Wolves PL (A) | Post Match Discussion

[citytill1die84]

Aside from score and have one desperately cleared off the line...

2 opportunities to score and that was it again it was a shite performance. We defended atrociously and we attacked atrociously.

Wank.

 

[Blue2202]

In the grand scheme of things, losing to Wolves is no biggie, whereas losing to Arse would be.. I'd rather a defeat against Wolves than Arsenal.
I think that the team will be set up differently to how it was yesterday in the next 2 games.
I also think that Pep didn't want any further injuries to the players so instructed them accordingly.
Also he didn't seem unduly worried by the outcome.
We shall see.

Losing to Arsenal wouldn't matter half as much if we didnt lose yesterday though? So yes it absolutely is a biggie as I doubt any other rivals will be dropping points there. Im not understanding your thinking in saying this.
Yesterday has arguably put more pressure on city to not lose vs Arsenal considering injuries and suspensions at the moment.

 

[Blue2202]

Wolves won the tactical battle. They'd have been delighted with a draw, the victory was a bonus.

Credit to them for a job well done.

I agree, despite Citys domination of the ball -which is to be expected- a city win wouldn't have been a fair result which is worrying and cant be spun as a positive in any way to me.

 

[ysmsa]

The disallowed goal seemed mad, very rushed..red cards though, like Rodri's had to be given....weal first yellow for Jota but his second was a yellow all day...as for Rodri ..that was a sending off pre Christmas style back in the day. He seemed like he was dying to get sent off. Very un Rodri like! (must have a wedding to go to!!!) Arsenal with no decent CM's...fk

Interesting,

For me a bit of petulant hand bags (Rodri) does not deserve a Red.

A dangerous challenge that can end a career or cause series injury should be a Red all day long.

 

[Bournemouth Blue]

We are lucky to still be top after that, but it is inevitable losing so many creative midfielders that we will lose or draw games we normally would have been expected to win. Hopefully we can get Haaland and Alvarez enough service to get past Arsenal, but even a point would be good enough in the circumstances.

 

[OB1]

Read that back to yourself, think about it, and ask yourself what the consequently 'free' / unmarked City players were doing while Haaland was shackled.

We were shit yesterday.

We weren’t shit and almost never are.

You should think about some of your comments.

 

[StillBluessinceHydeRoad]

They looked more likely to score because we play high and try to be positive. Our opponents quite often have what look they the better chances because we don't sit back and pack our defence. It's a risk of how City play but the rewards usually justify it over the course of a season.

Yes. Hopefully we can put this down to a collective off day. The lad marking Doku did a very effective job on him and we never really played down our other flank until Jack Grealish came on so we never got behind them after Haaland almost capitolised on a semi-pull back. After that we got nullified by a traffic jam in their area.

 

[Hes the left back remember]

We are lucky to still be top after that, but it is inevitable losing so many creative midfielders that we will lose or draw games we normally would have been expected to win. Hopefully we can get Haaland and Alvarez enough service to get past Arsenal, but even a point would be good enough in the circumstances.

Why are we lucky? We have more points than any other team, was all that luck? Yes but if they would have won and the other would have won we wouldn’t be top!!
Well we are and deserve to be as we have more points than anyone else.
Some of the comments on here are ridiculous

 

[Grassland Blue]

Losing to Arsenal wouldn't matter half as much if we didnt lose yesterday though? So yes it absolutely is a biggie as I doubt any other rivals will be dropping points there. Im not understanding your thinking in saying this.
Yesterday has arguably put more pressure on city to not lose vs Arsenal considering injuries and suspensions at the moment.

Is John back?

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Is John back?

Even if he is, he’ll be injured by next weekend anyway.

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Losing to Arsenal wouldn't matter half as much if we didnt lose yesterday though? So yes it absolutely is a biggie as I doubt any other rivals will be dropping points there. Im not understanding your thinking in saying this.
Yesterday has arguably put more pressure on city to not lose vs Arsenal considering injuries and suspensions at the moment.

The very, very worst case scenario going into the international break is that we are 2 points off top. The best is that we are 4 points top. There's no "pressure" win, lose or draw at this stage of the season.

 

[BuzLightyear]

I’ve seen the whole game now.

City’s performance was not awful; it was somewhat toothless going forward and maybe lacking intensity and conviction. The team did not lack effort though, you cannot dominate possession and territory as City did without putting in a shift.

When a team defends as Wolves did, you need a bit of magic or luck to break through and both were in short supply yesterday, Julian’s excellent free kick aside.

City didn’t even defend badly, despite the stick Ake is getting. Are had a tough time because it is difficult to defend high against a player who has such superior pace and space to run into.

City were very unfortunate to conceded 2 goals. Both Wolves goals had a couple of spawny elements to them plus a gol scorer who should have had a 2nd yellow long before he scored - a disgraceful piece of refereeing from the next to useless Pawson. Wolves literally got the breaks and City didn’t.

