It was a pleasant surprise to see Wolves follow the cup script for once and easily dispatch opposition from a lower division.
A professional performance in which second gear was barely engaged is exactly what I was looking for on a chilly Sunday afternoon.
Once we had overcome a sloppy start, where a better team than Sheffield United would have punished us, this was the first time under Bruno we’ve threatened to put a team to the sword, and then actually done so.
The doom-monger in me feared a host of changes, so I was relieved to see a strong teamsheet at 1pm.
I won’t go on another rant of Donk being a totally ineffective midfielder, but I was relieved to see the Belgian slot into a more comfortable role at right centre-back in second half.
I was also disappointed to see Raul not start and play his way into form, but young Fabio more than made up for it with his best performance in a Wolves shirt.
Maybe the penny is starting to drop with Silva. His assuredness pressing the Blades into mistakes and linking up with Podence is exactly what Bruno requires from his centre forward.
As for Podence, a more front-footed approach, where the midfield is dictating, suits him perfectly. He’s receiving ball into feet, causing havoc down the middle and between the lines, and showing a lethal touch in front of goal.
Unfortunately, Traore is the polar opposite. Adama’s touch is either woeful, or when he does gets into a dangerous position – lines are fluffed. That’s why he doesn’t warrant £100,000 a week. He might be a great impact sub to have (like at United), but £20m and putting that towards a new centre back or midfielder is far more appealing.
As the tie wore on, I was starting to get frustrated by our inability to kill yet another team off, but a gloriously fluid move from back to front put to bed any nerves, and illustrated the Bruno way perfectly. It was a cracking finish from Semedo, and whisper it quietly, we might be seeing the quality wing back we were promised.
Bar Fosun’s lack of ambition, there’s a lot to be excited about down the Molineux. Bruno is building an attractive playing style, we have an appealing fourth round home tie against bottom-of-the-table Norwich, and a run at the European spots could be brewing.
3-0 was perhaps a rather flattering scoreline, but one I predicted.
Even if it was only on Dazzling Dave’s Youtube match preview.
Do I get any points for that Thomas?
It was comfortable in the end but Sheffield looked a tidy side and will wonder how they haven’t scored at least two goals.
However…
…have we just witnessed the coming of age of ‘A Generational talent’?
The boy looked class today. Doing everything that a modern striker should do.
Apart from scoring of course. But an assist and a near miss from a Raul-like lob were some consolation for an impressive performance.
Talking about impressive performances, Daniel Podence was imperious today.
Buzzing about like an annoying wasp determined to dive headlong into your beer. Which is just what I’m drinking at this moment.
Cheers!
And bring on Norwich.
It would have been interesting to see Silva play behind Raul and Podence in a 5-3-2 as an attacking midfielder. Might come in handy if we trail a goal behind or two.
What Doog just said.
Loved the fact that I could only say good things about Silva. I enjoyed watching him today. And Podence.
Don’t know if it’s just me but I thought we played some really good stuff once Traore came off. I just can’t get what he is trying to do. Most of our play broke down when he was on the ball. Sorry, but ……
Anyway, on another topic.
Great article and I agree on your paragraph on Adama.
I don’t like the bar ‘Fosun’s lack of ambition,’ line. Suggests Fosun are the only thing holding us back! Surely Bruno is succeeding from reaping some benefits of decent recuitment over the years. It’s a fairly hostile comment towards the board that has put us in a decent place. Come on?!
SCome on!
A very competent all round performance, pleasing to watch, and a deserving victory.
One thing which I think showed itself during the game was the importance of Roman Saiss to this team. Under Bruno he has been transformed from good squad player, into a first class central defender. An absolute dependable rock. In the early part of todays game it was evident that his control and influence was much missed. Better teams than the Blades would have surely taken full advantage.
I don`t know how long remains of Saiss` contract, but he appears to be coming into his own. Given Fosun`s supposed reluctance to spend big in January, it must surely be the time to get him tied down to a longer term deal. At thirty one, he has some good years left, and to replace him with an experienced central defender would not come cheap.
