Wolves Fans' Verdict v Aston Villa: Game-management must improve

Matt Cooper (Talking Wolves)

The manner of defeat amplifies the current concerns about Wolves and where this team is going.

I don't think we played too badly, with Podence being the shining light but without Raul, we're toothless in front of goal. Semedo's clumsiness cost us but I think there's a bigger picture that needs to be looked at.

Why, with ten minutes to go, with Villa down to ten men, did we retreat? Villa didn't beat us, we inflicted it on ourselves.

Clive Smith

Time to rally round and support the guys. We can all see we are struggling right now so there is nothing to be gained by criticising everything.

After having a settled side for so long it now feels uncomfortable seeing changes for every game. The scoreline feels harsh as we had sufficient good chances to score more than once but scoring remains a challenge at the moment. On another day Silva, Podence and Dendoncker might well have scored and had us winning at a canter.

Nuno made yet another rotation in defence - none of us would have guessed that selection. He has shown that no outfield player is sure of a start. Boly is now added to this season's list that includes Neves, Saiss, Moutinho, Traore and Kilman who have been sidelined for a game when expected to start.

Despite Boly being on the bench, defensively, we were solid enough and restricted Villa, and Grealish in particular, to few chances. An individual error proved costly as our right side continues to be our most vulnerable flank.

The referee had a low threshold which meant he not only contributed to spoiling this game but leaves a nasty taste for the next game too.

Podence continues to find space and get open in the final third. His awareness of where his colleagues are is also an asset. He gets MOTM ahead of Neto, although Patricio also had a good game.

Nuno's side has often shown their bouncebackability, even in unexpected games, so let's hope we see that soon.

Adam Virgo

Another game where we don’t take our chances, we make a daft mistake and we’ve ended up with losing points. It’s not the first time it’s happened this season either.

The performance from Mike Dean was questionable to say the least but that was for both sides, not just us. To lose the game in the last 10 minutes against 10 men is nowhere near good enough.

I don’t think Wolves fans would have been too annoyed at a 0-0 draw as the game overall was fairly even, we just had the better chances.

I’m not having this Semedo blame though personally, yes he was at fault for the penalty but if we had taken one of the few good chances we had, we wouldn’t have had four attackers pushing forward in the 90th minute.

There’s a lot of factors as to why we lost, Moutinho’s clearance was poor which resulted in McGinn being 1v1 against Semedo, the free kick leading to the penalty was never ever a foul..

Personally I don’t think Semedo was that bad all game, it’s just his mistake then makes his whole performance look awful when it really wasn’t. I also don’t understand how Villa were putting us under more pressure with 10 men than we were doing to them in the last 10 minutes when we had 11 players.

Neto and Podence were our best two players once again. At times we were sitting far too deep which means we couldn’t get the best out of them both, however when we actually went forwards and had players committing, we were causing problems.

Our next four games are very tough on the whole and we really can’t afford to keep missing chances constantly otherwise we will get punished.

Rob Cartwright

In a poor run of form, four points from five games is just good enough is it. Looking at the fixtures in December, this was one where we needed to get a win.

A fairly even game, there would have been no arguments if it had finished as a draw. The added time penalty was a sickener.

Wolves created lots of chances, 16 in fact, and should have put away one of the seven on target efforts. Podence and Dendoncker had good shots saved by Martinez, and Silva was very unlucky with his best effort bouncing back off the inside of the post.

I thought Semedo had done well, up until the penalty. It was a clumsy foul when he got wrong side of the player. His challenge was not much different to Grealish on Traore, a few minutes earlier, but a different outcome from referee Dean who showered cards like confetti.

Congratulations to Dean who brandished his 3000th yellow card. It was a big ask to find 11 in one game; especially as there were hardly any fouls to note.

Moutinho got a second yellow without making any contact with Ramsey.

It’s a difficult time for Wolves. Jimenez is a massive loss, but other players have not stepped up to fill the gap around the opposition box. I’m particularly disappointed with the midfield players who are simply not pushing forward or creating sufficiently.

I thought we started with the correct team and formation, though Saiss for Boly was a surprise. He didn’t disappoint though and gets my vote for Man of the Match.

A big challenge for Nuno now, as he needs to change things, but how? It’s hard to see what options he has right now.

John Lalley

In terms of professional game-management, this one beggars belief; truly appalling the like of which is impossible to fathom.

Gifted a comfortable and potential winning end to this poor game, the inexplicable naivety displayed by Wolves left you in despair liable to hurl the nearest tea-cup through the television screen.

The initial lack of professionalism came from Douglas Luiz; to lead so brazenly with an elbow when already on a yellow card should have at the very least ensured a draw for Wolves and a torrid finish for Villa.

Instead Wolves passively failed to up the tempo and criminally lost their collective marbles. Moutinho’s late dismissal merely encapsulated the entire depth of the bitter frustration. To allow themselves to be so cheaply suckered into such an act of self-destruction suggests a current fragility that has so far not existed under Nuno.

Too many games at Molineux of late have made for some excruciating viewing and this one slotted comfortably into that category. Free-kicks and stoppages stifled any productive flow, cautions and dismissals abounded and mediocrity trumped quality. Wolves had a decent spell just before the interval with Podence shanking a good chance when well-placed but throughout, they seemed unsure of their collective game-plan.

Villa appeared more settled and better in possession but they too lacked any cutting edge until Wolves gifted the game to them. Yet the better chances in the second period fell to Wolves; Dendoncker shot too close to Martinez from a promising position, Traore wastefully shot speculatively with Podence free to his right and a desperately unfortunate Fabio rattled a post when finally, a reasonable attempt was belatedly produced.

The youngster gradually improved throughout the game and given an extended run we might see the first returns on the huge investment Wolves have made. Right now, his colleagues need to up their levels of performance, show real responsibility and give him some proper support.

This was a lamentable way to lose a game; irresponsible and careless and a big onus rests with the players to put matters right very speedily.

Russ Evers

A more solid performance than the falling-to-pieces second half at Anfield, but the same old failings from two of the players who have certainly not hit anywhere near the levels needed – Dendoncker with another glorious but wasted chance and Semedo who looks lost every time anyone with speed runs at him.

He looks fine going forward but it cannot be lost on many managers that they concentrate their attacks on Semedo, as with only four at the back we don't have the cover that was afforded to Matt Doherty when he went on his forward marches. Dendoncker should be our leading scorer by now but has failed in front of goal which we cannot afford when we have so few options up front.

Villa were there for the taking but we did not turn the screw and seemed to choose the wrong option every time. Silva was unlucky when he hit the post but our bizarre approach of always looking for a safe backwards pass than a defence splitting through-ball is starting to tell.

For the first time under Nuno, we are now starting to look over our shoulders rather than forward. Bring on January and the Fosun cheque book.