ANDREW BENNETT SHARES HIS PLAYER RATINGS FOR WOLVES DEFEAT TO BRENTFORD
Player ratings as Wolves slump to a 2-0 home defeat, and a second consecutive loss at Molineux.
JOSE SA - 3
A poor performance from Jose Sa against a side who were gifted opportunities more than creating them. For the first goal, the ball was put home by the Brentford attacker who received no challenge from any nearby defenders or goalkeeper. Should Jose have been more commanding in his area and come to the corner?
Also in the first half poor distribution found the ball bounce to Maupay through on goal, to Jose’s credit he made himself big and only conceded a corner.
The second goal came from poor distribution and Wolves seeming inability to clear the ball. A bad day at the office for the Wolves number 1.
NELSON SEMEDO - 6
An okay performance from Semedo who didn’t show any magic but at the same point didn’t really do a lot wrong. Restricted chances on his side with good defending but wasn’t impactful enough going forward against a very deep back line.
MAX KILMAN - 6.5
A solid performance from Kilman who similar to Semedo didn’t do a lot wrong but also didn’t shine. In the second half Kilman broke forward a couple of times only for the chances to fizzle out.
CRAIG DAWSON - 4
I think it’s time for Santi Bueno to be given a chance from the start is probably the best rating I can give for Dawson. Battled well in the air against Toney but seemed too exposed and played a poor ball to Doyle to start off Brentford’s move for their second goal. That said I would hold the main fault of this goal to Sa who should have just launched the ball.
TOTI GOMES - 5
Only on the pitch for 45 minutes and didn’t really have a lot to do, was combining well with Ait Nouri down the left flank but often too slow.
RAYAN AIT-NOURI 6.5
Defensively did the job asked of him, going forwards often got into good positions and the final ball not good enough. A moment to summarise his performance was half way through the second half when the Algerian took two Brentford players out the game easily gliding past them to put a cross into the box which was far too over-hit going out for a throw.
MARIO LEMINA - 7 MAN OF THE MATCH
Often tried to make things happen and covered the back 3/2 well throughout the game. Tried until the very end probably the Wolves player on the pitch with the most shots.
A difficult man of the match selection from a Wolves perspective as all the team was sub-par, why I have given it to a player who covered a lot of ground and didn’t put a foot wrong with the basics.
JOAO GOMES - 7
A good performance from Gomes who tried to bring the ball forward as much as possible in the first half while the players around him slowed the game down. Won multiple 50-50 challenges and battled well in the middle of the park.
PEDRO NETO - 6
Was the creator for Wolves best opportunities, including the Dawson disallowed goal for a marginal offside by VAR. This being said he didn’t commit enough against slow defenders, Wolves need Neto to provide a bit of magic when facing sides who tactically set up as Brentford did today.
MATHEUS CUNHA N/A
Cunha was growing into the game before he was taken off in the first half with a suspected hamstring injury.
PABLO SARABIA - 6
Showed himself as a leader on the pitch as could often see him talking to those around him trying to push the team forward mentally; for his performance on the ball it was average. He struggled to find the right ball through a tight defensive backline didn’t do much wrong and like the rest of the starting 11 just couldn’t find the right moments.
THE SUBS
JEAN -RICNER Bellegarde (20 minutes for Cunha) - 3
When up front Bellegarde clearly looks lost as he tried in the first half creating next to nothing. The second half he was moved onto the left side and did even less, often couldn’t beat the covering defender when he got to the byline and struggled to even win corners losing the ball too often without any productive output.
NATHAN Fraser (Half time for Toti) 6.5
A good 45 minutes of football from Fraser his longest time on the pitch for the first team side in the Premier League. Made himself known fighting for the ball against Brentford defenders in the air. Showed a couple of nice touches and received the ball behind his run a couple of times, always running into space and hopefully will have learnt a lot against a very deep defensive side.
TOMMY Doyle (64 for Joqo Gomes) - 6.5
Despite being dispossessed for Toney’s match winner, where he should never be receiving the ball. Doyle put in a good performance he wanted to be on the ball tried to switch the play and make the pitch as big a possible. Sadly for the young midfielder he couldn’t find the pinpoint pass through the Brentford back line nor the accuracy in a couple of efforts.
MATT Doherty (83 for Semedo) - N/a
Was not on the pitch enough time or didn’t influence the game enough for a rating, other than making a 5 yard pass and getting a header off target from a set piece the Irish international didn’t do a lot as per the rest of the side.
A difficult ratings to write as Wolves controlled the ball and for large parts of the game were in control without being able to find the net. Brentford offered very little so defensively tough to judge, but we still lost 2-0 at home. Thankfully we won’t play boring Brentford again this season is the only positive to take.
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.