Three brilliant goals confirm potency of new Blues attack

Should still win though

Beto is shit when it's played to feet so has to be the thinking.

Looking at that team, I have to agree with Robert. But I also think we can win the game

Pace in Barry and Dibbling from the bench against tiring legs isn't a bad option either.

Bar Branthwaite, I'd think most blues would pick that side as their first choice.

And any quick break is likely to result in the ball bouncing off Beto. He looks fast and strong when given the chance to run onto a ball but otherwise he reduces the team to 10 men.

His name is Dibling (only one letter B).

He does dribbling (that has two Bs).

Get it right, fer fuck's sake!

Always tough away, would be nice to get a win on the road in the bag early in the season. COYB!!

This gane has goals in it, no way a nil nil draw. Two two draw for me. Now back to me song, what's his name, Dubing, drubbing? I'll ask Micheal. He's good at speling.😁

Betto!!! Var?

Plenty of Bs for you MK.

Mr Ferry now works as Block Free Footy Executive in USA.

Check your own spelling fer errors 😀

But good summary of first half..

When we got men forward again we got the second as we look a lot more dangerous when Wolves can't put 2 or 3 players on Grealish or Ndiaye..

Dewsbury-Hall in particular but also Gana and Garner need to lift their games and we still seem to play set pieces to Tarkowski beyond the back post.

A bit untidy at times but much improved.

Plus that excellent 1-2 that set up Grealish for a shot — but he had to lift it over the keeper from there.

Jack Grealish with another assist. We need to concentrate, don't get carried away. Keep our structure and don't go all gung ho.

That's what happens when you have creative players who can pick and execute forward passes. KDH and Grealish linking up twice with maximum effect.

Defence got caught for the Wolves goal. Went deep after that giving Wolves too much space.

Really have to engage higher up the pitch in the second half.

Grealish has 4 already.

I’m gonna need new underwear… 💦

5th now.

It never is until the final whistle blows.

Agree: sign Grealish and get working on it now!

Wolves are not a top side, yet we conceded two goals.

Now go and sign a fucking right-back and build on this.

We still need someone with real pace and a centre-forward who can trap a ball.

Good win, but boy do we make hard work of things…

In Moyes we trust, welcome home Dithering Dour Davey.

Ndiaye was given offside which he was when the ball was played forward but it then struck a Wolves defender and I always thought that, as the last man to play the ball, he played Ndiaye onside.

Then Dewsbury-Hall with a magnificent finish looked to seal the game until we dropped back and allowed Wolves a second with slack defending by several players.

I also wondered about subbing Ndiaye and Grealish as they were the two players capable of holding the ball up but we got home in the end.

Just seen that disallowed Fulham goal, what an absolute showeat bunch are.

Grealish has been just fantastic for us to date, he is real quality in many aspects of the game – let's all hope he keeps it up.

I think Coleman should have been on sooner – we definitely need a decent right back – if we can't get a player that will make a difference, then okay… but it should be a priority!

Next couple of league games will be huge tests for Moyes and this squad — dare to dream! COYB.

I'm happy that Jack is overlooked for the moment, would rather he stay fit and focused for us – if he keeps this up, he'll be in the England setup again soon enough.

Tarkowski is off the boil, Branthwaite really missed, no one tracking the centre of midfield runners.

A really good win but the best thing was that the players looked as though they were really enjoying it. What a difference Grealish is.

However, what magic he weaves and I have always said he makes players commit and things happen.

Moyes has to consider what to do with this back four.

I don't like heavyweights especially on a wet surface.

What they need is a class sweeper like Jagielka.

The current back line is all at sea sometimes and could have cost us a game we were clearly the better in.

Hopefully, over the international break they can work on this and get Branthwaite fit as well as a right-back and cover for Gana.

Alan J #89, no, the ball hitting a defender isn't the same thing as him 'playing' the ball, and so it doesn't change the position. It was a clear offside.

