Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Jon Crofts on May 06, 2023, 04:59:05 PM
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Not great.
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We've been shit since Newcastle
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Here we go, we were shit, we will never win anything, we should just give up blah blah blah …….
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Leon Bailey..why?
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Seems we thought the season finished with Newcastle.
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Not amused.
Too many sub par performances. Not enough urgency. Nothing up front.
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Some awful shite second half, but some great chances missed.
Played well first half I thought.
Ok Mateu, Unai and Johan, do your stuff.
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There's a risk we won't win again this season at this rate. We look out of ideas.
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To make it worse wolves are not a good team.
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Crap in the final third. Incredibly frustrating day. Over to you Alemany!
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Some awful shite second half, but some great chances missed.
Played well first half I thought.
Ok Mateu, Unai and Johan, do your stuff.
Careful Percy that sound slightly positive
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Too many underwhelming performances.
It seems as though teams have figured out that all they have to do is press us hard and/or put balls over the top and we'll concede.
Shame, but no European spot this season.
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Even when we have nice things, it's never really right, is it?
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Desperately disappointing.
After the magnificent performance against Newcastle everything seemed possible but we have been very poor since then.
2 goals in those 4 games.
We can have perspective about where we've come from but right now I feel really fucked off with how things have gone.
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Just not good enough in final third currently.
Ollie feeding on scraps although he should've buried that first half header.
Buendia the usual, some nice close control but we simply don't create enough clear chances when he's in possession as he just takes too long to release the ball.
Actually thought Bailey was quite bright when he came on but then he hit the wide free kick into the wall and descended into a pub player for last 10 minutes so we know his limitations by now.
It's alright adding this midfielder or this RB but simply if we want to have a serious go at finishing top 6 next season we need far better proven quality in final third. The run in has shown we simply don't have it currently.
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A really poor result.
We were the better team in many respects, but I think tiredness is starting to set in and we don't really have great options to change things around.
Still some football to play, so I hope we pick up again, particularly against Spurs.
No getting away from it, though, we've been poor since Saudi Arabia.
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Shite.
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I really don't want to see Mings further foreward than the halfway line. I thought he had been staying deeper recently.
Other than that, we clearly need to have a healthier, bigger squad of good players, so Emery can change things up more. This lot have done very well, but they're understandibly getting leggy now.
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A really poor result.
We were the better team in many respects, but I think tiredness is starting to set in and we don't really have great options to change things around.
Still some football to play, so I hope we pick up again, particularly against Spurs.
No getting away from it, though, we've been poor since Saudi Arabia.
I agree to an extent but I really dont think we were poor today. Things just didn’t go our way. The stats show a pretty one sided game and two seasons ago they would have been the exact opposite
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Think we have run out of steam - asking too much from too few players.
We have been unlucky with injuries - and I think the players out there have ran out of steam. It was a huge ask - particularly when the players we have had in April were basically the 11 on the pitch. Coutihno, Cash and Kamara have been huge misses for us.
Bert for Dendonker was an error IMO, McGinn is better in the final third than Bert or Bailey. Bailey and Beundia have hit there ceilings I think. Unlike virtually every other player in the team, they don't look any better after 6 months with Unai.
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The squads limitations are being shown up at the minute. Emery is a fantastic manager who's done BRILLIANT so far and will improve us over the summer but it's annoying to have been doing so well to end up losing two back to back 1 nils. Missed some absolute sitters today. The ref was awful too. And wolves always always always raise their game vs Villa
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I think we dominated the game and that with better forwards we win. It seems that the club will be spending a heap of money this summer and moving on quite a few.
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Totally dominated first half, though final ball was missing, saying that Watkins has to score from the header. Second half they turned it into more of a scrap, but we were still the better side, without creating anything other than the Mings chance, when he has to score. Really frustrating.
However, we have players back and beat Spurs next week, which is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility and 7th is still on. Need Liverpool to win tonight to keep Brentford away as well.
Whatever, though, i don’t see the point in saying we’re shit etc, when we’ve had a fantastic season since Emery came in.
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Nothing changes for me.
It’s been a great season regardless whether we finish in a European spot or not. The club is in great hands, I’m convinced they will go big this summer, and next year without the 11 game Gerrard handicap, we will be right up there.
Let the dog heads have their 10 mins of fame - they can only wish they were in our shoes.
UTV
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Not seen it, followed on the sky sports app, was it players/team running out of steam after the 10 game run? Or just a poor game?
As soon as saw team had Traore in I feared the worst, the guy scores lovely goals but can’t see he does the hard yards defensively ever….Bailey is another does some good bits but goes missing, Buendia according to Sky was on fire but on here not so much?
Good to see Carlos get some minutes.
On too Spurs…let’s tear them a new one at VP!
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The squads limitations are being shown up at the minute. Emery is a fantastic manager who's done BRILLIANT so far and will improve us over the summer but it's annoying to have been doing so well to end up losing two back to back 1 nils. Missed some absolute sitters today. The ref was awful too. And wolves always always always raise their game vs Villa
Yep
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One of the things which seems to have changed since Saudi FC is we've gotten slower in both thought and execution. A lot of overthinking, holding onto the ball, obsessing about shape. We don't go for the throat in the same way we did that day.
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Off day, just a shame it's come against this lot again.
What is becoming increasingly clear is that we need a clean sweep when it comes to wide players - Traore nor Bailey are the answer. Not seen anything to warrant any promise from Duran either - I can see his Villa career going the same way as Wesley. Wide players and someone to challenge Ollie up front are a priority in the summer.
We actually have to hope that Liverpool turn up tonight now, as Brentford aren't that far behind.
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Good to see the positive posters getting their four penneth in early before we all get depressed. Stats tell me we should have won but not our day today
(https://i.ibb.co/56J97TW/FBA1208-D-51-D8-4-FFE-86-CE-1787717-DCAA4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/56J97TW)
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Too many underwhelming performances.
It seems as though teams have figured out that all they have to do is press us hard and/or put balls over the top and we'll concede.
Shame, but no European spot this season.
