Match Thread: Crystal Palace vs Wolves

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019:10:01:17:17:21 by Cheshire wolf.

The most nervous I’ve been before a match for a long time.
This is such an important game, not just for the result but also for the confidence of the players and staff, we certainly don’t need to be in a situation where we are seeking to find points to close the gap on any of the preseason relegation favourites.
Come on lads let’s see you step up today.
Crystal Palace 1 Wolves 2. Fingers crossed.

I get sick of these ridiculous kick off times- 2 pm on a Sunday afternoon with shops shutting at 4 meaning its either stay in all day with the game or go out and miss it. The suns out and I cant justify staying in watching a flickering online stream that may or may not stay on. I'll look forward to reading the match reports later but have a suspicion it will be a draw.

Some big changes made by Nuno for today's game - not only in line-up but seemingly in shape too.

Line-up: Patricio, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Doherty, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Jinny, Traore, Jimenez, Jota

Subs: Ruddy, Vallejo, Vinagre, Gibbs-White, Neves, Neto, Cutrone

So Bennett doesn't make the squad again. The line-up graphic shows us playing as 3 - 4 - 3 with Traore, Raul & Jota upfront. In my view it is good to see Nuno ring the changes and perhaps give Traore an opportunity to be an out and out striker an not have to worry about defending. Let's hope he can provide for Raul too

Nervy times indeed. Not surprised that Bennet was left out but Neves too, so should be interesting with Traore, and Jota both in attack. Let's see what overpriced Zaha has to say for himself.

He's moved back to 343 with Traore up front and moved Boly to the right hand side of the defence to accommodate Saiss on the left. Bennett doesn't make the match day squad.

They've not played 343 for nearly 12 months in the PL and players are playing in unfamiliar positions.

I hope Nuno's team know what they are doing. When you're struggling you need typically need players regaining confidence with clear instructions in familiar positions.

The worry is that Moutinho and Dendoncker could be overrun in midfield with the Palace front 3 having a field day against an out of form back 3 in an unfamiliar shape.

I'd take a draw but fear that Zahar could have a big game here.

Our referee today is Stuart Atwell

Zaha starts on their right side so Jonny has to deal with him

Worrying times, do we get four points from these two games and steady the ship or will the clown in tights put in another rare Ronaldo performance next weekend.

All Palace play centred on involving Zaha so far. But Joao has his measure!!

First run down right wing by Traore is a good one. Then Jota has a shot but gets a corner

Leander's effort from corner is blocked on the line

Some panicky defending from Wolves but ultimately OK. Some of the long distance diagonal passes are being overhit by Wolves so far too

Zaha attacks & gets past Jonny easily. Ball cleared and Wolves break well but Traore's pass crosses the by.ine

Saiss' passing is bloody rubbish so far!!
Traore comes in off the line and take s a left footed shot & gets a corner which is well cleared by Cahill. Doc earns another corner on t'other side. Saiss stops Zaha in attack & concedes their first corner

Great play by Wolves in attack and a super save to deny Doc for a goal. Corner comes to Traore whose shot is too high. Promising play for Wolves. Zaha attacks and gets another corner for Palace - easily taken by Rui

Traore did very well to 'escort' Zaha out of the penalty area, and then gives him a shove to show him who is boss!!

Good stop by Guita to keep out Jota's shot after great play between him, Raul & Leander

Hanging on for a 0-0 Cheshire?

Doc should have scored! No Cedric Wolves are doing almost all the attacking and have brought out three good saves

Lost my stream!!

Angry was right 😂

On Wolves commentary - one added minute

Half time and Wolves unlucky not to be at least one goal ahead. They have done the majority of the attacking and brought out at least three good saves from their goalkeepers. Traore has done some good work up front and Jota and Raul are linking up well up front. Hoping for more in the second half.

Stats for the first half look OK, no goals though.

steams not working but did see the Doc header. Whilst he should have scored, the keeper made an annoyingly outstanding save. The swine.

Was always a good shot stopper, but balanced it out with his continual flapping.

Steady first half but we do need to convert the chances that come our way or we risk losing to a goal against the run of play which has happened all too often.

Palace score from the kickoff!!!!
Long way back now.

