Wolves Fans' Verdict v Liverpool: The best performance of the season!

Clive Smith

Not since the last minute at Goodison have our smiles been so broad. The final 20 minutes here we could sit back and soak it up, and what a good feeling that was. Some of us are still bitter about the cup VAR so it felt like we owed them something. Our home games have not provided much joy these last couple of years so a result like this was long overdue.

We were out the blocks at full pelt and scored twice in a dozen minutes, when it usually takes us a month to score that many. None of us thought Dawson had been bought for his goalscoring but no-one is complaining.

Our tempo was good and we were tackling everything that moved. Liverpool struggled to keep the ball and us being in uncharted waters and two goals up was a nice feeling. Like any football fan though, we wanted a third to ‘make sure’.

Sa made a good save but Liverpool hardly looked a threat. They attempted to exploit the space behind Semedo but Lemina or Neves were there to provide cover when required. Nunes wasted a good chance to clinch the game but Wolves were given a rousing reception as they left the field at half-time.

You could imagine the paint peeling off the walls in the away dressing room during the interval. For 10 minutes Liverpool looked the real deal, Wolves suddenly looked out of shape and you wondered if the game was about to turn. We defended well, got plenty of blocks and interceptions in and Dawson was a magnet for the crosses into our box.

The cavalry arrived in the shape of Moutinho and Jimenez on the hour and things seemed to settle down. Sa made another good save and with 20 minutes to go Wolves finally put the game to bed with a terrific goal. Like the good old days of Traore, Jota and Jimenez – this time it was Traore doing what he does best and finding Neves in the box. Bless him, a lung busting run, a rare entry into the penalty area and a clinical finish. How good was that?

The icing on the cake could have been from Jimenez after he had been set up by Traore. 4-0 would really have got scouse tongues wagging, so lets hope we have saved that for the return game.

It’s the hope that kills you, they say, but a result like this certainly gives us hope. We all know how significant the next two fixtures are.

This was our best 90 minutes for a long while. Perhaps because of Dawson but Kilman looked more confident and MOTM Lemina gave licence for Neves to be more advanced (well, that worked). I still need to be convinced by Nunes and Sarabia to be honest. Given Traore’s contract situation, he should be applauded for his commitment – he was good. The work rate of Cunha showed up and contributed a lot to our impressive opening pace. Podence was presumably excluded until the closing minutes because of his bad hair (colour) day.

It was a good day at the office.

John Lalley

If revenge is indeed a dish best served cold, this particular morsel of retribution tasted like a state banquet; a sumptuous feast with all vestiges of indigestion reserved for the guest of honour, Jurgen Klopp.

His post-match dyspepsia so exasperated, you fancied he might combust in a cyclone of exploding flatulence. This one has been a long time coming; so overdue were we for a decent run of fortune against Liverpool, that right up to that final array of keep-ball with Molineux in raptures, you suspected some external or divine intervention was destined to thwart us.

Instead, the finest win of the season and surely a significant pointer to exactly what Julen Lopetegui is trying to achieve. There is transformation in the air; a new sense of purpose, a wholly different agenda pervading throughout the club and above all, a renewed optimism. Are all of our problems solved? Not by a long chalk, there was a gargantuan mess to clear up and the task facing Lopetegui was and still remains daunting. But he has identified very quickly what shortcomings he can realistically address and his decisive and astute management gives us a survival opportunity many thought was beyond us.

Recruitment from abroad can be fraught with problems; good players for a variety of reasons may not settle and thereby underperform. Goncalo Guedes came here with impeccable credentials but the mix simply didn’t gel. Matheus Nunes for all of his abundant gifts has only flickered intermittently and all Wolves fans will be expectantly awaiting to evaluate the influence of Joao Gomes, but there are no guarantees.

So, it was reassuring to see both Pablo Sarabia and Matheus Cunha both having a significant influence in the two early goals on Saturday. Mario Lemina too; for all of his previous experience in this country may still have needed time to readjust after playing overseas.

Instead, he has hit the ground running, strutting around midfield sharp and incisive, destructive but creative and his influence has been so powerful. Glimpses spring to mind of the superb Mike Bailey operating at his best and trust me, that means something fairly special.