One flaw with your analysis is that they didn’t score from pressing us hard or hitting a ball over the top.
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Oh well.
*quietly puts passport away*
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Frustrating as fuck to lose to such a limited side content on sitting 11 behind the ball. Ollie and Mings have to score.
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Good to see the positive posters getting their four penneth in early before we all get depressed. Stats tell me we should have won but not our day today
(https://i.ibb.co/56J97TW/FBA1208-D-51-D8-4-FFE-86-CE-1787717-DCAA4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/56J97TW)
Erm
Edit- it was showing a different match before. As you were.
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Too many underwhelming performances.
It seems as though teams have figured out that all they have to do is press us hard and/or put balls over the top and we'll concede.
Shame, but no European spot this season.
One flaw with your analysis is that they didn’t score from pressing us hard or hitting a ball over the top.
Lol
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We were the better side, but lacked a cutting edge. Some slow reactions, a lack of sharp movement, and far, far too much hopeful booting the ball against defenders' legs and generally just not quite knowing what to do.
We need more pace and power, and more composure when we do get it in dangerous areas.
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Oh well.
*quietly puts passport away*
No don't put it away it's still happening when we beat Spurs next week.
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Some tired performances out there today but still should’ve had a couple. What we’ve got to hope is that Kamara is fit enough to start and Cash is fit to come in as well. The squad is short on numbers and quality but we all knew that and so did Emery. A couple of wins and we’ll hit 60 points and that would’ve been a dream before Emery came. At least we know he’ll be working all day and all night to end the season on a high.
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It was a smash and grab by wolves - we were much better - just couldn't get our rhythm going particularly in the final third, and wolves defended very well.
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We were much the better team but decision making particularly by Buendia and Ramsey was very poor in the final third. Thought they set their stall out quite early to just defend what they had and rely on the break but their chances were fitful. We had enough chances to win that game but lacked the composure we were displaying with aplomb a few weeks back.
Emery has got so much out of this squad of players and the injuries to the 4 players has meant our bench has looked so light in the last few weeks and it’s now caught up with us.
Onwards to Spurs and hopefully an upturn in fortune.
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Frustrating, we didn’t deserve to lose that. Missing the quality in attack - Mings should score. Watkins should score the header.
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There confidence was battered last week, the worst possible thing for us was for them to get an early goal and sit on it for 80 odd minutes. We needed to start faster and really rock them.
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Too many underwhelming performances.
It seems as though teams have figured out that all they have to do is press us hard and/or put balls over the top and we'll concede.
Shame, but no European spot this season.
So which goal like that did they score?
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Finishing & final ball let us down today - otherwise a decent performance without hitting those Newcastle heights.
Bailey really needs to go. Awful & offers nothing bar the odd nutmeg. McGinn better bombing forward down the right in the current set-up. Carlos looked good.
Wolves will dine out on this until next season - they're welcome to it.
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Frustrating, we didn’t deserve to lose that. Missing the quality in attack - Mings should score. Watkins should score the header.
Should've. Could've. Ought to 've.
Didn't.
Same as last week.
Summer will be very interesting though, that's for sure
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Good to see the positive posters getting their four penneth in early before we all get depressed. Stats tell me we should have won but not our day today
(https://i.ibb.co/56J97TW/FBA1208-D-51-D8-4-FFE-86-CE-1787717-DCAA4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/56J97TW)
Problem with stats that there's only one that ultimately matters at the end of the day. :'(
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Ah Villa, there you are... But I still love you. You little rascal...
Tbf, the past few games are more about not having anybody to come in & cover for our first teamer's when the games piled up & jadedness kicked in. Yes, everybody has had the same amount of games in a row, but Im not sure of any squad in the Prem that is as small as ours. Its not an excuse, its just reality. Which means that we aren't good enough to qualify for Europe this year.
There is no shame in that considering our phenomenal run of form since Emery arrived. The turnaround from the garbage under that fraud Gerrard has been utterly ridiculous. In a good way. But the stench of Gerrards shiteness is so great, that is has all but ended our chances of getting into one of the good European slots three quarters of a season after he had been fired for incompetence.
Next year will be the time to really give it a go. If we bring in some real quality in the summer in key areas, along with bulking up the squad, it will be interesting to see where Emery can take us. Its just unfortunate that he couldn't take us there this year, simply because Gerrard was so shit at his job.
Even with todays loss & the realisation that Europe is probably a bridge too far, I am so excited about the future. We have a great new crest. We have Emery. We have Barcas Sporting Director (or whatever his title is) coming in. We have our owners & their ridiculous wealth. We have a window coming up that should be a big rebuild that we can slightly ignore FFP considering how little we have spent in recent windows. And we have a solid core of players that are decent, along with a few very bright youngsters simmering in the loan pot.
We are cooking up something that could be quite special over the course of the next few years...
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Frustrating, we didn’t deserve to lose that. Missing the quality in attack - Mings should score. Watkins should score the header.
Should've. Could've. Ought to 've.
Didn't.
Should have put this underneath the new badge.
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If we don't finish in Europe it won't be because we've bottled it or the players are not good enough, it'll be because Gerrard was so shit. If we'd got the same amount of points under Emery but had a few of the poorer results mixed in with the good ones, and looked 'there or thereabouts' instead of charging up the table, it wouldn't be as disappointing to not make Europe.
Emery from the start of this season and we'd be in Europe no problem. Once Ollie's goal run stopped we were always going to struggle. Next is Luiz with 5.
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By far the better side but failed to take our chances.
Good to see Carlos and Kamara back.
Bailey is indeed a dud, and Buendia is not clinical enough (promises so much but final decision-making often leaves a lot to be desired).
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
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I thought, like last week, that we could have played all day and still not scored. I love the positivity about next season but, lest we forget, this is Villa we are talking about. I’m reserving judgment on that until I see how we start off next season.
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Eamonn, please tell us more as I’m sure it’ll be more impressive than our display today.
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
Did you feel anything else though?
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I think we've got the best manager we can have for the job in hand but there's the nagging fear that we won't get as close again next season. We have to take these opportunities when they (rarely) present themselves but we never seem to.
