Express & Star

Wolves Fans' Verdict v Brentford: An avoidable defeat

Our Wolves fans have their say on the defeat to Brentford.

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Matheus Cunha. Picture: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

Clive Smith

This season’s fourth game against Brentford was certainly the least enjoyable of them all.

We have seen this game before however, the nasty taste lingers even now. Annoyingly we played into their hands even knowing their game plan.

We started by giving the ball away cheaply slightly more often than them. Losing Cunha after 20 minutes was obviously not in the script. Sa, who had already made a couple of decent saves, decided to stay put on a corner and we’d gifted them the lead.

After being virtually the best team defending set pieces we have now allowed a corner to result in a goal in our last three games – all so avoidable.

Having got their goal Brentford’s ambition was to keep what they had. We offered so little threat going forward, an impressive point blank save from a Neto far post header was all it took to keep their lead before the interval.

Fraser joined the attack for the second half but our overall play only improved marginally. Neto was our main outlet but he was predictably cutting inside and getting out manned. Hopes were raised briefly when Dawson put the ball in the net but VAR soon extinguished that.

Our reaction was pretty flat and there was no signs we were likely to turn things around. The game became more open but, despite being behind and facing a high Brentford press we tried to play through it. There was a sense of inevitability we would get picked off and Dawson obliged.

A hugely disappointing performance, particularly after how well we played last week. The significant difference being Cunha’s availability. After starting the day hoping to have Cunha and Hwang together in attack, having neither left us extremely short of quality in the final third.

John Lalley

Following the heroics of Stamford Bridge, this self-inflicted wound was as disappointing as it was avoidable. Ultimately, Wolves paid the price for a complacent and infuriatingly slack first-half disregarding all of the virtues that had accounted for Chelsea last week.

Stretched virtually from the kick-off, Wolves began the game with both placidity and indecision and despite more than one sharp reminder of their vulnerability, they ignored the warning signs.