Poor goals conceded making for a nervous finish. Awareness from Mykolenko on the second was really poor mind.

I'll take your word for it but I thought that these days he couldn't be given offside until he played the ball and wasn't in the keepers line of sight if he didn't play it, the on the field but not interfering bit.

7 games v 3 games

21 shots on target = 7 goals; 8 shots on target = 5 goals

Is this the same club as 12 months ago???

Literally cannot wait for Villa 2 weeks today.

UTFT!!!!!

And Ndiaye is just a joy to watch. 3-2 every week will do just fine.

Just watched Tim Sherwood's analysis on Sky, said we were brilliant going forward, Grealish and Ndiaye outstanding and couldn't believe how good Dewsbury-Hall was, and also praised Beto and Moyes. For me, I thought Garner played his best game.

Some of our performance today was reminiscent of 1977 and 78, à la Dobson and Thomas, we were just short of a Latchford. It was a game we should aspire to be winning 1-5, but we have weaknesses in defence which told, and may catch us out in the coming weeks without reinforcement.

For now, though, well done Blues, made up for everyone who travelled.

But some of our forward play in the 1st half was sublime. For some strange reason, we then started to sit back and invited pressure from Wolves.

Garner was my MotM, he was terrific in breaking up play and getting the ball forward. Followed closely by Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish and Ndiaye. Things are suddenly looking a lot better. Well done to Moyes and the owners.

Grealish is enjoying his football and it's a credit to him after stepping down from Man City. Long may it continue.

After 3 defeats on the spin, it was shit or bust for the Wolves manager in a game they'd fancy at the start of the day.

It was a superb ball into the legendary 'corridor of uncertainty'. Very hard to defend. Are folk questioning the cross coming in at all?

It is possible Ake would be available and he would be ideal, also covers at centre-back if Jarrad is out. There are numerous right-back possibilities: Maitland Niles, Fisher, Martinez (who Arsenal are in for but he won't get game time with them) or even Munoz, who might be interested in the project shaping up. Or even one of a plethora of right-backs at our friends Roma.

Two errors: one is letting the cross come in in the first place; second was Tarkowski allowing the striker to literally run past him. There at least needed to be a challenge.

It was very poor positional play combined with a worrying absence of any pace.

We need to tighten up at the back and be more ruthless in front of goal. But the signs are good.

As everybody has stated, if we could sign a defensive midfielder and a right-back, we would have a ‘complete' football team.

Wonderful stuff. Can't wait for the next match.

But luckily, Moyes wasn't buying it while others splashed tens of millions on inferior players.

Wouldn't surprise me given how dodgy we looked at other times (certainly after each time we conceded). Mykolenko for the second was crap, but I guess he's likely to be rusty.

He misses Branthwaite a lot does Tarkowski.

So slow when turned around towards his own goal.

People are saying we're desperate for a righ-back... very true, but I think we're desperate for a goalscoring centre-forward as well.

That doesn't mean writing off Mykolenko. He makes a very decent back-up, maybe even first choice against the better sides. But he is pretty ordinary (to be kind) going forward.

Less than 2 weeks ago you wrote

“This isn't going to better any time soon, so we are going to have to suck it up. This season is going to be another long hard slog with probably a bottom 7 or 8 finish.
Anyone thinking we could be challenging for Europe is living on another planet, pre-season and last night's debacle proved that. The worrying thing for me last night was that our players didn't look fit, they looked jaded after 30 minutes.“

Today you write:

“The job the manager has done since he returned, nothing short of miraculous — that's gonna stick in the craw of a few on here.

In Moyes we trust, welcome home Dithering Dour Davey.“

Dibling still to come too. Exciting times coming back.

We've got a few weeks rest now till the Villa game. A couple more signings before Monday night and I really feel confident for this season. COYB

Yeah, with Dibling in the mix, suddenly we have options on the bench. Meaning Ndiaye, Grealish and Co cannot slack off. Last season, we didn't have options, so the likes of Harrison and McNeil kept their places – wind, rain or shine.