I'll be fine by 3 pm next Sat but distinctly dischuffed tonight.
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
You don't have to leave her hanging on the off chance of free accommodation in Slovakia at least
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Emery has squeezed every ounce out of the players over the past 6 months. A few key players have been injured at an important time & others are running out of steam. If someone in October had said we'd be 8th, we would have been delighted.
We've had plenty of games where we've managed a win when we didn't really deserve it. In those games we were ruthless in front of goal, today we weren't.
Special mention to Stuart Atwell for a piss poor, weak performance. I'd be surprised if we saw 60 minutes of actual football today.
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Shame we couldn't grab a point but a rocking VP next week and a 2-0 win and Europe is back on!
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Lack of quality rotations in the squad is catching up. Crazy that we've only really had one senior striker since January - thank God Ollie has managed to stay fit! Still, I trust UE will rectify the situation for next season with some quality additions. Just annoying to lose to basically a crap Wolves outfit.
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I think we would still not of scored even if we were still playing now. We just ran out of ideas.
It has been a brilliant season and a minor miracle to be where we are, but I can see it just petering out over the next few games without gaining a European spot.
I think quite a few of our players will only be squad fillers next season.
We need upgrades on Bailey, Traore, Buendia and Ramsey, possibly Watkins too. There is just no consistency with any of them.
Hopefully, both Unai and Mateu can identify what we need for next season and we make a major push for Europe, even possibly a Champions League spot.
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I knew this would be tough today. We’ve been off the boil going forward in the last 3 games. It’s a shame, but illustrates the squad depth isn’t there. We’ve run out of steam.
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Have to laugh at the tired excuse, they are playing 1 game a week
Not good enough to beat a side that lost 6-0 last weekend
We need better players, hopefully in the summer we will get them
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Despite the result, I came out feeling 10 feet tall. My do they hate us. Man, woman and child with red faces, spittle and hatred. Not just at the end but throughout.
Anyway, we do look like a tired side but one that can still dictate a game it's just that we have no cutting edge.
Still, I shall sleep the sleep of the good tonight, I'm not sure about those in Bilston though. Probably still raging.
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I can't pretend that I'm sanguine about missing out on Europe because of the bigger picture or where we've come from. If we'd been unlucky with the last three results I could perhaps chalk it up, but the fact you could see it slipping away in real time is highly frustrating. Shades of title run-ins, cup runs, chases for fourth...I know what they taste like and I'm sick of that taste.
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Have to laugh at the tired excuse, they are playing 1 game a week
Not good enough to beat a side that lost 6-0 last weekend
We need better players, hopefully in the summer we will get them
It’s not just tiredness, although that is a factor. It’s also the inability to freshen the team up when form dips.
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Teams who solely want to concentrate on stopping us have learned how to do that. This has been obvious in the last two defeats and was also in evidence in wins over Forest and Fulham. Newcastle didn't and paid the price. Unai needs better players to execute his plans.
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1 thing I've noticed recently is that - from the BBC game stats - we consistently give away fewer fouls than the opposition. I wonder whether this reflects poor game management? Probably not, but just a thought
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Have to laugh at the tired excuse, they are playing 1 game a week
Not good enough to beat a side that lost 6-0 last weekend
We need better players, hopefully in the summer we will get them
Have to laugh at the tired excuse, they are playing 1 game a week
Not good enough to beat a side that lost 6-0 last weekend
We need better players, hopefully in the summer we will get them
It’s not just tiredness, although that is a factor. It’s also the inability to freshen the team up when form dips.
Why are we tired though? No-one spoke of tiredness during the unbeaten run. We're not in Europe, we haven't had deep runs in any of the cups.
I fear rather that too many of our boys have underperformed when expectations were heightened. Which is a concern for next season with where Unai will want us to be and I'm pretty damn sure that he will have clocked the players who have dropped off when the pressure was on.
This means that an honest appraisal of the squad will be forthcoming and that's good news.
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I can't remember who said it (might have been Lineker on one of his podcasts) but it was along the lines of "you're never tired when you're winning".
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I was listening on villa Tv, who made it sound like it was all Villa. But anyway, highlight for me was before kick off, because before the commentators piped up someone had left the mic on in the tunnel, and all you could hear was a very young villa mascot asking John Mcginn questions like “Mcginn, how tall are you?” And “Mcginn, who’s the shortest villa player”. The thing is he/she kept referring to SJM as “Mcginn”, no John, just “Mcginn”. Made me laugh anyway.
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I can't pretend that I'm sanguine about missing out on Europe because of the bigger picture or where we've come from. If we'd been unlucky with the last three results I could perhaps chalk it up, but the fact you could see it slipping away in real time is highly frustrating. Shades of title run-ins, cup runs, chases for fourth...I know what they taste like and I'm sick of that taste.
I know what you mean but blame Purslow and his mate Gerrard. A farcical appointment that’s ultimately cost us. We’ve now got a coach the owners brought in and it looks like someone who can help Emery bring in quality. He hasn’t come here to make do and without promises from the owners. European qualification and a cup next season.
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Wonder if our season is going to fizzle out - have too small a squad and tiredness caught up with us?
The great shame is that it WAS in our grasp - still is, but I think we're going to just miss out on Europe.
Shakespeare may have said " 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all."
But he obviously wasn't a Villan.
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Should have scored, shouldn't have conceded (though it was a great header that just beat Martinez by going in off the bar). Great save by Sa to deny Buendía.
Traore was poor, Bailey the same. Buendia got crowded out or tried too hard.
Better chances and another one of those days. Need to stop the rot, what better way than at home to Spurs.
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We need some pace. And we need to quicken the play to make it more difficult for our park the bus opponents to stop us. Wolves to their credit defend a 1-0 lead exceptionally well. Ponderous play around them is not how you break that down.
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Have to laugh at the tired excuse, they are playing 1 game a week
Not good enough to beat a side that lost 6-0 last weekend
We need better players, hopefully in the summer we will get them
Have to laugh at the tired excuse, they are playing 1 game a week
Not good enough to beat a side that lost 6-0 last weekend
We need better players, hopefully in the summer we will get them
It’s not just tiredness, although that is a factor. It’s also the inability to freshen the team up when form dips.
