Express & Star

Wolves Fans' Verdict v Cardiff: Hideous

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Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match? Not a classic, by any stretch of the imagination. That fabulous night back in April seems an awful long time ago right now.

We’re misfiring all over the pitch, but still should have won this game being ahead with 25 minutes remaining and Cardiff just relying on long balls to their front three.

Nuno made two changes and who can blame him after Huddersfield?

My initial thought was that Saiss would be better employed back in midfield alongside Neves, in the hope that it would bring more steel and allow Neves the freedom to be more creative once more.

Cardiff played 3-4-3 which meant they could go man for man on our front three while packing the middle. Both tactics were performed to good effect.

Gone are the days of 20, 30 or 40-yard balls sprayed with ease and accuracy to the wide and available wing backs. These days we’re lucky to get a sniff of the ball in midfield. Hence, my thoughts on a Saiss return.

The wing backs are not getting forward and are finding no space. It’s as though the pitches are now 20 yards narrower.

The front three were toothless and could not keep hold of the ball.

It doesn’t matter what the mix is. Nuno changed their positions a number of times during the game, but to no avail.

That said, we were the better team for the first hour of this game and were leading from the 18th to the 65th minute. We were coping with everything Cardiff could throw at us with apparently little danger, except when they hit the post from long distance.

Our defenders will have sore heads today, as they headed ball after ball to safety.

Wolves' goal came from a Moutinho corner, headed on by Jimenez with Doherty lurking in the box to fire home when their keeper parried the ball.

We don’t lose once going ahead, do we? That’s another thing that’s now changed!

Cardiff’s equaliser should have been prevented. Another long ball into our box with Patricio coming to punch, but with two or three Cardiff players in front of him, he hesitated and tried to retreat leaving the goal unprotected. Goalkeeper error.

The game could have gone either way at this point. Nuno made all three subs but in reality we created nothing other than long range efforts from Neves. Although we were winning the aerial battles, too often we were not winning the second ball.

It was a needless foul by Gibbs-White that gave Cardiff possession leading to their winner. Hoilett curled it right in the corner, from the far edge of the box. It would be harsh to blame this on our keeper, but I want him to do better with that shot too!

The reality is, we didn’t really threaten an equaliser in the last 12 minutes.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Willy Boly was head and shoulders our best player, literally, given how many times he headed and cleared the ball. Coady played well too. They did not deserve to be on a losing team.

Saiss has a good game. Not sure how the back three can all do well with us conceding two? Well, Patricio was at fault and caused the equaliser and the winner was a wonder-strike.

Up front, Traore was the best of a poor trio. I felt Costa was very poor and has not done enough to keep his place in the last two games.

Neves and Moutinho are just not clicking together which is weird considering how they started the season. Doherty was the pick of the rest.

The nightmare continues...

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match? A solitary three hour drive home allowed for plenty of time for reflection. It was not enough time to come up with much positivity I am afraid. Optimists talking of a top 10 finish and the experts saying we are too good to go down, need to look away now.

Having just lost to the supposed weakest two teams, beating 18th place is where we need to focus. Have Cardiff improved that much since April or...

A changed line-up brought only a marginally improved overall performance – even the luxury of an early lead failed to inspire us. Too many long passes were over hit while shorter passes frequently failed to find their man. We were constantly beaten to the second ball while being out muscled throughout.

The physicality of this league is really finding us out. We give away cheap fouls while getting brushed aside easily.

Our front three rotated but only rarely linked up together. Costa and Traore were the most guilty of losing the ball when in possession, making us vulnerable to the counter attack.

The goal from Doherty gave us the lead but even by the break we were looking second best. Down our right Saiss and Doherty were kept busy and failed to prevent crosses putting us under pressure. In contrast too many of our chances to cross just got blocked by the first defender.

We rarely looked likely to score whereas it seemed only a matter of time before Cardiff found the net. This they duly did twice. We had half chances - Jimenez could have got first to a cross, and done better with a header. Jota failed to react quickly enough while Neves and Gibbs-White wasted shooting chances.

Frankly we were second best again, our poor run continues - our Christmas list needs updating and posting first class.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Patricio saw an effort hit his bar and seemed in no man's land for the first goal.

Vinagre struggled to defend well enough. That has to be his priority, even though he was lively in attack when given the chance. Doherty also needed to defend better. The ball was often played inside him and round him leading to danger in our box.

Boly had some careless moment at times but he stood tall when he had to and won endless headers. Man of the match.

Coady looked to have too many plates spinning at one time. He had too much covering to do and needed more help.

Saiss was not the one able to offer that help. I am unconvinced about his ability to play that position at this level. Perhaps he needs more time to adapt, but when and where is he going to get that? His tackling makes me nervous as his timing does not always look good.

Neves did far more good things than last week, but still looks some way short of his best. Moutinho, like Neves, better but still below par.

