How quickly things can change for some Wolverhampton Wanderers fans given we had the predictable and anticipated bad day at the office against Watford last Saturday.
Losing the game 2-0 at the Molineux in what was largely a two-minute spell of madness in an otherwise tight, but somewhat balanced tie, Wolves did slip to their first home defeat of the 2018/19 Premier League season and our second defeat overall in nine matches.
Whilst come of the criticism laid at the feet of Portuguese international Joao Moutinho is fair enough, some of it I find atrocious given his performance so far for us following his reported £5million arrival over the summer and despite adjusting to a new country, club, and division, the steady displays he’s already put in for head coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
Moutinho having a stinker
— Gaz ???????????????????????????? (@gdjp_wwfc) October 20, 2018
that was awful from doc and moutinho.
— spoopy sam ???? (@SamCarpenter_) October 20, 2018
Moutinho having a shocker today
— Christian S. ???? (@outofdarkness11) October 20, 2018
Very poor performance from Wolves, Moutinho had a stinker. Lee Mason though what an awful referee.
— Bradley Parker ???? (@parker_bradley) October 20, 2018
Jota not shown anything to say he is a prem player… time for cav to start. Moutinho was AWFUL today but been class this season so cant moan too much. We gotta lose sometime ????????♀️
— Mabbiss (@Matt_Abbiss) October 20, 2018
Game to forget for both Neves and Moutinho, they've been useless ???????????? #wwfc #WOLWAT
— Sam (@SamW160) October 20, 2018
Well that was crap. Jota and Moutinho has a stinker. Team didn’t look threatening once. Drop Jota please
— Tom Willett (@WiIIett) October 20, 2018
A selection of the more realistic reactions on social media above should prove my point, but that is the problem with the modern game and a desire for instant gratification where no quarter can be sensibly given on a platform that encourages you to be more extreme to get heard.
Taking the game in isolation as many of those comments do, makes their criticism absolutely fair game as no one can deny it was a poorer showing, but some of the comments I won’t repeat defy my logic.
Nuno and the team themselves will learn far more from that defeat, it’s a process and we are still making the adjustment to the Premier League. You have to accept days like that, the aim is as each season goes by we have fewer of them – that demonstrates growth – but there will be hiccups along the way.