Wolves are back in Premier League action on Wednesday and it’ll be interesting to see if Rodrigo Gomes will keep his starting berth.
Rodrigo has now started the last couple of Premier League matches for Wolves.
Gary O’Neil sprung a real surprise against Fulham, starting Rodrigo as a left winger. It wasn’t a performance where he was massively impactful, but he was energetic and didn’t shirk.
Against Bournemouth, Rodrigo was taken off at half-time and replaced by Craig Dawson, as O’Neil sought to solidify his team.
Some likely wouldn’t mind too much if Rodrigo was actually dropped back to the bench for the game against Everton. But there is an argument here that he should keep his place.
Rodrigo Gomes could shine as a wing-back for Wolves against Everton
Rodrigo Gomes of Wolverhampton Wanderers shows appreciation to the fans after being substituted off during the Premier League match between Fulham ...
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
It might be that O’Neil considers changing Wolves to a back three against Everton, which would mean the use of wing-backs.
Santiago Bueno and Craig Dawson are both fit again after recent injuries, so they could both start and play in a three with Toti. After conceding four goals to Bournemouth, you wouldn’t put it past O’Neil to do this.
Nelson Semedo is suspended and cannot play against Everton, so O’Neil will be forced into a change – and Rodrigo should be a consideration for the Wolves manager.
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Last season, Rodrigo was one of the most exciting young players in Portugal during his loan spell with Estoril.
He played as a right wing-back for the most part, and finished the season having scored nine goals and made eight assists. That is a brilliant return, and shows how dangerous he can be.
Now obviously, Rodrigo is still very much finding his feet in English football.
But the Everton game presents an opportunity for O’Neil to do something he’s not done before, and use Rodrigo as a right wing-back from the start.
It’s a role he’s familiar with, and something that could help him to thrive – and you get the feeling he’s starting to need a really big performance just to settle him down.
Mykolenko could be a weak link for Rodrigo to attack
Like Wolves, Everton have been struggling this season.
The Toffees have conceded 21 goals in the Premier League so far, and have been shaky at the back. They did show signs of improvement recently, but lost 4-0 against Manchester United on Sunday.
That result was interesting, because United played with wing-backs and had real joy.
If he started as a right wing-back, £12.7 million signing Rodrigo would likely come up against Vitalii Mykolenko, and the Ukraine international really struggled on Sunday.
The Liverpool Echo rated him 3/10, and said of him: “Hopelessly out of position on far too many occasions.
“He unfortunately endured a personal nightmare on a day of collective woes, it seems inexplicable that he had drifted so far forward into a central area just seconds after the restart as United found Amad in acres of space to pick out Rashford for the third goal.
“Then it was his back pass towards Tarkowski that gifted a fourth, the closest he got to the Ivory Coast international was getting booked for hauling him down shortly before the break.”
Wolves should seek to follow the United blueprint and set up with wing-backs on Wednesday, and it would be really good to see Rodrigo given a chance ahead of Matt Doherty.
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