A brilliant game for the neutral at Molineux ends in a 2-2 draw between us and Wolves, where we looked extremely tired in parts and will leave frustrated to have thrown away our lead twice. All in all, it’s probably a decent point given the injuries, fatigue, the tough week we’ve just endured and the fact they had the better chances.
Here’s the ratings from last night’s match:
Nick Pope – 4 – Poor for both of Wolves’ goals. Chose to punch what should’ve been a simple catch seconds before Wolves’ equaliser, which is becoming a theme for him of late. Needs to sort that out if he’s going to be our long term number one. Caught in no man’s lands for the first Wolves goal, where he could’ve done better had his positioning been right. He was superb in midweek but struggled here.
Kieran Trippier – 4 – Probably his worst game for the club to be honest. Gave the ball away on multiple occasions and never looked comfortable in the match at all. Seemed weak in the tackle by his usual standards and was booked in the second half for a cynical foul. Needs a rest midweek against Manchester United?
Jamaal Lascelles – 6 – Decent defensively, making a few important tackles, but you could tell Trippier wasn’t as comfortable playing it to the skipper from the back. He’s improved on the ball and looks more composed as times, yet Wolves’ press forced us into errors. Booked late on for taking out a Wolves attacker from a ball in behind. Would like to see him get on the end of our attacking set pieces a little bit more, as he’s so dominant in the air.
Fabian Schar – 8* – Our standout player in a game with lots of poor performances. Tackled and passed the ball well all evening. Really dominating performance from the Swiss. Won the penalty for our second goal too. Missed a glorious opportunity in the second half from a Trippier cross, but almost created a goal for Longstaff with a stunning dinked pass and timed several sliding tackles superbly to stop Wolves breaking clear.
Dan Burn – 5 – As expected, Pedro Neto (who looks a real player) gave him all sorts of problems throughout the game. Looked off the pace, was booked after an accumulation of fouls and got done by Hwang for their second. May need a rest at Old Trafford.
Bruno Guimaraes – 7 – Put in a quality first half, bossing the game, breaking up play and making penetrative passes. Faded in the second half much like many of his team-mates. Had a really good chance in the first half, beating a few players but didn’t get his shot off in time to trouble the goalkeeper. Another player who has played a lot of football in the past few weeks. Was a little weak in the tackle in the build up to Hwang’s equaliser.
Sean Longstaff – 5 – Really struggled to get going in this one and was a bit of a bystander in the game. Weight of pass was off all evening and looked totally shattered in all honesty. Dragged a decent chance just wide early on and was booked for dissent in the closing stages.
Joelinton – 7 – A much better performance than the one against Dortmund in midweek. Put himself about in midfield and drove forward well in transition, slipping one ball into Longstaff after picking up a pocket of space early on. Battled away in the second half when fatigue kicked in. Good to see him looking sharper after a flat display in midweek.
Miguel Almiron – 6 – His energy levels are incredible. Second half especially he put in a huge shift all over the pitch and battled well to try and get us away on the break. Good defensive performance but struggled to effect the game going forward.
Callum Wilson – 7.5 – Took his first goal beautifully, with a brilliant improvised finish over his head. Not his best penalty but despatched regardless. Wasn’t particularly effective from open play and completed just FIVE passes, with Dawson marshalling him well. But, he comes away with two goals, sending him above Cole and Ameobi in our all-time Premier League goalscorers list. I fear for his fitness if he’s forced to play two games a week for the next month.
Anthony Gordon – 6 – Not his best afternoon but showed glimpses of brilliance. Mixed success against the pacey Semedo and it was his cross that Sa dropped before Wilson scored our opener. Looked a little jaded in the second half and sometimes should’ve released the ball sooner.
Substitutes:
Joe Willock – 5 – Didn’t offer a great deal and is still getting back to full fitness. Good to see him back ahead of games against Man Utd and Arsenal next week.
Opinions …. Many I disagree with (though not all). The one I would argue against is Pope 4 and Wilson 7.5. Pope was guilty for the 2nd goal, yes but the first goal I don’t think so, that was Trips who I agree had a poor game by his standards. So one costly mistake. As for Wilson – he took his first goal brilliantly – at the second attempt! His penalty kick was poor by his standards but he got lucky. Otherwise his hold up play was woeful in my opinion. So my argument is that one admittedly costly mistake by the keeper deserves only a 4 whereas does Wilson really deserve a 7.5, the 2nd best mark behind Schar for what was a very average performance other than 2 kind of ‘lucky’ opportunities. I suppose that’s the difference between playing up front and being the last line of defence.
Tony Toon(Quote)
Believe Tripper and Burn both deserve long rest with Pope who has got into a stupid habit of punching catchable balls, they all get a 4 for me.
Livramento, Taggert or Hall obvious replacements along with Dubravka.
Almiron into headless chicken mode again gets a 5.
Wilsons all round game was poor and was lucky with both goals and gets a 6.
We haven’t got the squad to keep hammering players with this pressing style of play.
Injuries aside……what’s your plan B Eddie cause you need one.
Joseph(Quote)
I think it’s about time we just admitted that Nick Pope has his weaknesses and is not the hero we once thought.
He’s had a string of c@ck-ups that have cost us.
I played for years as a keeper and watching these guys in the Prem, if a keeper makes 2 or 3 mistakes a season, they’ve had a bad time of it. Pope is batting well below that average.
Time to get Dubravka back out the drawer.
Daveys **** mate(Quote)
Honestly think if we had our best 20 players available last two away games we would have won them both and not drawn them especially yesterday the lack of options to rotate and freshen it up was all to evident due to the injuries and Tonali’s ban but that where we are and got to get on with it
Darren Bebb(Quote)
Pope I’m afraid to say is fast becoming a liability can’t go on giving silly goals away , time for Dubravka to be given a chance to redeem himself from the man utd debacle. Wilson was absolutely useless even though he got the two goals( in my opinion ). Didn’t work anywhere near hard enough, is that because there’s no one to replace him . Why oh why have we spent nearly 60 million on two young full backs if we’re not going to use them even though it’s blatantly obvious BDB and Trips need a rest. Yesterday should have been the perfect opportunity to get the young’uns on . Come on Eddie sort it out mate.
Arthur Shelton(Quote)
Pope a liability no one was saying that after Dortmund why is there always an over reaction when we don’t win
Darren Bebb(Quote)
Darren Bebb:-
Hardly overacting when we don’t win, Trippier and Burn weren’t particularly good against Dortmund either, but we were a tad unfortunate not to get something from that game.
People comment on what they see, no harm in that.
Joseph(Quote)
Joseph this season was always going to be a challenging one which I think we’ve handled pretty well to be honest I know some players weren’t at there best yesterday it happens we still came out with a point and like I said in previous comment if we had all our players available think we would have won so I stand by what I said there has been an over reaction to not winning
Darren Bebb(Quote)