Why are we tired though? No-one spoke of tiredness during the unbeaten run. We're not in Europe, we haven't had deep runs in any of the cups.
I fear rather that too many of our boys have underperformed when expectations were heightened. Which is a concern for next season with where Unai will want us to be and I'm pretty damn sure that he will have clocked the players who have dropped off when the pressure was on.
This means that an honest appraisal of the squad will be forthcoming and that's good news.
I made a similar point somewhere else- maybe the Emery thread. To my mind we fell flat in 2020-21 and 2021-22 at the final hurdle. If it happens a third time you would have to conclude some of them crumble under the weight of expectation.
It is frustrating that they can't translate momentum into a good league finish (hoping they prove me wrong now and go and get three good resutls)
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Should have scored, shouldn't have conceded (though it was a great header that just beat Martinez by going in off the bar). Great save by Sa to deny Buendía.
Traore was poor, Bailey the same. Buendia got crowded out or tried too hard.
Better chances and another one of those days. Need to stop the rot, what better way than at home to Spurs.
You've forgotten that Kane the diver will be in town. He'll be up to his antics for sure.
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When you go 10 unbeaten and score on 20 odd games on the trot you go from being the soft touch opposition that all teams expect to beat to being one that teams respect and fear…so they set up to stop you which makes it harder….I don’t think it’s physical tiredness due to games but we have been eyeballs out with the same 12/13 players for weeks now and maybe mentally we aren’t as sharp as we were…the point where you want to be able to bring in 2/3 quality replacements not Traore level players
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
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Wolves have the third best home record this year; it was a tough game and we just didn't capitalise, Watkins and Mings should have scored. We were the better team and a couple of decent additions will do a lot.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
Completely agree. And point of order more generally, whilst disappointing in the context of our recent run, 8th would be an excellent final position and testament to the job Unai is doing.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
Someone said on the match thread that the bench looks strong but it isn't at all. Nothing changed with the substitutions.
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Urghghhhhhhh
All week looking forward to the match and they serve that up…again.
Saw the line up and thought excellent! Really going for it. 15mins in and Bertie is doing fuck all. McGinn isn’t bombing forward and Buendia getting crowded out. My rivers commentary decide to tug themselves silly over a wolves player beating 2 and almost a 3rd before McGinn wins it back.
Pedestrian slow movement and passing continue allowing wolves to stand in their defensive shape quicker than we can get the ball further to our attacking players.
When we did get our straightforward chances we didn’t put them away.
Frustrating as hell.
The only positive I have is 3 out of 4 back to bolster the squad and it’s defo squad shake up time come the summer based on how Uncle Unai wants us to play.
The little flickering flame of Europe hasn’t quite sniffed out as 2 of the last 3 are at home.
On the way home against the seagulls whatever the result me and Remy junior will look forward immensely to new kit, new badge, new stand, new players, new playing identity, new mentality and no more looking down after 13 years.
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12874759/wolves-1-0-aston-villa-premier-league-highlights
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We need a point of difference and variety in the summer. The Wolves won't be the last shit side to stick 11 behind the ball and pray for a set piece.
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12874759/wolves-1-0-aston-villa-premier-league-highlights
Judging by those highlights we should have got something out of the game.
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
You’ve been watching too much MAFS.
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I live in Wolverhampton and usually fucking despise losing to these but I'm all rather relaxed after this one. I think it's probably my optimism for what's going on behind the scenes with the DOF and our Summer plans.
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12874759/wolves-1-0-aston-villa-premier-league-highlights
How was that handball with outstretched arm not a penalty?
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Load of shite. Buendia, Traore and Bailey to all be moved on in the summer please, rarely can £60m have been put to worse use than what we've wasted on those three.
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I live in Wolverhampton and usually fucking despise losing to these but I'm all rather relaxed after this one. I think it's probably my optimism for what's going on behind the scenes with the DOF and our Summer plans.
Yeah, there have been more appropriate times to lose hope. That’s what I’m telling myself tonight anyway.
Nice to see Carlos get on. The only thing that could genuinely bring me down about this season is losing Emi in the summer.
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How did Carlos play?
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I live in Wolverhampton and usually fucking despise losing to these but I'm all rather relaxed after this one. I think it's probably my optimism for what's going on behind the scenes with the DOF and our Summer plans.
Yeah, there have been more appropriate times to lose hope. That’s what I’m telling myself tonight anyway.
Nice to see Carlos get on. The only thing that could genuinely bring me down about this season is losing Emi in the summer.
I genuinely cannot see that happening, not this summer or the next.
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Fed up of getting beat at that place, horrible day. We were just very passive, the energy wasn’t there. The ball want going for us and we couldn’t really create anything. We are having a little blip, but I do think we will beat Spurs, will that be enough? Who knows? Anyone on here who was on my train talking about crap 70s game shows and Sunday TV, enjoyed it gents made my day! Angel delight and That’s Life on a Sunday evening, quality!
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I wonder did Prince William get a chance to check the score yet.
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Oh well, if there's an upside it will hopefully have shown the club that minor tinkering with the squad isn't going to cut it for next season. There are players who just aren't good enough full stop, and there are those who are inconsistent and need better players to compete with them for places.
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we've played worse and won.
Can't wait for the summer. UTV.
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Thought we were by far the better of two tired, ordinary sides. They offered little but we just looked leggy and lacking imagination in the final third.
We really need an upgrade in most of the forward positions but our options will be l8mited as we throw away the European places. Pretty disappointed as that’s two narrow losses where could and should have done better.
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Wolves are awful .losing to them is unacceptable and our form since Newcastle has been woeful
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Thought we played well today. But we didn’t take our chances. Wolves…wow. Small time or what. They played that game like it was there cup final.
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Oh well, if there's an upside it will hopefully have shown the club that minor tinkering with the squad isn't going to cut it for next season. There are players who just aren't good enough full stop, and there are those who are inconsistent and need better players to compete with them for places.
