ANDREW BENNETT SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON WOLVES PERFORMANCE AGAINST ARSENAL AND ALL THE PLAYER RATINGS
A positive display from a lacking Wolves side against one of the challengers in the Premier League’s title race.
JOSE SA 6
Made good saves throughout, was never going to stop Trossard’s opener. Potentially will have wanted to do better with the second but this would be harsh to place blame on Sa, Arsenal have some brilliant players. His kicking throughout was poor which meant regularly Wolves playing out from the back which often led to some troubled moments.
MATT DOHERTY 5
A poor performance from Doherty who was often beaten by Trossard. Needed to provide a greater attacking outlet from wingback and either was never found when in space or came backwards too often. His evening was cut short when substituted for Ait Nouri on the 75th minute.
SANTI BUENO 7
A positive performance from all of the back three, especially how regularly they received the ball into feet and had to be extremely careful not to be caught out. Could maybe have been closer to Trossard before he hit home Arsenal’s opener but similar to criticism on Jose Sa for Arsenal’s second goal it would be harsh to blame the Uruguayan.
MAX KILMAN 7
A good performance from Kilman especially as captain without many experienced players from the start. Missing Cunha, Dawson, Sarabia and Lemina all huge voices on the pitch. Didn’t make any clear errors and did well to nullify Gabriel Jesus.
TOTI GOMES 7
As with Kilman and S.Bueno an assured performance from Toti making some good blocks and helping H.Bueno on multiple occasions to double up on Saka who only got through once before skying his shot into the south bank. A no frills defensive showing from Toti and his central defensive counterparts.
HUGO BUENO 6
Provided more attacking output from the left than Doherty did on the right; still didn’t provide as much as Gary O’Neil would’ve hoped from the wing backs. Held his shape well when defending and for the majority of the game did very well against the quality of Saka.
BOUBACAR TRAORE 7.5
Alongside Joao Gomes the Malian international covered almost every blade of grass on the Molinuex pitch. Did a very good job against Rice and Havertz broke up the play and rarely allowed space in the middle of the park. Possibly committing too many silly foul’s when Wolves were caught in transition but this will be remembered by many fans as one of the first performances Traore displayed his full range of abilities on the pitch.
TOMMY DOYLE 7
Good performance from Doyle playing what many Wolves fans will associate as the Ruben Neves role picking the ball up deep and being often the quarterback spraying the ball out wide and through to runners. Struggled to create with the quality of Arsenal defensive players and the threadbare attacking options available to the hosts.
JOAO GOMES 8 & MAN OF THE MATCH
Was absolutely everywhere the true pitbull! Had Wolves best effort and if not for David Raya tipping his attempt onto the bar would’ve put the hosts one up midway through the first half. Constantly hassled the opposition midfielders and Kiwior the Arsenal left back, really stepped up in a team lacking experience.
HWANG HEE-CHAN 7
Could only last 45 as mentioned by O’Neil in the pre match press conference but made good runs held the ball up when needed and made himself a nuisance for Gabriel and Saliba the best defensive partnership in the league. Will look forward to seeing Hwang regain his fitness as Wolves see out the campaign.
TAWANDA CHIREWA 7
A brilliant Premier league starting debut from the youngster. Didn’t look shy on the ball and didn’t always run into blind alleys as some youth players can do when they receive the ball at the top level, looked calm and made good decisions. Would have been good to see him further up the pitch but naturally against a team such as Arsenal, Wolves were always going to sit deep. Faded as the game went on as I presume he tired before being substituted for Sarabia in the 75th minute.
THE SUBS
Mario Lemina – 6
Brought on in the 51st minute for Hwang who was running on empty and was positioned in the 9 spot. When Mario Lemina joined the Wolves I highly doubt he had playing in number 9 for nearly a full half at home to Arsenal on his bingo card. Did a good job for the team often made movement to try split the defenders and offered a good press. As discussed Wolves struggled to get out their half so not so much Lemina could do as rarely found the ball falling his way.
Rayan Ait-Nouri – 7
Made one wonderful run through about 4 of Arsenal’s team but just ran out of steam and the ball went out at the byline during his 20 minute cameo, clearly offered quality going forward and had he been fit to start would’ve been interesting to see how the hosts did going forward particularly in the first half. Provided more attacking output in 20 minutes than Doherty did the previous 75.
Pablo Sarabia – 6
Coming on for Chirewa I can’t say Pablo Sarabia created any great moments to remember, that said didn’t make any errors and rarely got the ball an underwhelming substitute appearance; but considering the opposition can’t be too harsh as all the boys put in a great shift.
ARTICLE BY ANDREW BENNETT
From my first Wolves match against Chelsea in 2003 I fell in love with the team and matchday experience. I work in digital marketing and have lived in Germany and Estonia over the past few years, this doesn’t stop me following Wolves and ensuring all my international friends become invested to the Wolf pack. I enjoy football, board games, a pint and travelling always excited to try new things. You will find me in the north bank on a matchday.
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