Wolves' Fans Verdict v Sheffield Wednesday: Debutants Were Impressive

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match?

A thoroughly enjoyable game. Nuno was the main man here and he came away from Hillsborough with flying colours, once more.

With 9 changes to the starting 11 and debuts given to 4 of our young and hungry lads, this was an opportunity to shine but also a big test for some.

The most significant thing was how well they all slotted into our normal game plan.

Some were a little rusty in the first half, but a few well chosen words at half time got them on track and they went on to play very well.

A good game prevailed, rewarding the Wolves fans who travelled in high numbers.

We had the lions share of the ball without dominating, but created a number of chances to score. Ruddy was needed to make a save 3 times and he had a good first game of the season.

It is so encouraging to see these players step up and slot into Nuno’s system with apparent ease. He has certainly got his message understood throughout the club.

Traore was a constant threat with his pace. He beat the full back, ran to the box and though his pull back took a deflection it fell nicely for Bonatini to end his goal drought. You can’t say he hasn’t deserved it. You can’t fault him for effort and intelligent play outside the box.

A run and dribble by Costa caused the foul for the penalty which he confidently put away. A few more opportunities came, but in reality this was a fairly comfortable victory.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Like Saturday, every one played a good part. Traore was the standout player. He’s exciting to watch and when he gets the ball there is an anticipation that something could happen. He’s knocking on the door for a Premier League start now.

Gibbs-White had a very good game and saw lots of the ball. He could have scored two with one chance where he should have done better followed by then hitting the post.

The debut boys can all be pleased with their contribution. Dendoncker looks like another astute signing. Very comfortable with the ball. He will slot into first team without any problem; I just can’t see who he can replace at the moment.

Watt did well alongside Saiss in midfield. Of course, Moutinho and Neves are missed but they marshalled the middle well. Hause and Vinagre linked well and both can step into Premier League when needed.

Gonclaves did well in his half an hour, as did Ashley-Seal in his 10 minute cameo. Costa also looked lively in his 20 minutes.

Overall, a very pleasing performance. In years gone by, when we gave players a chance to shine in Cup games, it wasn’t taken. Those days are gone.

Thanks to Nuno.

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match?

Back to a familiar stamping ground for the Cup and a chance for our first win of the season. Nine team changes was hardly a surprise. Taking many positives from the first half is quite a challenge. Watt did not look out of place, MGW had boundless energy and movement while Vinagre was the star performer looking pacy and skillful every time he was involved.

Traore looked quick, no kidding, but ended up giving more fouls away than he could win. Several times he was tackled in possession.

All the goal attempts fell to Bonatini and MGW, neither of whom had the accuracy or the strength it seemed to seriously trouble the goal. Keeping a clean sheet looked straightforward as Wednesday hardly got close to getting in our box.

Half time words of encouragement from Nuno worked wonders. We came out and raised our game considerably. Our passing was much quicker and accurate which opened things up. Traore moved inside more which allowed him to link up with Bonatini and MGW easier. Previously he had looked more isolated playing wide with only Doherty to work with.

In no time at all our extra pace, and quality, brought the opening goal. The relief of it all. Good work from Traore ended in a deflected cross becoming a pulled back pass to Bonatini. Very similar to a move at Leicester, but this time Leo hit the net and finally broke his 2018 duck. I think only Ruddy failed to get a hug in the celebration. Smiley faces all around.

From then on it was plain sailing. We got better and Wednesday remained at arms length. Ruddy, a spectator in the first half, dived to make two saves, punched a cross away and caught another at the second attempt.

Following the goal it looked like another would follow soon. MGW is clearly very keen to score and you could see his frustration when he finally made good contact with a low shot that hit the outside of the post.

With Costa on for the last twenty minutes we had a dribbler on both flanks and looked a real threat. Finally with just five minutes left Costa danced into the box with his quick feet and balance, only to be floored for an obvious pen. He made it 2-0.

The highlight very nearly came off in stoppage time as Vinagre did a delightful flick to release Costa, who again danced into the box played a neat one two with Vintage and then set him up for a shot that was blocked. Had the young wing back have scored that, it would have been as good as his effort at Burton last season.

In the end, a tedious below par first half was forgotten as the second half was a joy to watch.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Ruddy - not too busy but looked good when required.

Vinagre was excellent. He was better than I remember him being last season. His play was full of confidence and he played like a winger would in a 442 formation. He was not tested defensively very much but still looked at ease and had good control. MOTM

Doherty playing highlighted our lack of depth in this position. Linked up with Traore but was rarely ahead of him.

Coady, Hause and debut boy Dendonker were all comfortable. Passing and building moves up from the back rather than being challenged defensively.

Saiss was below par, too many diagonal passes failed to hit the mark. No shortage of work rate though.

Watt, also making his debut, did not look phased at this level. He rarely dwells on the ball for long, recycling it quickly usually with short passes. He was less accurate when trying to force a killer ball forward.

Gibbs-White worked really hard for 70 minutes. He got tackled too easily when well placed and needs to get a goal - to prove he can, at this level. Although he lined up on the left he frequently drifted across the line looking for space.

Bonatini went from zero to hero. The first half he was poor, passing, shooting, control all needed improving. Then a goal came along and hopefully that will help him find some form.

