very disappointed with lack of attacking intent in second half, and with us being up against it so much, mood not helped by bad journey up but trip ok on way back - so far, last leg

comment by herecomesthelight (U17321)
posted 7 minutes ago
very disappointed with lack of attacking intent in second half, and with us being up against it so much, mood not helped by bad journey up but trip ok on way back - so far, last leg
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well done HCTL, it's dedicated travelling supporters like you that makes WWFC such a great club

Thank you!

comment by Cinciwolf--Whiney and easily offended! (U11551)
posted 4 hours, 24 minutes ago
Hey Goldi, how you feeling man?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pretty good now thanks bud, everything still tastes of water but just cold symptoms now really.

Coady is clearly carrying an ankle injury at the moment so for Lage to risk him must mean Boly is only there for the most desperate of emergencies. Curious statement to make though.

comment by Oldgoldilox (U17303)
posted 30 minutes ago
comment by Cinciwolf--Whiney and easily offended! (U11551)
posted 4 hours, 24 minutes ago
Hey Goldi, how you feeling man?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pretty good now thanks bud, everything still tastes of water but just cold symptoms now really.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Awesome, good to hear

It was good to get a point yesterday against one of the top teams after a series of 1-0 defeats against other top teams where we deserved something from all of those games. We outplayed Chelsea for most of the first half and although Chelsea dominated possession in the second half they rarely looked like scoring.

Strange after coming here with an attacking reputation after his time at Benfica that Bruno has produced a team like this. Excellent defensive record but struggling for goals. Difficult to imagine him moving away from a back 3 set up this season when it’s working so well but also difficult to see how he gets more goals out of this set of players. We need to get more support to Jimenez up front who we aren’t getting the best out of at the moment and he is cutting a frustrated figure with little for him to link up with on the front line.

Hopefully we’ll move back to a 3 man frontline against Watford with Podence, Jimenez and Traore looking the best option. Then we wait to see how January works out with ACON taking Saiss and Boly away and hopefully a new face or two arriving in the transfer window.

Missed the game yesterday as I moved house over the weekend. Caught up on the highlights and it looked like we were pretty good first half. Another game without a goal though, which is getting to be a big concern.

The reason we are not scoring is because our forwards get chances but for whatever reason miss them. We do get chances made or happen but we are not clinical enough to convert them. Are they not good enough. ?

I think there are a few reasons. The quality of chances we create generally aren't amazing, as we are 15th in the table on expected goals. Only the bottom 4 are below us and surprisingly Villa.

However, we also underperformed our expected goals by quite some way, whereas Villa overperform theirs (which is why they score more).

I guess you'd need to look more into that. Do we create loads of chances, but they are mostly low quality and therefore convert less, whereas Villa create few but those they do create are high quality and converted?

For me, I think we need to be able to sustain attacks more and build pressure around the penalty area to create better chances. I think we struggle with that in this set up, which I why long term I think the plan needs to be to get an extra attack minded player on the pitch.

I do think moving to 4231 would work better for us in attack, but when we are being so effective defensively that’s a difficult thing to give up.

Also though I do think we have the problem that even if we changed to a more attacking formation I think we are lacking in natural goalscorers. In a comparison with Leicester they have good strikers in Vardy, Iheanacho and Daka and also midfielders that get their share in Maddison, Tielemans and Barnes. I don’t think we come close to matching that in terms of goalscoring potential

Was there yesterday, bloody cold up in the high North Bank. Good first half, quite decent going forward, thought Podence looked sharp, not so much Jimenez.

Second half back to the wall stuff, not sure on the stats for that half but it felt as if Chelsea had about 85% possession. That said I never thought we looked like conceding, all the defenders played well. Bruno certainly has them working well as a unit, even when changes are made the back 5 know what they are doing under the martialing of Coady. Really impressed the way Coady, Kilman and Saiss play together. Can't imagine, short of injuries or suspensions, that Boly will get a look in. Be interesting to watch what happens there, we need him for cover but will he want to spend a season on the bench?

