From elation to deflation.
There’s plenty to admire about Wolves’ ability to keep going and create chances, but for it all to go waste was a bitter pill to swallow.
Once Neto equalised we should have been the team to push for a winner, while Mainoo should have been stopped at source.
At the same time we could have been dead and buried much earlier. In recent weeks Wolves had shown signs of going back to sitting off teams and offering them the freedom of Molineux. The first-half was exactly that.
United exposed us all too easily for the first goal then ripped us apart on the break when scoring the second. Whereas we passed the ball sluggishly with little movement off it.
We stepped it up a gear in the second period, pressing United off the ball and cutting through them with some intricate play. If we started the night like that, the brittle visitors wouldn’t have had an answer.
This was a game too far for Doc and Bellegarde. We missed Ait-Nouri’s surging runs while Cunha was wasted out wide.
Cunha, Neto, Sarabia and Hwang interchange seamlessly and make up for the lack of a 9, but Bellegarde sticks out like a sore thumb as he often runs down blind alleys and is inevitably dispossessed.
All four goals were avoidable but for the most part the defence has looked rock solid since switching to three at the back.
Of more concern is our slows starts. We’re a much better side when pressing teams high up and starting our attacks from an advanced position.
We struggle when trying to build up slowly from the back.But the positive to take is that Wolves would have folded when 2-0 down last season.
No matter the state of the game, we’re always in it, and we know where the back of the net is.
A game we were out of for long periods, only to suffer a gut punch for not taking something from it. What a wild evening.
In truth, we didn’t really deserve anything. It’s probably as poor as we’ve been for some time, maybe we hadn’t quite recovered from the highs of Sunday. Defensively, we were all over the place and there were individual errors all over the pitch in the first half.
What’s probably toughest to take is there was something there for us. All of their goals were avoidable and really poor from our point of view. To have hauled ourselves back into the contest, only to surrender so easily was disappointing in what was a mad final 20 minutes.
I feel we paid them too much respect from the off. They were a side sitting in 9th yet we allowed them to knock it about and grow in confidence. It was clearly a game plan from O’Neil but you have to offer more than simply a counter attack, particularly at home to a fragile United. For all the great things we’ve done under O’Neil, that was concerning to see as plainly sitting back didn’t help a jot – only inviting them onto us to cut through our leaky defence.
Let’s hope for better at another fallen big 6 team in Chelsea, and let’s hope some lessons were learned.
A horrendous start going awol at the back to gift Rashford of all people a goal. For rest of first half seemed like they had an easy xtra man on pitch as we huffed and puffed. Different team with Sarabia and Ait on but we’re lucky to get the pen. Didn’t VAR take an age to agree it! Lost concentration completely after got to 3-3 to allow Mainoo to skip through. Real pity we didn’t put ManU arrogance back in its box! Doh!!
Sometimes you just need to sit back and enjoy the spectacle.
That was a good watch.
Play like that and we’ll win more than we lose.
Great match for the neutrals.
Awful match for Wolves supporters.
Spirited comeback after spending the first half hour collectively asleep.
Conceding 4 at home to a pretty mediocre mediocre MUFC.
In reality the match was lost in that first half hour because again we didn’t play for 90 minutes’
So not a great night.
And just to add to the air of despondency “congratulations to Jeff and “the recruitment” team for overseeing such a proactive transfer window – not! Can only assume either incompetence or we are still in the grips off of FFP danger. Last night again showed that we desperately need a no 9 but Silva and Sasha farmed out and no one brought in.
I’d like to say nice to have you back PJB but…..
We can’t win em all and maybe we should give some credit to Man U for their game plan?
On the recruitment side, the narrative seems to be that Hobbs and co are not going to be held to ransom in a tricky trading period?
We are doing better than ok and with Hwang back, we are not desperate.
But why farm out the back up players and then be unable to replace them? Sasha must have scored more goals per minute than anyone else in the PL.
I couldn’t make up my mind on the predictions this week … mmm … should I go 3_4 or 1 nil .
How’s your luck !?
First, the bad points:-
1) We didn’t really deserve anything from the game. We were a total shambles and would have been four or five down in the first half if it hadn’t have been for United finding so many different ways of missing clear cut chances.
2) A team who could well have shipped eight goals in a home game must have something seriously wrong with their defence. (Discuss).
3) Pedro Neto sometimes runs around like a headless chicken and was absolutely useless in supporting poor old Semedo against the attacks down his wing.
4) Mario Junior still looks like he’s missing his dad. He was nowhere near the player we know he can be, and Doherty was way off the pace.
5) Bellegarde should not be in the starting eleven.
I can think of a few more but let’s get positive.
We just never know when we are beaten. The drive and passion of the side was there to see towards the end of the game. It needed a dubious penalty to kick start us but kick start us it bloody well did!
Pedro Neto eventually performed his usual ‘one miracle per match’ routine and seemed to have grabbed the point which we would have been very happy to have.
If only we could have stared the game as we finished it, we would probably have been three points better off this morning.
After a very, in fact unbelievably, bad first half, we finally rustled up enough fizz to make the second half much more of a contest.
It would have been great to see it out for the draw but it wasn’t to be.
Not too much criticism from this quarter though, after the terrific run we’ve been on.
Hopefully we can get something out of Sunday.
Shut The Front Door.
And the back and lock the windows.
A lesson/reminder to learn when you work so hard to get back in a game.
What if … We had turned up first half?
But we didn’t.
We could have been level on points instead of 6 behind.
Before any match, I think about how I hope it will play out and how I fear it will play out.
The first hour was everything I feared. Utd had a few more of their key players in situ, Rashford was performing like he had a point to prove and Wolves were strolling about like they expected the game to come to them after a recent good run of results. The Reds should have been over the hill and far away before the halftime oranges.
