Express & Star reporter Nathan Judah has implored Wolves interim managers Steve Davis and James Collins to drop Portugal forward Gonçalo Guedes for their upcoming Premier League clash this weekend.
The reporter was speaking on the E&S Wolves Podcast ahead of the bottom-of-the-table meeting on Saturday.
Guedes signed for Wolves from Valencia in the summer for a fee of £27.5m, but has struggled to hit the ground running in the Premier League.
He has so far produced a solitary assist with no goals in England’s top flight, suggesting that the club are not getting value for money out of the 25-year-old at this moment in time.
Guedes’ first-half performance for Wolves in last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Chelsea saw him substituted at half-time, and Judah was left enraged by the former Paris Saint-Germain forward’s lack of effort.
He said: “If I’ve got to win a game, I’ll tell you one thing – I’m not picking Gonçalo Guedes 100% at this moment in time.
“His attitude, his body language, walking on the pitch, walking when defending, walking when attacking, did not look bothered, arguing with João Moutinho, shaking his head.
“I mean, he was lucky to stay on for 45 minutes, to be honest. And I hope he’s dropped on Saturday and on the bench to teach him a lesson.”
TIF Thoughts on Judah’s comments…
Whilst we can see why Judah would be frustrated with Guedes’ performances and lack of output, we believe Wolves don’t really have the squad depth in attack to be able to drop him, especially following Pedro Neto’s ankle injury which has ruled him out for the World Cup.
The most likely option to replace the 31-time Portugal international could be Hwang Hee-chan, who himself has been out of form for a number of months at Molineux.
Therefore, unless the interim managers opt for a change in style and formation, we can’t foresee a scenario in which Guedes does not start in Saturday’s crucial clash at Molineux.