Wolves Fans' Verdict v Aston Villa: Fair result

Clive Smith

Both teams huffed and puffed for half the game, and both probably thought they should have won. Wolves rode their luck a couple of times early on but had enough chances to win it themselves by the end.

The ball seemed to follow Leander Dendoncker around for twenty minutes and that usually spelt danger for us. He does OK a lot of the time, but it still does not look his natural position.

We worked hard throughout, a given you would say, but up until half-time it was seemingly always without the ball because our out-ball was missing.

Pedro Neto and Adama Traore inverted in the channels is a positive formation with Nelson Semedo and Jonny Castro Otto overlapping. However, if it is the forwards that are hugging the touchline our goal threat is diminished significantly and Willian Jose cuts a lonely figure.

Reaching half-time with opponents nil always feels like a moral victory, based on our usual game plan. With no queue at the toilets, a Nuno team talk to reinforce our game plan due, and the disappointment of the first period is soon forgotten.

And, it was certainly game on from that point onwards. We played the game 30 yards further forward and started to offer a threat in the final third. In open play Neto looked sharp while set pieces saw our goal hanger Conor Coady have a couple of excellent attempts. Romain Saiss failed to put the best chance away and missing all those close-range chances led to a deflated feeling at the end.

Ignoring the City game, our recent improvement has highlighted some positives and that was the case here. We now look settled in our 3-4-3 formation. Aerially at the back we have looked more solid while in midfield Ruben Neves is always available for a pass. He was MOTM again, always looking comfortable in possession, despite having players around him. Neto's form is a joy and he looks to be enjoying the greater responsibility he has. He does not look fazed by the added attention he is receiving. Semedo and Saiss have been more reliable too at the back.

There is more to come obviously. If we ever get to play well in the first half, we will be a force to be reckoned with. Our passing has to be better, ideally with more focus on going forward and with a greater tempo.

The main disappointment in this game was the lack of impact Jose and Traore had. Unless they offer us more, we will continue to struggle to score many goals. It's repeating the obvious, but we sure do miss Raul Jimenez.

Three away games in eight days was always going to be a hard challenge. We have survived without to much trauma while not exactly setting the world on fire either.

Rob Cartwright

A poor game, with both teams likely to be missing their supporters inside the stadium. It didn't feel like a true local derby.

The first half an hour was quite even, though Villa had the best chances to score, hitting the bar twice in the first 15 minutes. They were showing more attacking intent and were getting on top. Wolves were playing too deep and were sloppy, with pass after pass going astray.

Dendoncker was having a shocker, for a third consecutive game, with poor positioning and mistimed tackles. I was hoping that Willy Boly would be back for this one.

The midfield pair were not doing enough in an attacking sense and with Traore mostly anonymous, Neto was our only outlet. He looked lonely up front and when in possession was looking and waiting for a team mate to pass to!

It’s certainly a hard watch at the moment. We got to half-time still level and a little fortunate, though neither team had managed a shot on target.

First chance of the second half fell to Neto, then Neves had a volley from edge of the area but well wide. We restarted well and would go on to dominate the play. Wolves got on top the hard way, as it was like kicking a ball through treacle at times.

Saiss’s miss from less than a yard, before the hour mark, was remarkable. This following Coady’s header which was well saved by Emi Martinez.

Coady had another chance on 75 minutes. He really should have scored from inside the six yard box, but again Martinez saved well. Wolves huffed and puffed but lacked any real quality balls into the box.

There was a double chance for Villa in added time, one saved, one wide from Ezri Konsa.

The only cross of note from Traore was in the 93rd minute. This was a major disappointment against two full-backs who he should have had the beating of.

Villa were better in the first half, Wolves were better in second, so a draw was a fair result. Man of the match was Neto who had little support from his teammates. Most positive aspect was another full game from Jonny.

We have quite a gap now before the next game and there's much work to be done.

John Lalley

Another mystifying Jekyll and Hyde 90 minutes. The predictable first half; passive, withdrawn and from our perspective, absolutely featureless. The sum total of our ambition during the first 45 minutes of games seems merely to hope for parity.

It’s getting a tad tiresome continually wishing the minutes away, glancing incessantly at the clock and heaving a massive sigh of relief if we have survived outplayed but unscathed come the interval. This time we did get away with it.

We voluntarily ceded the initiative to Villa, enjoyed two slices of good fortune inside fifteen minutes and achieved our primary objective. Throughout the half our distribution was so poor; careless and erratic, continually compounding our difficulties.

There was some encouragement in that at least we defended set-pieces with more comfort than of late, which coupled with Villa’s profligate finishing saw us through without conceding. Mr Hyde showed his face in the second half and really Wolves blew an opportunity to cash in and win the game. Our inability in front of goal let us down yet again and like Villa our best opportunities fell to defenders.

Yet almost at the final whistle, we offered Villa the chance to undeservedly pinch the three points as they had done so fortunately at Molineux earlier in the season. Thankfully for us, the bizarre standard of finishing prevailed to the very end. We’ve enjoyed many a pulsating derby with Villa over the years; this demonstrably was not one of them.

Overall, it was a disappointing match, lacking in quality and imagination. Shorn of Jack Grealish, Villa lacked a point of reference and Wolves again endured another glaring reminder that at no stage this season have they been even remotely close to covering the absence of Jimenez. To be fair, Jose has hardly been served up a decent opportunity since he arrived at Molineux but he doesn’t seem to have the stomach for the muscular physicality of this league. But, it’s a decent result on the road; take the point and move on.

Russ Evers

A typical derby with chances at a minimum. Both sides had them – Villa hitting the woodwork with theirs and Wolves missing the target when it seemed easier to score.

At best, this was a bore fest with neither side claiming the bragging rights, but a clean sheet and an away point sits nicely with me.

I get the frustration around the continued seemingly negative first-half tactics, but we are not being steamrollered and with a bit of luck, we would have a few more points. Let's just get to the end of this campaign and regroup.

Just remember where we have been and where we are. Nuno had a dream...