Wolves Fans' Verdict v Liverpool: No complaints

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match? My feeling is one of overwhelming pride.

We played well here, against a team who are unbeaten and top of the table. Liverpool are the best team we have played this season. Why they resorted to time wasting tactics, from 35 minutes onwards, I’ll never understand. Good game management maybe, but it’s pathetic. Milner was the chief culprit. They didn’t need to do it with their slick passing and movement off the ball. Let’s just take it as a compliment.

There’s no holding on for a draw, or focus on defending rather than attacking with Nuno’s Wolves – and I love it.

The first goal was always going to be crucial.

We went toe to toe with Liverpool. The difference is that they are clinical in both boxes. They have a forward line who are all fast, mobile and can get a shot in. Their defence looked equally as good with the excellent Virgil van Dijk.

Having said that, we managed to get through a number of times into good shooting positions but had neither the speed of thought, nor the finesse to finish the move.

Indeed, we had created the best chances with the impressive Traore causing Liverpool problems in the early stages. Liverpool though enjoyed possession and played with a confidence that they knew when their chances came they would score.

You could say that a momentary lapse of concentration from our defence produced both goals. Harsh but true.

The majority of teams do not capitalise on these lapses. Liverpool did!

Wolves kept attacking, and Nuno used his subs to try and mix up his forward options, but to no avail. I felt we lost something when Traore was replaced, as his pace was causing them concern.

Our best chances fell to the impressive Saiss who shot direct at the keeper and Gibbs-White who hit the side netting from inside the six yard box. Fine margins once more.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? We did okay without any individuals doing extraordinary things. We certainly missed Jota in his recent form. Boly made a few stray passes but at the same time commanded the back line and was first to most balls in. Coady and Bennett also put a shift in and stood up to the test well; only twice did they fall short!

I thought Jonny had another very good game, getting forward more than Doherty.

Our midfield was spot on. Saiss and Neves playing deep with Moutinho higher up the field. I wasn’t sure all three could play together but this worked well. I thought Saiss was excellent. It was a shame he couldn’t get his goal when his chance came.

Jimenez's all-round play was good, but I don’t recall him having a shot. That’s a problem. Traore had a good game; maybe his best for us. Cavaleiro and Gibbs-White had little impact in their half hours. Nuno would have wanted more from them both.

Overall, I’m not too disappointed. We gave Liverpool a good game and the standing ovation from the fans both at half time and full time rightly endorsed this view.

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match? A bit of Friday Night (Strobe) Lights football the weekend before Christmas and it was, generally, a very enjoyable game.

Going up against this Liverpool side was always going to be a tough ask but we definitely gave them a game and made them uncomfortable at times. The words ‘focus’, ‘moments’ and ‘chances’ featured prominently in some of the post-match interviews and reports and it’s easy to see why.

For all of the possession Liverpool enjoyed, there were few chances you’d say were clear cut. By half-time Patricio had made a couple of routine saves and we’d had chances put either side of the post by Traore and fired straight at the goalkeeper by Doherty (twice) and Jonny. The key reason we went in at the break behind was one of those ‘moments’ in the game where our ‘focus’ slipped.

Having put a decent challenge in on Fabinho to send the Brazilian wide, Neves inexplicably failed to follow him as he surged into the box for a return pass from a one-two and Fabinho was able to exploit the space to pick out Salah as he ran in front of a flat-footed Coady to finish well with an instinctive flick of his left boot.

Our first-half cause hadn’t been helped by some questionable officiating. After having the Swedish House Mafia played in the pre-match DJ set, you’d be forgiven for thinking there was an actual mafia involved in some spot-fixing with the officials to have Wolves not take a free-kick in the first half! As it had against Chelsea, the seemingly big-team biased decision-making fired the crowd up and built the atmosphere. Craig Pawson was regularly made aware of his popularity among the home fans during the game and when he headed for the dressing room at the break.

