Wolves Fans' Verdict v Tottenham: A worthy win

Adam Virgo

Massive turnaround from Thursday, brilliant performance from everyone and a huge three points. A top seven push is well and truly back on but we’ve still got a long way to go yet.

Raul had arguably his best game of the season, looked so much more aggressive with and without the ball, was driving positively with the ball and took his goal really well.

Dendoncker looks so much better in a midfield three, he was good there against Brentford but in a two man midfield he’s not able to do what we need him to. Credit to him though, got into the box to support the attack which resulted in his goal and his all round game was leaps and bounds above what he showed on Thursday.

Spurs were very shaky at the back but we forced them into some errors with our high pressing early on which particularly helped for the second goal. The importance of that came with us flooding the attack quickly and they couldn’t deal with that at all.

We could have been 3-0 or 4-0 up at half-time with other chances we had. We defended well in the second half, however were sloppy in possession on occasions which resulted in Spurs having a few chances.

Max Kilman was absolutely outstanding again, the slide tackle he made on Son when he was running through in the second half was unbelievable, get this man an England call up.

Impressive debut from Luke Cundle too, hopefully we get to see more of him this season because he certainly showed he’s capable of playing at this level.

Russ Evers

How many millions spent on a new stadium when the front 25 rows were getting soaked?

And how many millions spent on a team that were second best all over the pitch to a hungry Wolves team. No player should have been awarded less than eight out of 10, whilst if you could give 11/10 then Kilman and Neves would have it. Quite brilliant.

Clive Smith

This game pretty much sums up our season so far – beyond our expectations. Was Norwich really only a week ago!?

From start to finish, front to back, with and without the ball, we were fully on our game.

Playing superbly as a team, working together well, and for the second time in a month a young pup steps up, starts, and does not look overawed or out of his depth.

Perhaps if we’d bought them for £10m each in January everyone would say what a great transfer window it was.

Bruno is a horses for courses coach and was brave in his selection. Switching the 3-4-3 of Thursday to a 3-5-2 which looked more defensive on paper but ended up, particularly in the first half, more attacking with a higher back line. It looked like everyone was on the ball several yards further forward than in the last couple of games.

We were all over Spurs and made them appear very average. Only Kane looked a threat, besides fixing their team, they need to finish building their stadium so the rain does not soak fans as far back as row 19.

Where to start – well two first half goals is a glut for us but by the interval it was disappointing not to have put the game to bed as two other attempts forced good saves and we were by far the better side. There was no need to be concerned however as we played to our strengths by defending superbly through to the end of the game.

When we play like we did today, like we did at United, we show we are a good side. Each player contributed significantly so picking a MOTM is a challenge.

Kilman and Coady were particularly impressive while Sa made his saves look straightforward due to his positioning. Neves as usual was full of brilliant control and accurate passing while Cundle was busy getting frequently involved and Dendonker looked closer to a goal scoring box to box player than ever.

Our two wing-backs gave us a good shape, both made telling tackles defending but also provided us with good attacking options. With that in mind, Semedo just deserves to be MOTM.

John Lalley

Say what you like about this Wolves team and their coach but one thing is for sure, they certainly don’t lack character.

Defeat at Tottenham and the ammunition would have been firing. Dumped out of the FA Cup after a favourable draw and then compounding the misery by misfiring against an average, reduced in number Arsenal outfit.

Had North London claimed another scalp the familiar groaning refrains would have been ringing. Blown it, can’t take the pressure, no ambition, squad too small, owners distant and parsimonious. Instead, with uncharacteristic relish from the starting blocks, Wolves tore into a hesitant home side and paralysed them leaving Spurs shell-shocked and fortunate to be only two goals in arrears come the interval.

Even now, I hear reservations about Bruno Lage; only this week a season ticket holder was bending my ear insisting that Lage had changed nothing from the dregs of Nuno’s final dreadful few months. Let’s have a reality check. The guy has done an outstanding job shaping a group of players who seemed bereft last season into an efficient, difficult to beat outfit mixing it at the upper end of a brutally competitive league.

His organisation of a previously porous and brittle defence is in itself one of the best achievements in the entire league. He hasn’t been granted any significant transfer input, yet he continues to defy the odds; what a start he has made at Molineux.

He is modest, grounded in the extreme but he appears to me to be absolutely without a whiff of a doubt regarding his ability and football knowledge.

To have elicited such a positive response from his players after the disappointment of Thursday shows that his motivational skills aren’t lacking either. Talking pre-match about the loss through injury of Joao Moutinho, Lage was at pains to point out just how well Leander Dendoncker had performed as a replacement.

The Belgian has been on the receiving end of much criticism from fans lately many suggesting that he offers little to the team. Lage overstated his case regarding his performance against Arsenal but he showed confidence in the player and he was rewarded by a reinvigorated Dendoncker at Tottenham.

Apart from his goal, his overall contribution was really significant. The other goal scorer Raul Jimenez has also been questioned albeit for different reasons; doubts abound and patience doesn’t exist in football and an increasing number have been critical about his waning input.

He answered a few questions with a powerful display, swagger returned, capped by a fine strike which might have been a double in the second half when he took one touch too many after being beautifully played in by the impressive Luke Cundle.

That second half naturally elicited a response from Spurs but the clean sheet was retained due in no small measure to the massive assurance of the Coady/Kilman pairing which was virtually flawless against one of the league’s most potent striking partnerships. It was a superb win. Tottenham is a great club and one I much admire and respect but I must enjoy a tad of self-indulgence here.

Post-match their boss Antonio Conte who never hides his disappointment after defeat was morosely complaining about his team. He cited the fact that three successive defeats were hard to take and quickly and fluently mentioned losses to Chelsea and Southampton before losing his thread and forgetting our name. ‘ Chelsea, Southampton and now, er, er, er, er, er, Wolverhampton.’ He finally managed to spit it out after a long, embarrassing pause! I know we happily go under the radar but maybe he will remember us next time!

And finally, raise a glass to Mr. Finance and Negotiation the Spurs chairman Daniel Levy whose latest derisory offer masquerading as hard-headed business was his recent skinflint bid for Adama Traore.

He reckoned we were ripe for the picking; the latest minnow to be swallowed up. Well, he got his fingers burned and he can stick this result in his pipe and smoke it! I am sorry Adama has left but consoled that Barcelona are likely paying double the Levy offer! I hope he enjoyed the match!

Rob Cartwright

We’ve had a few, in recent years, and this was another of those fantastic away days.

We were quite simply superb in the first half. We shocked Spurs, by taking the game to them from the off. We were attacking, as a team, and it was good to see so many gold shirts getting into the box.

Bruno got the game plan just right and showed learning from the Arsenal game which the players were completely engaged in. Cundle has had to wait for his first league start but, at just 19, his passing and endeavour was superb. He can feel rightly proud today.

We were deservedly 2-0 up after 18 minutes. How good was it to see Jimenez score with a cool finish? He could have scores again too.

It could easily have been three or four, before Spurs best chance at the start of the second half. Kane and Kulusevski missed good chances. Winks had a shot deflected onto the post, by Kilman.

Massive credit to Neves and Dendoncker who controlled the midfield area. Neves was in total charge with another Man of the Match performance. Dendoncker was just as good, as he was bad against Arsenal! He started and finished the move for the second goal.

We managed the game very well in the second half and though both teams had chances to score, Wolves looked quite comfortable with Sa on top form too. Every one of the team played at their very best in this game. The three subs in the last ten minutes also played their part.

It’s a great stadium; especially when you leave with all three points.