Soccer Saturday pundit Paul Merson has questioned Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo for fielding a weakened side against Southampton in the FA Cup.
As the two teams prepare to do battle in the Premier League today, there is still a sense of frustration for some Wolves fans about the manner of the defeat on Thursday night.
Goals from Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong allowed the Saints to reach the quarter-finals, where they will now face Championship side Bournemouth for a place in the last four.
Nuno went with Fabio Silva, Vitinha and Morgan Gibbs-White in attack, a move that stunned lots of fans knowing there is little else to play for this season.
Many felt he should have gone full strength, and Merson couldn’t hide his surprise when speaking about it yesterday on Soccer Saturday.
He said (via Football Daily): “I was surprised with Wolves’ team. I don’t see Wolves going down, I thought they should have played their strongest team the other night.
“When was the last time Wolves won anything? You play the best team and then all of a sudden you get the quarter-final draw.
“I’m not saying they’re definitely going to beat Bournemouth, but you couldn’t have wished for a better draw unless it was at home.
“It just disappoints me.”
On social media, Wolves fans found it hard to disagree with the ex-Arsenal and Aston Villa maestro:
Nobody understands it because it was completely crazy!
— Roger 🇬🇧 #BritishIndependence (@hrothgarwolf) February 13, 2021
Merson absolutely bang on here https://t.co/OJ36eIafhY
— Danny (@danny_oneil1) February 13, 2021
As a wolves fan couldn’t agree more. Nuno let us down this week & our recruitment this season has been poor. 35m Silva, 20m option Vitinha, 15m Ait Nouri, 30m for Semedo… not good enough. Changing formation with no pre season to embed. First time I have questions of #Nuno #wwfc https://t.co/PvtMYRNHjV
— Paul Smart (@SmartsPauls) February 13, 2021
sadly i find myself agreeing https://t.co/lnaL3cdr0a
— Bibb (@bibb_wwfc) February 13, 2021
Cannot argue with the logic.
— Graham J (@GAJC119) February 14, 2021
He’s spot on.
— thegreek (@PolesworthWolf) February 14, 2021
When you agree will Paul Merson you know there are serious issues. 🙈
— James Mason (@jamamason) February 13, 2021
Great analysis….And exactly correct
— Müle (@ScrumRucker) February 13, 2021
100%
— mike wheeler (@mikewhe76494630) February 13, 2021
Difficult to disagree with him for once! https://t.co/MLDcCAgNGm
— Kev Baker 👥 (@bakes1970) February 13, 2021
@PaulMerse is bang on right. A lot of @Wolves fans were disappointed to say the least. #wwfc https://t.co/pPo9xGRSNE
— Graham Palmer (@gjp12775) February 13, 2021