In the second-half we didn’t perform quite to the same level as we had in the opening 45 minutes. Chances didn’t come as often as they had before the break as Liverpool made a couple of tweaks to their game and controlled it much better than they had previously. Still, we restricted the clear cut opportunities they were able to create and it was frustrating when they doubled their lead from a set piece. Again, ‘focus’ was missing as Bennett strangely decided not to attack a return ball into the box and allowed Van Dijk to steal in behind him to volley past Patricio.

Our final chance to at least grab a goal was spurned by Morgan Gibbs-White as he snapped at a chance presented to him with a few minutes remaining and drilled it into the side-netting.

Overall it’s worth remembering that the fees paid for 11 of the 14 players Liverpool used last night would have smashed our transfer record. These games are the benchmark of where we want to be, not quite where we are yet.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Doherty was excellent down the right-flank. He got forward well and made himself a chance with some very good pressing to pick up on a mistake from Fabinho and drive a shot that was unfortunately straight at Alisson.

Saiss put in a good performance in midfield. He harassed well and played some good passes himself in what was a tough battle in the centre of the park.

Worryingly, Neves didn’t look himself. Not for the first time in the last four weeks his passing radar didn’t seem to be working. Even the simple 10-yard passes seemed forced at times and were misplaced. He wasn’t helped by Liverpool’s intense pressing that forced him ever-deeper to pick the ball up and ended up with him being almost on Coady’s toes at times in the final 15 minutes. We could do with him getting his mojo back soon as he’s a key component in our side.

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match? t's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid (of the league leaders – and we were not).

We showed respect but not too much and gave them a decent game without ever looking like we would win.

We have come a long way on and off the field, the pre-game show highlighted some of that, but we also saw how hard it is for teams to break into that top six cartel.

None of us like losing but to stay in the game for an hour against a team currently in such good form was some consolation.

By 8pm everyone was in the mood for the match. The conditions contributed to a game of fast, slick passing and a breathtaking pace. With only four fouls by half time there was hardly time to breathe. Both sides made the pitch look huge and it was a joy to see Wolves pinging the ball left and right, creating chances and playing some attractive football.

Liverpool were doing likewise but looked more of a threat nearer goal and that pesky Salah seemingly always in space and with passing options available. One attack saw some passes exchanged, them get behind us and Salah put us a goal behind.

We have seen our resilience before and we showed it again for the rest of the half. We had attacks that did get into the Liverpool box but ended with the wrong players, really. Doherty twice, Saiss and Otto were well placed but they only offered tame efforts on goal.

Our crowd showed their appreciation at half time with an ovation usually reserved for a winning scoreline.

Unfortunately we could only stay in the game for a further 15 minutes. A short corner had been cleared from our box but when it was played back in a straightforward tap in left us trailing 2-0. On the original cross the ball was eight yards from goal and in the air a long time. Had Patricio come and caught the cross, the danger, and the goal, would have been avoided.

Moments later Saiss had a chance to bring us back into the game, but he too failed to really test the keeper from close range. Nuno made the obvious substitutions so we could chase the game with fresh legs but we looked as likely to concede as we were to score. MGW wasted our best chance while Coady, Boly and Patricio made important challenges at the back.

Our standard of play was good tonight, if we can maintain that level while improving the quality of our goal attempts we can be optimistic about the rest of the season.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Patricio made some routine saves but continues to give possession away with too many of his kicks and should have prevented the second goal.

Otto played well for an hour but then looked weary. He was well forward a lot of the time and was never shy tackling to win the ball back.

Doherty as usual got himself into great positions near goal but failed to work the keeper hard enough. Okay at the back too.

Collectively the defence had one of their hardest games of the season.

Boly continued his recent run of good form until maybe the last 10 minutes. Commanding in the air and comfortable in possession.

Coady managed to cope quite well with the speed and trickery the Liverpool attack had. But, as with Bennett, they looked to be playing at their limit and finding it hard to control things.

With our formation slightly tweaked in recent games it means Neves is playing deeper and breaking play up and tackling more than making his trademark passes. A different role, it will be interesting to see how it develops.

Saiss put in a good shift. More box to box than Neves, he helped protect the centre halves well and kept his tackling fair.

Moutinho worked and ran hard for an hour and left the game when it was still 1-0. He looked like he had given all he had got by then.

