Speaking recently on The Molineux View podcast, Tim Spiers criticised Adama Traore’s performance in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ fixture against Southampton on Monday.
Since arriving at Wolves from Middlesbrough in what was an £18 million deal back in 2018, Traore has gone on to feature 100 times for the club, scoring seven goals and providing 15 assists along the way.
Last season, the £36 million-rated 24-year-old highly impressed for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side over his 37 appearances in the Premier League, scoring four goals and providing nine assists, averaging a WhoScored match rating of 7.49 – ranking him as the club’s best performer in the top flight.
However, so far this season, the winger is yet to score or provide an assist over his nine Premier League appearances, while averaging a slightly less impressive, but still admirable, WhoScored match rating of 6.83 – ranking him as the club’s eighth-best performer in the league.
And, following Wolves’ 1-1 draw with Southampton on Monday, Spiers, who was speaking on The Molineux View podcast, took aim at the winger for his display.
He said: “[His performance] harked back to his first season at Wolves. He saw a lot of the ball, a lot of running, but no end product at all; I thought his final ball was really, really poor. Even the ones that he found teammates with were often too heavy, the pass was too heavy.
“[There was] a break early in the second half where [Raul] Jimenez was free at the back post and you could hear him screaming for the ball, Jimenez. ‘Adama!’ he says, and then Adama stuck the ball over the bar, straight behind for a goal kick.
“So, he didn’t shout and put his arm up and say, ‘Pick me again, Nuno, for the next game’. And, you know, [Daniel] Podence did okay, and [Pedro] Neto came on and made such a difference that I think Traore may not start next game.”
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TIF Thoughts on Tim Spiers’ comments regarding Adama Traore…
From Spiers’ comments, it is obvious that the journalist was not impressed with Traore’s performance in the Southampton game, however, the winger’s statistics from the fixture appear to tell a rather different story.
Over his time on the pitch, the winger hit the target with a shot once, made one key pass, won three aerial duels, and had a pass accuracy of 81.3% – culminating in a WhoScored match rating of 7.73 – ranking him as the second-best player on the pitch.
As such, while Spiers was evidently not impressed with Traore’s display, the winger was, at least statistically, Wolves’ best player in the match.