Fans' Verdict v Burton: Are these actually Wolves players?

Adam Virgo

What's your verdict on the match? After Wednesday night where everything went wrong it was great to bounce back with an emphatic win. With Villa winning at Burton 4-0 midweek, I was expecting them to set up to not concede early on but as soon as we got the first goal the floodgates opened.

Everything just seemed to click and the front three were a joy to watch all afternoon. It was nice to see them interchanging all the time and making it an impossible job for the Burton defence to deal with. Huge props to Nuno for making that call as Bonatini arguably needed a rest after the minutes he’s played so far this campaign.

First half going forward was exhilarating to watch and the goals were music to anyone’s ears. I’m even sure the Burton fans were starstruck at a few of our goals they were that good. Second half we just controlled the game completely and the Burton players just had to sit back and accept the battering in the end.

Overall though it was nice to win comfortably as I feel though we were due a big win at some point. Whoever you play in the league, winning 4-0 away from home is a huge statement and we have to appreciate Nuno for the job he’s doing at the moment. If you look at yesterday’s performance, nevermind the result, compared to the 2-1 defeat at the Pirelli Stadium last season, it shows how far we’ve came as a team in that time.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Ruben Vinagre was a touch of class all afternoon and he took his goal fantastically well. He’s ridiculously quick and as an 18-year-old he’s definitely got a huge career ahead of him. We’ll all be calling him Vinaldo soon after that Ronaldo-esque celebration, also throwing a dab in there with Cavaleiro to rub the salt into their wounds even more. Them pair have clearly been playing a bit of FIFA 18 since it’s early release on Tuesday.

Talking of Cavaleiro, he was outstanding as well. Two assists and arguably deserving a third for Bonatini’s goal for the work he did to create the opportunity. I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with Stephen Warnock and his family at this difficult time after Cavaleiro sent him back to Aston Villa with an exquisite chop inside. I’m not sure he’ll recover for a while from such a traumatic experience.

Another game, another goal for Diogo Jota, it’s slowly becoming a theme. When Cavaleiro played him through it was like everyone already knew he was going to score. He’s so composed and confident in front of goal and having player of his calibre in the championship is incredible. I’m confident he can be our man to score 20+ goals this season – six already and he looks so deadly going forward. Loved the new chant for him as well.

Ruben Neves, after a torrid night in Sheffield on Wednesday, was back to his best yesterday and fair play to the guy. This league isn’t easy, you can’t just feel sorry for yourself when things don’t go your way and at 20 years old he’s so mature. He isn’t afraid to take responsibility and yesterday his passing was back on point, such a massive talent.

Everyone played well yesterday, it was great to see everything clicking again. Was good for Saiss to score his first goal for Wolves even if it was scrappy but he’ll take it all day long, unlucky not to get a second too. Nice to get another clean sheet and it would have been deserved if we had scored more in the end.

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match?

Burton is always an away day to look forward to; usually due to the delights of the local breweries and many hostelries of fine repute. The football matching the beer doesn't happen very often, but the football being even better than the pre-match entertainment comes around less frequently than a total eclipse of the sun.

This was the day. The day that everyone seemed to "click" at the same time. No better bounce-back from Wednesday's low point. It was just a shame that it was against 'poor' opposition, as I think we would have beaten any team yesterday, the way we played.

That said, I still remember the last game there which was probably our worst performance of the season and a defeat!

Nuno's selection changes showed the strength in depth, with Bennett, Saiss and Cavaleiro all justifying their starting place. The bench also looked good with a mixture of youth and experience, more importantly game changers, if needed.

You couldn't want a better start. Controlling every part of the pitch, passing the ball around at will and two goals in the first 11 minutes. I hope Jez Moxey was there to enjoy it too. We did sit back for the next 20 minutes, when I wanted us to go for the jugular; but that's being over critical. Burton enjoyed possession and Ruddy stepped up to the mark on the one occasion he was called upon.

