Wolves Fans' Verdict v Manchester United: A harsh defeat

Matt Cooper (Talking Wolves)

I was gearing up to writing about a spirited Wolves performance and a well earned point but isn’t football so cruel?

Multiple changes from Nuno rang alarm bells but the players who came in, including Ait Nouri, Vitinha and especially Hoever did exceptionally well.

Wolves got into some great positions and countered well but just as we’ve seen so many times this season, the final ball or killer instinct was lacking. I thought Wolves deserved a point though and one lapse in concentration with a simple ball over the top has unravelled all the hard work Wolves put in for 90 minutes.

Saiss the pick of the bunch for me but this is a real confidence zapper - I just hope they can bounce back. Reinforcements in January are paramount for a top half finish.

Clive Smith

In September we wondered who Vitinha, Hoever and Ait-Nouri were. We found out here. They might well be our future. In what looked like a Carabao Cup line-up they each put in a hugely impressive performance. With more doses of Nuno coaching the future looks bright. The potential of our young players was there to see.

With four starters still on the sidelines and so little time to recover from the last game, we were always likely to be up against it. We turned up though, matched United, and have to be extremely proud of our display.

We had Saiss playing like he was Coady and Jimenez rolled into one. Can someone be our best defender and best attacker in the same game?

Our passing in our third was neat and tidy as we moved the ball quickly around the highly priced opposition. It was nice to see Vitinha looking comfortable on the ball and not at all overawed by the situation.

We always looked confident and rarely over stretched. The rotated centre halves all looked solid, ably supported by the wing backs and anyone notice Patricio made a first half save, it was not a United miss.

In attack we faced a greater challenge. For someone who is so quick, Traore can also be so slow. He struggled with his back to goal and needed to find space better. That left Neto with an awful lot to do.

After the break it was surprising that Podence came on ahead of Silva. He disappointed too whereas when Silva did come on he looked lively and more attack minded.

Saiss deserved MOTM but Ait-Nouri ran him close and so did Kilman. Neves and Moutinho played together more like they used to eighteen months ago.

It was a strong ninety minutes. But, in the end the air turned blue with just two minutes to go. No point dwelling on what might have been. There were far more positives to be taken from the game.

Adam Virgo

So unlucky and devastating to lose so late after such a very good first half and a solid defensive performance throughout.

We were the better team for the first 45, Man Utd had more of the ball but only created one chance. We had a few chances on the counter and we really should have punished them.

Second half we didn’t create much and I think that was down to fatigue and the subs coming on not having much impact. Neto I imagine was shattered and we need him at 100 per cent for Saturday. Adama struggled the last 20-30, Podence and Silva made very little impact.

Vitinha could have surely stayed on longer considering he hasn’t had too much game time and he was playing well like a lot of the younger players.

Saiss was absolutely incredible all game, easily the man of the match and it was so harsh that the deflected goal came off him.

Considering the team we had out, four starting players were aged 20 or below, the fact we played a game just 48 hours before and we were up against an in form Man Utd side, I think we did really well.

We gave it a good go in the first half and that lack of a killer pass/finish means we have inconsistencies in attacking situations. Second half it got harder for us due to fatigue so I imagine that’s why we sat as deep as we did plus it wasn’t helping that nothing stuck for us in attack for the last 20-30 minutes.

January is only a few days away now and surely we are going to bring in a striker. I think there are other areas we could improve in but buying in January is tough as it is so it’ll be interesting to see what we do and how we go about things. Next game against Brighton is massive too and one we really need to be winning.

Rob Cartwright

A cruel blow right at the end, with a wicked deflection to rub salt into our wounds.

Wolves had played very well here, but this is always a real danger when goals are so scarce and you are holding onto a draw or one-goal win. Points will be dropped.

A traditional centre forward is a must (quickly) in January. A loan deal will be fine.

It’s hard to fault Wolves in this game. This was our best passing game for some time. The defence was excellent. No hoofing the ball out or aimless clearances; rather they passed out to feet and worked the ball out to our wide players. Impressive.

Neves and Moutinho both deserve credit for making themselves available throughout the game to receive these passes and moving the ball forward at every opportunity.

Saiss, in particular, playing in the centre of defence had an outstanding game. Not only that, he was our biggest goal threat in attack too! Therein lies the problem.

With less possession, we created more goal chances and had more shots on target.

I really like the look of Hoever. Quality player at such a young age. I was surprised when Neto was taken off, but this was likely to be more about two games in 48 hours than tactics.

Podence and Silva were also rested before coming on to play a part. Silva impressed me with his work ethic, often collecting the ball from the edge of our box. Nuno will love this aspect as it’s just what Jimenez does so well.

I would have liked to see Otasowie in the middle, but again, he’s a very young player still learning his trade.

It’s true, our squad is threadbare. I’m very happy with the quality of these young players who are doing us proud, but with four key player injuries it’s just left us too short and the results are reflecting this.

A couple of additions now and we can look forward to a very good second half of the season, if COVID allows it to continue. This I’m beginning to doubt.

Russ Evers

So gutting after such a dogged and determined defensive display as Man U won it in Fergie time with a defection off the utterly outstanding Saiss. It was also the only time in the 96 minutes that Kilman put a foot wrong.

We may have nicked one as we carried the bigger threat in the first half but our attacking threat seemed to be nullified with the withdrawal of Neto and Vitinha.

Both wing backs were excellent and then there was the midfield. According to the keyboard warriors, Neves and Moutinho can't play together, but try asking Pogba and Fernandes who the better duo was in this game.

Clearly we need something up front to make the ball stick and give us an outlet but that was an overall team performance of which everyone can be proud.