Wolves Fans' Verdict v Spurs: Is it over yet?

Clive Smith

Our last two away games against Spurs were fun days out. There was not much fun watching from a distance today.

Another below par performance, it was not the back four that got picked apart it was the nonexistent midfield.

Five times inside half an hour Vitinha had lost the ball in our half. Moutinho and Gibbs-White were hardly much better with Dendoncker also offering nothing. We struggled to string a series of passes together and lacked any physical presence.

The defence was over worked and put up an outstanding resistance for forty five minutes. The pressure was relentless because there was no out ball to play. Silva was full of movement and energy but lacked the craft to retain possession. Traore should have received the ball as quickly as possible and at every opportunity because he offered our only threat, but we failed to find him enough with the ball.

Against the Spurs front three we were always likely to be outdone by pace and so it proved for the first goal. The second goal came from poor play by Hoever and then poor marking by Semedo.

The game felt lost at that point but ironically we then had a string of good chances. Silva should have scored, Traore needed to hit the target, a Saiss header then a Moutinho shot could have turned the game on its head.

For all those openings we were clearly second best and were it not for MOTM Patricio supporting Coady and Saiss it might well have been our heaviest defeat of the season.

With several seniors injured or on the bench Nuno is taking the opportunity to see what depth there is in the current squad. It will be interesting to see who he sees as being good enough to still have a place in the squad come August.

Adam Virgo

Every Wolves fan will be glad when this season is over. 2-0 flattered us big time, Spurs should and could have easily scored at least four.

We defended brilliantly for 44 minutes and then mistakes from Semedo as well as the centre backs to allow Kane to run in behind so easily. All that hard work and effort thrown away to end up 1-0 down at half time.

Hoever needed to do better against Sergio Reguillon for the second goal but after the Spaniard got past, we allowed Bale to shoot too easily before not being aware of any danger for the Hojbjerg rebound.

Coady could have got there quicker but on the whole he had a much better game than we’ve been used to this season. He was heading and clearing many balls away, just a shame we haven’t seen that determination defensively for large parts of this campaign.

Adama did everything you could ask for but once again players not taking chances and hardly anyone even getting into the box. He’ll get accused of having zero end product like usual though. The way he plays, he would absolutely thrive in a good, attacking side that commit bodies into the box.

Not expecting much from the final two games, I just hope we don’t end up with anymore serious injuries. This is a huge summer for Nuno and the board, they have to get it right if we’re to progress and to get back into the top half of the league again.

Rob Cartwright

A familiar tale this season.

We find that Podence requires surgery and his season is over. Nuno shakes the very small bag of fit players. We play very deep, in first half, but fall behind.

It was too easy down the Spurs right, with Gibbs-White and Semedo bypassed far too often.

Saiss and Coady made a number of crucial interventions in the box, with Patricio stopping anything that they didn’t.

Wolves’s full backs both looked vulnerable and the midfield offered no resistance to Spurs running through the middle. This was going to be a tough game.

It looked like we would make half-time level, when Coady clearance off the line twice in quick succession. However, on the next break, Kane scored and though it looked offside there was little delay and no VAR lines shown!

In the second half, we did get forward more and created chances for Traore, Silva and Saiss. The frustration was that we were not getting enough players forward quickly enough, when Traore was breaking with the ball.

Spurs could have scored more too. In reality, this was an easy victory for them, after getting their second goal on 62 minutes.

Vitinha was poor. As was Gibbs White, on left, after doing so well in a central position last week. Dendoncker was mostly anonymous; he’s had a terrible second half of the season. Silva looked well short. Traore was the only one who looked capable of creating something.

Man of the match was Coady, closely followed by Patricio. He won’t have done his England Euro’s chances any harm, in a back four, with Southgate watching.

Tottenham should have scored more, including hitting the woodwork three times.

Surely, it’s the cricket season now isn’t it?

Russ Evers

Well for the neutral it was a good game with shots galore. Fifteen shots away at Spurs should have merited a better return that a 2-0 defeat but if truth is told, we were second-best and they had forward line of Kane,Alli and Bale.

Coady was immense as was Patricio and Traore proved a threat but that's about it and if Dendoncker touched the ball more than 3 times, I didn't see it.

But there again, the rain was that incessant it was hard to see anything clearly outside The Duke of York with the usual 30 plus similar mad folk who were prepared to put up with the conditions to watch The Wolves.

Was hoping that our best defenders Boly and Kilman would have started but folk far better places than me determined they would not and I cant help thinking that the loss of those two contributed greatly to our downfall.

Oh well, one week to go and then its a couple of months off to hopefully find the sun.

John Lalley

Tottenham strolled to a routine victory without having to produce anything vaguely approaching the inspirational. Once our defences were breached seconds before the interval, the final outcome was inevitable.

Wolves had defended stubbornly, rode their luck and displayed dogged commitment but fatally switched off just as Spurs might have been feeling a touch frustrated.

With youngsters liberally sprinkled within the ranks, inconsistency of performance can’t be avoided and here callow inexperience was cruelly exposed.

In consequence, Wolves were hopelessly lightweight, worryingly deficient in all areas of the field and in the end, relieved to have escaped so lightly.

Other than this League presents problematic challenges for rookies, I doubt that Nuno gained much worthwhile from this game.

Perhaps the one positive was that his team for once looked passably secure defending corners with Coady performing heroics, but any notion that this area of the team isn’t ripe for close-season investment should be dismissed immediately.

Fresh impetus here and in all areas is essential otherwise our inconsistencies will simply expand.

Only Traore offered a threat to the Spurs’ final third; dispense with his counters and our offensive options were virtually threadbare.

The damaging absence of both Jimenez and Neto was never more evident than in this game; Saiss, Fabio and Moutinho were all presented with decent opportunities and all were hesitant and indecisive.

There was an air or simply going through the motions here; in the previous two Premier seasons our strength was based in our rigid organization, with each player crystal clear regarding his responsibilities and obligations.

At present, we seem downright puzzled as to what our aims and objectives actually might be.

I couldn’t help thinking of this corresponding fixture last season. In a pulsating game of skill and excitement, Jota stupendously exposed the Tottenham right flank with dazzling pace and flair to set up a glorious finish for Jimenez to seal a magnificent win.

It was heart-stopping, breathlessly exciting and it made you proud to be a Wolves fan. In stark contrast, after this turgid effort, such zestful quality seems a million miles away.