Wolves Fans' Verdict v Crystal Palace: Back to the side we all know and love

Clive Smith

A marked improvement on last week thankfully. The opening half an hour was more like the Wolves we know and love. On the front foot, with more time on the ball and two goals to the good.

Two nil did not flatter us by any means and by the end we should have extended the lead. Dendoncker in particular was close to getting on the scoresheet and Traore late on had a good opportunity.

With Semedo improving and Ait-Nouri having an impressive debut they both looked good going forward. It will be interesting to see if Ait-Nouri is a marked improvement on Vinagre. The centre of defence looked solid, the only gap seemed to be between Boly and Semedo where Palace pushed two or three players in that area. Boly still only looks 80% of his usual level at both ends of the pitch.

The tireless Dendoncker played well and along with Neves each probably had their best game of the season.

In attack we stretched the play with Neto and Podence wide at times and also in the channels. Both linked well with their respective wing backs. Jimenez had the least influence for once in attack. Podence gets MOTM. He is such a thoughtful player, looking to bring others into the game and is improving with each outing.

There is still room for improvement in front of goal. The team selection Nuno picked looked the right one. Had we managed a third goal them it would have been good for Silva and Traore to get more game time.

Rob Cartwright

This was a very pleasing performance; a good win and a great start to the weekend.

The only good thing about a Friday night football is, if you win, you can sit back and enjoy the rest of the games unfold, in the knowledge that the points are in the bag.

We wanted to see Wolves come out of the blocks fast and that’s just what they did.

They played higher up the field and managed to get both wing backs and midfielders forward.

I was surprised Marcal didn’t start, but was pleased to see Ait-Nouri for the first time. He did not disappoint. He looked self assured beyond his age and got forward regularly. His reward was to score the first goal when breaking into their box. Maybe another gem has been unearthed?

The three centre backs were rock solid. That’s 3 clean sheets in the last 4 games. The best thing I can say is Kilman went unnoticed throughout the game. A fine display in the mould of Willy Boly at his best.

The front three looked very good together and could be forming a lethal trio. Chances were created and more goals looked likely.

Neves and Dendoncker were also getting into dangerous positions and both could have scored from just outside the box. Neto and Podence both looked dangerous too.

My man of the match was Podence, for the second consecutive game. He caused trouble every time he had possession and not only scored but came up with the assist for the opener too. I hope his goal gives him more confidence as he’s fast with plenty of trickery and I’m sure will be a regular scorer in the Jota mould.

Things are looking good. The team had balance and are improving one step at a time. We’ve just about finished our preseason prep now and I see no reason why we cannot flourish.

Maybe the most significant observation is that VAR appears to have joined the Jorge Mendes agency, after showing no interest in joining Wolves for last 2 years, it may be that they have finally arrived too!!!

Russ Evers

"The most important thing is to keep on improving" - said repetitiously by Manager and Captain and echoed by everyone on the pitch as yet again we improved on the last game. Up now level top albeit having played a game more but 13 points from 7 games is not a bad start !!

We had two excellent twenty-minute periods, one in each half, and did enough in those periods to warrant the three points and put a dangerous Palace side to bed.

Partnerships were key - the full-backs both did really well and Coady and Kilman are forming a great pairing with Coady putting in a quite brilliant display.

In midfield Neves and Dendoncker were superb and Neto & Podence as wide men caused all manner of problems. And we now have strength on the bench.

We even got the rub of the green on the important decisions so perhaps the tide is turning and the future is gold!