I’m sure Unai knows…Traore & Bailey don’t work anything like hard enough for him and he won’t like the amount of easy possession Buendia gives away being too panicky.
Personally be happy for Buendia to be a bench option to a better player, would also hope Bailey & Traore are dispatched.
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Wolves are awful .losing to them is unacceptable and our form since Newcastle has been woeful
Woeful? We drew at bogey team Brentford and beat Fulham before these two defeats.
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Wolves are awful .losing to them is unacceptable and our form since Newcastle has been woeful
Woeful? We drew at bogey team Brentford and beat Fulham before these two defeats.
They are only behind the Manchester clubs in home form this year too.
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Wolves are awful .losing to them is unacceptable and our form since Newcastle has been woeful
We’ve lost two away games against teams in good form at home. Not ideal, but hardly woeful.
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How did Carlos play?
Slotted in nicely, and can pass the ball much better than Ezri, I can see him & Tyrone being the pairing when he's fully fit.
Ezri did well at right back, which is good to know.
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How did Carlos play?
Slotted in nicely, and can pass the ball much better than Ezri, I can see him & Tyrone being the pairing when he's fully fit.
Ezri did well at right back, which is good to know.
He played quite well there in our first season back under Smith, post lockdown.
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In Emery's system with a 4 reverting to a three, Konsa would do fine there, but he's not a normal full back.
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Konsa doesn't have the consistent ability to control the ball let alone skin wingers down the flank. I hope we don't have to rely on him at RB.
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Konsa doesn't have the consistent ability to control the ball let alone skin wingers down the flank. I hope we don't have to rely on him at RB.
Me either. But in a game where we might want to see out time until the final whistle he might be a decent alternative to Cash's more forward thinking style.
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
Even Bert had a a better day than you then. At least he got pulled off at half time.
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
Even Bert had a a better day than you then. At least he got pulled off at half time.
Ha ha, brilliant.
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Probably just as well, we were in a posh cafe.
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I was in a posh cafe today but I didn’t enjoy it. There was this right dodgy couple on the next table behaving inappropriately and lowering the tone. Sounded like they were on a first date. He seemed keen but she kept looking at the exit.
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
Even Bert had a a better day than you then. At least he got pulled off at half time.
Why was eammon trying to feel butterflies? That will get you thrown out of the butterfly farm
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Wolves are awful .losing to them is unacceptable and our form since Newcastle has been woeful
Woeful? We drew at bogey team Brentford and beat Fulham before these two defeats.
But did we sell all the tickets?
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
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Sounds like the game was as much of a damp squib as my date was. Nice enough girl but I didn't feel butterflies. (For those awaiting an update)
Even Bert had a a better day than you then. At least he got pulled off at half time.
Applauds.
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I was in a posh cafe today but I didn’t enjoy it. There was this right dodgy couple on the next table behaving inappropriately and lowering the tone. Sounded like they were on a first date. He seemed keen but she kept looking at the exit.
;D Thought I saw you behind a hardback of "Killing Thatcher" alright, to which which I nodded in approval.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
But if the players were not there to purchase there was little he could do.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
Emery seems to have chosen not to add more players in January and was happy for Ings to leave.
You can't really criticise him for going on a 10 game unbeaten run, the likes of which we haven't managed in the PL in God knows how many years?!
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Yeah I think we should have done more in January but given what’s happened since it’s bonkers to criticise Emery.
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Imagine getting worked up because we're 'only' on a run of W8 D2 L2.
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Indeed.
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Yeah ffs it’s a disgrace
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It’s possible to be both pleased that we’ve improved to such a large extent under Emery but also disappointed that we’ve blown our chances of qualifying for Europe.
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I feel sorry for all of you living in or near Wolverhampton. Yes, for living there not for the fact that team was useless today.
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Absolutely, but it doesn’t change the fact that the last two games were tough away games. I don’t think we’ve “bottled”. We just haven’t hit our maximum level in the last few games.
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Our ball movement across the backline is so slow it is open to a hard press, need to get better ball players. We were the better side but Wolves after scoring played six across the back and we couldn't break them down. Ollie is our only real option up front and when he is well held we struggle.
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It’s possible to be both pleased that we’ve improved to such a large extent under Emery but also disappointed that we’ve blown our chances of qualifying for Europe.
True but I don't think anyone in January would have expected us to be in contention for Europe, new signings or not.
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Back to our usual last spot on motd. I really do hope that when Emery gets his own players in that he gets us to move the ball much quicker. It’s almost walking football at times and, I know other people will not find it the same but frankly, I find it tedious and boring. Plus, it looks like other teams have worked us out now with that tactic and are finding a way to stifle us.
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It’s possible to be both pleased that we’ve improved to such a large extent under Emery but also disappointed that we’ve blown our chances of qualifying for Europe.
True but I don't think anyone in January would have expected us to be in contention for Europe, new signings or not.
I didn’t expect us to get to the FA Cup final under Dim Tim, but once we did the manner we lost was incredibly disappointing. The disappointment not really lessened by the fact that nobody expected us to get there.
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Today was always going to be tough. We just needed to take our chances when we got them and we didn't. Shame really, I thought we were the better side.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
We were nowhere near europe in Jan/Feb.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
We were nowhere near europe in Jan/Feb.
I can also see Chelsea and Spurs still being beatable in the league next season.
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W8 D2 L2 is nowhere near blowing/bottling it. That's 82 points over a season. Man City won the league 2 years ago with 86 points, Leicester won it with 81. Since Emery arrived we're running at a pace that's 72 or 73 points over a season. For context, with pretty much the same players, under Gerrard this season we were on pace for 31 points.
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Wolves are awful .losing to them is unacceptable and our form since Newcastle has been woeful
Wolves have won 4 on the bounce at home without conceding a goal, they are not awful. No team other than Southampton is in this league
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Nothing changes for me.
It’s been a great season regardless whether we finish in a European spot or not. The club is in great hands, I’m convinced they will go big this summer, and next year without the 11 game Gerrard handicap, we will be right up there.