Joel Ward shoots from outside area and it takes a huge deflection to take it past Rui
Palace 1 Wolves 0

Lupinehowler, spot on, not taking our chances and here we go with a Palace goal. Bloody frustrating

Wolves denied a clear corner by linesman

And I expect Zahar or Ayew to get a goal. Draw would be good here. We need whatever points we can get

Wolves attacks break down through bad passing. Palace mount an assault & get corner - Rui fouled

He's bringing on Neves. Hopefully not to be another central defender.

This is a testing time for Nuno. He is under the cosh now

Jota cops one in the face from Ward as they scrap - but no blood!!

Why has he taken off Doherty?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019:09:22:15:21:15 by oldngold.

Good break by Traore but nobody backing him up

Is he fully fit

Raul leads the charge & gets a corner. Neto replaces Dendoncker

Hopefully we can get an equaliser.

Neves' passing isn't up to much so far.Ayew replaced by Benteke. Good to see Willy Boly is as good on the right as he is on the left!!

Saiss pulls back Zaha gets a second yellow & sent off. It was always on the cards I'm afraid

Saiss is sent off for second booking holding back Zahar.

Yep I think the wheels are off.

Relegation 6 pointer against Watford before we play Man City.

Ffs
Deserved sending off Ches?

Wolves players furious as play stopped when Sako hit in the face by the ball in the area

Saiss again!!

Ref stop the game as a defender gets a ball to the face!

It was Kouyate not Sako. Raul replaced by Cutrone

Last 15...
come on me babbies!

Rui saves well to deny Benteke but he should have scored. Good run from Jota but outnumbered in the area

Benteke... wow.. straight at The keeper...

End to end

Saiss is a championship player at best and he has been one of our best players this season.

Vicious strike by Traore deflected over the bar. Nothing we are trying seems to be working, and we are trying despite being a man down

Why we kept SaissI never know, but why did Doc come off for Neves instead of Saiss??
Just wondering if Doc has teaken a knock!

Palace a taking advantage of the extra man!!

Zaha falls over and gets a free kick!! Take him out of their team and they would struggle in the Champ!! The extra man is starting to weigh against us now.

5 mins added, and it’s still Palace applying pressure

Wasn't NUNO one of the voices advising caution in the transfer market. That he wanted just a couple of additions keeping the same small core group of players.

Well that seems to be working out.

Were I Fosun now facing a bottom of the table relegation 6 pointer against Watford I would be asking NUNO something like, "What the @#$%& is going on?"

Two minutes of five extra played

Traore sets up Nevs but his shot is wide. story of our afternoon!!

Only one good point is that apart from Dendonkey's own goal we haven't conceded anything else which is bad against a potentially very good Palace front 3

Jota!!!!!!!! Form Adama
Palace 1 Wolves 1

Jota about time

My nerves are shoot to Shiite!

Last gasp equalizers.

Watford is still a must win.

After Watford losing 8-0 yesterday might wake them up!

That's it folks - we equalised in the last minute & nothing less than we deserved. Great work from Traore just when we needed it set up Jota for his first goal of the season. We attacked from the word go and never had any good fortune despite numerous shots on goal. We wasted opportunities also through bad passing but never gave up even after going a man down needlessly. Palace were very avearge and without Zaha would be nothing, and all they could muster was a shot from a full back which cruelly deflected off Dendoncker past Rui.
It's not the result we wanted, but a damn sight better than it might have been.
Palace 1 Wolves 1

Taking into account the red card that's a great result- didnt see the game but proud of the boys and it illustrates Nuno hasnt lost the dressing room

Another late, late, late Wolves show. ncredible! Crystal Palace defender ducked the ball , fell to Jota, back of the net. Hilarious but oh so important. Quite literally the last kick of the match.
Watford is massive, if indeed most fixtures are when at the bottom, but it is. I’ll be there, nervy affair I suspect!
UTW

I think we've seen enough to know that survival is all that matters and that is not going to be easy. I think we'll need 42+ points to be safe.

We've had a tough start to the season. Hopefully we can be out of the relegation zone by the new year and perhaps still attract some decent players in the January window.

Always a challenge if you're looking like relegation fodder to get any decent players to come.

Also Nuno's strategy is still in question. And Fosun cannot be happy with this small core group of players waffle.

Also something has changed in how they're being coached and prepared. Nuno calls the shots but I'd be interested in to know if there have been any changes in the backroom over the summer. Is Cathro playing a bigger part on the training and preparation of the team?