Mike,
I am glad you mentioned Saiss. A few bloggers will know that I have not been a big fan of his, but this season he has come to the fore. At the match today I also commented that his absence was noticeable.
He’s been a good soldier for Wolves for a long time. What kind of role he’ll play in the future is uncertain. I do believe Lage should let D.Sanderson, dubbed by Lee Johnson as a Rolls Royce of a player, get a chance to show his worth. He could be the next Kilman. It could save the club a lot of money.
Perspective.
What would we have given to be where we are today on this day 6 years ago. So well done Fosun.
BUT
It can be argued that they are now passing up on a major opportunity. The potential is there foe Wolves to break the mould with a bit of an extra push. And yes of course there are political / economic factors in play in the background. But in the big Fosun picture a bit of extra petty cash could make all the difference.
It’s been a good week hasn’t it.
Old Trafford, a really professional performance today and a very decent draw. We might well be set for a very good cup run and who knows we might just win it.
To me the biggest plus today was seeing that The Choirboy has morphed into a class footballer in the making. The potential is starting to come to fruition. And good to see the crowd acknowledge it.
Well done to all.
Yeah. And I really hope that when he was subbed he realised the standing applause was in acknowledgement of his play and not the fact he was being replaced.
I think maybe Bruno pulled him knowing the crowd would give him the ovation. Give him his moment after so much petty criticism
Can’t help but feel the final paragraph is a contradiction. Bemoaning a lack of ambition from Fosun before stating we could be heading for Europe.
I was as frustrated as anyone by our failure to sign a central midfielder in the summer and while we must see more additions it’s worth remembering if it were not for Fosun we’d probably still be in the middle of the Championship scraping along with those sides who have been unable to escape that division.
We’ve got it pretty good at the moment. We always want more, discussions can rightly be had about a lack of goals, signings etc but a dose of realism is also required. We’re heading comfortably for our fifth consecutive season of top flight football, something we haven’t done for 40 years.
So Bruno is in a pub with Eddie Howe, the Leeds manager, and the shit manager.
Howe gets the drinks in all round to start, then the shit manager gets the next, followed by the Leeds manager.
They are all drinking away nicely, and then Bruno gets up, goes to the bar, and comes back with just one drink.
The others look at him questioningly, and he says
“This is the fourth round, and you’re not in it”
And Steven Gerrard joined them later.
Good performance, a few points silva played well, marcell will cost us at cb and taxi for adama, wolves aie we.
Not convinced by the assertion Fosun lack ambition. Fosun have come in and taken us from a never ending bunch of division 2 under achievers to the sort of team we always wanted. Top 10 Premier League. The team we have now is just full of quality players. The sort of team we have always dreamed of . Let’s give Fosun the respect they deserve. Who knows what political pressures are emerging from China. I will be forever grateful we had owners who were astute enough to splash the cash and took us from bottom third division 2 to Europe.
I mostly agreed with your post Paddy right up until the Fosun bashing.
Today we saw a glimmer of the talent recognised early on
by Fosun and roundly criticised by many “expert” supporters and who turned on a young kid thrown way too early into a man’s world.
Looks like Jeff and Fosun may just know what they’re doing after all.
I actually stopped reading this blog because I found the Silva and Semedo criticism short sighted and not worthy of what at first seemed like an intelligent blog.
Anyone watching any of Silva’s recent appearances can see a player whose positioning and instinct is actually stronger than most of his more revered colleagues.
The standing ovation I got proves the cynicism comes from a small but loud subset who don’t know as much as they think they do.
I mean, I still hear some “knowledgeable” fans say they’d take Doc over Nelson.
Is it “knowledgeable ” to point out one of them had a very large advantage in goals and assists per game
The proof of the pudding is to consistently produce 8/10 performances, of course. What has impressed me most about Semedo this season is the vast improvement in the defensive side of his game. He still has much to do on the attacking side but hopefully he’ll get a lot of confidence from yesterday.
