There’s a type of frustration that only comes with watching a game you’ve got under control, then handing the other side a route back in. That’s what this felt like against Wolves. Not because they battered us for 45 minutes, but because they didn’t even look desperate to attack until we basically told them they could.
Two goals up, you don’t need to do anything heroic. You just need to keep doing the sensible stuff that got you there: play in their half, keep the ball moving, make them run, and keep your distances right so they can’t play through you. Instead, the second half had that familiar vibe where we drop five, ten yards and suddenly every clearance turns into another wave coming back.
Game management isn’t glamorous
Wolves going two down and still not properly throwing bodies forward should have been a massive hint. If the opposition aren’t committing, you don’t need to invite them. You can see why teams do it sometimes, trying to protect a lead by staying compact, but it’s a dangerous bargain if you stop doing the basics with the ball.
Once you sit in, you’re giving them territory and time. Their full-backs get higher, their midfielders start stepping in, and suddenly it’s not about whether they’re “good enough”, it’s about momentum. One goal changes the sound inside the ground, changes how brave they feel, and changes how rushed you get.
The moment you gift belief, you feel it
The killer is when you hand them something cheap. A sloppy moment, a poor decision, a ball you don’t deal with properly. That’s not just a goal conceded, it’s a message: we’re shaky now. And from that point on you’re not playing the game, you’re reacting to it.
It’s why you’ll hear fans groan when we keep retreating. You’re relying on perfect defending for too long, and football just doesn’t work like that. Eventually a second ball drops wrong, a tackle mistimes, or someone switches off at the back post. You don’t have to be unlucky very often for it to bite you.
Counters that never become counters
And when we did break out, it somehow looked worse. The counter-attacks were painfully hesitant. We’d get past the first line, cross halfway, then slow down and almost wait for Wolves to recover their shape. That’s the exact moment you’ve got to be ruthless: carry it, commit a defender, make a decision, and either slide someone in or win a foul high up.
If you stop and invite their midfield back around you, you’re basically giving them the ball in a position where they can start their next attack. It becomes a loop: defend, clear, hesitate, lose it, defend again. Truth is, that’s exhausting and it’s completely avoidable.
This one didn’t need to be a drama. Keep the first-half approach, manage the tempo, and when the space opens up, actually use it.
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