Just some Player Ratings upon further reflection...
Ramsdale 7 - Made plenty of excellent saves and can't be faulted for any of the goals. Becoming a frontrunner for player of the year so far.
Smith 6 - I thought he had an okay game, his offensive ability wasn't helped by the formation. One of the more consistent outfield players on the day.
Francis 2 - Just taking a step back and looking at the game neutrally, he didn't really do anything right. Constantly out of position in some pseudo RB role, always chasing shadows, poor in possession, essentially responsible for the opening goal, brain dead sending off. I don't want to dogpile on him but he IS probably the reason we ended up losing that game. The worrying thing is that I think he should've come off at halftime for a change in shape, and I don't believe EH would've done it.
S. Cook 7 - Individually thought he had a decent game in defence; once Francis went off he rallied he team and led by example. Well taken goal.
Ake 6 - Was okay, not a great game by his high standards and part of a mostly muddled defence. Could have equalised in the second half with a cooler head.
Rico 6 - Perhaps largely at fault for the second goal (someone on the left seemed to lose their man), but other than that I thought he was pretty good. Has become a really good one-on-one defender, and passing has improved a lot.
Fraser 4 - frAsEr.exe has stopped working.
Billing 4 - His worst performance for us so far, and probably his only bad one so far as well. Poor in possession and slow to react to and pin down dangerous moves. Tbf, he had no options to pass to when he did get the ball.
L. Cook 5 - Poor first half similar to Billing, but improved notably after the break with Lerma alongside him. Had a lot more bite and aggression in the second half, though I thought it was strange that he came off for Gosling.
H. Wilson 4 - Completely and utterly anonymous. Still not a winger; compare his performance to Traore's and he seems comically lightweight.
C. Wilson 6 - Had absolutely no support in the first half and barely got a sniff. I've been critical of his lack of movement and ability to create chances for himself, but his support was truly awful this game. Was very good second half other than some poor passes. Excellent hold up play.
Subs:
Lerma 8 (MOM) - It's a bit worrying how useless we seem to be without him. Came on and almost singlehandedly dragged us to a more prideful result with endeavor, direct passing and tackling. Was Kante-esque and more than made up for the missing man.
Danjuma 7 - really lively performance that, along with Lerma's introduction, made us seem not quite as sh1t. A few ball-hoggy moments but gave us a spark of creativity that was sorely missing.
Gosling 6 - Not bad at all. Looked a bit rusty but I don't think he made any mistakes, broke the ball up nicely. Probably rushed into it earlier than we'd have liked with Solanke's injury.
On reflection the second half was really impressive (whether that was down to an inspired team talk, a forced change in shape, Wolves shifting down a gear or all three). First half was inexcusable and was probably the biggest misstep by the manager I've seen in a very long time. Wolves were good, but we made them look even better than they were, and with the right set up, personnel and tactics in the first half I believe we would have won that game.
To summarise:
- Playing what amounted to 5 at the back, at home, against a team that was only one place above us was an awful decision.
- Throwing Francis in for his first start in nearly 11 months, in a big formation change, was an awful decision (I would have had Francis in a back 3 before the game; just not for THIS game).
- The referee was appalling and consistently failed to punish Wolves for cynical fouls while we got the book thrown at us. The free kick for the first goal was also taken about 5 yards further away from the goal line than it should have been.
- Lerma is a fantastic player and should have started the game.
- Wilson is not being supported nearly enough by his fellow attackers (Fraser and Harry), especially as he's not the sort of player that can fashion chances for himself. H. Wilson needs to play centrally or not at all, and Fraser needs a spell out of the team.
- Danjuma looks like an effective Ibe and should now be starting for us.
- Not convinced that Billing/Cook as a partnership works, and I don't know why this is exactly? I think Lerma brings out the best in billing in a way that Cook doesn't.