Let the dog heads have their 10 mins of fame - they can only wish they were in our shoes.
UTV
This. Given our start to the season I would have bitten your hand off for where we are now.
Disappointing to lose to the Dogheads but lets beat Spurzzz next week.
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I also thought we were the better team and had the better chances. The Mings miss, which was a great free kick routine, and the Buendia shot which was a brilliant save.
Last few games have been disappointing but win the last 3 and it might be good enough.
Do you want to bet against us?
UTV
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Wolfs are becoming a bit of a bogey team to me. We never get thrashed but seem to struggle against them, I felt that halfway through the game yesterday.
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I also thought we were the better team and had the better chances. The Mings miss, which was a great free kick routine, and the Buendia shot which was a brilliant save.
Last few games have been disappointing but win the last 3 and it might be good enough.
Do you want to bet against us?
UTV
We're 25/1 to qualify for Europe now, if you fancy it.
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
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Teams will have started to work out what stops us. To get around this we need to evolve how we play, from game to game & even within games.
Last week Man Utd changed how they played to accommodate us. When was the last time that happened?
Our ability to change is restricted by the limited pool of players we can pick from & injuries to key players has made it harder. That will be addressed over the summer. We won't have an Ollie Watkins V2 on the bench, we'll have an alternative player with a different set of abilities.
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Agree completely John.
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Teams will have started to work out what stops us. To get around this we need to evolve how we play, from game to game & even within games.
Last week Man Utd changed how they played to accommodate us. When was the last time that happened?
Our ability to change is restricted by the limited pool of players we can pick from & injuries to key players has made it harder. That will be addressed over the summer. We won't have an Ollie Watkins V2 on the bench, we'll have an alternative player with a different set of abilities.
Wolves game plan was to get an early goal then pack the defence and hope to catch us on the break. Pretty basic stuff but effective. I take it as a compliment that the home team had a game plan to park the bus for 80 minutes. Once Unai starts bringing in his own players we will be more effective at making in game alterations to deal with situations like yesterday's. We have an elite manager now and days like yesterday are a mere bump in the road. We'll have our day against teams like Wolves and it will be oh so sweet. Viva the revolution.
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
Maybe bottling it is strong but we do seem to have wilted when Europe got real. There was pressure once the Media Started saying we are favourites to secure that and suddenly we start losing and not scoring.
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
Maybe bottling it is strong but we do seem to have wilted when Europe got real. There was pressure once the Media Started saying we are favourites to secure that and suddenly we start losing and not scoring.
To be fair unless you’re literally one of probably Citeh, Liverpool (in previous years), and Arsenal this year sustaining the form we had just doesn’t happen.
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
Maybe bottling it is strong but we do seem to have wilted when Europe got real. There was pressure once the Media Started saying we are favourites to secure that and suddenly we start losing and not scoring.
They absolutely have not bottled it. It's a ridiculous way to look at it. We've had key injuries and we lack squad depth to cope with it. They are running on empty. To accuse them of bottling it is an insult to the players who have made a monumental effort to get us to where we are right now.
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This was always going to happen, we weren't going to go on winning forever. Still, it's disappointing though, winning is great.
We're running on empty and have very few options from the bench, and some of those options we do have are of questionable quality.
Next season's going to be very, very interesting.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
There is nothing wrong with being disappointed that we look like we could miss out on Europe. However, you have contradicted yourself with the ‘golden’ and ‘unexpected’ comment. Other than the last couple of weeks there hasn’t been a golden opportunity to make Europe. Emery and the players at his disposal and how he has coached and organised them has created the opportunity out of virtually nowhere. We haven’t blown anything, we’re the third of fourth best team in the league since October. Its just a really irrational post.
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Our ball movement across the backline is so slow it is open to a hard press, need to get better ball players. We were the better side but Wolves after scoring played six across the back and we couldn't break them down. Ollie is our only real option up front and when he is well held we struggle.
We’ve done this since Emery came. Newcastle thought it would be their lucky day until Emery changed tactics and we lobbed it to McGinn and the rest is history. I think we’ve massively improved at the back regarding passing it around. I’d agree with your comments about our forward line but that’s due to not having any options out wide. Bailey has been terrible so it’s easy to break teams down who don’t come at us. Hopefully with some quality additions we’ll move onto the next level. I’m sure Emery is all over this.
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
Maybe bottling it is strong but we do seem to have wilted when Europe got real. There was pressure once the Media Started saying we are favourites to secure that and suddenly we start losing and not scoring.
They absolutely have not bottled it. It's a ridiculous way to look at it. We've had key injuries and we lack squad depth to cope with it. They are running on empty. To accuse them of bottling it is an insult to the players who have made a monumental effort to get us to where we are right now.
I don't agree with the sentiment, but the poster appeared to be saying that the club bottled the January window, not that the players have bottled these last few matches.
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
Maybe bottling it is strong but we do seem to have wilted when Europe got real. There was pressure once the Media Started saying we are favourites to secure that and suddenly we start losing and not scoring.
They absolutely have not bottled it. It's a ridiculous way to look at it. We've had key injuries and we lack squad depth to cope with it. They are running on empty. To accuse them of bottling it is an insult to the players who have made a monumental effort to get us to where we are right now.
I don't agree with the sentiment, but the poster appeared to be saying that the club bottled the January window, not that the players have bottled these last few matches.
Judging by the calibre of the individual who will have responsibility from 1st July, I'm not worrying about that side of things any more!
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
Maybe bottling it is strong but we do seem to have wilted when Europe got real. There was pressure once the Media Started saying we are favourites to secure that and suddenly we start losing and not scoring.
They absolutely have not bottled it. It's a ridiculous way to look at it. We've had key injuries and we lack squad depth to cope with it. They are running on empty. To accuse them of bottling it is an insult to the players who have made a monumental effort to get us to where we are right now.
I don't agree with the sentiment, but the poster appeared to be saying that the club bottled the January window, not that the players have bottled these last few matches.