I’d made my peace with the result by then, so the fact that Wolves came within a whisker of taking a point is a big positive, even if it was snatched away. Sometimes you’ve just got to take it on the chin and zoom out a bit. We’re still in good shape and in Cunha and Neto we’ve got a couple of top Premier League attackers.
The biggest disappointment of the night was probably not getting a striker through the door, but it gives Fraser an opening. I don’t think we’re going down and I don’t think we’re going to push for Europe, so it does make a certain amount of sense to be selective in the immediate. When Hwang returns we could already have Bellegarde and Sarabia watching from the outside alongside Fraser, so there are options for Gary O’Neil and other than that one position, I think we’re reasonably well set to attack the remainder of the campaign.
Thomas I think it better to not bring in a new striker rather than sign some modest performer in apparent desperation. We`ve been down that road too many times before
From my perspective the bigger mistake was to let Sasa go out on loan. The guy was never given a real chance by GON, Hopefully during his loan spell he`ll show just how good he can be.
If we use him sparingly, I think Fraser is good enough to have an impact on games.
It’s not the perfect solution but when left with lemons…..
You win some.. You lose some……
I must admit that, elated though I was when we equalised, I had a nasty feeling that we would be undone in the end, there was just too much time left and we hadn’t exactly been at our sparkling best in our own third of the pitch.
I’ve been intrigued to see some of the comments about our penalty being ‘soft’. Even if it was, it surely made up for Onana’s repetition of his ‘run out blindly with no hope of getting the ball and just take somebody out – preferably, though not essentially an opponent – tactic’. An outfield player using the Onana approach would be sent off immediately for violent conduct. Both Raul and the club suffered much from the effects of a previous clash and I worry that, if he’s not stopped, somebody else is going to get similarly seriously injured.
One way of doing ‘The Double’
Looking objectively at the overall performance it seems to me that GON made two basic selection errors which harmed us
Unfortunately Doc is no longer up the standard of days of old. He lacks pace and his defending abilities are very suspect. But now he offers little going forward. Ait is a far superior option,
Secondly we very much miss the bite, aggression and commitment of Gomes in midfield. He and Lemino in tandem are an awesome combination. If fit and available, I think that Gomes should be an automatic inclusion in the starting line-up
Bugger
Still can’t believe the start
Screwed up free kick then…
Sa gifted them throw in
Possession led to goal
Bugger
Weird front performance then finally looked like ourselves
My goodness we need to
Keep Neto long term
Chelski will fancy themselves for 3 but we can take a point
OODCL
I’m afraid that GON got it so wrong in starting Doc and Bellegarde – they are now at best bench warmers. Doc has given us good service first time around, but is now too slow to be any danger to the opposition. Bellegarde is so lightweight and clearly should not have come out for the 2nd half. I don’t know where his best position is, but he isn’t Premier League class.
All of us in the stands could see it was crying out for Ait and Sarabio.
If both of them were fit they had to have started. (Though AIT was seen to be warming up with a knee brace on.)
Hopefully our best 11 for Chelsea away, but the bench looks so thin, with only Hwang when he returns a sure starter.
O Lordy….
The Tequila fuelled Rashford had his best 45 mins of the season, and the Midges, far from being the soggy biscuit we could have expected based on some of their away performances this year, looked crisp. Could have been 4-0 at the break.
Credit to the lads for putting on a show 2nd half and we nearly climbed the mountain. Onana’s attempts to decapitate an opponent this season continue. Have a word someone.
Anyway you look at it, ‘Deflation’ just about sums it up. A check on aspirations certainly. But we were entertained.
1 lv & COYW
I walked three miles home and hadn’t really calmed down when I got there at nearly 11’30pm.
Sloppy control, careless passing, not tracking runners meant we could have been buried by half time. A slow start that lasted 45 minutes. However, this is a team which is becoming the image of its manager as I remember him. So his words at half time had an effect, however, it was his call to play Bellegarde up front despite the fact he’s too lightweight to be a focal point. Ask any retired midfielder , you want to look forward and see a pass but there were often no passes to be seen. Even the limited Sasa would have been a useful substitute. It was also his call to play Doc and keep him on when he was clearly struggling, so it works both ways. We didn’t fold or give up so credit for that.
I’m not sure Neto has enhanced his reputation with his Raheem Stirling impression and Jared Gillett, remember him? The twit who sent off Lemina for being the third protester at Southampton was surrounded by up to seven white shirts. Discuss.
So at the moment we are all celebrating the rescuing of a point , we switch off and allow another goal, hence my steam out of the ears walk home.
It was a killer blow and they will be suffering physically and mentally but there’s another game coming up and we need to better, alert from the off and awake throughout.
Was anyone else pissed off by Sky Sports News’ pre-match and the BT commentary team ?
“Let’s get the team news” took us to the AWAY team and the trumpeting of “Rashford plays !”.
Cue at least 10 minutes of analysis of their line-up. How rude !
I assume that Wolves did get a cursory mention at some point but I switched over to the game instead.
From the kick-off, we were treated to a forensic bio on almost every Utd player while we were treated to just passing mentions of most of our players and bland comments like “Ait Nouri….he’s just back from AFCON”
And I couldn’t face tuning into “TalkManUtd” on for their post-match analysis….of Man Utd.
Yes mate thats why everyone but there own supporters hates the sight of the tossers !
Yes Hertford, I totally agree. All of this sycophantic adulation for Rashford.
“He has answered his critics” . No he has not , he was just doing his job and prior to that he was behaving disgracefully , letting down his team mates and his club.
And then predictably, there were pages of it in the press.
He is manipulated by others. What sort of friends has he , who would support such binging? Was it those who orchestrated his school meals phase?