Craig Dawson didn’t arrive from any exotic location but his rugged efficiency and bristling commitment came as no surprise. He won his first challenge, created scoring havoc on his first sortie into the opposition area, got booked for leaving his calling card and shrugged off one howler of a pass to continue defending as though his life depended on it.

As is the case with a classy battler like Lemina in midfield, our negligence in lacking a warrior like Dawson in defence for so long remains inexplicable; what you see is what you get and like Lemina, he was absolutely terrific. He held the fort when Wolves couldn’t get a touch in the second half opening the way for that glorious counter goal from the peerless Neves. The best Molineux experience in a long time; but I doubt if Mr. Klopp’s stomach has settled just yet. Schadenfreude in excelsis!

Rob Cartwright

Well this day has been brewing for quite some time now and all the more enjoyable that the opponents were Liverpool. Probably our best performance for a couple of years, where everything seemed to come together. It doesn’t make up for the travesty at Anfield in the FA Cup, but certainly made for a great weekend.

The team now looks strong on paper and thankfully they clicked on the field too. Lopetegui outsmarted Klopp with his tactics, for the second time in a few weeks, and the new signings look more than ready for the challenges ahead.

We simply blew Liverpool away in the first half. We pressed them right from the first whistle. The most significant difference was the high press together with breaking with high numbers getting in and around their box.

We had four shots in the first 12 minutes and raced into a two goal lead. Lemina played a big part. He is an absolute beast that lets nothing past him. This gave Neves and Nunes more freedom to play further forward and it worked a treat. Sarabia and Cunha were running the Liverpool back line ragged and Hwang was effective on the right wing.

We were leaving nothing for those in Stockley Park to decide on. That’s how it needs to be from now on.

There was much less reliance on playing out from the back which meant we were building play from around the half way line and spend much more time in our opponents half. Sa’s distribution was good. Well done, it’s a good plan, but this is not rocket science!

Dawson has added an element of calm to the defence. He scored the second. What a capture. Sarabia looks a quality player too. How lucky are we?

Liverpool came out for the second half with all guns blazing. They had us on the back foot but Lopetegui changed things before they had chance to get back in the game. The introduction of Moutinho after an hour shored up the midfield. The man’s a Rolls Royce and will have a big part to play this season, if used sparingly. After 10 minutes, he won a double tackle to dispossess Liverpool and played a perfect ball to Traore on the break. Neves was the furthest player forward. Yes it was Neves. Traore found him and he found the net. Game over. Klopp sat down with 20 minutes to think about his post match press conference.

Jimenez should have made it four.

This result will mean nothing unless we beat Southampton next weekend, but the future looks to be in good hands.

James Pugh

There we have it, the performance of the season. A convincing 2-0 win (discounting the third brilliant goal because Klopp said so obviously) against the one side we haven’t been able to get one over since promotion.

Very hard to pick out any downsides on what was one of the most complete Wolves performances in years. Bar one little error, Dawson had the debut of his dreams and it’s easy to see why West Ham fans were so sad about letting him go. Lemina also looks to be a very shrewd signing with an unbelievable performance, you would think he’s been wearing the gold and black shirt for years. Questions were asked about dropping out top goal scorer in Podence, but Hwang was immense until his injury and I hope it’s nothing serious. One of Neves’ best performances in a Wolves shirt too. Sa, Kilman and Sarabia all looked solid too.

Unlike Lage, Julen really seems to have nailed down the art of substitutes. Jimenez should have nicked one and Moutinho bullied Liverpool in order to make the third goal happen. While we may not have long remaining with the tank that is Adama Traore, his end product has really improved. He slowed down, looked up and assessed his options before laying the ball off for the third, as opposed to his usual “take the ball and run” approach.

All in all, Wolves were magnificent and Liverpool were poor. While the first two goals weren’t the prettiest, we scored 20 per cent of our league goals this weekend and Klopp is in tears. I can’t remember the last time we beat a team by two goals, let alone three, let alone a team like Liverpool. Weirdly, this has got me very much looking forward to the rest of the season.

Liam Kennedy

Three wins from six for Lopetegui with three of those games including City, Liverpool and United, it’s been some start and Saturday was definitely the highlight of the six.