I dunno. He said the performance at Old Trafford was gutless.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
There is nothing wrong with being disappointed that we look like we could miss out on Europe. However, you have contradicted yourself with the ‘golden’ and ‘unexpected’ comment. Other than the last couple of weeks there hasn’t been a golden opportunity to make Europe. Emery and the players at his disposal and how he has coached and organised them has created the opportunity out of virtually nowhere. We haven’t blown anything, we’re the third of fourth best team in the league since October. Its just a really irrational post.
At the start of January, we were 6 clear of the bottom 3. Even if Europe wasn't likely, a relegation battle was not out of the question (particularly after deciding the cups were not worth the effort). We had the chance to strengthen, but chose not to. Nothing but admiration for the manager and players for what they've done in the last 2 months, but not using the window was always going to bite us no matter what. That is on Emery and the board.
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That post about us 'bottling it' was ridiculous. We may end up coming short but bottling it is way off the mark.
Maybe bottling it is strong but we do seem to have wilted when Europe got real. There was pressure once the Media Started saying we are favourites to secure that and suddenly we start losing and not scoring.
They absolutely have not bottled it. It's a ridiculous way to look at it. We've had key injuries and we lack squad depth to cope with it. They are running on empty. To accuse them of bottling it is an insult to the players who have made a monumental effort to get us to where we are right now.
I don't agree with the sentiment, but the poster appeared to be saying that the club bottled the January window, not that the players have bottled these last few matches.
I dunno. He said the performance at Old Trafford was gutless.
First half was. Better second, but too little too late against a team with a phenomenal home record
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
There is nothing wrong with being disappointed that we look like we could miss out on Europe. However, you have contradicted yourself with the ‘golden’ and ‘unexpected’ comment. Other than the last couple of weeks there hasn’t been a golden opportunity to make Europe. Emery and the players at his disposal and how he has coached and organised them has created the opportunity out of virtually nowhere. We haven’t blown anything, we’re the third of fourth best team in the league since October. Its just a really irrational post.
At the start of January, we were 6 clear of the bottom 3. Even if Europe wasn't likely, a relegation battle was not out of the question (particularly after deciding the cups were not worth the effort). We had the chance to strengthen, but chose not to. Nothing but admiration for the manager and players for what they've done in the last 2 months, but not using the window was always going to bite us no matter what. That is on Emery and the board.
Emery’s cup winning record would suggest he takes them seriously. The man united away game in the league cup was his second in charge and he obviously wanted to assess his squad. The team picked for the Stevenage game should easily have been good enough to win.
Its been said in various articles and some posts on here from people more informed than me, that Emery likes a tight close nit squad, maybe that’s why he didn’t buy anyone in January other than Moreno and Duran. He also seems like he knows what he wants, so maybe the players he wanted were not available then.
Nobody is above criticism, however, it does feel after what he’s done since he came in, that Emery kind of is above it at this moment in time.
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Just watching the Newcastle V Arsenal game and it’s fast paced
We are just too slow in everything we do especially building from the back, I know it’s all about the right players doing the right things and obviously we will get new players in the window but I hope our play is sharper and faster next season
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Just watching the Newcastle V Arsenal game and it’s fast paced
We are just too slow in everything we do especially building from the back, I know it’s all about the right players doing the right things and obviously we will get new players in the window but I hope our play is sharper and faster next season
We are far too deliberate because the players we have collectively cannot play at that pace and tempo. I expect that to change this summer with far better technical players coming to the club.
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Our depth problem is seen in the Buendia situation.
Many have pointed out he’s been poor of late but, until today with Coutinho on the bench, who do we replace him with?
Emery is doing an amazing job, out of this world, but we have a lot of work to do on the squad this summer in terms of quality of course but also numbers.
The lack of depth was clear at Christmas, yet Emery and the board did not do anywhere near enough when we had the chance in January. A golden, if unexpected chance to reach Europe, and we look to have completly blown it. Add to that Emery's bone-headed team selection in the two cups as well. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be anywhere near as bad next season. Another season bottled.
There is nothing wrong with being disappointed that we look like we could miss out on Europe. However, you have contradicted yourself with the ‘golden’ and ‘unexpected’ comment. Other than the last couple of weeks there hasn’t been a golden opportunity to make Europe. Emery and the players at his disposal and how he has coached and organised them has created the opportunity out of virtually nowhere. We haven’t blown anything, we’re the third of fourth best team in the league since October. Its just a really irrational post.
At the start of January, we were 6 clear of the bottom 3. Even if Europe wasn't likely, a relegation battle was not out of the question (particularly after deciding the cups were not worth the effort). We had the chance to strengthen, but chose not to. Nothing but admiration for the manager and players for what they've done in the last 2 months, but not using the window was always going to bite us no matter what. That is on Emery and the board.
Emery says it was his choice and has explained his logic. Don’t think we can blame the board.
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Just watching the Newcastle V Arsenal game and it’s fast paced
We are just too slow in everything we do especially building from the back, I know it’s all about the right players doing the right things and obviously we will get new players in the window but I hope our play is sharper and faster next season
We are far too deliberate because the players we have collectively cannot play at that pace and tempo. I expect that to change this summer with far better technical players coming to the club.
Agreed
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I'm sure he's said that funds were available. We wouldn't want the board to overrule him and chuck players at him that he didn't want, he had that at Arsenal.
It was frustrating, even more so in hindsight, but I'm struggling to get too worked up about it. I'm sure it'll be an interesting summer regardless of where we ultimately end up.
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Emery and Alemany will have full control over transfers. Neither are going to be here to fuck around with free transfers. Emery is obsessed with playing in Europe and he has shown just what he can do with the residue of the Smith and Gerrard eras. He will want to operate in the top 6-8 next season and aiming towards top 4 by the following. And Newcastle have shown just how quickly with good players and coaching it can be done.
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Just watching the Newcastle V Arsenal game and it’s fast paced
We are just too slow in everything we do especially building from the back, I know it’s all about the right players doing the right things and obviously we will get new players in the window but I hope our play is sharper and faster next season
We are far too deliberate because the players we have collectively cannot play at that pace and tempo. I expect that to change this summer with far better technical players coming to the club.
