Besiktas 0 Wolves 1 - At least Dick Turpin wore a mask verdict thread

[Johnny75]

I find it odd that people thought Besiktas were s good team. They're abysmal in their own league right now and they were poor tonight.

We were fucking shite bar 10 minutes and if people thought it was a tactical masterclass to win with the last kick of the game they're on crack.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I wish people would stop inferring that even the mildest criticism is some kind of unreasonable act of fan treason.

It's pretty much every game though, win lose or draw...

By no stretch has anyone said we've played really well tonight. Because we didn't. We defended well when we had to, were very well set up out of possession and pushed on towards the end. That's about it. Long term that isn't enough because you can't be as sloppy on the ball as we were and you can't afford to have your whole starting front three to have zero influence on the game.

But look. I have seen plenty of shitty smash and grab 1-0 wins that we've somehow pulled out and you walk away wondering how the hell we won. Tonight was not in that category.

Sometimes you grind it out, there's absolutely no way they​ deserved to win and there was only one team winning it near the end.

 

[wolves-96]

i think especially after the chelsea, everton games, nuno has to make us hard to beat, suits our game a lot more- don't think we scored bags of goals last season either. raul does need a rest, mgw realistically not quite up to standard at the moment but its only good experiences he's picking up by playing in these environments + England U21s - a loan could be beneficial but (but we've seen with decent young talents in borthwick Jackson + Ojo it can go the other way). I rather we groom him in to our team- for what his role is he fits the bill for now and hopefully will only get better.
Boly is soooo goood, very underrated player by people who aren't wolves fans. And Jonny Otto is absolute class.
Neves looked sloppy with his passing at times, also Moutinho occasionally but top players come through when you need them to.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

I find it odd that people thought Besiktas were s good team. They're abysmal in their own league right now and they were poor tonight.

We were fucking shite bar 10 minutes and if people thought it was a tactical masterclass to win with the last kick of the game they're on crack.

Agreed.

Let's not pretend that was a good performance (defence aside) it wasn't, we were fortunate that Vida header didn't fuck us (why were defending that free kick with defensive line 8 yards out I'll never understand)

Ultimately though, that's 4 unbeaten and our luck does seemed to have turned.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Agreed.

Let's not pretend that was a good performance (defence aside) it wasn't, we were fortunate that Vida header didn't fuck us (why were defending that free kick with defensive line 8 yards out I'll never understand)

Ultimately though, that's 4 unbeaten and our luck does seemed to have turned.

To be fair we couldn't just guess that Besiktas would be of that standard though. Look through their squad and it's far from terrible. They finished 3rd last season, they're regulars in Europe and quite often take decent scalps. It's not like you're playing current day Newcastle and you think "right, they have a sentient cabbage as manager, no tactics, awful players and zero goal threat, we'll thump these". I don't think anyone was suggesting that we'd roll these over with ease before the game.

Now as it turns out we probably were TOO cautious in the first half in particular and we could have set up differently (all the subs making a positive impact tells its own story). Hindsight though innit.

 

[Alan]

Loving everyone slating Besiktas as if they're Burton/Bolton levels of awful and we should've pasted them 4-0.

This is the thing really for me, too. Would Besiktas waltz into the top 6 of England? Probably not. But would they be relegation fodder? Not a chance.

We've started two 19 year olds (19!) in one of the most hostile environments in Europe and come away with three points. It maybe wasn't the prettiest but taken by itself, it really didn't need to be.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

*Response to DW

I don't know. It was fairly clear within 10 or so minutes that Raul was isolated and MGW was going to have one of those days. I'm not sure how MGW stayed on longer than Neto (who was also poor) and what formation were we playing once MGW went off? The balance was awful. Raul/Cutrone line CF with AT on the RW, Donk slightly to left of midfield. It was a mess.

So whilst I agree we were never going to go there and thump them (I never ever expected us to) we were far far too cautious and few would have suggested MGW as a RW/RF was a good idea, I'd have much preferred Donk in CM so we'd have had more of a grip of the midfield, as I mentioned pre game.

 

[rather sceptical wolf]

Obviously very happy with the result, away to Besiktas is always a tough game, but I hardly think it is out of place to point out was in general a dire game of football. And let's face it, it's not as this was some tactically brilliant defensive masterclass from Nuno, he was not looking happy out there. They were poor, we were perhaps slightly less poor but this could have gone either way and we would have been pretty much out of europe. Keeping it tight at the back was the right game plan but nothing was going the right way for any of our forward players which is worrying.

By all means be happy and celebrate a big win in europe, but we won't make it very far in this competition playing like this. Not trying to be negative but we look so much poorer than last season.

 

[sycophantia]

I don't think its 'entitled' to criticize the standard of passing, especially when under little or no pressure, Besiktas were very poor but looked the most likely to score for 75 minutes. Thats not to say we aren't all delighted with the result and our defensive display, personally I thought we played much better against Braga but we lost that one, thats football I suppose.

 

[YoungWolf]

I don't think its 'entitled' to criticize the standard of passing, especially when under little or no pressure, Besiktas were very poor but looked the most likely to score for 75 minutes. Thats not to say we aren't all delighted with the result and our defensive display, personally I thought we played much better against Braga but we lost that one, thats football I suppose.

and yet people still lost their heads when we lost that one

 

[sycophantia]

and yet people still lost their heads when we lost that one

Did they? Don't remember that, obviously people were disappointed to lose a game we should have got at least s point from but for me it was the start of the road back to some sort of form

 

[AndyWolves]

Interestingly besiktas haven't lost at home the last 5 times they've played English clubs

 

[prawnking]

It's pretty much every game though, win lose or draw...

