Wolves Fans' Verdict v Brighton: Julen Lopetegui has a big job on his hands

Clive Smith

Another sad day at Molineux. Passing patiently across the back four, tedious to watch at times, then a forward pass, an increase in tempo and creating chances in the final third. We try to play that way, Brighton do too, trouble is they were much better at it than us.

It might have only taken ten minutes for us to go a goal down, but it had already looked likely. They played with width and there was space behind Bueno while Semedo was just not at the races.

We deserve credit for bouncing back so quickly and Guedes in particular. A neat finish must have done his confidence a lot of good – its been a long time coming.

Before half-time VAR had enabled us to score again – two goals in a half. Unfortunately that was as good as it got. Semedo was a fault for their equaliser and then taking the game away from us with a rugby tackle.

An industrious hard working defensive performance throughout the second half raised hopes of a precious point but poor defending led to a chance that brought another defeat. Any new manager bounce has clearly not yet arrived.

It will be interesting what the new manager makes of us. Since playing four at the back we have looked more vulnerable than in previous seasons. We need a centre forward who can score – Hwang is clearly not the answer. There were few positives in this game although Guedes did have his best game of the season.

Chris Ward

After such positive news on Saturday morning with the appointment of Lopetegui it was straight back to earth with a bump.

If there’s one thing for sure, the new man has his work cut out, not just in finding a way to get these players firing again, but now it seems a real overhaul of the defence is greatly needed.

For the first time this season, we scored two goals in a game, but again our defensive frailties reared their ugly head once again. Kilman’s form has rapidly declined and Collins is looking really poor business right now. We have conceded 10 goals since Collins returned from suspension and the lack of experience showed again versus Brighton.

Some will say the sending off cost us, but in truth, Brighton were by far the better team from the first to the last minute and played some wonderful stuff. This just shows how far we really are off of the pace. Brighton are a joy to watch and although we held our own with 10 men, it really was a footballing lesson being taught. A special note to the referee, who was again dreadful and is becoming a constant topic of these reviews.

Luckily, we haven’t been cut off adrift at the bottom and the World Cup break now can’t come soon enough. It seems the new manager will have plenty of a squad to work with, as I very much doubt on this form there will be many of these players travelling to Qatar.

Liam Kennedy

I’m sure a lot of these comments will be focussing on Semedo, rightly so as well because he had an absolute mare, cost us the game and dropped a 0/10 if I’ve ever seen one.

However whilst all true, the entire back four in my opinion were poor, including Kilman and Bueno who I know is only young but still thought he struggled yesterday. Collins however, was the worst player on the pitch bar Semedo.

Ever since the red card he has looked poor and this was definitely the worst I’ve seen of him. Stiff, Slow and kept getting beaten too easily by Brighton attackers all game. Aware he is young and will improve but for £20m you have to expect more.

Feels harsh to include Bueno in this but it seems we have four full backs who look like they’re trying to out do each other in terms of who can play the poorest each week, and I think Semedo has taken the top spot from Jonny after his performance.

It’s difficult to really assess Wolves yesterday due to the red card, and the team did well for the second half given the circumstances, but we all knew Brighton were inevitably going to find the third.

It feels like we are so easy to play against, their players were always finding space behind the midfield and if anything going down to 10 helped us in that regard because we played so deep there was no space to exploit.

Onto Arsenal next and I can only imagine how painful it’s going to be watching Martinelli up against Jonny for 90 minutes (Julen save us!).

John Lalley

With his resolve finally waning after two refusals, Julen Lopetegui being a football realist, won’t be under any illusions regarding the size of the task he faces at Molineux.

No doubt he caught a sneak preview somewhere or other and much of the content he viewed must have genuinely startled him.

Make no mistake, Brighton were comfortably the better outfit all match, in fact Wolves appeared more secure defensively with 10 men rather than a full complement.

Brighton passed through and around Wolves, swamped us in midfield and were altogether more fluent and polished in every facet of the game. We looked hugely vulnerable; we conceded vast areas of open space and again lacked bite in the challenge once again appearing short on physicality.

We don’t make life awkward enough for our opponents which in large measure explains our dire league placing.

Wolves were fortunate to reach half-time all square and bizarrely had Semedo bothered to make even a token challenge for the equaliser, we would have started the second half in front.

Don’t like to kick a man when he’s down and even the best of players endure the odd nightmare, but Semedo’s Bonfire Night brittleness was off the Richter scale. Jonny was glaringly found wanting filling the same role when we were trounced by Leicester in the previous home game.

Semedo, harrowingly took the anaesthesia to another level. His sending-off sealed our fate but you almost felt a sense of relief for the guy that his torment came to a mercifully premature conclusion. It was excruciating from the moment he was turned inside out in the earliest exchange until he finally trooped off bemused and run ragged.

It’s to the team’s credit that Wolves defied Brighton for so long despite the numerical disadvantage. Perversely, we almost appeared more energised and ready for some fight and defiance when the odds were stacked against us. We nearly got there and near misses are of no use to us given our predicament, but every player showed commitment in difficult circumstances; nobody shirked or went AWOL and we almost made the best of a bad job.

I sympathised with Podence having to be sacrificed after Semedo’s exit; he had been lively and creative and his frustration must have been immense. Guedes too showed real determination to score his first goal and displayed a greater capacity for hard work than previously.

Crumbs of comfort I know but we are in dire straits and struggling for any positives. Cometh the hour, cometh the man; Lopetegui really is our last hope but what a task he faces. We’re creaking at the seams and his impact needs to be immediate otherwise we are history.

James Pugh

Tough one to take that.

I have some close family friends who are Brighton season ticket holders and we always have a lot of fun before, during and after every game we play against them, as there’s usually a lot to talk about.

This game was exactly the same and had it all. Great goals, bad goals, red cards, penalties – the lot. A bit of chat about both of our managers sounding like wifi passwords too. However, it’s all the same issues for Wolves with individual mistakes costing us crucial points.

Collins was poor, Neves wasn’t his usual fantastic self, and don’t get me started on Semedo. Him getting sent off was probably a long term blessing as he needs some time on the bench, he really has been struggling over the past few weeks but people have barely noticed with Jonny’s drop in form.

On a positive note, at least we are back scoring again. Guedes is a proper player and Bueno, Sa, Hwang and Traore should all hold their heads up high, they were mostly fantastic. This was a good Brighton side, and Wolves really should have got at least a point from them.

Frustratingly, Wolves really do look like a side who are a few signings off being great, but we have won two in 14. That is disgraceful form considering the players we have and the drop is looming. Lopetegui really has his work cut out to get this side climbing the table.

That being said, with it being extremely likely that wolves will go into the World Cup break bottom of the league, a four-week mini pre-season is exactly what’s needed for Julen to really implement his ideas.

Another plus is he will probably have access to more players than Wolves managers usually do during international breaks, with a lot of players likely to drop out of the international limelight. There’s also no way an ex-Real Madrid boss would join without guarantees that there will be money to spend in January. There are plenty of reasons Wolves fans should be optimistic.

Top of the table Arsenal next. Easy.