The summer clear-out in terms of numbers wasn't as impactful as has been suggested since half the released players were injured, out on loan, or just lost causes. So in effect, lack of quantity was a problem last season as well as this.

Now, we have made some steps in addressing that while obviously we have greatly improved the quality.

Love watching them now. Hated it last season.

Up to now, one of the best players I've seen in a blue shirt.

I think we're better off the way we are.

Okay, he wasn't great today, but let's not write him off completely.

It was a quality ball played in for their equaliser. Maybe Mykolenko was caught out of position but, at the end of the day, it was a good bit of quality from their right midfielder.

Mykolenko was also on his heels for their 2nd; if we had lost or drawn that game, I would be furious with him.

We do need 2 quality full-backs, I am sure Moyes also knows that. For a big lad, O'Brien isn't the bravest and offers little going forward.

I enjoyed the link-up play around their box today, calm minds making good decisions. Even Beto gets some credit for the dummy for our 2nd.

James Garner was my MotM today – he was everywhere tidying up. Not sure we need another holding midfielder.

Earlier in the day Fulham conceded a penalty given by VAR. Gana shoots, it hits the lad on the arm: no penalty. The refs are so inconsistent.

Good week for the Blues. Shame the international break is here.

I feel the same! I think the last time I did that, I made my dad cry because his name was longer than my shirt!

Kanchelskis?? Nope. Still can't spell his name! 😂

After the Leeds debacle, I was well and truly down, a shocking night and one I couldn't see it getting any better.

But, and I will say this in my defence and it is an excuse, I'd had a few when I posted that.

Admitted that's no excuse for my scurrilous behaviour, so I hope you accept my wholeheartedly apology for coming out with such drivel.

Yes, 1st half against Brighton we rode our luck, but today we should have run away with it.

Andrew, once again, my apologies.

Does anyone know how to permanently remove the video captions? Today's classic samples include "Willerman and Diall the gold scorer, Ken and Juicy Hall the provider".

This owl arse would greatly appreciate any tech help to permanently remove them from all future videos. Ta.

I do wish Moyes would stop playing these flair players. Doesn't he know of his reputation?

At our best we're going to be very exciting. What an incredible turnaround with a few transfers.

Moyes has transformed our team in less than a year. Not just the results but the style of play and level of player. He’s a good manager of that there’s no doubt. We’ll still lose some more games this season, I just hope a degree of perspective and realism is displayed by us all when we do lose. Moyes will make mistakes but he’ll get it right more often than not.

Anyway, have a good evening and we can enjoy MOTD AGAIN!

I’ve said since he arrived he’s one of the worst players I’ve ever seen arrive for decent money.

Things are improving slowly.

We have needed two pacey wing backs for years now, and I know I keep looping that one.,.

But that's the past, today is the now, and wow, if we cant celebrate that, what the hell should we do...

We are building the best squad in ages, playing some very engaging entertaining football, I am very happy tonight and I expect most are, celebrate blues!

Guilty as charged.

Taking off Gueye and Beto altered the whole rhythm of the side. We lost control of midfield and Barry failed to control anything which came his way. Beto may have his limitations but he's streets ahead of this guy!

Hopefully, we can get a full back and a half decent striker over the line by 7pm on Monday.

Struggling to remember when Paul Cook was our manager because he was the guy who signed him from us.

Mike Price - "he’s one of the worst players I’ve ever seen arrive for decent money". Mykolenko cost around £18m. Gbamin £23m, Walcott £20m, Klassen £23m, Schneiderlin £20m - - want me to go farther back.
Worst ever for the money? Doesn't even make the top 20. And he is a very good defender.

A most unMoyes like performance.

Sloppy in defence... potent in attack.

And that we are at last building a meaningful squad again.

