Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea Review

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea Review

I was sitting in the posh seats on the halfway line surrounded by Chelsea season ticket holders. Consequently, I heard a lot of chat from the Chelsea perspective.
The general view which was hard to disagree with was that this was 2 very poor teams going through the motions.

Outside of Palmer and to some extent Madueke (sp) they lacked any real quality. Neto was very poor, but had 2 big CBs who dominated both boxes! They have a lot of injuries and are playing poorly. This was a game we could and should have taken something from!

For the first 15 minutes, Chelsea dominated down our left, but Vitor made a smart tactical move swapping Semedo and RAN and via Semedo we regained control. We conceded a little unluckily halfway through the first half when a half cleared cross was driven back and fell to Tosin, who was unmarked in the 6 yard box – given not offside after VAR intervened. But we held our own and had chances without really looking convincing – a lack of confidence / ambition?

There was one attack when RAN – relieved of marking Madueke which he clearly couldn’t (again) was brilliant at going forward. He picked up the ball and strode forward for 50 metres or so and at the edge of their box he had 3 options:

1) Take on the last man and perhaps get fouled for a penalty, or go past him for a simple chance to score

2) Given he had the time and space to pick his spot, he could shoot and possibly score

3) The choice he made – pass to Sarabia also only facing one defender on the left side of their box – RAN was central. Sarabia decided to pass backwards and 4 passes later the ball was at Sa’s feet. From a very good chance to score, the ball was passed unopposed to Sa!

Over and over again we overplayed / wanted one more touch or one more pass before shooting or even attempting to score! Doherty was dispossessed on one of these stupid withdrawals from an attack and Jackson was left to run 70 metres in on goal – Emmanuel got back to stop our attack leading to their goal! A goalkeeping error however allowed us to equalise just before halftime and we went in on the front foot.

However, early on in the second half we conceded 2 goals – both from crosses where we lost both the first header and the second touch – both of the second touches being from unmarked players in the middle of our 6 yard box.

The game then effectively died and at about the hour mark the 2 sides all but shook hands on the result with Wolves seemingly happy not to see our goal difference hurt any more and Chelsea delighted to both be given the points and to be allowed to rest their main man, Palmer.

I found that over the last 20 minutes or so, I barely watched the game as the chat was far more interesting than the feeble football taking place on the pitch. This was a bad performance – nothing of course like Brentford as we were quite controlled and far from overrun – as there was just so little passion.

Although it is hard to see what Vitor can do with the paucity of talent available to him – especially in CD – with respect to quality, we surely can offer more in terms of simple ‘effort’?

Wolves Player Ratings:

Note: I have only seen the game once and that was live and from the stands – others will therefore have had far better views and may have a different opinion of the efforts of individual players.

Sa 7 – Had no chance with any of the goals – all scored by unmarked players in the 6 yard box. Did ok elsewhere so hard to be harsh

Semedo 7 – switched to left to relieve RAN who couldn’t handle Madueke and was superb defensively. I have been critical of him in the past and when he first arrived he was one of the weak links in the team. However despite being much older and thus not the player he was he is now one of our best . Sadly I reiterate he hasn’t got better simply they, the squad, have got worse – much worse!

Doherty 4 – Hard to be harsh as he simply shouldn’t be playing in the Premier League. Is ok in the air but just can’t move his feet fast enough to stay with his man. One of the 3 CBs who totally failed to defend our 6 yard box or deal with crosses. This has been a problem all year and will be until we sign another CB or two. You can play with non Prem quality players on the side but not at CB!

Bueno 4 – see above!

Emmanuel 5 – best of a poor bunch. Ok on the ground although passing a little iffy and weak in the air. We need a big strong stopper CB who wins headers – someone like Kilman. Note: I do not think Kilman is a cross between John Terry and Bobby Moore but he is so much better than Bueno and Doherty. It’s embarrassing, as of course all previous managers knew – see CB selection over last few seasons or last year’s fit, Dawson?

Andre 6 – worked very hard, but made little headway particularly offensively

Gomes J. 8 – led the side but with little support. One of our last diamonds. One can assume he will go if not this summer then next year assuming we stay up. If we go down virtually everyone leaves!

Sarabia 4 – didn’t get into the game at all and frankly not sure if he really tried that hard.

Cunha 5 – off the pace and struggled with the power of the 2 Chelsea CBs. Wanted one more touch or gave one more pass. Perhaps he needs to be more selfish and just take it on! We don’t get enough shots away and seem to want to score perfect goals not just goals!

Larsen 5 – battles away, but is off the pace and needs help. Again he missed a very good chance when clean through, but a poor touch and a seeming lack of pace meant he was being closed down / forced wide and hurried his shot and hit the goalie from 8 yards. With more composure he slides it past the keeper and scores but with more composure he isn’t at Wolves!

Subs:

Guedes, Bellegarde and Gomes R. 5 – game was gone by the time they came on and they failed to make any real impact!

Vitor 6 – has very few realistic options at the moment and can’t be blamed for dropping Hwang and Guedes and trying Sarabia. Credit must be given for the tactical change to rescue RAN after 15 mins, but whatever he said at half time didn’t work and he was unable to get them going for the last 30 mins or so.

Worried about post match comments re Cunha. We desperately need morale to be high and Cunha is our only hope of survival, so he needs to be wrapped in cotton wool metaphorically and physically!

Written by Thefutureisoldgold1 January 22 2025 12:49:08