I tend to stay off the site formally known as Twitter these days because, frankly, it’s a cesspool. And I’m not just talking about politics, although that is pretty awful. My “For You” tab is a horrific mix of spam, conspiracy theories and racism, and, honestly, my “Following” tab isn’t much better.
However, the “cesspool” label applies to all Wolves-related content on the site, too. The “Fosun Out” crowd is loud, and it can’t be denied that there is a definite racist anti-Chinese flavour to a good portion of it. Not all—not by any means, but there’s at least one character who, if you look at the whole of his timeline, displays quite “far right” views.
This is unfortunate because, while it’s a lot better than it used to be, BlueSky still isn’t as well-populated with Wolves discussions as the other place. Also, the club itself isn’t on BlueSky yet, so if you want to engage with “official” content, Twitter is still the only place to do that.
This is why I still occasionally dip into Twitter and why I dipped in on Monday night before, during and after the game.
And I do wonder if most people there watched a different match than I did.
Football at its best is a game of fine margins, and Monday night’s game was football at, or close to, its best—in the first half at least. The second half wasn’t as entertaining to watch and as a Wolves supporter, it was downright frustrating.
I must admit, for periods of the second half, I wondered if this was how it felt for supporters of teams playing against Wolves in 2018/19 and 2019/20. Forest are a good side. They are disciplined, hard to break down, counter-attack with pace and are clinical in the finish.
They are, basically, classic Nuno era Wolves. Defend in numbers and attack with pace. Us Wolves supporters saw performances like Forest put in last night countless times during Nuno’s four years in charge. In the end, the 0-3 scoreline was harsh on Wolves, but didn’t flatter Forest—they deserved the win.
If you didn’t watch the game, then from the posts under the Wolves account update or on the #wwfc hashtag (on Twitter), you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a terrible game, Wolves were awful, and we are most definitely getting relegated.
But that wasn’t the game I watched. Or the one Jamie Carragher watched, given how much praise he heaped on Wolves, saying they played well but got “Nunoed.”
It was an entertaining game, and Wolves looked good—really good. The problem was a couple of defensive lapses from Wolves, and Forest was clinical. Beyond that, in the first half, Wolves were the better team by some distance. Playing that way, they will beat more teams than they lose to.
At the end of the first half, I posted on BlueSky that I couldn’t believe we’d basically battered Forest for forty minutes, but we somehow went in two-nil down.
The Stats bear this out. In the first half, Wolves had more possession, more shots, more shots on target, more passes, a better pass accuracy and a higher xG.
On another night, with the fine margins going our way, Jorgen Strand Larsen would have had a first-half hattrick. But as it was, we went in behind at halftime after Forest scored two goals from two shots on target. The game was basically over then because Forest shut up shop in the second half, and Wolves lacked the creativity needed to break down an extremely well-organised defence—the best defence in the league right now, in fact.
The difference between the way Vitor had Wolves playing in the first half and the way Gary had them playing can be measured in light years. Passes were crisp, accurate and rapid. Players were moving the ball forward with purpose. The two wingbacks—one of who was making his Premier League debut just weeks after O’Neil had said he hadn’t been bought to play in the Premier League this year and the other who Gaz mostly ignored—were incredible, bombing forward at will and putting more crosses than we’d seen at the Molineux for a long time.
A few “fine margins” moments stood out for me, though, that ultimately defined the game.
- The first Forest goal came out of nowhere, with Gibbs-White being afforded far too much space in the centre of the park and not harassed enough as he carried it forward. I think had Andre been playing rather than celebrating the birth of his child in Brazil (Congrats to him, btw) then MGW doesn’t make it to the Wolves box, and the move would have broken up safely. Fine Margins.
- On another day, JSL sorts his feet out in the six-yard box in time to tuck away an excellent chance. Fine Margins.
- On another day, Rodrigo’s fantastic volley is one yard to the left or right, or the keeper is one yard on either side of where he’s standing, and we’re looking at a Goal of the Month contender. Fine Margins.
- On another day, JSL’s header is half a yard either side of the keeper and goes in.
Despite what was said by the usual suspects on GWT (Grumpy Wolves Twitter), the truth is Wolves probably should have gone in at half-time 3-1 up.
The second half was a different story. Wolves seemed to lose heart and run out of energy. I think they knew deep down it wasn’t going to be their night. But we’ve certainly seen enough from the players and the new manager to believe that the second half of the season will be a lot better and produce more points than the first half.
After watching the game on Monday night, I truly believe that Wolves will avoid relegation fairly easily this year. And I believe that after a half-season and then a pre-season with this squad, Vitor will see Wolves finish much, much higher up the table next season.
I believe. I have faith. Because this is my club, and it’s what we do.
