Wolves fell to an opening day defeat in the Premier League for the fourth season running on Saturday.
Gary O’Neil‘s side lost 2-0 to Arsena at the Emirates Stadium, but fans generally liked what they saw.
Wolves were always up against it to take points from a side that will surely be challenging for the Premier League title. But Wolves gave a good account of themselves, and had three Premier League debutants.
O’Neil said after the game that he was pleased with the performance.
On another day, Wolves might have scored through Jorgen Strand Larsen in the first-half and/or Matheus Cunha in the second to give Arsenal something to think about.
But the cutting edge just wasn’t there when it needed to be.
There were quite a few decent individual displays, but one man who did struggle a fair bit on Saturday was Toti Gomes.
Andy Thompson has some advice for Toti Gomes after display for Wolves against Arsenal
Wolves have been demolished by Arsenal in recent meetings, but there were no signs of Wolves rolling over on Saturday.
O’Neil’s side actually did quite well in parts, and knocked the ball around with confidence.
They were never really out of the game, but Saka’s goal was a sucker punch.
Yerson Mosquera did really well at the back and has come in for a lot of praise. But his partner Toti didn’t look so comfortable.
Toti has been a great player for Wolves and is normally quite reliable. But he remains fairly inexperienced in terms of playing in the middle of a back four, and he had some dicey moments yesterday. Mainly when he was on the ball.
Former Molineux full-back Andy Thompson had some advice for the defender oveer on Matchday Live Extra. He said: “I just think when he’s got time on the ball, he must have millions of things running through his mind.
“He looks like he’s jittery about the way he’s going to play or where he’s going to play it.
“Sometimes he just needs to simplify things. Do it early. When he starts to have time, he has an extra touch and by that time they’ve closed him down and he gets himself in trouble. Sometimes you’ve just got to put your foot through it. But he doesn’t, he has an extra touch. I just think that’s what he’s got to do better.”
Thompson did add that he didn’t have a problem with Toti’s defensive ability, just his lack of speed on the ball.
Toti needs to play quicker
A number of Wolves fans have been writing Toti off recently.
He didn’t play great against Rayo Vallecano and his performance against Arsenal yesterday was indeed shaky.
But the 24-year-old, who cost Wolves just £900,000, has proven himself to be a capable defender at Premier League level. It is just his ball-playing that needs work. As many have pointed out since yesterday’s game, he invites pressure due to second-guessing himself and not playing quickly enough.
Against a team like Arsenal, who are so effective in the press, you cannot be playing slowly, and Toti was fortunate none of his mistakes were punished.
But there is a player there. He is a great, athletic defender who can still be of great use to O’Neil this season. But he should heed Thompson’s advice and speed things up.