PSV game about to end and Fabio doesn't even get off the bench. What a terrible loan this looks like proving to be.

As for a forward. I would start either of Raul or Costa regardless, probably Costa who doesn't wander too far from a central position and fit others around him in a front 3 or 4.

Utter nonsense that Gomes would be more useful than either Moutinho or Nunes. As for starting Jimenez or Costa, what have you been watching when they're on the pitch? Both are a waste of space and need to go. Shame we can't recall Fabio. By the way, Gomes was completely ineffective after he came on.

comment by wolfieinFL (U16306)
posted 4 minutes ago
Utter nonsense that Gomes would be more useful than either Moutinho or Nunes. As for starting Jimenez or Costa, what have you been watching when they're on the pitch? Both are a waste of space and need to go. Shame we can't recall Fabio. By the way, Gomes was completely ineffective after he came on.
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You don't half talk crap. You basically decided Gomes wasn't ready based on nothing and will now bang that drum whenever anyone suggests he start. He has shown nothing to suggest he isn't ready but we won't let that grt in your way.

And Costa has been a handful the last few times he has come on and actually occupies the CBs, that would give us a focal point we don't currently have with Cunha in that position.

And nobody doubts Costa and Raul should go in the summer.

And yeah lets recall Fabio because he is defo the answer, not good enough to play in the dutch league but defo ready for the prem.

Wolfie desperately trying to salvage some credibility after predicting in the summer a push for top six this season, without any additions to the squad!

If you start a player who isn't quite ready, you risk the player getting injured. I don't care if Costa is a handful. His job is to score goals and he's not doing it. Fabio has played at this level or had you forgotten that. I'd rather he started than the two donkeys we have.

I don't think Gomes's problem was fitness, he ran about ok for the 15 minutes or so he was on the pitch, he just didn't look ready for PL football. If he started and played like he did yesterday he'd not last 30 minutes. I only really saw the goal from the Southampton game so don't know what his all round play was like but he was like a headless chicken yesterday and if he'd been on longer would have had to have been subbed or sent off.

I think wolfie is right about the striker situation by the way, if we'd have spent the money we've wasted on Nunes and Guedes (arguably Kalajdzic, maybe others too) on a decent striker we'd be in a much better situation right now.

We have needed a top striker since the day Raul got injured. Raul is certainly not good enough any more and Costa is no better.

Cunha, Sarabia and Nunes haven’t done as much as we hoped as yet. But they have all been part of a team that have got us good results in 2023 and there isn’t an ounce of doubt we looked a far better team when they were on the pitch yesterday than after they had gone off. Early days still for Cunha and Sarabia in particular and I would certainly show more patience in them than turn back to Costa and Jimenez who have spent months proving they are past their sell by date, and helped take us to bottom of the league. And I would rather have Fabio in the squad than either of them.

As for Gomes, he’s scored an excellent and vital goal for us, and was unjustly booked for his first tackle yesterday. I’ll start forming an opinion about him when I’ve seen him for ten times longer than I’ve seen him so far. Hopefully he’ll get regular cameos in the coming games as he adjusts to top level football on a new continent

comment by Oldgoldilox (U17303)
posted about 2 hours ago
I think wolfie is right about the striker situation by the way, if we'd have spent the money we've wasted on Nunes and Guedes (arguably Kalajdzic, maybe others too) on a decent striker we'd be in a much better situation right now.
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I can't imagine there is a wolves fan alive not thinking the same regarding a striker goldi so lets not blow smoke up wolfies arris on that one.

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted about an hour ago
We have needed a top striker since the day Raul got injured. Raul is certainly not good enough any more and Costa is no better.

Cunha, Sarabia and Nunes haven’t done as much as we hoped as yet. But they have all been part of a team that have got us good results in 2023 and there isn’t an ounce of doubt we looked a far better team when they were on the pitch yesterday than after they had gone off. Early days still for Cunha and Sarabia in particular and I would certainly show more patience in them than turn back to Costa and Jimenez who have spent months proving they are past their sell by date, and helped take us to bottom of the league. And I would rather have Fabio in the squad than either of them.
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Seems odd to ignore the fact Costa had a big impact in us beating Southampton a week ago.

