Thank God we are not in the bottom 3, because the way they are playing, they would not survive.
Bit harsh on Neves as he hit a bar from 25 yards.
Frustrating and slightly worrying performance last night. We seem to have gone from being a good, sometimes very good team to ordinary.
So what has changed. Players who were the epitome of excellence have become average – lacking invention and the magic spark that raises a team above the rest. Has something occurred behind the scenes that has made the squad to doubt the project can be delivered? Pure speculation but is there a question mark over Nuno extending his contract? Or have Fosun somehow signalled a pulling back on they’re level of investment, for example, under pressure from their government?
Of course these are just wild guesses on my part. But I am concerned by the very quick drop off in form – Boly for example has gone from a cool and elegant defender to an accident waiting to happen and Traore from a world beater to an also ran.
I just hope I am worrying over nothing. We are after all ahead of planned progress.
Don’t worry
Be happy. Wanderer
I don’t think too many of us would be pulling up trees with a dislocated shoulder. Wolves should bite the bullet and sort out his operation asap.
We have gone from beating the top teams and struggling against the bottom teams to the opersite.
What’s really frustrating is we had a genuine…genuine shot at getting into the Champions League with the extra spot going to 5th place team. I have seen a lot of dreams crushed in my 45 years of supporting Wolves last seasons F.A Cup the most recent but this. How many times will we get so close it’s easy to dismiss it by say I got look how far we have come but that just it ……does mean we have to settle for where we are and not push on and grasp this opportunity with both hands.
Dendonker said we can dream, we had a massive chance to turn that dream in to reality and instead we have let it slip through our hands make no mistake about it we might never get this close again.
I’m not being all doom and gloom to ignore what could have been to bury our head in the sand is folly.
As for the game it was awful we looked tired out of sorts out of ideas and confidence. There were players on the bench that should have been used Pedonce hasn’t hardly kicked a ball since he arrive and to bring him back and not play after getting speacil permission what does that do and say to the player.
I know some of you on here think Nuno can do not wrong or doesn’t get thing wrong well he does, he’s human and he did last night with his subs or lack off slag me off all you want.
We need a striker we brought Catrone, sold him it’s funny because he never got a lot of game time either. Is the same going to happen to Pedonce did Nuno want these players or have they been forced on him who knows but paying £18 million for a player and keeping him on the bench is no good for anyone.
I’m gutted FOSUN may have a plan a 10 year plan to get in the top for of the Premier League and Champions League but there no reason why it cannot be done sooner and just like we did getting out of the Championship earlier than expected why should we not strive to get into the top four and Champions League earlier than expected and we could have FOSUN would not of complained I know that for sure why shouldn’t we dream why should we not want more isn’t that the point .
After a rainy night in Sheffield all I can say is that every cloud has a silver lining. And the silver lining is, you ask? The silver lining is that we won’t be fending off mega bids for our players now!
As for Nuno, he was a viable candidate for poaching by Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal. These teams aren’t looking anymore.
You have to hand it to Chris Wilder. His team looked better against us, home and away. Not necessarily in quality, but more fight, more passion.
It’s up to Nuno now to regroup and salvage out top six ambitions.
The three wins on the bounce after the re-start provided very false optimism. In hindsight, those games were a strong indication of what was to come. The teams we beat are dire. Poor defensively, and with little attacking threat. Yet we had to struggle to get a result. One goal against a hapless Bournemouth who are going through a period where they regularly ship a hatful of goals to all and sundry, was a warning we were all too happy to overlook.
Its all very well prioritizing clean sheets, but surely playing from the outset not to lose is not the way forward. We have to score goals to win games, but the negative, predictable way we choose to play makes this ever more unlikely. A tactical rethink is urgently needed.
Despite all of this, lets not forget that we have enjoyed a great season. Now must be the time to take the positives and to build on what we have.
Mike your right it has been a great season…….but it could of been a fantastic season by clinching a Champions League spot that luck very unlikely now.
Its all well and good thinking we haven’t done to bad but and Fergie said to his team after winning the Premier League I’m not settling for one I want to win it again and again…!
You’ve got to have ambition to get anywhere in life sitting back and thinking yeah we’ve done ok is not going to win you anything.
Once again everybody has said it all. Great review Ben. Guess we have got used to being the underdog team that wins. Positives, played much better and showed a better (marginal) attitude. As Surfer says Adama managed to get his haircut.
Negatives, Doc, Raul, Willy all off the pace. Agree with Marny at times looked like a championship game, all the head tennis in the centre of the park. Finally, why have subs if you don’t rate them? Think it was Souness (can’t stand the man) who commented that we only seem to rotate Donk and Neto.
We are 2 or 3 top quality players from being permanent top 6.
But hey, look where we were, what we have witnessed in trips to Rotherham, Scunthorpe et Al.
Keep the Faith.
Picture shows my lineup for the game. 4 at the back and start with the big guy upfront!
People keep saying great Season and look we were 5 years ago and so on.
Why look back……why do you want to remember playing Rotherham and Scunthorpe for are we for ever going to measure our success by looking back at a time when we played those teams we are never going to achieve anything if there our bar because we have already risen above them lets rise the bar again not keep lowering it
Move on We are playing Man Utd and Liverpool, stop living in the past look forward not back wards strive for better not settle for what you have just because we are in a better position than 5 years ago…..Jesus look up not down….!
Couldnt agree more !
I sgree Paul AD67.. That was my point sorry if it did not come across that way. Ee have moved on and I for one am enjoying the ride.
Excellent summing up Ben of a game that hurt you as much as me. Awful to watch so many of our players not performing to the level we have come to expect, Boly in particular. It gave me no pleasure in forecasting the correct result and score but you just knew they were going to score as they wanted it more than us.
