The Joe Edwards debrief - Everton 3 Wolves 2

It is not all doom and gloom as the season is young, and Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have made it to the Europa League group stage, but there is no hiding from the fact that this was a poor performance.

Boly blunder

Boly has mainly been a breath of fresh air since arriving at Wolves from Porto.

A mountain of a man who possesses exceptional strength and a decent turn of pace, as well as being confident with the ball at his feet, not many have got the better of him in his time at Molineux.

Richarlison toyed with him at Goodison though, always drifting inside from the right flank.

The Brazilian had so much joy that he scored two goals – even beating Boly in the air for the winner. And Boly responded by hacking him down for a second yellow card, after the first one was for another foul on – you guessed it – Richarlison.

It was everything we do not expect from Boly.

Rash challenges, letting his man get a head on the ball, it is stuff we have rarely seen from him.

Wolves would love to get a win under their belt against Chelsea after the international break, but Boly, who has grabbed the spotlight on big occasions in the past, will have to sit out through suspension.

Nuno said he was not upset with Boly for his red card, but like the rest of us, he’ll be very surprised by it.

Reckless Ruben

Boly, though, was not alone in being well below par.

Vinagre is a player with so much promise – and plenty wanted him to impress after being given the nod ahead of Otto.

The Spaniard will surely be back in the starting XI for the Chelsea game, though.

Vinagre’s very threatening when on the front foot.

Although not quite as quick as Traore on the other side, he can leave defenders for dead with his speed and his deliveries into the box, while still a bit hit and miss, have improved.

His work to beat Coleman and get a cross over to Cutrone, whose effort was blocked by Keane, was a clear example of his attacking qualities. But, on a number of occasions at Everton, he completely abandoned the defensive side of the game.

Bursting forward and trying to make things happen, he regularly lost the ball and found himself furthest up the pitch for Wolves as the Toffees sprung a counter-attack.

It appears having him on the left, while Traore is on the right, leaves Nuno’s side too open defensively. Vinagre, with the European journey extended, will still play plenty of football this season. Hopefully, he will not be so reckless in the future.

The Europa effect

Less than 72 hours split Wolves’ win over Torino and this loss to Everton.

And Wolves looked off the pace at Goodison – but not physically.

It is is the mental toll, the lack of time on the training pitch and ability to prepare for the next game, which is a bit of a worry.

As Nuno remarked afterwards, Everton are an impressive outfit with a vast array of talented players.

And Wolves barely had time to switch their focus from the excitement of progressing in the Europa League, to the Toffees

Let’s hope they can find a way around the time constraints.

Patrick’s performance

Making his full Wolves league debut was Cutrone, and he was one of the few who could come out with some credit.

The Italian will chase balls all day long and has a touch of class about him to boot.

And had it not been for some top work from Keane and Pickford, he would have come away with a couple of goals to his name.

Cutrone and Jimenez were not always on the same wave-length, but this was their first time playing together in the league, so that is to be expected.

There were some promising signs from the former AC Milan man, albeit with things to work on too.

You just hope he does not have to wait too long to open his Wolves account.

The upcoming Reading game in the League Cup is a realistic opportunity for him to get off the mark. At the moment, he perhaps is trying a little bit too hard to find the net.

Once he does get that first one, you sense Cutrone will play with more freedom and his quality will properly shine through.

The next test

Going into the international break with three draws and a loss is disappointing, no doubt about it.

But this time off could do Wolves the world of good.

After all, with the Europa League on top, Wolves are already 10 games into the season – and let’s not forget the pre-season trip to China for the Asia Trophy.

While several are heading out to represent their countries, Coady and Bennett, who were poor here, are among those who have have the chance to recharge their batteries.

Returning to league action against Chelsea in just under a fortnight is a tough test, of course, but the Blues are not the force they once were.

They are in a transitional period amidst a transfer embargo and under fresh-faced manager Frank Lampard, who has a lot of inexperienced players, and have been conceding goals at a regular rate.

Wolves beat them at Molineux last season too, so why not do it again as the ground celebrates its 130-year anniversary?

Nuno’s side have a history of doing the business when taking on such sides at home – Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal were beaten at Molineux last term as well, while Wolves enjoyed a draw against Manchester City.

Four games in, it has been underwhelming. But the players still believe in themselves.

Summing up the loss to Everton, Bennett said: “That’s our first defeat since the start of pre-season, we don’t want to dwell on things too much, we know it wasn’t our best performance, but we’ll be back.”