By no stretch has anyone said we've played really well tonight. Because we didn't. We defended well when we had to, were very well set up out of possession and pushed on towards the end. That's about it. Long term that isn't enough because you can't be as sloppy on the ball as we were and you can't afford to have your whole starting front three to have zero influence on the game.

But look. I have seen plenty of shitty smash and grab 1-0 wins that we've somehow pulled out and you walk away wondering how the hell we won. Tonight was not in that category.

Sometimes you grind it out, there's absolutely no way they​ deserved to win and there was only one team winning it near the end.

In all fairness it was lose or draw until the last couple of games, and this one was hardly a convincing one, however welcome it was. I think that's all anyone is saying. Performances haven't been up to scratch for most of the season so far, whatever the results have been; it's a concern and if we're going to do anything this season they have to improve.

Results have picked up and our usual defensive solidity seems to be on its way back but scrutiny is to be expected and we're still some way from last seasons Wolves.

 

[Jinky]

I find it odd that people thought Besiktas were s good team. They're abysmal in their own league right now and they were poor tonight.

We were fucking shite bar 10 minutes and if people thought it was a tactical masterclass to win with the last kick of the game they're on crack.

I agree.

The result is fantastic. The performance was not. They hit the post and Vida really should be scoring his header so it wasn’t exactly a defensive masterclass either (although Big Willy was very good).

Besiktas are a big name but the reality is they’re in the bottom three of an abysmal league and were very low on confidence, which was obvious from the first five minutes. The crowd were all over their own players - they were there for the taking.

I’m all for keeping it tight at the start, but we didn’t have a shot on target in the first half!

Dress it up as you like, but we mugged them off good and proper tonight. I also don’t get the whole comparison to “playing Burton three years ago”. Well yeah, but we didn’t have Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves pulling the strings in midfield back then either. It’s irrelevant.

Take the points and get out of there.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Personably watching that in a pub well south of London WAs heartened by a number of others in there who wanted us to win.
Did we really perform like we can - not really, but got the job done at the end.

Not sure what some people are expecting from us.

 

[Jinky]

I’m also concerned by MGW’s performances this season. Judah has suggested loaning him out to get some regular football and if we can strengthen the squad in January, I wouldn’t be against this.

He just doesn’t seem to fit in to our system & I feel like Nuno is unsure of his best role.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I agree.

The result is fantastic. The performance was not. They hit the post and Vida really should be scoring his header so it wasn’t exactly a defensive masterclass either (although Big Willy was very good).

Besiktas are a big name but the reality is they’re in the bottom three of an abysmal league and were very low on confidence, which was obvious from the first five minutes. The crowd were all over their own players - they were there for the taking.

I’m all for keeping it tight at the start, but we didn’t have a shot on target in the first half!

Dress it up as you like, but we mugged them off good and proper tonight. I also don’t get the whole comparison to “playing Burton three years ago”. Well yeah, but we didn’t have Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves pulling the strings in midfield back then either. It’s irrelevant.

Take the points and get out of there.

Now come on Jinks, the ball hit Coady and looped against the post. It wasn't anything of Besiktas' making!

We had a goal incorrectly disallowed (tough call though), Cutrone came very close, a couple of our own efforts off set pieces and did actually score. xG was 1.04 to them, 1.02 to us - this probably doesn't include the Saiss goal, so in reality we should be up there - and we've taken the game (fair enough, as we finished miles stronger). This was no mugging.

 

[AndyWolves]

Now come on Jinks, the ball hit Coady and looped against the post. It wasn't anything of Besiktas' making!

We had a goal incorrectly disallowed (tough call though), Cutrone came very close, a couple of our own efforts off set pieces and did actually score. xG was 1.04 to them, 1.02 to us - this probably doesn't include the Saiss goal, so in reality we should be up there - and we've taken the game (fair enough, as we finished miles stronger). This was no mugging.

I'd guess most of our xG came in the last 10 minutes

 

[wolves-96]

Dress it up as you like, but we mugged them off good and proper tonight. I also don’t get the whole comparison to “playing Burton three years ago”. Well yeah, but we didn’t have Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves pulling the strings in midfield back then either. It’s irrelevant.

Take the points and get out of there.

not really, i'm in my twenties, never seen wolves be a top, top side until now- i think it's on occasions like today when- whether u agree or not, wolves achieve a historic win in Europe is exactly the time when you reflect on our very recent and incredibly sharp rise. And we did have Neves back then
I hope it's the beginning of something massive for Wolves but its football no ones on top forever- so hope our fans enjoy every min of it rather than nitpick wins in European competitions- not like scraped past a team on the level of Pyunik. Yesterday we saw the champions league winners concede 3 goals in 10 odd mins of play at home vs Salzburg and lose their first game- atmosphere and the nature of european games is completely new to our team, whether you say we got moutinho, patricio or whatever- we still have an inexperienced side in both PL and EL due to the age of most of our players.

on another note (nothing to do with the post) fans who want Nuno out, especially those who are 45+ and seen us in the 4th tier and seen wolves play 90% of their football outside of the top division- how miserable can they be? literally seeing the most succesful wolves team in decades and still complain

 

[Lycan]

Btw, 2 years ago while we were playing Burton, Besiktas were on their way to topping their Champions League group. Unbeaten.