Andy Thompson watched Wolves lose 3-0 to Newcastle United on Saturday – but he believes Tommy Doyle stood out for the visitors.
It have been a three-goal deficit in the end, but Wolves didn’t do as badly as the final scoreline suggests.
Newcastle were a little fortuitous with their first two goals, with Alex Isak scoring after a deflection, and then Anthony Gordon pouncing on a loose ball after it came off Max Kilman after Jose Sa tried to push it clear.
Wolves created chances but just couldn’t apply the finish, with Newcastle taking their opportunities when they came.
Despite the 3-0 loss, Thompson said after the game that he was impressed with Tommy Doyle in midfield for Wolves…
Andy Thompson praises ‘neat and tidy’ Tommy Doyle in Wolves’ defeat to Newcastle
Doyle started yesterday for the second game running, but this time he was in a pairing with Mario Lemina and not in a trio.
That was because Joao Gomes was not passed fit to play, after going off at the end of the win over Brighton – a game Doyle was named player of the match for.
Whenever Doyle has played this season for Wolves, he has generally given a pretty good account of himself and that was the case again yesterday.
Sofascore data indicates he completed 88/99 passes (89% accuracy), and he was the most involved player of the match, having 105 touches.
Speaking on Matchday Live Extra, Thompson praised Doyle, saying: “To touch on what Doyle did, I thought Doyle did really well today. I thought that he was neat and tidy, and didn’t give the ball away. I don’t think there was much in it. I thought we more than matched Newcastle, they just got a little bit of fortune in front of goal.”
Wolves will buy Tommy Doyle no question
This was another solid showing from Doyle who was definitely impressed during his loan spell.
He still doesn’t start every single game, but the star brings about more control for Wolves in the midfield when he plays, and is a nice complement to the more mobile Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes.
His playmaking from deep is impressive, and it was important to bring in a player like him having lost Ruben Neves in the summer.
Wolves have the option to buy Doyle this summer from Manchester City for around £5 million and you cannot imagine the club deciding against doing that.
That is an absolute snip for a player of his quality and potential. The only downside with the deal is obviously that City would hold a 50% sell-on clause, but that is not something to worry about for a while and perhaps Wolves could even seek to re-negotiate in some way in the future.