Wolves were knocked out of the Europa league quarter final after losing 1-0 to Sevilla thanks to a Lucas Ocampos header in the 87th minute. Wolves started brighter in their 5-3-2 formation with Raúl Jiminéz missing a penalty in the first half after an incredible run by Adama Traoré. After the missed penalty, Wolves sat back and seemed to accept the game going to extra time with Sevilla dominating the ball and created the better chances, playing a 4-3-3 formation.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for their level, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Jules Koundé
Player Profile:
- Nationality: French
- Age: 21
- Date of Birth: 12/11/1998
- Current Club: Sevilla
- Career: Bordeaux, Sevilla
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Koundé had a relatively quiet game defensively as Sevilla dominated possession, but what he had to do he did well. Koundé is only 6 ft tall however he didn’t struggle aerially wise, winning several headers, including a nice headed pass. Koundé was also a threat at set pieces and should have scored from a free header
Defensively, Koundé’s approach to marking Jiminéz was very good. He was physical when needed to be, not allowing Jiminéz to have an easy touch and limiting his options when he received the ball to feet. However, Koundé was caught too tight on one occasion when Jiminéz let the ball run when receiving a pass and Koundé was sold the dummy and Jiminéz was away – but Koundé swiftly recovered showing great recovery pace and won the ball back cleanly. Koundé also had a lapse in concentration from a long free kick when he lost Jiminéz who made a run in behind the Sevilla defence. Moreover, Koundé was lacking awareness again when he was comfortably getting to a loose ball before Adama Traoré stepped in and got to the ball before him, although you could argue this was down to Traore’s pace rather than a fault of Koundé’s.
Koundé seemed very calm, composed, and competent on the ball throughout the game. His teammates trusted him with the ball and were not afraid to pass to him even with an attacker lurking. However, Koundé’s range of passing was limited, as all but two of his passes were across the floor and they were often short-range passes to his centre-back partner or the right back which you can see from his pass map below. The switch of play was on throughout the match so maybe he’s not very confident playing longer balls.
Overall, Koundé performed well and didn’t make that many errors. Although I do have concerns if he does come up against a more physical and faster striker. His lack of range of passing isn’t as good as other top-class centre-backs either.
Rating – A2
Sergio Reguilón
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 23
- Date of Birth: 16/12/1996
- Current Club: Sevilla, on loan from Real Madrid
- Career: Real Madrid, Logrones (L), Sevilla (L)
- Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Reguilón operated well on the left hand side which was Sevilla’s strongest flank, so Reguillón saw a lot of the ball especially in the first half. When Reguillón received the ball, he always looked up and tried to play forward, whether this was a cross or a pass down the line. Due to the lack of movement up front for Sevilla, Reguillón often made simple passes down the line to Lucas Ocampos or passed the ball inside to Éver Banega who controlled the game for Sevilla.
Reguillón’s crossing was quite mixed, his first cross was very wayward and overhit, however as he and Sevilla grew into the game this improved. Reguillón hit a lovely low-driven cross from a bouncing ball between the Wolves defence and goalkeeper and he followed this up with another driven cross at head height, showing a great variety in his crossing which could have turned into an assist had Sevilla had a better striker on the pitch.
Reguillón seemed very comfortable on the ball, showcasing great touches when receiving a switch of play and was able to dribble the ball into space when necessary. It would have been nice to see him make more overlapping or underlapping runs down the left-hand side, but this was made difficult due to the closed nature of the game.
Reguillón had next to nothing to do defensively as Traore played more centrally so never ran at Reguillón, I would have to watch more of Reguillón and his defensive capabilities to make a more rounded judgement, but from what I’ve seen his attacking and technical ability is good enough to play at the highest level.
Rating – A2
Youssef En-Nesyri
Player Profile
- Nationality: Moroccon
- Age: 23
- Date of Birth: 01/06/1997
- Current Club: Sevilla
- Career: Malaga, Leganes, Sevilla
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Either
En-Nesyri was always a presence up front, standing at 6 ft 2 in a slim frame. His height was advantageous from set pieces as he was always the target man, although he should have scored from a free header from a corner. He started the game very quiet but steadily grew into it. His lack of movement was concerning, especially when the ball was out wide, he didn’t make any runs and it needed to be a pinpoint cross to find him; when he did get on the end of cross it was extremely hard for him to get a good header away as he was stood still in the box.
En-Nesyri preferred making runs in behind when Sevilla had the ball in central areas, however he lacked the service at times. En-Nesyri had two shooting opportunities in the first half, both were poorly struck. He blazed his first effort over and then dragged his second effort very wide, both were on his left foot and I was surprised to see his strongest foot labelled as ‘both’ as I expected his left foot to be his weaker foot from these poor efforts. He did create a chance out of nothing in the second half when he got a few ricochets in a tight area, he had good control and got a shot away.
One promising aspect of En-Nesyri’s game was his defensive efforts. He chased back Wolves defenders constantly when they were dribbling the ball out of defence and when Wolves were on the counterattack several; although he was often too slow to make a tackle.
Overall, En-Nesyri didn’t do enough to try and effect the game. His shooting technique was rash and poor although his work ethic was impressive, but not up to a standard competing for top four or the Europa League – his standard is most likely mid table / bottom half club.
Rating – D