I am in danger of getting repetitive with Jimenez. He seems to be getting better as the season progresses. His distribution was impressive as was his control when balls were fired at him at head height. Again my man of the match as he led the line from left to right, got goal side when required and came deeper to collect the ball and start counter attacks.

Traore as usual showed good pace and could have provided us with a great start had he been able to angle his two early shots better. He is too much of a passenger when we don't have the ball however.

From the bench MGW showed a few nice touches but again wasted a good opportunity to get on the scoresheet.

Cavaleiro was not quite as explosive as we'd have hoped, despite a couple of crosses and was often outnumbered.

Vinagre just gave Otto a rest for the final 10 minutes.

Natalie Wood

What's your verdict on the match? As Wolves fans we always have high expectations for our team and going into the match there were plenty of people that thought we could nick something against Liverpool, myself included, but it just wasn’t to be. When you step back and just remember we are a newly promoted team that went toe-to-toe with the Premier League leaders, matching them for most of the game, you can’t be anything but proud.

There is no doubt Wolves have stepped up on the pitch but it also needs to be acknowledged what a great job the team off the pitch are doing. The whole pre-match build up was amazing and really helped create a special atmosphere for a special night.

We started the game well, Liverpool were giving us space and allowing us to move the ball well. As I’ve said multiple times I don’t really get why you would start Traore... I still had the same feeling against Liverpool but there was no doubt he was the key to our plans.

Mouthinho and Doherty both played some great balls through to the Spaniard who was close to putting us in front. The chance of the half though fell to Saiss, after another great ball from Doherty he shot straight at Alisson. We were probably the stronger of the two teams at this point but all Liverpool needed was one chance and they were ahead. I think what was great to see is even after going 1-0 down we didn’t give in and if anything we continued to look the better team with plenty of chances falling our way. Going into half-time I felt difficult to comprehend that we weren’t at least level.

The second half Liverpool really started to take control, having a lot more of the possession and pushing us right back. Our play fell quite flat and bar a few flashes of class from Wolves it began to look an almost certain Liverpool victory. Their second goal was always coming but it was still disappointing, despite lacking any creativity we weren’t playing badly so to go 2-0 down seemed cruel.

The introduction of Gibbs-White did bring a little bit of life back into the team but to be honest it was a bit too late to make a difference, the game has already died. Gibbs-White did have a great chance right at the end for a consolation goal and at six yards or so out you would think he surely had to score but no the side netting is all we got...that just about summed up our game, we did absolutely everything right but no end product!

It was a good performance overall, a performance we should be proud of. Liverpool were by far the best “big six” team we have played and we shouldn’t be too disappointed about losing.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? There were a few great performances, in particular Doherty and Saiss.

Saiss brought the stability we needed in midfield and put in a great defensive display, he was for sure my man of the match.

Doherty made some great runs forward and was the creator of most of Wolves' chances. Neves again is still someone I just don’t think is up to standard, bar a few mistakes (one that led to a goal!) He didn’t play badly defensively but he just didn’t really offer anything up front - I miss last season's Neves!

Patricio also didn’t have his best performance, he looked shaky at times, didn’t command his box and his kicking is still very very dodgy. That being said, even if everyone had been at full strength I still think beating Liverpool would have been a very, very difficult job. The overall team performance was good and I think we have set ourselves up well for the last few games of the year.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? Disappointed? Yes. Dispirited? No!

Yes, we lost at home and for periods of the game seemed to be bit-part players in a Scouse procession, but we more than matched them with chances created especially in the first half.

The difference was that ours fell to a winger and a full-back and their main chance fell to a striker who is up there with the best the world has to offer.

Again in the second half, sharp, but better chances went begging and then Salah crosses to Van Dijk who is up there with the best centre halves in the world and he was not going to miss from a few yards.

It was all a bit of a learning curve and we will be better for the experience in the long run. But can someone do us all a favour and turn the rain off at these home games? Merry Christmas all.

Adam Virgo

What's your verdict on the match? I have no complaints whatsoever. We played quite well considering the opposition we were up against and although both goals were defendable, they just had too much quality in the end.