Silva joined Fulham in 2021 and Robinson went to Wigan in 2019.

‘Tottenham and Everton also hold an interest in Paqueta'

Where would he fit in for Everton?

I went to the game and everyone around me agreed that he was outstanding and probably MotM. I know it is heresy to even think that in here but there you go.

He didn't miss a thing and had to contend with an under-par Mykolenko and Tarkowski.

On form, he would partner Branthwaite when he returns. But I suspect that Moyes won't drop his captain although he's had a really tough start to the season. Also Garner had a really good game.

Hopefully the two days till Monday will allow us to bring in some strategic reinforcements and the 2-week break will allow better drilling of the back four. Leeds away to the last two games is night and day.

I love Mykolenko, but he's not as good as either one.

Keane and Branthwaite both like to play off the main centre-back. Personally, I don't think they can play together.

It's similar to when we had Mina, Holgate, Keane, and Godfrey as our centre-back options. The mix of centre-backs was all wrong as only one (Mina) liked to attack the ball and play as the "main" centre-back, whilst the other three liked to play off the main centre-back. As Mina was always injured, we were left with three centre-backs who couldn't play together. None of the combinations worked.

Keane and Branthwaite both prefer playing off the main centre-back, so I'm unsure whether they could play together. Branthwaite is much better on the cover (pace), so that would leave Keane playing the Tarkowski role of being the main centre-back, something he just isn't very good at or cut out for He can't do it. For a big lump of lad, he is weak and lacks aggression. He has no pace, and is shocking on the turn. He doesn't open his mouth. Basically, he is nowhere near good enough.

People can talk up Keane's performances as much as they like. It is long established that, when he plays, we have a soft centre and leak goals. Tarkowski generally looks awful when he's there, such as the 4-0 battering at Villa a couple of seasons ago.

Tarkowski and Branthwaite is easily our best centre-back partnership. Centre-back play is all about combination play and they complement each other perfectly. When Branthwaite plays, Tarkowski can focus on what he is good at. Conversely, when Keane plays Tarkowski gets pulled about into areas he doesn't want to go and we start getting strung out.

Keane was also at fault for Wolves second goal, btw.

Laughable I'm afraid. Two of the poorest goals you'll ever see conceded at Premier League level.

The first one was a complete joke. A nothing cross that caught the entire back 4 asleep. Made it's way somehow to the only player anticipating it which was an attacker and they were level.

With growing confidence, we can continue a good run of results bar injuries and keep ourselves around the Top 6.

Watching Everton at the moment is a breath of fresh air compared to last 4 seasons. Why people are still bagging Moyes has got me fucked. He has got Everton playing football again which the previous 4 managers did not.

The gap was there to hit, because Tarkowski stopped.

Weird how when Tarkowski and Branthwaite play, our defensive record is excellent.

Weirder still that, in the near decade Keane has been at the club, we routinely leak goals when he plays. Wonder why? What could it possibly be?

It's because Keane is shite, Chris.

I point to his unarguable, self-confessed historical contrition on such aberrations in my defence. That said, as far as I know, he's never shagged a grannie or two/three etc.

Hopefully he soon progresses to trophy winning for us though and, for those who give a monkey's, Ingurr-land. Aged 29 that's a very big plateful for him to swallow though.

In two full games he's excelled; only forty or so to go this season.

Great lad, Coady, but nowhere near good enough and not up to standard for the Premier League.

Can't play in a two. Undersized, weak, and incredibly slow. Basically a smaller version of Keane but with more personality.

Moyes will sort the defensive errors, and we now have a brilliant trio of Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall and Grealish with Dibling waiting in the wings. Garner and Idrissa are excellent.

I still think we need a central defensive midfielder, as we lost control of midfield when Idrissa went off. Also, O'Brien does his best at right-back but we need a specialist there,

Totally agree. The defense has been shaky but I'm not even worried because one thing Moyes excels at is sorting out the backline. It's a temporary blip, nothing more.

