Wolves 0-2 Brentford: Verdict Thread

[redvictor]

Decent balance here

Two goals scored in seven and a half hours of Premier League football. What now for Wolves?

Wolves' scoring woes continue - even if Bruno Lage tried everything to change that against Brentford. How can they fix it?

theathletic.com

It is. He's right too. We have to change it as it clearly isn't working, however good a group of players we have. The picture he has put up tells you this, and the fact of all those players there with Neves skying a ball over the bar instead of utilising one of the 6 others that were up there.
However many times they have pack written on the walls at Compton we certainly aren't working like one, as everyone can see on here.

 

[Tony Towner]

That makes me so frustrated, there is one Brentford player in the box for Toney to pass to and no soul near him.

Said it at half time, Saiss trys to pass him on because he thinks Toney is going to do Coady and doesn't want him to leave him one on one. No idea if Marcal hears or has any concept of that. It's shit by Saiss, but says a lot about his trust in Coady. 3 centre halves and a wing back all culpable in some way

 

[WsWolf]

Think what you like, but If you're making grand claims about how much better we play without him I'd take you more seriously if there was more evidence than 9 mins of football tbh.

We scored 50% of our league goals in that 9 mins without him on the pitch. Not sure how else this can be evidenced other than this season and that's what we have as the only time he's been replaced by a proper wide forward.

 

[prawnking]

We scored 50% of our league goals in that 9 mins without him on the pitch. Not sure how else this can be evidenced other than this season and that's what we have as the only time he's been replaced by a proper wide forward.

And we scored the other 50% when he was on the pitch

You hit the nail on the head yourself - it can't be evidenced, not this season or last. Because both the current and previous manager play him nearly every minute of every game. But internet guy knows best

 

[AndyWolves]

Said it at half time, Saiss trys to pass him on because he thinks Toney is going to do Coady and doesn't want him to leave him one on one. No idea if Marcal hears or has any concept of that. It's shit by Saiss, but says a lot about his trust in Coady. 3 centre halves and a wing back all culpable in some way

That's a good shout, I hadn't considered that.

If that is the case it's probably a fair assumption by Saiss in hindsight.

 

[redvictor]

Interesting stat. Tottenham 5 games 3 goals scored. Yes they have more points, but puts some perspective on the way we are.

 

[t3ch]

what's all this talk of 50% of goals

we've scored 1

 

[prawnking]

what's all this talk of 50% of goals

we've scored 1

And Adama WASN'T EVEN ON THE PITCH SO THAT'S PROOF WE SHOULD SELL HIM (and send Trincao back too I guess as he'd also been subbed during those glorious 9 mins)

 

[Throbber3]

We haven’t changed the squad significantly this season. We have tried to change our style dramatically. We are 15 yards further forward but we still can’t score. That’s the same problem as last season even with Raul and worse without him. This window was a waste of time if Bruno was going to go to a 4 at the back as we just don’t have the players to do that at this level. I don’t see a Kilman Boly pairing giving us the solidity through the middle we need. For me the only hope is for Dendoncker to come in and add height and legs to the midfield with Moutinho used when necessary as a sub. Traore is getting good reviews, looks our most attacking player but still lacks the end product. Raul needs someone beside him. RAN should play if we are 343 or 352. With two up top it’s Hwang and Raul with Podence behind. If you insist on 343 it’s Trincao right Traore left and Raul/Hwang in the middle but in both Dendoncker is needed to give the midfield the legs to allow Neves the space to be a threat. Boly for Saiss is a straight swap. Then we are good to go for saints and Newcastle. 4 points minimum

 

[WsWolf]

And we scored the other 50% when he was on the pitch

You hit the nail on the head yourself - it can't be evidenced, not this season or last. Because both the current and previous manager play him nearly every minute of every game. But internet guy knows best

You are right. 1 goal in 4 games and 81 mins is the equivalent of 1 in 9 mins. We scored 4 on the other occasion he didn't play, albeit against lesser opposition. We actually had a front 3 that passed thr ball to each other on the occasion, it was infinitely more enjoyable than one of them just trying to beat 6 players and cross for me.

 

[Simon 2799]

The problem is his squad was built over four years to play a particular style and by changing the style without giving Lage at the very least a dominant centre half that can cope with a high line we have made things much harder than they could have been. It's like asking a cricket coach to play attacking cricket with Tavare and Boycott.

with Brearley also

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Saturday really had echoes of QPR 0-3 under Mick and Barnsley 0-4 under Zenga. People were largely positive about the start we'd made and then bang, get absolutely ruined by a team everyone expected us to beat. Never recovered either.

 

[prawnking]

We scored 4 on the other occasion he didn't play, albeit against lesser opposition. We actually had a front 3 that passed thr ball to each other on the occasion, it was infinitely more enjoyable than one of them just trying to beat 6 players and cross for me.

We scored two of those four goals with Adama on the pitch

By your logic we should also drop Sa for Ruddy, Neves for Donk and Raul for Fabio?

You're entitled to your belief that we'd be a better/more fluid team without Traore, but there's no game evidence to back that up, you're talking about microscopically miniscule samples to back up your existing bias.

 

[prawnking]

Saturday really had echoes of QPR 0-3 under Mick and Barnsley 0-4 under Zenga. People were largely positive about the start we'd made and then bang, get absolutely ruined by a team everyone expected us to beat. Never recovered either.

Thanks for waiting two days to unleash that cheerful zinger, mate!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Thanks for waiting two days to unleash that cheerful zinger, mate!

First time I've really sat at my PC since!

Did feel that way though. We probably should have lost 4-0. Same sense of directionlessness, same feeling of "fucking hell, we've got to get through four months with this squad".

It's by no means all his fault (you could even argue it's not mostly his fault) but if we don't win one of the next two then Lage will be under serious pressure from fans and board alike, on the basis that we'd be either bottom of the league or very close to it, with a tough local derby up next.

 

[prawnking]

It's not ideal for Lage, but he has to work with what he has and make it effective, even if it's points not performances initially

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Oh yeah, he doesn't get a free pass by any stretch.

He's up there for worst start by any manager in the last 30 years now too (yes he's in the PL, and yes it was three tough opening games, but Leicester have already lost three times in the league, and Spurs have lost their last two by an aggregate of 0-6, so...). The reaction to the three 0-1s was outright daft, yes they were entertaining games (especially compared to last season) but we still lost them all and didn't score.

Taylor: W3 D1 L1
McGhee: W1 D3 L1
Lee (as permanent manager): W0 D2 L3
Jones: W1 D2 L2
Hoddle: W0 D5 L0
McCarthy: W3 D1 L1
Connor (interim): W0 D1 L4
Solbakken: W2 D1 L2
Saunders: W0 D3 L2
Jackett: W4 D1 L0
Zenga: W2 D2 L1
Lambert: W1 D2 L2
Nuno: W3 D1 L1
Lage: W1 D0 L4

 

[AndyWolves]

How many of those managers faced PL winners in their first 5 games though?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

How many of those managers faced PL winners in their first 5 games though?

How many of them had a bench that cost around £100m in their first five games?

It cuts both ways, this shouldn't be a relegation battle squad. We've lost four out of five and scored one goal of our own.

I'd be very surprised if six weeks ago anyone was saying "three points from the first five will be ok".

 

[AndyWolves]

How many of them had a bench that cost around £100m in their first five games?

It cuts both ways, this shouldn't be a relegation battle squad. We've lost four out of five and scored one goal of our own.

So should we have beaten man u, Leicester or Spurs?

Just seems a bit harsh to criticise Lage for losing games that, on paper anyway, we'd be expected to lose?