Neves and Boly made mistakes in letting Fabinho go for the first goal and then Coady allowed Salah to get in front of him but against world class players they can get the extra yard on you and it is difficult.

For the second, Bennett had to do better against Van Dijk (who was incredible and the best centre back I’ve seen this season).

We played decent I thought, but we needed to do a bit better with the chances we created because we were never going to have bundles of them. Saiss should have done better with his in the first half but that’s the type of chance you want falling for your forward rather than your defensive midfielder.

Morgan Gibbs-White should have scored himself in the second half too after an error from Andy Robertson.

In the end the quality showed and I thought Fabinho and Keita pressed us well and forced us to play very quickly at times which ended up with us losing possession. Then the two goalscorers in Salah and Van Dijk, both top players and the Egyptian forward caused us problems all game and that’s why he’s scored 11 Premier League goals this season.

These games won’t dictate where we finish and we’ve gave a fantastic account of ourselves against the top six sides this season. With more investment in January and next summer our squad will only improve.

Our starting XI yesterday was probably worth less than Van Dijk alone which just shows how far we still have to go if the owners want us to be pushing for Europe or higher in years to come.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? I wouldn’t say anyone had a really bad game. A few players made errors which lead to goals but on the basis of the whole game everyone got at least a 6/10.

Adama, who was in a striker role so not his most natural and up against the best defender in the Premier League at the moment in Virgil Van Dijk, did well.

In fact he should have stayed on longer because him going off meant we lost our main outlet and he did cause problems running in behind whilst linking up with Jimenez.

Romain Saiss has been very good in the games he’s played this season. He will feel like he deserves a run in the team after his performances of late, especially last night. He should have scored in the first half but he was key to us getting attacks along with his five interceptions.

Ruben Neves wasn’t at his best and I just don’t know what’s up with him. He was at fault along with Boly for the first goal and in possession he didn’t threaten them. He rarely attempts cross-field passes anymore which he was so good at last season and his strikes from range are constantly wayward. He was getting more frustrated with himself as the game went on too.

Jimenez did really well in the first half, his hold up play was fantastic and linking up with Traore nicely. Second half he seemed to tire after a while and was a lot less involved but he is extremely key for us going forward.

Doherty and Coady were the better of the back five. Doc defended fine against the likes of Robertson and Mané whilst also being involved in a couple of attacks.

Coady made a slight error giving Salah an extra yard on him for the goal but Neves and Boly also let Fabinho go originally. Apart from that though he was good and did well for the majority against the Egyptian forward and also Roberto Firmino

Gulraj Kular (Musings from Molineux)

What's your verdict on the match? First of all, I’d just like to say this was a fantastic game of football and I’ll be watching the 90 minutes back at the soonest convenience.

The intensity was set pre-match with a crackling fireworks display and rave which seemed surprisingly welcomed by the masses. The game was just as fiery and intense. It was a first half full of hard running and not lacking in quality. We matched them stride for stride and barring the goal, had the better of the chances. Just a simple lack of concentration at the wrong moment meant we went in behind, but this was still a very promising display.

There comes a time when, even in a good performance, you can see where you are lacking as a team. We have some excellent players, but the way we operated in each penalty area over the course of the 90 minutes defined the result. It was quite strange to see us concede the goals we did and Klopp admitted he didn’t expect his team to create lots of chances, but they capitalised and we didn’t.

Nevertheless, this game stoked the fires and left us all feeling immensely proud.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? If I was to praise a stand-out individual, it would be Romain Saiss. I had my reservations about his mobility in a Premier League midfield, but he’s proving himself to be the battleaxe we need from time to time. He even popped up in the box to have a good effort on goal.

Matt Doherty and Jonny were aggressive as ever and didn’t allow either Liverpool full back to have a major influence on the game. Conor Coady produced the kind of performance he would’ve wanted to.

Aside from that I’m not sure the Joao Moutinho experiment worked. I think a more mobile player would have stopped Liverpool playing out from the back. Ruben Neves’ passing was off again, but Adama Traore produced a much more encouraging display.