Same could be said about Ait- brilliant assist and execution by the two wingbacks. Jonny and Neto are not shoo ins to return to the team when fully fit and the increasing level of competition can only improve performances. I echo Cheeseburgers comments above and would prefer us not to chase players this window, let’s reassess when Mosquera is fully fit and Sanderson has had some game time. As for Adama- not his best game yesterday and I don’t think he fits into Bruno’s blueprint. He probably does need a move and I would wish him well and thank him for the many outstanding moments he has provided.
Neto will be a shoe in when match fit as opposed to being just fit. Impatience for him to be the same player as he was before he was injured needs to be avoided as it will take many months for him to get completely up to speed. That probably means next season, I’m afraid.
– Yes, Silva made himself available as an option on several occasions. One of the times Ait Nouri tried his luck (not that it was a bad try). Easy to link up with.
Didn’t get to see the match, for various reasons, but obviously pleased with the result.
However, after reading all the plaudits for our long haired teenager, I gotta hold my hands up and admit, finally, to a “coming out of the closet” type moment.
I bought, at the beginning of last season, one of those fugly blue away shirts, and here’s the punchline, I had Fabio Silva’s name put on the back!
I wore it a few times at our local watering hole, Nick’s Place, in Houston, and got the expected mild piss taking.
But I ay scared, and now I can wear it with pride, coz the kid looks like he will come good!
Now, all we have to do is sell Traore, get a couple of players back from injury, and away we go.
And for the usual, I – will – never – be – satisfied of you, still friggin’ Fosun bashing, I would ask the following:
When did we last let a goal in, let alone lose, and how much more do you want?
Get a grip, you could have been born in Newcastle.
Or Penn.
Nothing wrong with Penn Ped
I know Pennroad but isn’t there a blue plaque there about a certain blogger?
Not just a plaque, but a statue, cunningly disguised as a phone box.
When the phone rings, whoever answers says
Hello,
Statue?
Excellent summary Paddy. But, like many on here my only disagreement with you is regarding your rather negative view of Fosun’s ambition. In my view Fosun are being both pragmatic and realistic. They will not throw mad money about only to risk a crash and burn a few seasons down the line. They are serious players with the best interests of our great club at heart. By contrast, Steve Morgan was a chancer (albeit a rich one), We all know in our heart of hearts that he only bought Wolves because the price ticket was a tenner, and he could build houses on our land. Morgan had his own interests at heart. Fosun rescued us from those twin dummies, Morgan and Moxey.
Fosun also had the foresight to realise that Nuno had run his course. To sack a virtual living saint took courage as well. In doing this and in hiring Bruno, Fosun showed that their ambition was undimmed. The mooted ten year plan of regular European football is suddenly not looking so unattainable after all. I certainly wasn’t impressed with Silva, but he is now winning many fans over. The other controversial signing of Semedo made sense to me. He looks a class act in the mould of Ashley Cole. Spending big bucks on the aforementioned players did demonstrate ongoing ambition, just as the replacement of Nuno did.
I’ve always been a fan of Traore but I’m beginning to wonder if he will ever realise his massive potential now that he’s already in his physical prime. His rare attributes of power and speed will now start to diminish with age. Time is running our for him but I would still be reluctant to sell him now. If Bruno can unlock that massive potential in the second half of the season, happy days will be ahead.
A really excellent post DWW and I agree with all you say. With regard to Traore, however, there aren’t any strong signs that Bruno is able to unlock his potential and I feel the key question is whether his heart lies elsewhere. We shall see.
Yes, and he was perhaps a better fit in Nuno’s style of play. Perfect for Spurs as a wing back. Excellent ball carrier, he is ;=)
Excellent post Dances alongside Cheese’ Post too. Can’t add anything to either post.
Solid team performance overall and a good showing for Silva. He’s really showing the makings of a middling Championship forward;-) a snip a £30 million+. Progress is being shown but there is still an awful lot of work to be done to show he was worthy of the outlay. When you look at the impact Raul had in his first season and beyond for the same cost Silva’s got a lot of ground to cover.
That said when you want to look at the impact owners can make on a club regardless on investment the continued fall of sheffield United should be a lesson to all wolves fans that Fosun aren’t too bad at all!
Raul, when we bought him, was already in his prime. Fabio has his whole career ahead of him.