And ..
How many games have we won when Traore comes on in the second half …?
Hard to disagree with most bloggers here
4 goals in 5 games is an issue
Traore’s shoulder is an issue( and one that may not be fixable)
Manure, Gunners and Chelski all improving noticeably is an issue
Watched City dismantle the Geordies… the speed of their passes means that defenders can’t adjust quickly enough and that’s how the opportunities are created
Love our team but if they continue to stay the same and pass the same we will
Go backwards
Hoping Nuno has a big plan for Germany
UTW
Maybe that’s Nuno ‘s secret plan. Save energy and fool our opponents that we are a knackered spent force. Yeah that could work.
I thought I would repost a comment I made early this morning at the end of the match preview as I think it echoes a lot of what other contributors on this post match comment have said:
.”I think it is wrong to react to a game or even a few games in isolation, particularly when trying to assess where we are in the context of our 10 year plan. We have had clusters of games where we have looked excellent. Equally there have been times in Nuno’s reign where we have misfired. My observations would be:
1. We are ahead of where we expected to be after 3 years of Nuno.
2. We are enjoying a place in English football that we have not enjoyed for such an extended period in certainly 40 if not arguably nearly 50 years.
3. Having achieved some stellar recruitment of playing talent, we have performed very poorly on this front in the last 12 months and this is part of the reason I believe why progress appears to be somewhat plateauing in terms of the advances made between last season and this.
4. Nuno, his staff and the current players have become a very good football team, however, if we are to truly embrace the next level aspiration of being a force at the top end of the PL and Europe we have to change.
5. How do we change? I think in 3 ways. A) Buy some proven, not potentially emerging talent. We perhaps need only 2-3 in this category but in the same way we bought that in moutinho and patricio to establish us in the PL , we now need to do that again to establish us as a true force at the top end of the PL B) We need to be more assertive. Nuno’ s focus on control is admirable and has served us very well but we rarely put teams under the cosh for any extended period of time. We never flood the box, we rarely shoot from outside the box, we rarely score in the first half of football games. We need to aspire to dominate not just control. C) as an extension of B we need to score more goals. It is not coincidental that teams at the very top of football score a weight of goals . In simple terms we need to turn a circa 1 goal per game average to closer to 2, even if that means becoming defensively a little more porous. In historical terms less of the Hoddle and more of the Dave Jones is needed, although clearly Nuno is a better coach than both of them.“
After 34 games in our first Premier League Nuno season we had 48 points, sitting ninth with a goal difference of -1. Look today and check what progress looks like.
I don’t think too many of us would be pulling up trees with a dislocated shoulder. Wolves should bite the bullet and sort out his operation asap.
Right reply to the wrong post or something like that!
4 points and a better goal difference. Is that your point BG?
good point taken.
It occurred to me, while my friends are lighting one up, that there were two factors involved in us reaching the Champions League by Premier League table results.
One is how we do. The other is how the teams ahead of us do. You can’t catch a team ahead of you if they are winning all their games.
Looks like Man U and Chelsea are not losing a lot and so it is unlikely we would have made up much ground, even if we won the two games.
Oh well, looks like my friends have the barbeque lit.
As many supporters of opposition teams we have met in the last 2 years will tell you, its always gutting to lose to a last-minute goal. Which may explain some of the panic reactions we are hearing today. True, not all is well in the house of the Old Gold but tearing up the play book (4-4-2 anyone ? 4-2-3-1 ?) and starting all over again is not the way to progress. Our system is solid, but we need an upgrade in some positions. Furthermore, I get the feeling we may have been over-coached. Yes, the players must know their responsibilities (especially defensively) but surely there must be scope for them to take the initiative personally when attacking ? All too often last night we started to break out from defense only to slow down and resort to the safety first tactic of moving the ball to the back 3. Additionally, we moved the ball far too slowly, tho’ admittedly in difficult conditions. A night to forget. Didn’t deserve to win, but to be honest neither did the (admirable) Blades.
Some good points wolfie … upgrade …overcoaching..taking the initiative personally .
Upgrading in certain positions which i think we all reluctantly know where they are would result in sorting out the other two points as better more skilful intelligent players will not make the mistakes , can carry out more complicated manouvers and
would take the iniative on their own shoulders without the coaching .
Thats why there are better players than others we just need a few more of the better ones, not many, as we aren’t too far off the pace .Good thing is i do trust nuno to sort this out whereas in the past it was the manager who lost his way and knew no way back .
This time around i am starting to get the impression nuno has taken this band of players nearly as far as they can get i would expect some big changes before the next term kicks off.
The big teams above and around us have the advantage over us at this point in a long, long, long season.
Big teams…
By big I mean, the size of their squads which hold those extra quality players that at this point in time we do not contain.
Neto, brilliant, then after that we have bit part players who are not getting that long run in the squads that they need, because every game in the PL is a huge game and it seems Nuno just doesn’t trust some of them.
Man Utd tonight field the same squad for the 5th game running For the first time in ages, (I think they said 5) so the rotation we all thought we could manage without has come back to bite us in the arse-nal.
This has been an incredible season for us, Spurms fucked up as well tonight despite trying to cripple a few Borinmouff players along the way. So we shouldn’t feel too bad,.
New players required, definitely.
We’re still sitting in 5th if the UEFA guys stick to their guns on Monday and don’t get bullied by Citeh.
I’m as gutted as anyone on this blog, but it is what it is and we sit 6th in the greatest league in the World after playing more games than anyone in this league using the least amount of players over the 52 games so far
Not too shabby.
Come on Villa.
Draw for theEuropa league next stages is live on BT1 Sport today at 12 pm.