We then took the initiative again and scored the best goal of the day, following a good link up between Vinagre and Cavaleiro the youngster scored his first goal for Wolves and celebrated it in style.

We completely controlled the second half. I cannot explain why we didn't score more than four, though this was another fine goal with good build up play. Bonatini impacting the game just after coming on as sub. He's such an intelligent player.

All in all, it was a fabulous performance.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Neves was the orchestrator of most of the play - maybe his best game for us. Saiss was equally as good, stopping any Burton threat and covering the whole pitch, to also get his first goal for the club.

The defence all looked good, but in reality had little to do thanks to Saiss.

Costa was impressive and looked to be enjoying himself. Jota was back to what we have come to expect, netting his sixth goal of the season.

Cavaleiro was a excellent throughout. He used the ball well and had the beating of the Burton back line which he exploited to good effect. Probably his best game this season.

Man of the match is between Neves and Cavaleiro with Cav just shading it for me.

A great result just ahead of the international break (yawn). I thought we would miss Coady, but the fact is we didn't. That makes for healthy competition. A quarter of the season now gone and it's looking good.

The Villa game can't come around quickly enough now.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? After the disappointment of a midweek mauling at Sheffield this was Wolves back to their best.

Totally dominant from start to finish, especially in midfield where Neves and Saiss ran the show. Diogo started the goal rush and in all honesty he should have had a couple more. Great to see Helder Costa getting almost an hour and not shirking any tackles and this was a team performance with no one rating under 7 out of 10.

It was all summed up brilliantly by an internet question posed by an online betting site which asked if the 2018 Brazil team sing "it's just like watching the Wolves".

Who played well – and who didn't impress? There were two stand-out performances from Vinagre and Calaleiro who at times were almost unplayable.

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match? Three-nil up at half time and it did not flatter us. How often do you get to say that? Enjoy it while you can. The whole game and performance was enjoyable frankly.

Sexy football it said on the radio. OMG said I. Two weeks to enjoy the 4-0, a clean sheet and we successfully defended nine corners.

Do you need any more reasons to get carried away?

A very Portuguese-looking line up without an out-and-out number nine. In the past we have complained at picking only one striker, now we have none. Well almost. The fluidity of the Costa, Jota, Cav formation was a massive contrast to last season at the Pirelli when we played non-stop long balls to Dicko. We have come a long way.

We clicked at once. Our forward passing and running made for fast flowing football so pleasing on the eye. Jota was clinical and Saiss pounced on a keeper's mistake and it was 2-0 inside 15 minutes.

A wet day out in Burton was already feeling a lot better that a wet day out in Sheffield.

Burton could not match us frankly. A heavy early challenge on Costa and an elbow on Neves was the closest they got to marking us. They may have had more of the ball in the first half but it was mainly sideways passing. Ruddy made one decent save and we got headers and blocks in when required. On the break though we looked a greater threat.

Just before the half we scored a delightful goal. Cav linked with Vinagre and the youngster used his left foot to weave into the area then he dodged a defender before beating the keeper at his near post. What a goal! His celebrations were just as delightful to watch.

After the break we continued to look a level above Burton. We had a certain penalty turned down as Doherty was tripped in the box. The ref sprayed his white dot a foot outside.

Nuno rotated the side using the subs. To be honest we were coasting but Price and Ronan did not offer quite as much as Neves and Jota had. Bonatini had longer to get involved in place of Costa. He completed a move that brought us our fourth. Credit to Cav for his run which left the defender on the floor after his turn. Doherty received his pass and then fed Bonatini.

That completed the scoring even with half an hour to go. A perfect response after the result on Wednesday.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Ruddy earned the clean sheet with a couple of saves and good concentration.

Vinagre and Doherty were very proactive and looked to really enjoy themselves.

