Going well

If there is any steam in this team, I can't see it.

Only West Ham and the 3 hopeless relegation sides have conceded more than us.

Said all season our defence is crap

What a shower, on the beach from about 8 games ago.

We just handed them the game in the first half hour. We were a little better after that but overall not a good end to the Molineux season. Really our defence was shocking in the first half, not so much in the way they defended which was poor enough, but our continued failure to play a it out. Eventually we abandoned that but all too late. Kilman probably our worst player today, but also not at all convinced with Bentley.
When does next season start?

Very poor first half where Palace missed two sitters otherwise we could have been 4 down at the break. Real surprise we retained Doherty at Right Wing Back and Semedo centre back. Didn’t work last week and didn’t today. And we were no better up front with Cunha giving the ball away on many occasions and Hwang a passenger. Only Joao Gomes came out of that half with any credit.

Much better after the break after the introduction of Sarabia and Bellegarde. And as part if that change, taking Doherty off, putting Semedo right wing back and Lemina dropping to centre back. Cunha came alive and briefly a comeback looked possible. But then our defence parted like the Red Sea to let Palace in for a third and it was game over

Well, no dressing that up is there.

Really poor performance, seemed odd to set up same as last week when Bueno was available, defence was just a mess which it has been to a greater or lesser extent since we lost Dawson. Toti is a decent footballer but he keeps making mistakes, Kilman couldn't cope with their movement either. Gomes was all over the middle of the park winning balls but far too slow in moving the ball forward as was Traore. A defensive set up which unsurprisingly created nothing going forward and couldn't stop them opening us up.

Got back in to it despite the linesman, and should've been level but Hwang missed a sitter and 5 minutes later we're out of it. Just rotten all round today, formation, tactics, individual performances.

Ruben Neves team Al Hilal became Saudi champions today with a 4-1 win. Wonder if that earned him a bonus on top of his massive salary? They remain unbeaten with 3 games to go. It means Ronaldo’s team finishes second for the second year running

Very poor finish to the season after a promising start. Even worse when you consider this run is due, in part, because of two missing players, Neto and Dawson.

Pretty sure I read on here that as soon as we get a few strikers back from injury, everything would be fine?

Well they’re back, it’s not fine.

We had possession of the ball for the most part of the first 15 minutes, we move the ball from side to side without creating a chance. Palace realised we’d got zero goal threat and started to cut through our shaky defence, in truth 4-0 at half time would not have flattered them.

We need a squad of at least 24 going into next season. Two centre backs and two strikers plus a like for like replacement for whoever leaves in the summer.

Personal view is that GON has got a little thrown off by the injuries and is trying to force a few things to stick when he really just needs to keep it simple regarding players positions and what they are comfortable with. Far too many have played in roles they are not so comfortable with lately.

Mario Lemina won the vote for Supporters Player of the Season. Nelson Semedo was voted Player of the Sesson by the Wolves players. Sarabia won goal of the season for his goal against Spurs at Molineux

comment by Cinciwolf-----JA606 NFL fantasy champ 2023 (U11551)
posted about 3 hours ago
Personal view is that GON has got a little thrown off by the injuries and is trying to force a few things to stick when he really just needs to keep it simple regarding players positions and what they are comfortable with. Far too many have played in roles they are not so comfortable with lately.
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Tend to agree with this, clearly he had to improvise a bit, losing Hwang, Cunha then Neto and Bellegarde in the same game necessitated that and he probably felt that he'd made a reasonable job of setting us up over that tricky period had we not been robbed of the draws against Bournemouth and West Ham. But there was an opportunity for square pegs in square holes yesterday and he spurned it.

The reasons have been unfortunate with the injuries. And particularly that they came in blocks in the same positions, first losing all our forwards, then recently losing Santiago Bueno to go with Dawson to make us light on defenders. All this compounded by having too small a squad.

GON seemed to decide he wanted to keep the same shape to the side and that’s meant playing players out of position to compensate. I don’t think Lemina has played in his best position for at least two months. Semedo recently playing as a centre back. And Ait Nouri, Doherty, and Bellegarde have all played in a variety of positions. The only alternative sometimes though was to pick academy players who weren’t ready to do the job.

No question the experimenting hasn’t worked at times. Semedo wouldn’t have been my choice to fill the centre back void in recent games. Lemina or Doherty would probably have been a better fit with Semedo left to play in his best position of right wing back.

Don’t think GON has got it right at times but it hasn’t been easy when our squad just hasn’t been big enough to cope with absentees.

I think our first choice 11 over the season would have been

Sa
Kilman, Dawson, Toti
Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Ait Nouri
Neto, Hwang, Cunha


That’s a team that if they’d all stayed fit could have qualified for Europe. But every team gets injuries, just that the quality of cover we have had has meant just a few absentees makes us a much weaker team. If we can get as strong a first choice 11 in August but with a better squad behind them, then every chance we can finish higher up the table

No brainer for starting 11 if all fit. Trouble is take out 2 or 3 of those and we really look weak.

In theory Santi Bueno could slot into back 3; Doyle or Traore into midfield; Bellegarde or Sarabia into forward line. Theory into practice doesn't always work.

“That’s a team that if they’d all stayed fit could have qualified for Europe”

comment by WeekendOffender (U22920)
posted about 2 hours ago
“That’s a team that if they’d all stayed fit could have qualified for Europe”


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To be honest I do think that's a fair shout. The defence would probably have been the weakness.

Bayer Leverkusen winning again tonight. They are now 15 points clear at the top of the league and are just one game away from being the first team ever to go through a Bundesliga season unbeaten. They are at home to mid table Augsburg in their final game

comment by Wulfrunnut (U17298)
posted 41 minutes ago
comment by WeekendOffender (U22920)
posted about 2 hours ago
“That’s a team that if they’d all stayed fit could have qualified for Europe”


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To be honest I do think that's a fair shout. The defence would probably have been the weakness.
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The only way that could be a fair shout, is if all the other teams suffered their long injury lists, and we played the same eleven for the entire season …which is clearly impossible.

You could argue that Palaces first choice starting eleven could have qualified for Europe? Or Chelsea? Or Man Utd? Or West Ham? Or Geordie Arabia?

It’s one of Spanner’s more ridiculous comments to be honest

“That’s a team that if they’d all stayed fit could have qualified for Europe”

"A front three of Traore Jimenez and Neto is surely one of the best in the Premier League"

What was suggested was: “That’s a team that if they’d all stayed fit could have qualified for Europe”.

Of course it's a huge hypothetical, hence the word "if".

Still would argue that's a fair shout.

Hypothetically speaking, if Sheffield United had all their first choice starting eleven available for selection throughout the season they could have stayed up?

Hearing rumours that RAN is in advanced talks with Man Cheaty about a summer move ............