What generally concerns me more is his reigning in of the attackers. Though his comments “Grealish is better than I thought” offer me hope.

In fairness to Moyes, once we had Pienaar, Mirallas and Arteta, we did play some nice attacking football. So if he does the thing and sorts out the backline, hopefully we will be okay.

The thing about Grealish is, maybe based on Pep's comments, teams haven't been too concerned about him so going forward they will realize their mistake. But that means less attention on Ndiaye and potentially Dibling. So, even if Grealish gets crowded out, it frees up other attacking options.

The future suddenly seems bright!

1) He always provides an option to the player on the ball, even when under pressure;
2) He looks after the ball and rarely gives away possession;
3) He can dribble inside or outside;
4) He quickly spots a pass or cross in the opposition box;
5) As you say, he brings players to him to create space for others; and
6) He gets free-kicks.

I was trying to think when we last had a player with these qualities? Honestly, I can't recall anyone as even the '80s team did not have this type of player.

On the point of Michael Keane, he had a reasonable game but was culpable on both goals failing to stop the cross coming in for the first and allowing the attacker to get between him and Mykolenko.

I also think Pickford was at fault for both as he had plenty of time to see what was coming and marshal the defense accordingly.

Not much original to say here. Forget the doubters like me, I think everyone must have a little of the Moyes sentiment in them that they didn't expect Grealish to be this good. On pace for over 60 assists this season!

Jake was clearly not at his best today and Mykolenko clearly not fit. But a true right-back and a healthy back line and we can start dreaming of a real challenge for Europe and a cup run. Beto and Barry will never be Lukaku, but I think they'll both get their goals with all the attacking talent around them.

Better days are ahead.

If there is room to bring in a high quality player, I hope it is for the right-back position. I think Beto and Barry will do as strikers this season, or at least until the January transfer window.

What a player. He has transformed our attack. Defenders are quite clearly very wary of him every time he gets the ball. His prescence allows other players more space and freedom.

A great signing.

I can think of a hell of a lot more who were worse than him.

On Jack Grealish, he's been phenomenal. I didn't see it coming, thought he was an ale tank whose best days were behind him. Early days but I look to be completely wrong — if he maintains this type of form, he'll be up for Player of the Year.

Dewesbury-Hall, Alcaraz Armstrong, Ndiaye, Dibling, Beto and Bary will do that.

At 29, he's not as quick as when he started out, but his decision-making and understanding is way better. The lifted flick for the Dewesbury-Hall goal, to prevent the cut out, is a great demonstration of it.

A great start for him. Clearly needs to stay fit, but Moyes is using him well. I know there was disappointment in him not playing at Leeds, but building his fitness up and using him wisely could be the difference between a top 10 finish and European football.

For the third, another much maligned player, Mykolenko, won the ball in the Wolves half which set up the attack from which KDH scored.

Closing down like this a sign of an much more confident side. Players know if they win it back, the quality players are likely to create. For years, we have never pressed as we were likely to lose it anyway and get done on the break.

It’s wonderful to see the attack looking so much more fluent and creative than it has in years. Now we just need to get the defense back to where it was! A fit Mykolenko will help with that as will the return of Branthwaite. Is it possible he could be paired with Keane who has looked superior to Tarkowski so far this season?!

We should be careful of complacency as Wolves are one of the weakest teams in the league and we were fortunate at times against Brighton but it’s been a really encouraging start to the season. I still think we need a RB and a CDM though Garner has also started the season really well. Apparently Chermitti is off to Rangers for £10m and a good sell on so it’s possible we might bring in another forward though I think it’s the defence that most needs reinforcement.

I still think 12th looks a decent finish for this squad and it was revealing how much we fell off once Gueye left the field but if we get a couple of more good additions over the next 48 hours and some luck with injuries then perhaps Europe becomes more plausible.