Batth, Miranda and Bennett worked hard to keep their clean sheet. Competent and confident throughout. Bennett looked far from the new boy. It's good to know that although Boly and now Coady were missing we have brought in Batth and Bennett seamlessly.

Saiss and Neves controlled the middle of the park, Neves playing his best game in a while and Saiss was unlucky with a header that hit the post.

Cav, Jota and Costa were poetry in motion. On the end of a few rough challenges, they got on with it and had plenty of pace in possession.

Jota wins man of the match because of his better use of possession but Cav ran him close.

Heather Large

What's your verdict on the match? It was a joy to watch and the best team performance from a Wolves side I've seen for a long time.

We were excellent from start to finish and Burton clearly didn't know what had hit them.

It wasn't just Ivan Cavaleiro dancing round the defenders, Dioga Jota, Ruben Neves, Helder Costa and Ruben Vinagre were all at it too and enjoying every minute.

There is so much talent amongst them that it's sometimes very hard to believe these are actually Wolves players.

But the vast difference between the two sides, in terms of quality, was clear for everyone to see as soon as the game kicked off and the Brewers' defence did not know how to cope with the speed and skill when we attacked.

We passed the ball around the pitch with such ease and looked threatening every time we went forward.

The timing and quality of the passing between Costa, Jota and Cavaleiro, in particular, was superb, while Neves effortlessly ran rings around the Burton midfield. Leo Bonatini was the best I've seen him and Vinagre's goal to make it 3-0 was stunning, although it's the celebration that seems to have attracted everyone's attraction!

After Bonatini made it 4-0, it was clear that the Burton defenders just wanted the game to end so they could finally be put out of their misery.

But both Wolves players and fans were having too much fun and we continued to hunt for a fifth until the ref blew the final whistle.

It was a fantastic way to put Wednesday night's defeat behind us and great fun to watch. I wish we could cancel the international break and go straight to the next game!

Who played well – and who didn't impress? It's incredibly hard to pick a man of the match because it was a great team performance. Not a single player had a bad day.

But I think Cavaleiro was the stand out for me – he was superb all game. His passing, crossing and domination of the opposition was immense.

Russ Cockburn

What's your verdict on the match? I don’t think you can beat watching a football match on a terrace. Packed in tighter than Rosie Webster’s cleavage, the smell of woodbine replaced by Ice Cream soda vape wafing through the ranks and the mysterious farter. You know…the one that lets rip every ten minutes, poisons your insides then declares after 60 minutes ‘that will be the Vindaloo I had last night’.

Fortunately, the game did not disappoint and there was no Brewer’s droop like last season from the men in gold and black.

Nuno’s boys, who were obviously stung by Wednesday’s reversal, came out the traps on fire and some clever link up play was quickly rewarded by Jota’s sixth of the campaign. What can we say about Diogo, he makes me happy.

For all the guile, trickery and invention there is a steely underside to his play and he can leave his foot in if needed, or use his low centre of gravity to hold the opposition off. There is much to be admired and he’s only going to get better with Costa’s seamless return and Cav playing himself into form.

The latter was unplayable yesterday, with three assists and a Cryuff turn that sent Warnock back into the decade where his hair cut was fashionable.

Three up top were ably assisted by Neves and Saiss, who were back to their early season best, controlling the game and pulling more strings than Pinocchio’s master.

Doherty on the right and the swashbuckling Vinagre on the left were stretching play and Burton had no answer to their direct running and the ‘give and go’. The young Portuguese lad even capped his performance off with a fantastic first goal, drilling low into the bottom corner after starting the move on the touchline.

Defensively, Bennett came into the back three like he’d never been away and Batth celebrated 200 games in a Wolves shirt by heading and kicking everything that came near him.

It was a convincing win and one that was much needed and takes us into the international break with the pink and cyan seals next on the horizon. Nuno is creating something special here…we need to be patient and there will be a few more losses to come, but if we continue to play like this we’ll be there or thereabouts come May.