Costa was the leader in the frustration charts. Constantly losing possession when in good position which left us exposed at the back. He was easily tackled and shrugged off the ball.

Traore was the second most frustrating for the same reasons. Jimenez tried hard but where it really matters, in the box, he failed to deliver much.

From the bench – Cavaleiro showed the most energy in his brief appearance while Jota and Gibbs-White could easily have stolen us a point with better finishing.

Gulraj Kular (@molineuxmusings)

What's your verdict on the match? Well that was hideous. As a Wolves fan, as a football fan in general, the majority of that game made you want to gouge your own eyes out.

Cardiff have an excuse - they’re an average team, with an average set of players. As neanderthal and primitive as their play is, they frankly can’t afford to play with any kind of panache because they would lose out most weeks. Us, on the other hand, were just foul.

The thing that got me was throughout the game, even without dominating possession and Cardiff continually disrupting the flow of the game with set piece after set piece, we still had plenty of chances to break on them. The trouble was, our front three played like they were marking each other.

Tactics? Out the window in these games. Cardiff did everything they could to force the ball into the corners and win throw-ins and free kicks and on the whole we defended well. If our front three had managed to hold on to the ball a little better, the pressure would have reduced and we would have been able to get into the game more.

The massive irony was the fact we ended up scoring from a set piece. The goals we conceded were a symptom of our inability to deal with the second ball. On the first delivery we were great at getting a Wolves head on it, but for the first goal when the ball was returned into the box, nobody took responsibility. The expectation was Patricio would come and claim and everyone retreated to the goalline but he had a long way to come for it.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Willy Boly roared his way back into form, with a trojan-like performance, dominating aerially. Coady and Saiss also played manfully although distribution from the back could have been better.

As for the rest? Nothing to write home about. Helder Costa appears to have exhausted his performance levels now and could do with a break from the team. Jimenez failed to knit the front three together but Costa and Traore spent as much time on the floor as on the ball. Cardiff aren’t actually a great side defensively and they should have made more of their possession.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? Luckily November is now gone. The hoodoo month was true to its word but Cardiff were, or should have been, lambs to the slaughter.

At 1-0 after 45 minutes surely the game plan would have been to turn the screw further, not turn the gas off as in the second half we were completely second best.

You would have backed an international keeper to snub out any danger during the build up to their leveller and may have expected the winner to go over the bar or past the post but in true Wolves fashion it went in.

In truth we simply did not do enough in any area of the pitch but it is tweaks needed not massive changes. At least it's only Chelsea next

Natalie Wood

What's your verdict on the match? Suddenly the Europa League dreams seem a million miles away!

We started the well and in the first half we controlled the game. Defensively we were solid – Saiss, who was a surprise addition for me, fitted in seamlessly.

We built up play well and got the ball forward but once we got anywhere near the Cardiff box we were crumbling. We did however deserve the lead at the break.

I’ll be honest I was really confident at half time, Cardiff were struggling to break us down and it looked like a 1-0 lead would be enough to push us over the line. Then came the second half....

I really hate being overly negative but I’m struggling to be anything but after that second half performance. Defensively we weren’t too bad overall but their first goal was an absolute joke to concede – Patricio didn’t command his box and the defence may have well been watching in the stands!

Their second was a stunning shot to be fair to them, the sort of goal we would have been scoring last year. That shot also showed the difference between the two teams...conviction and confidence when attacking.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Jimenez is an absolute waste of space, he's so lightweight and doesn’t seem to have a clue what the net even looks like.

Our midfield have been struggling for a few games but the obvious weak link in my eyes is Neves. He is a shadow of the player we saw last year – lazy passes, giving away possession constantly and a real liability at times. His ban for Chelsea might actually be a blessing, he doesn’t deserve his place in the team at the moment but I can’t see Nuno ever dropping his wonderkid.

Gibbs-White struggled to get going against Cardiff but overall this season he has looked bright and is worth a start in my opinion.

The list of poor performances continue – Costa was completely invisible, Jota’s poor run continued and Traore was useless – I will never understand why he would start.

His strength is his speed but it is pointless when he is up against fresh legged defenders. The amount of mud on the back of his shirt by half time showed the impact he had.

I do have some real concerns now for Wolves, yes it is only a few losses and yes we are still in a great league position but I honestly can’t see where our goals are going to come from and I can see us easily getting swept into a relegation battle.

The confidence of the team is so low and you can see whenever they shoot they have no belief they're ever going to score.

I also can’t see any goal scorers in the squad at all. Our stars of last season like Neves, Jota and Costa all look half the players they were, no creativity and Costa and Jota in particular spend more time on the floor than anything else.

Undoubtedly we will play better against Chelsea for the simple reason we will be given more space which we know always suits Wolves but it will make absolutely no difference if we can’t find the net!