Neves was superb again, Moutinho steady but didn't think Dendoncker contributed much, other than missing an absolute sitter of a header.

Do agree with others that Traore should have come on much earlier, maybe about 65 minutes. With our defence in charge breakaways should have been the order of the day, but that never happened. Would have taken Jimenez off who, I thought, had a poor game for him. In the 15 minutes or so that Traore was on the field he must have had about 10 seconds of possession, not his fault though.

All in all a good point but, like so many of our games, a case of what might have been.

Bring on Watford, have a good feeling about that one.

Reading that Spurs have been booted out of Europe. They couldn’t fulfil their last fixture away at Rennes because of covid. So UEFA have awarded Rennes a 3-0 win which means Spurs finish 3rd in their group so they’re out

Yes read that. Can't stand Spurs but that does seem a bit harsh. If they genuinely couldn't field a team that's not their fault. Having said that do they not have young players that would have relished a game in Europe.

Being reported that Chelsea are interested in signing Ruben Neves in January.

Interesting to see the live Sky game tonight to see how MGW fairs against the Championship’s top team Fulham

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 29 minutes ago
Being reported that Chelsea are interested in signing Ruben Neves in January.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah it's Paul Merson running off at the mouth saying that "I have the solution to Chelsea's midfield problem"
The problem for Merson and Chelsea is that Neves is not for sale.

comment by GeminMallorca (U18318)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 29 minutes ago
Being reported that Chelsea are interested in signing Ruben Neves in January.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah it's Paul Merson running off at the mouth saying that "I have the solution to Chelsea's midfield problem"
The problem for Merson and Chelsea is that Neves is not for sale.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I imagine all of our team are for sale for the right price.

Buying Neves was one of the shrewdest deals Fosun have ever made, selling him would be their biggest mistake. He has two and a half years left on his contract and stated quite recently that he and his family are settled and happy in Wolverhampton. If Chelsea are determined enough then yes they could probably get him but I doubt that it would be for as little as the £38m that The Sun has plucked out of the air.

I think Neves has been brilliant this year. Probably the best he has been.

He does seem settled, but if Chelsea came in with a bid of £60 million for example; he might quickly become unsettled and Wolves would find it difficult to turn down. Unfortunately, that's the way it is for teams in our position and why it is always important to try to keep moving forwards and investing. If you don't, it becomes difficult to retain your best players and keep building.

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 3 hours, 33 minutes ago
I do think moving to 4231 would work better for us in attack, but when we are being so effective defensively that’s a difficult thing to give up.

Also though I do think we have the problem that even if we changed to a more attacking formation I think we are lacking in natural goalscorers. In a comparison with Leicester they have good strikers in Vardy, Iheanacho and Daka and also midfielders that get their share in Maddison, Tielemans and Barnes. I don’t think we come close to matching that in terms of goalscoring potential
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting comments Spangles. Have you changed your opinion about us having one of the best frontlines in the division now then?

A lot of hope being pinned, at least by me, on Neto's return. I do think that, apart from Jimenez, he is our best attacking player by some margin. Neto, Jimenez and sometimes one of Podence, Traore, Hwang or Trincao ought to improve our goal tally.

Personally I am pinning my hopes on someone still being foolish enough(Newcastle perhaps) to spend upwards of 25 million on Traore so we can potentially reinvest.

Quite clear Bruno wants a defender, he has mentioned only having three defenders a few times the last few weeks and we know Saiss is about to head of assuming the ACON isn't postponed. Perhaps Bruno is seeing this as a nice excuse to go to a back four with no other options left.

Rumours Trincao will go back to Barca in January as well and maybe that just isn't such a bad thing with Neto coming back and if Traore isn't going anywhere.

I think people are underestimating how long until Neto is back. He isn't in first team training till January and last I heard he was rehabilitating in Portugal. It will probably be March at the earliest before we see him properly.