It wasn’t that bad.
Wolves more than had their say in the match and did plenty of good things.
There are two concerns though.
The first is how easily and how often we were opened up. Celtic could have been out of sight in the opening 10 minutes and created clear openings throughout. If we don’t fix up, it’s going to be a long old evening at Old Trafford in that season opener.
Lemina gave the ball away for the first goal and I’m not sure I’d trust his partnership with Hodge to see us through if that’s the way Julen Lopetegui is leaning. Where was João Gomes? His lack of minutes is a concern this close to the start of the season. Whether it’s him or Boubacar Traore, I think we need another body in that midfield for the tougher assignments.
My other worry is at the opposite end where I don’t see much change in our attacking output. It still looks fiddly, over complicated and lacking any sort of focal point. Matheus Cunha is a good player but he’s not a good number 9. As soon as Fabio came on and he was operating deeper, both his individual performance and that of the team improved. He did tuck home the penalty with confidence and force a fine save from Joe Hart as well as missing a couple of very presentable chances, so you can’t accuse him of hiding. I just think he needs to be playing with someone to be effective.
Much like Gomes in midfield, I’d hoped to see a lot more of Sasa Kalajdzik by this point but I understand the reasons for managing his output.
Semedo was tidy and got through a lot of good work but it was telling that we looked way more decisive in forward positions when Doherty entered the game. He just attacks the box in a way Nelson is sadly incapable. The end result? Winning a penalty and earning us a draw. Nobody can tell me Doc isn’t a good acquisition on a free, particularly in our precarious position.
Nunes, Neto and Sarabia all delighted and frustrated in almost equal measure but I can’t help but feel they too suffer without the rock solid presence of a bonafide number 9, someone they can look up and hit when they escape the tackles.
Without that, we’re probably in for more of the same as regards the old Goals For column.