The Good, The Bad, and The Average #5: NUFC player ratings vs. Wolves (a) [PL4]

For the fourth time in this already bizarre season, we're coming away from a game asking 'How on Earth did we win that?'. This must be what it feels like to be a Manchester United fan under Erik ten Hag...

Wolves were hardly the greatest opposition we've ever faced, but after another bright start, Eddie Howe's side slipped into something less than mediocrity and found themselves behind at the break to a Mario Lemina counter-attack goal.

Our head coach's triple substitution at half-time pointed to an admission of his starting XI being wrong—Lloyd Kelly, Sandro Tonali, and Harvey Barnes all surprisingly omitted—and, thankfully, it was Barnes who ultimately made the difference.

It's another match in which we're hardly going to be effusive with our praise as it took two strikes from distance to secure all three points, but here are our ratings for those in maroon and blue hoops, plus Howe, our opponents, and the referee.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Good

You knew what was coming as soon as Harvey Barnes cut inside Matt Doherty. There's nobody better in the division at hitting the net from that part of the pitch and he did it yet again. We're not sure how he didn't start this one, but surely that's him nailed on in the eleven from here on? He might've even snuck a brace in the closing seconds when sent clear.

After a difficult first half defensively, Fabian Schär stepped up to the plate massively when things looked grim for us midway through the second half. Though his 25-yard effort took a big deflection off Craig Dawson's balding napper, we'll argue until we're blue in the face that it was destined for the net anyway. Some of his last-ditch defending at the end was top, too.

Anthony Gordon ran Nelson Semedo ragged in the first half and almost scored one of our best solo goals since the halcyon days of Hatem Ben Arfa midway through the opening half. He faded out of the game when moved into the centre forward position after the break, unfortunately, but pressed relentlessly and dug in deep during eight minutes of added time.

At the other end of the pitch, Nick Pope was frightening with the ball at his feet but wonderful when required to do anything with his hands. He stood no chance for Wolves' goal but made big saves from Matheus Cunha, Jørgen Strand Larsen, and Nelson Semedo to play a big part in another slightly undeserved victory. Oh, how we missed him last season.

A word, too, for Joe Willock. Aside from making a huge chance for Barnes to seal it at the death, he added a completely different dimension to our midfield when replacing Joelinton at the interval. All-in-all, he made five key passes in his half of action, which is five more than Big Joe, Sean Longstaff, and Sandro Tonali managed in three times as many minutes.

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The Bad

It genuinely pains us to be so critical of Sean Longstaff, but thank God he was hooked at half-time. It was his weak attempt at a flicked pass to Alexander Isak that set the move away for their goal. Aside from that, though, he was just embarrassingly poor both with and without the ball. He didn't win a single duel or tackle and failed to make an incisive pass.

Jacob Murphy wasn't much better out on the right flank, sadly, but neither should have started. He missed our first big chance of the game and didn't look at all convincing when striking with his left foot, made some infuriating choices when breaking in possession, and like Longstaff, he didn't win a single duel while turning over possession a whopping 16 times.

On the opposite side of the pitch, this was another game that did absolutely nothing for Lewis Hall's claim to the left-back berth. Much like Barnes, we've no idea what Lloyd Kelly has done in the two weeks since the Spurs game to deserve being dropped, but we were crying out for him at times here. Hall's weak defensively, isn't particularly quick, and offered little in attack.

Dan Burn and Tino Livramento also struggled, with the latter's tactical instruction to invert at every opportunity not doing him any favours. Burn had a tough old time up against Larsen—who seemed like a bit of a plodder to us—and was largely at fault for Wolves' goal, while Tino did okay defensively but offered next to nothing going forward again.

In the engine room, it was an afternoon to forget for Joelinton and Bruno Guimarães. Although Bruno technically got the assist for Schär's goal and made a key intervention in our box in the first half, he was slow for their goal and didn't make a single tackle in the contest. Joelinton won just two of his seven duels, which is unlike him, and was rightly brought off.

We're huge fans of Eddie Howe, but he's giving cause for concern this season. His team selection this afternoon wasn't good and while we don't see what goes on in training, we're struggling to make sense of the decisions to play Hall over Kelly and Murphy over Barnes. He does deserve some credit for the changes that got us the three points, however.

Last and very much least, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Let's face it, Noni Madueke was completely right in what he said about the city. It's the worst away trip on the calendar, their support is largely made up of orcs, and their team played like a plucky underdog in a cup tie today. We were poor but they were rubbish and didn't deserve anything from the game.

Naomi Baker/Getty Images

The Average

We're not sure if his nose has stopped bleeding yet, but Alexander Isak wasn't missed too much in the second half regardless. He started brightly, dropping into the pocket and getting plenty of touches of the ball, but had almost completely faded out of the contest by the time he was forced off right at the end of the opening period. We still need much more from him.

Sandro Tonali almost made it into the 'Good' section due to his sharpness out of possession, but he just wasn't involved in our play enough after the break to warrant a better score than a '6'. He has to start at Fulham, though, surely? Like Willock, he brings a different dimension to our midfield and it must pain him to see Longstaff lining up ahead of him.

Kieran Trippier and Lloyd Kelly didn't get as much time as Barnes, Tonali, and Willock to make an impact, but both can be proud of the smaller part they played in this victory. We're adamant that Trippier remains our best right-back, while we're baffled as to how Kelly was dropped after his assist and solid defensive performance last time out against Spurs.

And, finally, Chris Kavanagh. While irritating in the sort of way that only a Premier League referee can be, we can't make a case for him having a bad game here. He was a bit too lenient in the first half, perhaps, with Lemina and Semedo committing numerous poor fouls without a card for either, but he seemed to get most of the big decisions right.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Breakdown

Here's a somewhat interesting statistic: the lads' collective average score of 5.75 at Molineux is the lowest to garner three points since we started doing these ratings at the beginning of last season. You're welcome for that one.

The XI

Nick Pope – 7

Tino Livramento – 5 (off 64')

Fabian Schär – 7

Dan Burn – 5

Lewis Hall – 4

Sean Longstaff – 4 (off 46')

Bruno Guimarães (c) – 5 (off 87')

Joelinton – 5 (off 46')

Jacob Murphy – 4

Alexander Isak – 6 (off 46')

Anthony Gordon – 7

The Subs

Sandro Tonali – 6 (on 46')

Harvey Barnes – 8 (on 46') ⭐️

Joe Willock – 7 (on 46')

Kieran Trippier – 6 (on 64')

Lloyd Kelly – 6 (on 87')

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe – 5

The Opposition

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 4

The Ref

Chris Kavanagh – 6

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The Next

It's off to West London for the fifth game of the 2024/25 Premier League season on Saturday for a 3 p.m. kick-off against Fulham.

They currently sit 12th with five points from their four matches, which have included one win, two draws, and a defeat. Another three points and we'll be getting the passports renewed...