Agreed
And yet it was only only a couple of weeks ago, against Newcastle, that we played the best, sharpest football, from first whistle to last, that I have ever seen.
And I’ve been supporting us for over 60 years
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Just watching the Newcastle V Arsenal game and it’s fast paced
We are just too slow in everything we do especially building from the back, I know it’s all about the right players doing the right things and obviously we will get new players in the window but I hope our play is sharper and faster next season
We are far too deliberate because the players we have collectively cannot play at that pace and tempo. I expect that to change this summer with far better technical players coming to the club.
Agreed
And yet it was only only a couple of weeks ago, against Newcastle, that we played the best, sharpest football, from first whistle to last, that I have ever seen.
And I’ve been supporting us for over 60 years
Thats a great perspective Clive.
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The level of that performance is looking increasingly like a one off though.
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The level of that performance is looking increasingly like a one off though.
Every team has a best performance of the season, the point remains that over two thirds of the season we have been the 3rd or 4th best team in the league, in addition if some supporters are saying its the best performance in a generation, it shows these players can reach a really high level. Given that I’m not sure i agree with the assertion that this set of players aren’t good enough after two close 1-0 defeats at two teams with very good home records. That doesn’t mean I don’t think we need two or three top quality editions.
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The level of that performance is looking increasingly like a one off though.
You mean like the one offs at home to Brentford, Man Utd and away at Chelsea and Spurs?
So that’s 5 one offs
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It was less than a month ago and was part of a 2 month run covering nearly a third of a season where we were running at title contender form. It was hardly a Gerrard once in a blue moon decent performance/result.
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The level of that performance is looking increasingly like a one off though.
You mean like the one offs at home to Brentford, Man Utd and away at Chelsea and Spurs?
So that’s 5 one offs
I said performance, not result. It’s the best we’ve played in years.
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Just watching the Newcastle V Arsenal game and it’s fast paced
We are just too slow in everything we do especially building from the back, I know it’s all about the right players doing the right things and obviously we will get new players in the window but I hope our play is sharper and faster next season
We are far too deliberate because the players we have collectively cannot play at that pace and tempo. I expect that to change this summer with far better technical players coming to the club.
Agreed
And yet it was only only a couple of weeks ago, against Newcastle, that we played the best, sharpest football, from first whistle to last, that I have ever seen.
And I’ve been supporting us for over 60 years
Go away outta that! There's no way you'd put up with years of dross if that's the best you've seen.
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The level of that performance is looking increasingly like a one off though.
You mean like the one offs at home to Brentford, Man Utd and away at Chelsea and Spurs?
So that’s 5 one offs
I said performance, not result. It’s the best we’ve played in years.
I thought we were really good against Man Utd and Brentford as well though. We were 3 up against Brentford after 15 minutes or something like that if I remember rightly.
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I thought we were the better team and probably should've won the game, but definitely deserved a draw. We haven't bottled anything. Bottling it is having 2 goal leads versus teams and not winning games. We've deserved something from every game we've played in the last 3 or 4 months, the last 2 included. That is something remarkable to be proud of.
We'll give Spurs a game next week too. Difficult one to call in terms of a result, but if we did get a win, it'd be an exciting end to a season where we've recovered some pride.
Next season is going to be ace I reckon.
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We've had two 1-0 losses away from where we could have easily got something from both games.
If we are talking mixing it with the elite teams in the league, then we are still short of attacking quality at that level. It's the kind of quality players that can create something out of nothing when we are struggling a bit and can keep the ball when we are under pressure.
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Look at the difference than Emery's one signing, Moreno, has made to us. I'd rather wait until summer and try to get his first choice targets than go lower down the list for the sake of it. Finishing in the conference league or whatever the fuck it's called, shouldn't make a massive difference to the calibre of player we can get.
But I'm as disappointed as everyone else to seemingly get so close to Europe and then it slip just out of reach. I can see both sides of the discussion but definitely don't think we've bottled anything. The run we've been on is one of the most enjoyable of recent times for me, probably since the run in the championship.
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Thought they played like the Albion against us, sit deep and kick anything that moves. I thought that said more about the direction of travel for both clubs than anything else
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Thought they played like the Albion against us, sit deep and kick anything that moves. I thought that said more about the direction of travel for both clubs than anything else
Something will go very wrong with our recruitment if in 12 months time we're in serious danger of finishing below Wolves in the league.
They'll be losing Neves in next few weeks who is far and away their best player.
Lopetegui has done well but they won't be in contention for 7th anytime soon.
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Thought they played like the Albion against us, sit deep and kick anything that moves. I thought that said more about the direction of travel for both clubs than anything else
Wolverhampton will require big investment if they are to compete against teams above them, which the owners don't seem so keen on, where we think our owners are serious on investing
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Wolves are turning into Stoke Mark2. What I saw on Saturday was pure Pulis ball.
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Maybe we are just seeing results reflect performances a bit more over Emery's reign? Our wins against likes of Fulham, Everton, Palace, Forest were all off the back of average enough performances against poor enough teams. Didn't see game at weekend unfortunately but that Mings miss was surreal. Their goal was an unbelievable header in fairness.
Emery will have lost all faith in likes of Traore and Bailey, if he had any to start with. Be great to beat Spurs and finish the season at home strong if nothing else. Get likes of Carlos, Cash and Kamara into the team. Try Ramsey at 10 up near Watkins for a change, press them very hard from the front.
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Wolves are turning into Stoke Mark2. What I saw on Saturday was pure Pulis ball.
Thta was just poor from the ref. They got 3 yellow cards but 1 was part of him giving soft yellows to Mings and Costa for a bit of handbags and 1 was for time-wasting so 1 booking for 20 fouls and a whole bunch of challenges that he let go besides.
I think my favourite of the lot was giving them a freekick because Mcginn got to the ball first and the guy trod on his foot, straight from the Bruno Fernandes bullshit file.
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Mings' effort was difficult. It was point blank range with Sa approaching. He's so left-footed too, Mings. That and the 90 minutes of gum-chewing gets on my nerves.