I would take a 75% Costa or Jimenez over Fabio any day.

And do you know what is really funny about all this Fabio silva the savior talk? Raul Jimenez has a better goals to minutes ratio this season than Silva does in Belgium.

And regarding Sarabia and Cunha, i completely agree it is far too early to be giving up on them, they will both be good players for us, just not in that central role. I would have either of Costa or Raul centrally and both of them either side or even four forwards with Cunha behind a Costa or Raul.

We ended the game on Saturday with Jimenez and Costa up front and Sarabia and Podence either side. And just the two in midfield.

I think everyone at the game thought that should be the blueprint for the future and it showed that up until now Lopetegui just hasn’t got a clue

Fabio has taken part in 64 games for Wolves with the princely total of 4 goals.
21-22 season 22 games no goals no assists, don't think he's the answer yet.

Fabio is young and may improve. Jimenez and Costa are towards the end of their careers and haven’t scored a league goal between them all season. It’s a bit of a Hobson’s choice but I think Fabio would have helped us more than those two have this season

I think clearly that Costa will go at the end of the season, as he would have expected. Jimenez, I think it's a bit early to write him off. Fabio, well I never would have loaned him out at the time, and ceratinly he deserves a season with us to show if he has improved.

No bigger fan of Jimenez than me before his injury but he’s had lots of games since he came back and I just don’t see a quality centre forward in him any more.

I can understand the criticism of Cunha as a centre forward so far but it’s surely indisputable that since he replaced Costa and Jimenez, Wolves have played better, got more results and scored more goals. His mobility is good and to me he plays a much bigger role in the attacking of the team than Costa and Jimenez have done at any stage this season

I do think Costa will leave at the end of the season and I’d be amazed if Raul doesn’t leave too

What was encouraging on Saturday was returns to form of Kilman, Semedo and Traore. All have had spells when it looked like they were losing their way but they all seem to have benefitted from the new management

comment by bostonwolf (U17353)
posted 4 hours, 8 minutes ago
Fabio has taken part in 64 games for Wolves with the princely total of 4 goals.
21-22 season 22 games no goals no assists, don't think he's the answer yet.
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Let's get a few facts in place about the Fabio v's Costa/Jimenez debate. These are league stats.

Costa, a seasoned pro, has played for 668 mins thus far with no goals and no assists.

Jimenez, another seasoned pro, has played 2971 mins since his return with 6 goals and 4 assists. A goal every 495 mins.

Fabio, a raw 18 year old when he arrived , has played 1913 mins, scoring 4 goals and 3 assists. A goal every 478 mins. Since he's been out on loan, albeit to lesser leagues, he's played 1574 mins and scored 8 goals and 1 assist. A goal every 197 mins.

I'd take Fabio over the other two any day.

Costa will be gone as he only had a 1 year contract. Jimenez has one more year left on his, but the likelyhood is, he'll go back to Mexico in the summer.

As for Cunha, it's early days yet and although he scored 7 goals last season for Atletico Madrid and had 7 assists, he only started a handful of games in his 29 appearances. A goal very 175 mins,

Don't think there is any doubt Costa and Jimenez will leave. The question will be whether we bring back Fabio or move him on.

I think Shi will want him kept after the investment which we wouldn't get anywhere near back right now. Fabio would probably be worth about 20-25 million right now. If we hadn't screwed up his loan to PSV the second half of this season could have been a big one for him either here or elsewhere.

Would be hard to go into the new season relying on Kalajdzic as well

The reality is, we should never have paid the ridiculous amount of money for Fabio in the first place and I doubt we'd even get 10m for him at this stage of his career, so there's absolutely no point in sending him out on loan next season. His contract is up in 2026, so let's keep him and let him gain more experience in this league. With Kalajdzic hopefully back for next season, we'd have 3 CF's to choose from.