It was a bad night at the office for Wolves against Bournemouth as they lost 1-0 – and Andy Thompson and Lee Naylor were left very disappointed by one player in particular on the night.
Wolves fell to a narrow defeat in the end, but in truth Bournemouth could have really put Wolves to the sword in the first-half.
They looked dangerous every time they came forward, and Jose Sa managed to keep Wanderers in the contest with some great saves.
Wolves were very disjointed and never got a foothold in the game, and lots of players had off nights.
And one man who came in for a fair amount of criticism on social media was Pablo Sarabia. The Spaniard’s form seems to have fallen off a cliff lately and it was another tough night for him on Wednesday.
Both Andy Thompson and Lee Naylor were left pretty disappointed by his showing…
Andy Thompson and Lee Naylor criticise Pablo Sarabia after his performance for Wolves against Bournemouth
Sarabia was rested against Arsenal last weekend, with O’Neil clearly hoping that would benefit him against Bournemouth. The same with Mario Lemina.
Sarabia was back starting against the Cherries, but it really was a dreadful performance from him.
The 31-year-old lost the ball no less than 17 times in last night’s game, and he didn’t complete a single successful dribble. He also won just 4/14 duels.
Sarabia just appeared to be on his heels a lot, and was nowhere near his creative best like he was a couple of months ago. You could feel the crowd growing frustrated as he continued to make mistakes.
For some on social media, Sarabia didn’t really show any kind of hunger to atone when he did make a mistake.
Naylor said of him on Matchday Live Extra: “He had probably the worst game out of everyone.”
Thompson added: “He’ll look back and probably won’t want to see it again. Look, it was just one of those nights. Nothing came off, nothing worked for him. He couldn’t keep control of that ball for us.
Naylor then said: “Put it this way, if he was 20 or 21, he could have been dragged (off) during the first-half. I think just because he’s a senior pro, he kept him on.”
Thompson: “You could see the frustration from him. He was kicking things, pulling his shirt, putting his head in it, he’s come off and kicked the seat. It was just one of those days, it just didn’t work for him. And look, he wasn’t on his own.”
Sarabia must rediscover mojo for Wolves
Sarabia is not in a good moment right now, having been in fine fettle only a couple of months ago.
The Spaniard responded really well to getting a run in the team at the back end of last year. But just lately he has faded quite a lot, and his display against Bournemouth was very poor.
Sarabia is not a high-octane player like Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan or Pedro Neto, and sometimes it comes off as though he’s disinterested.
That is obviously not the case, but his languid style can be a little frustrating at times, and his cause is not helped by the fact he is the highest-paid player at the club. Fans therefore expect a lot, from a very experienced international player.
He has the potential to be a game-changer for Wolves with his creativity, and he must rediscover his mojo in these final weeks of the season to help his side finish as strongly as possible.