Wolves Fans' Verdict v Fulham: Work to be done

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match?

Halfway then, there have been some highs and lows so far, but this game will soon be forgotten. Yes, we had plenty of possession but we failed to make use of it.

We played too many sideways and backwards passes with far too few into their box. The closest we got to winning a corner was a couple of Bennett long throws.

The 'identity' we are meant to have seems to have been compromised in an effort to get MGW into the side. Neves form has dipped and that has made our midfield look overrun but the adjusted formation has not helped us look any more threatening nearer goal.

Until half time only Jimenez did anything of note in the final third. Cavaleiro made a difference when he came on with some crosses with pace going into the box rather than there being endless passes played around, but outside their box.

Players other than Jimenez need to be playing one-twos or neat triangles closer to the goal. Mitrovic was obviously a handful but we managed him quite well until the route one attack in the closing minutes.

We deserved our point but not really anything more.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

He made one good block in the first half but surely Patricio should do better on the goal. He had the chance to clear the danger but appeared to just flap at the ball. I expected more from him.

A typical busy performance from Otto. Terrier-like defending and got into many advanced positions.

Doherty saw plenty of the ball from long passes but he nearly always next played it backwards so our momentum was lost. When he, or anyone, gets the ball in that position he needs to head towards goal with a dribble or pass.

The three centre-halves performances have certainly been a high so far this season. Again Boly, Coady and Bennett played well, each making a timely intervention at one time or another with Coady saving the team a point with his excellent clearance after Bennett had helped block the shot.

Saiss has come into the side and added more bite in midfield. His passing was good too until the last twenty minutes. He is probably the only midfielder we have who would have been in that position to score the equaliser.

It looked like Moutinho thrived having to play without Neves alongside him. He did plenty of hassling and tackling while also recycled the ball well quickly. Man of the match.

Gibbs-White saw the ball played around him and was on the periphery of the game too often. Without the ball, he did not offer much so it was a disappointing game for him. Perhaps he feels too much pressure starting games and still needs to be used as a substitute.

Jimenez showed plenty of good touches, not least when his overhead kick went over the bar. Only when Cav came on did he have decent support in the final third.

Traore surely has to revert back to being an impact substitute. He spends too much time ball watching instead of making runs and finding space to receive the ball. Instead, it is usually played to him in midfield with his back to goal. That does not play to his strengths.

From the bench, Cavaleiro replaced Traore at half-time and proved to be an upgrade. Not everything he tried came off, but the unpredictability of his play meant that when it did work we looked at our most dangerous.

Costa played for thirty minutes but failed to have much impact. With more determination, he could have been the one to score the equaliser.

Natalie Wood

What's your verdict on the match?

There was no doubt this was a big game for us. We are getting into the habit of underperforming against teams we should be beating so I was slightly nervous going into the game. It was great to see Gibbs- White being given the nod ahead of Neves.

I have no doubt that Neves will become a great player in the Premier League, but he has not been up to standards in recent games.

It was going to be interesting to see how we coped without him

The first half I didn’t think we played that badly, it certainly wasn’t our best performance, but we were in the game, the issue was we just were not creating any chances.

Bar an amazing bit of skill from Jimenez that would have been a contender for goal of the season, I don’t really remember another solid chance in the first half.

We did, however, manage to hold possession quite well, but Fulham were playing well.

They looked a threat going forward, with Mitrovic especially being a right handful!

Bennett especially was really struggling to control him, with both Bennett and Coady being caught out of position multiple times.

While we played OK, there was only one team that deserved to be winning at the break and it wasn’t us! Fulham definitely had the chance of the half but Patricio did well to block Mitrovic’s shot.

The second half saw the welcome arrival of Cavaleiro on for Traore. Yet again, Traore was very ineffective, as I’ve said before in my eyes he is an impact sub, an expensive sub but a real secret weapon, he just doesn’t work as a starter.

Cav brought an extra gear that we were missing and definitely helped us start taking control.

Gibbs White moving forward slightly also helped and he became a lot more influential in the game. We were the better of the two teams in the second half but Fulham were still causing nightmares for our back 3!

Fulham’s goal summed up our defensive display... just a bit chaotic!

After their goal though we really started to wake up and stopped making as many silly mistakes and the introduction of Vinagre was probably the final piece of the puzzle we needed to push that bit further forward.

All we needed was one perfect pass across goal and we were level - thank you Ivan Cavaleiro. Ultimately, 1-1 was probably a fair result and it would have felt cruel if we had lost it in the last minute...another complete defensive mess up completely let Fulham through who, to be honest, were unlucky not to score - thank god for Conor Coady!

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

The whole team performance was ok... nothing special or disastrous about it.

The definite stand out man for me was Moutinho. After a few off games, he really looked like the player we were expecting to get, he completely controlled the midfield and won the ball back in some important positions. We did, however, struggle defensively with Bennett especially underperforming.

Adama Traore was another disappointment for me, he just isn’t up to standard and surely can’t start against Tottenham! Gibbs- White was a bit invisible while he was on the pitch, I can’t say he played badly but he just struggled to really get involved. I’m not sure Neves though would have done much better in his current form.

Overall, it was a good point and an entertaining game to watch as a fan. We should be beating teams like this on paper but Fulham played well and that shouldn’t be taken away from them.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match?

Better result than we managed here last season and an away point is always welcome.

I just get the feeling that this type of result will not be tolerated next season and beyond, and we certainly seemed to have more than Fulham without especially doing much with the possession.

Cavaleiro made a huge difference when introduced and we deserved at least the point we earned, courtesy of the very hard-working Saiss. Hopefully, we have left something in the tank for Saturday's trip to Wembley but we may need a little more against Spurs to gain a point or more.