Wolves Fans' Verdict v Brighton: Second half changes lead to more frustration

Matt Gallimore

Was a draw a fair result? Probably, yes! But the manner of which we relinquished the lead means it is another two points lost.

I like Vitor Pereira, but let's not beat around the bush. The game management for that last 30 minutes was horrific.

I can understand after 80 minutes throwing caution to the wind, but not with a third of the game remaining, when you're at home and in the driving seat.

Maybe it was an indication that the manager doesn't have faith in us killing off games with our attacking prowess, but yesterday that reeked of something a Sam Allardyce, Tony Pullis or Steve Bruce would have done, and that doesn't sit well with me.

That kind of mentality in modern day football only sends your club one way, never mind doing it in the Premier League.

In previous seasons I have always remained certain we would have more than enough to get us out the mess we were in, but I'm still convinced we won't score enough goals this season for us to maintain our top league status.

The fact that the first half display was very good adds to the frustration of what was to come, with some very good individual performances. Sam Johnstone commanding and with much better distribution, Hugo Bueno growing all the time, Santi Bueno showing composure, Munetsi with non-stop effort, Arias with another performance of growth, Andre and Joao Gomes once again running midfield, and Krejci proving himself yet again to be the buy of the summer.

Facts though are that we are still waiting for that elusive first win. More of that first half showing and it won't be much longer before we achieve that, but in 2025 more of the mentality that we resorted to in the last 30 minutes won't be tolerated. Its archaic and playing that style won't get you anywhere as a club.

Harry Lee

It is no coincidence that for two games running we have conceded late on.  When moving to a back four in the cup vs Everton it had looked like Vitor had landed on a new formation and a new starting XI which had promise, this had played out in the form of taking the lead away at Spurs and at home in this game against Brighton, whilst looking solid enough defensively.  

This is why it is even more frustrating that we reverted to a back five, ultimately inviting the pressure on whilst making some extremely questionable substitutions.

Considering Brighton are something of a bogey side, the first half Wolves had good spells of domination, Munetsi was causing problems with the usual endless amounts of running he gets through in a position which suits him, Krejci impressive throughout and Tchatchoua dealing with their dangerman Minteh excellently. 

Despite the second half showing, Wolves still fashioned the best chances with Arias blazing over and Strand Larsen unlucky to hit the post, but this is the difference, Wolves have to be clinical as we cannot be trusted to keep a clean sheet.  

The negativity with the subs was summed up when a visibly frustrated Strand Larsen came off for the diminutive Bellegarde - which meant the 5ft7 Arias was playing furthest up field against the 6ft2+ centre back pairing for Brighton, you'd think to attempt to relieve pressure and hold up the ball that Tolu was the obvious choice, but he did not appear until after the 90th minute to attempt to salvage to the three points.  

It suggests to me that Pereira does not at all trust these players to see out a game hence the changes, but his in game management of these situations has proven to be poor.