Nottingham Forest ended Vitor Pereira’s unbeaten run.
The Wolves manager enjoyed a good start to life at Molineux — picking up seven points from his first three matches. A disappointing 3-0 defeat against Forest on Monday night reminded the Portuguese tactician there is a lot of work to be done though.
With Andre missing due to family reasons and Matheus Cunha suspended, Pereira was forced to name a mismatched Wolves first-team lineup, and although the Old Gold enjoyed spells against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, they were largely outplayed and undone, especially on the counter-attack.
And speaking about his side’s lacklustre performance after the game, Pereira singled one player out and criticised his ineffectiveness.
Vitor Pereira slams Tommy Doyle’s performance against Nottingham Forest
Naming Al Shabab-linked Mario Lemina on the bench, Pereira started Tommy Doyle alongside Joao Gomes in midfield.
The central partnership failed to work though. The pair were clearly unfamiliar playing with each other and left plenty of areas for their opponents to exploit — which, with the help of opening goalscorer Morgan Gibbs-White, Forest did with aplomb.
Consequently, after hauling Doyle off with over half an hour to play, Pereira wasn’t shy in criticising the 23-year-old’s performance after the game.
“Doyle was missing,” Pereira told reporters, as quoted by The Athletic.
“To play against this kind of team — the tactical knowledge to be connected with Joao (Gomes). Sometimes, they were in the same line, not in different lines.”
Pereira’s assessment is correct — Gomes, and Doyle in particular, were hugely disappointing and failed to leave their mark on the match.
Concerns over potential Doyle and Pereira falling out
Although fans will still be reeling from what was a miserable evening at Molineux, there will be concerns Pereira’s outspoken comments could unsettle Doyle.
No player likes to be singled out and blamed for their team’s problems and the former Manchester City man will be no different.
However, with Lemina still on course to leave the Midlands before the end of the month, Doyle may yet be handed more opportunities to impress, so it’ll be on him to prove his manager wrong.
Wolves’ next match is a Third Round FA Cup tie away to Bristol City on January 11th — Doyle will be hoping to feature as he looks to redeem himself following a bad night at the office against Forest on Monday.