Traore was at times unplayable while so wasteful at other times. I think the £18m fee is based on a lot of potential. His pace and balance for the goal was impressive - the first of many assists hopefully.

Nuno brought Goncalves, Ashley-Seal and Costa on as subs. Costa obviously made an impact with the goal. Ashley-Seal almost did, he was holding the ball by the penalty spot, only for Costa to pull rank. Wonder if Nuno sees more promise in Ashley-Seal than in Enobakhare.

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match?

Usually you’d bemoan 9 changes after a trek up the motorway but in the League Cup it’s to be expected and when one of those changes sees a first start for Adama Traore, it’s more than worth your while.

Plenty of noise in the Leppings Lane end greeted the pre-match Hi-Ho Silver Lining and continued with some rousing ‘Nuno Had A Dream’ after kick off. Considering the furore over how many people were buying tickets with no intention of going just to pick up loyalty points, it was a pretty good turn out.

The game itself was akin to many from last season’s march to the Championship. We controlled possession, had the better chances, and had a couple of heart-in-mouth moments when Ruddy had to bail us out.

Goals from Bonatini & Costa were enough to see us comfortably through to the next round and make the drive home a little more pleasant.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Traore was the absolute star of the show. Always wanting to get on the ball and, perhaps a bit too often in the first half, beat as many opponents as possible. It felt like Nuno had given him a talking to at half time because he was unplayable in the second half, looking for team mates more often instead of running down blind alleys and even running in behind the defence on to through balls. His run and cross for Bonatini’s goal was superb.

Traore aside, the rest all looked pretty comfortable but a special mention goes to Saiss in midfield. A bit of a forgotten man in the opening weeks while the Neves-Moutinho midfield axis gets rave reviews, Saiss stepped seamlessly back into first team action and controlled the game effortlessly from the centre of the park, ably assisted by young Elliot Watt (whose playing style reminds me a bit of Jack Price, simple but effective) and later Pedro Goncalves.

Russ Evers

What's your verdict on the match?

A little like Groundhog Day this one as 2500 plus Wolves fans take a midweek trip and see goals from Bonatini and Costa seal a pretty one sided win. Great cameos also from a few of the youngsters and some pure comedy moments including Saiss causing two Wednesday players to run into each other whilst Traore just turned a couple of their defenders inside out.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

A few of the squad will have benefitted greatly from the run out and for me it was a toss up between Doherty and Bonatini for man of the match despite Ruddy making two good saves. Shows how far we have come if this is mainly the second team.

Adam Virgo

What was your verdict on the match?

Changes were expected and considering we made nine, we did well overall. Sheffield Wednesday changed their whole team around but even so, it was good to see more of the squad and some of the younger players given game time.

First half was pretty drab, apart from Gibbs-White’s glorious chance, there wasn’t much else to shout about. They threatened a couple of times but didn’t test Ruddy in the first 45. There wasn’t much conviction in the effort from Gibbs-White but he really should have hit the target.

I don’t know what was said or done at half time but second half it was like we’d been injected with life because we went up the gears so quickly and caused major problems for Sheffield Wednesday. Apart from Ruddy having to make a good save at 1-0, they barely threatened and in the end thoroughly deserved the win.

We had control of the game, more so in the second half and when we attacked them quickly, they had no answer. Bonatini and Gibbs-White both improved after the break which helped in attack, Vinagre and Doherty were both linking up going forward much more and whenever Adama Traoré had the ball, the Sheffield Wednesday defence had no answer to him.

Who played well and who didn’t impress?

Adama Traoré was an absolute delight to watch, especially in the second half. This guy has some serious pace, even with the ball it’s ridiculous how quick he moves. What he was doing to their defenders shouldn’t ever be shown on TV before the 9pm Watershed.

Don’t get me wrong it’s very difficult to defend against his pace and power but he just made a mockery out of them in the second half. I would definitely say he’s one of the fastest footballers in the world with the ball at his feet. That can be a slight negative as he’s too fast for his brain at times but there’s no doubting his ability and potential, I think he’d even give Usain Bolt a run for his money in a race.

Ruben Vinagre, another player with bags of talent. Such a skilful and quick player too and that fancy pass at the end to Costa just topped his wonderful performance off. He has the potential to go and be one of the best full/wing backs in the world, going forward he’s a delight to watch and I really hope we can keep him for a while and see him progress more and more.

They were the two standout players for me but everyone had a decent enough game. Was great to finally see Bonatini score a competitive goal as well, his first for around 8 months. His performance wasn’t too great but his touch improved and he got involved a lot more once he got his goal so hopefully he can gain some confidence from that.

Watt and Dendoncker had good debuts, neither of them really put a foot wrong. The Belgian almost got caught out early on but apart from that he was solid. Hause also had a very good game, Ruddy made an impressive save at 1-0 which was important because he hadn’t had much to do so he needed to stay alert, which he did.

The three subs in Costa, Goncalves and Ashley-Seal all made positive impacts. Goncalves looked smart on the ball and tried to produce a Neves special, hitting it wide. Ashley-Seal used his pace and strength well, unlucky to not get a goal but running at their defence caused them to panic.

Costa was great when he came on, won the penalty in which he blitzed someone for pace so easily, was always confident he was scoring the penalty too. He also pulled off some nice skill at the end which if we had scored from, would have been an unreal goal.