The game felt like a throwback to the old times under Nuno, and it was probably the best atmosphere Molineux has had for some time. Whilst we all know it wasn’t the same Liverpool team from the past couple of seasons, to play like that, score three, keep a clean sheet all whilst the pressure was on especially after Everton’s win earlier was some task and they all delivered.

From players to coaches to fans, everything just seemed to go right on Saturday and every player from Sa denying Nunez on a couple of occasions which could have changed the game to Moutinho coming on for the last part and winning the ball back for the third just showed how collectively Wolves players have brought into Lopetegui’s ideas.

The World Cup has been one of the biggest blessings in disguises for us as it gave Julen a free month to start building his ideas into the club. The club also matched this by backing him in January and on Saturday the two best players on the pitch were Lemina and Dawson.

West Ham fans on twitter used to refer to him as ‘Balon Dawson’ and what at the time I thought was a joke, maybe they were onto something, Craig has more league goals than Liverpool’s front three combined in 2023.

Southampton Bournemouth and Fulham left for this month, two wins are needed from the three and I don’t want to be a killjoy from Saturday but the good feeling around the club at the moment will quickly disappear if we don’t beat Southampton and Bournemouth.

Fraser Bishop

The best performance, result and atmosphere of the season on Saturday by a mile.

Granted, Liverpool aren’t the team they were a few years ago, but neither are we, so to turn them over so convincingly was very impressive. The scoreline genuinely flattered them too, as Nunes and Jimenez could have easily have added a couple more but let’s not be too greedy!

Whilst you could go through the whole team, a quick word on Dawson and Lemina. Wow. Lemina was MOTM for me and the kind of ball-winning midfielder we have needed for a long time, he was everywhere. As for Dawson, he couldn’t have asked for a better debut – a goal, a clean sheet and three points.

Thanks to the January window we now actually have options too, with Adama and Podence coming on, with the former notching an assist.

The last few minutes were particularly enjoyable, as we genuinely passed it around them as though they weren’t there, with the crowd cheering every pass and giving the lads a rightful standing ovation.

Overall, a fantastic performance and result which was thoroughly deserved.

Adam Virgo

Incredible performance and result, definitely the best game of the season for us so far. Atmosphere was the best it’s been for a very long time and a tactical masterclass from Lopetegui too.

Getting two early goals was literally the perfect start and we had Liverpool rattled for the majority of the first half. It could have been three or four by half-time.

Excellent debut performance from Dawson who had Nunez and Gakpo in his back pocket whilst also getting himself on the scoresheet. The finish was absolutely brilliant by the way, who needs a goalscoring number nine when you’ve got Craig Dawson.

Man of the match performance from Mario Lemina too who must have covered more ground than anyone else in the 90 minutes. It felt like he was everywhere constantly and I hope he can continue putting in performances like that as we’ve needed a player like him in the midfield for a while.

The only real negative was Hwang getting injured. He’s been a lot better under Lopetegui and he was causing Liverpool plenty of problems with his runs in behind, hopefully it’s nothing too serious for him.

Two huge games coming up in Southampton and Bournemouth that we need to be taking maximum points from, if we do then we can genuinely start building up a solid run and try to get closer to mid table than the relegation zone which can stand us in really good stead moving forwards.

So many positives at the club currently, the January transfer window was pretty much as good as we could have asked for and the signings should massively help us in everything we want to achieve.

Chris Ward

It has been a long time coming, but what a result and performance it was! I was quietly confident that we could get something out of Liverpool, but I never expected a 3-0 drubbing.

Dawson and Lemina made a huge impact, instantly boosting my confidence in Wolves’ defense. The team was explosive in attack, creating numerous chances and finally finding their shooting accuracy. A special shoutout to Lemina, who was phenomenal and is the enforcer we have been crying out for since losing N’Diaye in the championship season.

Lopetegui has performed miracles with this team in a short period of time and is now starting to reap the rewards. We must push on and have some huge games coming up after a tough run.

The press may be quick to play down the result and point fingers at Liverpool’s recent struggles, but nothing should be taken away from Wolves and their performance. Every single player has raised their game and improved, and the team’s confidence is quickly returning, which will be huge for the remainder of the season.

Credit must also be given to the referee, Paul Tierney, who let the game flow and delivered the best refereeing performance at Molineux this season.