Pereira has to discard 5/10 Wolves who won 0 duels against Forest

Wolverhampton Wanderers‘ good momentum under the new manager Vitor Pereira at a standstill on Monday night after a 3-0 defeat at home to Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest. It was a disappointing result for the old gold that had previously won two and drawn one under their new boss.

It was the worst possible start for the home side, with ex-star Morgan Gibbs-White putting Forest ahead. It’s fair to say there’s no love lost between the Molineux faithful and the Forest number 10, who was greeted with boos from the terraces. It was a poor goal to concede from Wolves, letting Gibbs-White gallop into acres of space in the lead up to his goal.

Old Gold almost equalized on two occasions through Jorgen Strand Larsen. His first shot was cleared off the line after great play from Hwang Hee-chan, and Mats Selz made a brilliant save from the spot – denied again.

On the stroke of half-time, Forest scored again through the in-form Chris Wood. The New Zealand international found space in the penalty area and hit the ball. Forest scored their third goal in second-half stoppage time, hitting Wolves on the counter-attack, with Taiwo Awoniyi scoring.

It was certainly a disappointing night for Pereira’s players, with some poor performances across the board.

Wolves’ worst players against Forest

One of the most frustrating players for Old Gold on Monday night was the experienced Matt Doherty. The Irishman struggled to cope with the pace and power of Callum Hudson-Odoi, which led to Wood’s goal.

Indeed, it has been recorded Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden. The Football Correspondent rated Doherty 4/10, explaining that he ‘defended terribly’” for Wood’s strike just before half-time.

Another player who struggled for Periera’s side was midfielder Tommy Doyle. Starting in place of Andre, the Manchester City academy graduate struggled to make a greater impact in the center of the park with the ball and off it.

It is something that reflects on his statistics on Sofascore at the end of the game. The 23-year-old had 38 touches of the ball, but did not create any chances and lost possession six times. He also won exactly two duels on the ground and did not win a single duel in the air.

As disappointing as Doherty and Doyle were for Old Gold on Monday, there was someone who was arguably even more disappointing. That player was Goncalo Guedes.

Guedes’ stats against Forest

It was a frustrating night for the Portugal international, but not for lack of effort. Guedes worked hard but with little success, running tirelessly all night without any end product. However, he may have been to blame for Gibbs-White’s opener, with his poor header the reason why Forest were able to regain possession in the first place.

His dark night at the office was certainly reflected in the full-time stats. The 28-year-old, who was substituted after 75 minutes, had 42 touches of the ball and lost possession a disappointing 11 times, also failing to finish either of his two dribbles. Guedes also lost all seven attempts in the duel.

His performance earned him a 5/10 rating from Haffenden. The journalist was critical of Guedes’ error for Forest’s first goal, citing his ‘bad header’ as the reason for the goal. He also explained that he was ‘unsuccessful on many of his dribble attempts’, which is surely what the stats say.

Wolves’ next engagement in the Premier League is a tough trip against Newcastle United, a few days after their FA Cup clash with Bristol City. It looks like Periera could drop Guedes from the side after his performance against Forest.

If he does drop the winger, he won’t be short of options. Carlos Forbes and Pablo Sarabia are players who could step into that No.10 role, and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde can also pay further afield.

Dropping Guedes would be a bold call considering he has started three of the four games under Pereira so far. However, something has to give after a poor 3-0 defeat to Forest, and perhaps that is the change the new Old Gold boss needs to make.