Dave porter gives his player ratings wolves v arsenal
JOSE SA 6
Didn’t have a lot to do against the league leaders. Can consider himself unfortunate that a smart save rebounded through bodies to the foot of Oddegard to strike beyond him. You felt he would be busy but really wasn’t.
NELSON SEMEDO 6
Looked more comfortable as wing back than a full back and did pretty well. One of the more assured games a right fullback has given this season until going off, assumedly through injury.
Didn’t put a foot wrong all game. Very composed and made Saka look ineffectual throughout. Looks a real prospect. Unfair to judge on this game but if we stay with a back 5, you wonder if he will offer quite enough going forward compared to Ait-Nouri.
Some goals you have to hold your hands up, but if you were intent on digging into the minutiae, then you could put some blame on Killman for both goals. He is too deep for the first preventing an offside and he should probably do better in clearing the initial cross for the second. They may both be harsh, but on such small instances games turn
Has clearly been given some licence to move forward when in possession, but contributions were solid not spectacular. Maybe a little slow closing Zinchenko for the second goal but you can understand wanting to stay central.
Could have been his best game in a Wolves shirt, looked the best of the three centre backs. So much more assured in a back 5 than a 4. All round very decent performance
Expectations are high but it was pretty average tonight from Neves. Looked frustrated by options ahead of him when on the ball. Needed the wingbacks to be higher.
Think we have unearthed a real star. Looked good on and off the ball and adds real energy to a midfield. Great ball for the penalty that never was
Think he has gone. Not sure what he is offering. Does the same Job as Hodge but with less energy. Think his appearances will be limited from here on.
Out of position but looked a threat. Inevitably however when he was in good positions, wrong decisions were made. Arsenal scored both goals when crossing, Adama had similar opportunities but chose wrong options. Getting the best out of Adama may be pivotal if Lopetegui is to avoid the drop.
Probably the best game he has had for Wolves, looked a threat but as with Adama, final decisions looked off. There was more here though than he has shown in multiple previous outings. Should have earned a penalty in the first half and confidence is clearly growing. A lot is said of Wolves optics of late and Guedes optics truly are amongst the worst I have seen. The arms, the shrugs. That will not play well with Wolves fans.
SUBS
Really don’t need to see him doing self-set up overhead kicks. Generally it was ok, but chasing the game after he came on against an Arenal side that had declared at two.
Unpopular opinion but if Semedo had made the mistake then he would have been facing a twitter meltdown. We forgive him because of youth, but he looks a couple of years away from someone genuinely threatening the first team.
Moves so quickly with the ball. Needs to be played in position and we need to find a way to get the best out of him
There wasn’t much between the sides here. A refereeing decision the other way probably sees us take something against the leaders. We don’t look like a typical bottom of the table team and that gives hope. Worrying we looked much more comfortable in back 5 when we have a new manager who preferences a 4. Overall though we have played worse and won this season. We now have a break and a refresh. The season starts now and it will need to be a good one from here to stay up. Average probably doesn’t cut it.
Just get in the bin. Incompetent or corrupt. The penalty was so obvious. The issue though appears to be that the ref doesn’t give the penalty on-field because of the offside. The offside was wrong. The Var officials then don’t think (bizarrely) there is enough to overturn the initial decision not accounting for the fact that no on-field decision was made because of the incorrect offside. It looked a penalty in real time, it looked a penalty on the first replay. How can they get this that badly wrong. Throw in bookings for us for almost identical situations that were not booked for Arsenal, and multiple little fouls consistently going the way of the leaders. You expect it, you know it’s going to happen but it is no less frustrating.
ARTICLE BY DAVE PORTER
Wolverhampton born, East Sussex based supporter. Old enough to have seen the descent to the bottom, young enough to not have experienced the days my friend. Not many Wolves fans to celebrate or commiserate with round these parts, so had to find an outlet to discuss the enormous highs, crushing lows and share the frustrations that only come with following Wolves.