Bemoaning bad luck and the absence of key players does not change the fact that the team City fielded should have done better and Pep picked out failures in the process that he will no doubt talk to the team about this week and look to put right for two big games.

Looking forward, we have the two best midfield players in the world to come back, the best ball playing centre back and Bernardo. Kova and Jack are probably not at full match fitness yet and all the new signings and Bobb need time to get fully up to speed.

Last weekend, prior to Rodri losing his cool, City played some magnificent football and we looked to be warming up nicely. We’ve had a couple of bad results in a row, which is very unusual so ut is important to bounce back in midweek.

Thank you OB1 for such and excellent, balanced, analysis of the match. It's refreshing to read this after all the negative criticism of our performance. I'm as gutted as anyone but am amazed at the stick City are getting here.

 

[GoatersLeftShin]

It was a very disappointing result, but we're not going to win every game.

I thought Wolves were just better than us on the day - we weren't at top notch and Wolves played out of their skin. They were first to every ball and had some crucial bits of luck. I don't think it matters who the opposition are, if you catch pretty much any team in the PL on one of their purple days, you're going to struggle. Throw in our injuries and an inept referee and it added up to a loss for us.

I don't think there was much we could do about the team selection really. I thought Ake struggled against the excellent Neto but there's not much he can do if the guy is simply much quicker than him and had plenty of space to run into. Personally I think we should've tried to nullify him somehow because he was their main threat.

I don't know if it was a good decision to play Nunes so soon after he joined us - did it fire them up at all? I think he looks a competent player but I think he's going to need this season to bed in before showing us what he can do. Phillips struggled again for me, he's just not good enough and really looks cumbersome. On a different day, that little "tread" on their player could've been a card. It was a stupid thing to do.

The free kick from Alvarez was absolutely world class and he had to be absolutely perfect to have a chance of getting that. What a player he is.

Overall, one to forget.

 

[Tolmie scores]

Interesting,

For me a bit of petulant hand bags (Rodri) does not deserve a Red.

A dangerous challenge that can end a career or cause series injury should be a Red all day long.

Hands near anyones neck / face chest even = red now...soft yes but he sort of looked for it...un Rodri like

 

[Kippax Street 1880]

How unreasonable of him ! Of course, no one else has ever signed for us for more money.

It left a sour taste at the time. I'm sure if Sylvain waved to the fans before a game nowadays he'd get a good reception.

 

[BuzLightyear]

Agree with this. I can’t help thinking that the frustration is borne out of the regular players sensing the lack of genuine quality we have now. We have lost truly exceptional players and the replacements are good players but not top level. Rodri as much as said this recently. I feel Pep is frustrated by it too. Hopefully we get Silva and Stones back soon as we can’t compete with today’s midfield. Grealish will be better with more fitness and we need his ability and drive. Doku may prove to be a decent player but he’s not at the level yet. We need to settle on our midfield and make pragmatic decisions on those who will not take us forward.

You make some good points here but I have been worried about Jack for a while now. He carries and shields the ball well but never takes a player on (as Doku or even Nunes do) Nor does he go on the outside and put the crosses in. It's all sideways stuff and cutting in. Maybe he fears losing the ball or being hacked down. I'm sure he could beat players and therefore create more scoring opportunities but he won't. He's a great lad but something is holding him back.

 

[ysmsa]

Hands near anyones neck / face chest even = red now...soft yes but he sort of looked for it...un Rodri like

I know that's the Law, but it's bollocks ;-)

 

[Tolmie scores]

He won't be at City long enough to do it.

Unless you have wide men who play the ball behind tge back 4 early, or a KDB when fit, maybe Bernie threading through the a narrow gap Erling will find it hard to score. I know i kept banging on from way b4cwe bought Wrling that Kane would have been a better fit. Love Erlings attitude and his power and strength is a huge asset but a team is not just a collection of good players, need to think about how we will score as a collective. For me our fase 9 was an amazing system, so hard to play against. Kane woud have been perfect dropping deep beung a provider and on other occasions beuming the finisher.. but we have gone down another route

 

[Tolmie scores]

You make some good points here but I have been worried about Jack for a while now. He carries and shields the ball well but never takes a player on (as Doku or even Nunes do) Nor does he go on the outside and put the crosses in. It's all sideways stuff and cutting in. Maybe he fears losing the ball or being hacked down. I'm sure he could beat players and therefore create more scoring opportunities but he won't. He's a great lad but something is holding him back.

Always played this way for us bar a burst before chumps league final. He doesn't really have too many tricks or lightening pace for a wide player,

 

[Asa's left peg]

Hands near anyones neck / face chest even = red now...soft yes but he sort of looked for it...un Rodri like

Let's hope they are consistent. Won't hold my breath!