Players like Bennett seem to be out of favour. Something has changed. This is a survival battle.

As I said hope we win the next 5 games and folks can pull out my posts and have a laugh.

But I don't think that is going to happen. Either we find whatever it is we had last season or we are going to be ploughing away in the bottom 6 all season

Well we got out of jail there and I’m not so sure we really deserved it.
Can’t question the effort and commitment to the cause but our play at times was woeful, passing was poor, creativity was lacking and finishing has to sharpen up. Palace were not really a stern test and yet we really struggled to better them in all areas of the pitch. There will be far more difficult opponents to come so I hope that Nuno finds the answers soon or I fear the worst.

The real tests are to come now: Watford, Southampton, Newcastle, Villa. Where we are in the league after the Villa game in November is going to be a clear indicator of where we really are.

Whilst this shouldn't be an excuse the only game we would typically expect to win so far would be Burnley at home.

We've played Leicester & Everton away, United & Chelsea at home and now got a point away to Palace.

That start is about as tough as it gets. If we'd overcome Burnley, who are flying at the moment, we'd be on 6 points instead of 4 points.

So I draw my horns in just now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019:09:22:16:48:16 by oldngold.

Quote:

oldngold
I think we've seen enough to know that survival is all that matters and that is not going to be easy.

Speak for yourself on that, we've played 6 matches , drawn 3 and lost 3.. its not great but its this type of mad talk that fuels football forums where one week the team is doomed and the next week its heading for Europe. I remember a wolves fan on talk sport comparing MGW to Duncan Edwards last year with his " silky skills " and destined to be an England regular and now he isnt good enough for Accrington Stanley. If Dendonkers shot goes in against Braga we win, now we're doomed etc etc. As you rightly say its fine lines, what concerns me is the lack of fire power upfront which has been an issue for some time but that's down to recruitment rather than the tactics

I’d like to see Traore play a more centre role with Jimenez up front...

Saiss needs to be flogged at dawn with 100 of the best!

Welcome back Boly! What a defender, strong, comfortable on the ball and his passes let a lone running at players is also spot on...

Not a great game, but a great point after going down to 10 men and being 1-0 down!

TBH I’d bring Costa back in Jan or if we can sooner, especially if Doherty is injured..
I don’t think he’s started a game yet, but I’m not even convinced on his run of form 🤪

Do we have the option to bring Costa back? I thought he was gone for the season with an option for Leeds to buy.

I thought, and still hope Nuno's team know what they are doing. On that faith alone I was comfortable about the transfer window (albeit a bit concerned). They were getting the people they wanted. Including Cutrone and were OK about not paying what Frank Kessie wanted to leave AC Milan and so missing out on that Box to Box destroyer

But faith may have been misplaced and what looked like an adequate window now looks like a mistake. Not meeting Kessie's wage demands (extra 20K per week) will look pretty poor if we spend the season close to relegation or even being relegated.

Nuno and his team are well rewarded to get this right. They have everything they want. Complete control of preparation, training, coaching and recruitment and Fosun available to buy pretty much anyone they want.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Hi everyone - on holiday so just catching up! Have to admire the commitment - down to 10 men, away from home, not a great start to the season but getting a point! You cannot fault the determination but it's a bit nerve-wracking at times. I think we just have to hang on in there! UTW!

Old Gold, not sure what the conditions of Costa’s loan deal was...
I hope that Doherty coming off was, precautionary rather that injured...

Costas rubbish , why anyone would want him back Ive no idea- the same people couldnt want to get rid a few months ago lol

We can't bring Costa back even if we wanted to, Leeds have an obligation to buy for £15m and so effectively bought him on a buy now pay later deal.

As AAW says though, why anyone would contemplate bringing such a terrible player at this level back when we're already struggling is beyond me. It wouldn't solve a thing for a start and, if anyone, it would be Cavaleiro who I'd be thinking about trying to get back, not Costa.

We just need to get to January in a decent position and strengthen massively now, with the hope that we can still salvage a decent mid-table finish and put this whole sorry story of a lacklustre summer window and Premier League start behind us and go at it again next season.

I wouldn’t say rubbish, I’m not convinced in his latest run of form, but neither am I in Doherty!

I was wondering in Costa’s loan deal though, thanks for clearing that up...

Are you 2 related or did I just needed telling twice? 😬✌️