Wolves Ratings v Birmingham City

Wolves’ draw with Birmingham City is assessed with blunt player ratings, frustration at defensive errors, and a warning that missed chances are becoming costly given how many goals are being conceded.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Ratings v Birmingham City

2nd away game in the week. 2nd game when the performance was very disappointing, but 2nd game in the week that could easily have been won.

Fortunately Birmingham were not as good as West Ham United and so despite another shocker from the defence a draw was obtained. However, it should also be noted that given how awful the defence is, the side simply cannot afford to miss simple chances.

If the team needs to score 3, 4 or 5 to win games - and that is not as daft a statement as it certainly should be - then gilt-edged chances like the ones missed by Gomes and Armstrong have to be taken.

Ratings

Sa - 5 Better than against WHU, especially on crosses, although this is still an area that the defence still needs to improve on. However, another 2 goals conceded and he gives very little confidence that the rate at which goals are being conceded will change. The first was hit with massive power and from close range but it virtually hit him.

Could he have done a little more? Probably harsh, but every now and again you'd want him to save one he shouldn't to make up for letting in ones he shouldn't. For the second, his position was quite far up but probably because he was expecting the ball to be headed back to him and needed to be up to help Jackson. However, even given the fact that he can't use his hands from a back pass, he surely could have done more to stop it going in - tried to head it away - rather than seemingly just watch it bounce past him? All in all, he probably can't be blamed for either of the goals but I want more than that from my goalie.

Jackson - 3 I don't want to pile in and vilify him - I feel guilty about being one of the first to call out Toti and he has since become virtually unselectable due to fans' (over)reaction to him - but he had a very bad day at the office. At WHU his pace helped in both directions. Today his passing, touch and awareness was so bad that nothing could disguise the fact that he is simply not very good.

Djiga - 6 Did ok but is getting more praise because he is not Jackson or Toti. Needs to be more dominant in the air but at the moment is far from the biggest problem in the team.

Krejci - 7 Calm in possession and defended well despite both full backs struggling to close down the Birmingham wide-men. Took his goal really well! Surely will now be one of first names on team sheet!

Bueno - 5 Needs to do more to defuse the danger down his wing but had the odd moment going forwards.

Andre - 6 Maybe could have got closer to the goalscorer for their first goal but again breaks up play, wins tackles - this time the "penalty" was a great tackle - and passes well. It will be interesting to see how he gets on when James starts and his partner is both more disciplined and technically better.

Munetsi - 5 Isn't involved enough offensively, possibly due to his poor positional awareness and possibly due to his technical limitations, and although he works hard and is very committed, his positional discipline means he is relatively easy to play around. Decent athlete but at this level - let alone the Premier League - that is not enough.

Gomes - 6 Works hard and his pace is a real weapon. However, missed a golden chance and probably needs to do more to cement his place.

Lopez - 7 V good going forward and did his share of the dirty work defensively. A massive and most certainly needed boost to the squad. The side is worryingly reliant on him at the moment.

Armstrong - 5 Wasn't heavily involved but really should have won the game when he missed an absolute sitter at the end.

Jimenez - 5 Hard to be too harsh as in the second half Wolves were overrun so naturally he disappeared, but for me he is still not fully up to speed (or more worryingly this is his speed, in which case it is a problem).

Subs

Mane - 5 Failed to get into the game, albeit at a time when Wolves were under the cosh.

James - 5 As above.

Doyle - 6 Contributed well to the defensive effort and retained possession far better than most. His lack of pace and physicality, especially cf Munetsi, may be blinding me (and far more relevantly the Wolves manager) to his quality?

Neave - n/a

Slow Traore - n/a

Overall a worryingly poor performance, especially in the 2nd half. Trippier is still weeks away and other than James the options available to the manager currently look limited.

Wolves need Raul to step up and start holding the ball up better, enabling Wolves to both gain greater control and score even more regularly - which given the defence is sadly needed.

Written by thefutureisoldgold3 September 7 2026 10:51:49