To say Keane is responsible for goals conceded yesterday is to ignore what a handful of others were doing. It was not a case of clear individual error.

O’Brien has a long term future as a CB so that probably resolves things - and we’ve bought 2 teenage CBs since Moyes arrived too. Hopefully Branthwaite can get fit soon - or a new RB allows O’Brien to step inside as a CB.

Sam. It makes the decision to not pick him vs Leeds seem very negligent.

Similar caution with Dibling yesterday. Why on earth not bring him on?

Similar situation with Dibling I’d guess. I can imagine he might have come on if it had stayed 3-1 but the last 10 was pretty nervy and probably not the ideal introduction.

Moyes himself said that he was in fantastic condition. And he started a match 5 days later and was the best player on the pitch. I don’t see how 4 days of training would have made that much of a difference and on that basis I can’t see why he couldn’t have played a bigger role in the Leeds game. The only thing preventing this was the cautious approach from the manager in a game we lost.

I also find it concerning that based on what you’re saying that Dibling could not be trusted against a team that haven’t won a league game yet this season.

He clearly knows far more than our current manager and probably would’ve overseen three PL wins, three clean sheets and at least 15 goals (the last one a back heel by Dibling) if he’d been in charge…

For the first goal, Keane had to go to the touchline to challenge the winger. Tarkowski was tracking Hwang but then decided to hand him off to Garner who was too far away to cover. Tarks conceded the penalty at Leeds unnecessarily, almost gifted BHA 2 goals last week and was responsible for Wolves’s first goal.

The second goal was 100% Myko losing concentration. He was well positioned in the middle of the park and saw Gomes on the wing, but completely lost the player when he went from out to in.

Moyes will fix these defensive issues no doubt.

Everton win 3 games in 6 days and Tommy still has to pick holes in the manager.

Must be really sad to have no positivity in anything

It's a long season looking after an asset, rather than negligence. If he"d gone off injured, I am sure there would have been plenty saying he wasn't fit to start.

3 wins in the week. Utft.

The positives outweigh the Negatives. 3 points in the bag.
Moyes isn't suddenly turning into Martinez he will be fuming with the 2 conceaded.

We desperately need a RB now, the 2 CBs although Keanes done well recently, are going to be found out against pace and better players. Jarreds return should help but we need to try and find the games to build the jarred/ O'brien partnership if that's the future pairing.
I think Jarred hides and covers alot of tarks shortcomings when they're together.

But in Ndiaye, KDH & grealish we have real quality, threat & pace and they look like they are enjoying playing together.

I'm not getting carried away, seen too many false dawns, but the signs are good, the football is miles above anything we've seen for ages, we have players other teams are scared of, which hasn't been the case for ages.

However from these 3 games I have to say I am more than happy with a 6 point return.

3 huge games coming up after the international break and the way Liverpool have been shipping goals and the way we have been able to create chances in the last 3 games - I will be emphatically disappointed if we fail to put up any kind of fight at Anfield.

We will undoubtedly be more open if we play more attacking football, the defence will have to adjust to us having the ball in the opposition final third and teams breaking on us, that's where we will struggle with Keane and Tarkowski.

Swap Keane for Branthwaite and that was our back 4 most of last season, so not a makeshift back 4.

Yes, it's not our ideal back 4, but unless we sign a right-back, it will be our back 4 again with Keane and Aznou as back-up.

I’m obviously happy with the six points but I’ll have to watch them more than three games against average to poor teams before I start over hyping those three performances like some fans on here, let’s be honest if they don’t get a couple more defenders in tomorrow then we’ll struggle ye Moyes is suggesting if we don’t get more players in then we’ll go with what we’ve got— good luck with that we’ll bleedin’ need it and plenty of it!

The Everton goals have been celebrated as fantastic for the third one and Grealish getting great praise for the second one when it was Hall who pinpointed the cross for Dnaiye to score the goal but it looked like very good play by Everton players to me.