42 Season Preview 2019-20 FourFourTwoWOLVERHAMPTOn RS
Acrossa decadeanda half,Wolves’fivePremier
League finishes were 20th, 15th, 17th, 20th...
and 7th. The last of these came in 2018-19 – the
highest position of any newly promoted Premier
League club since 5th-placed Ipswich in 2000-01.
No wonder Molineux feels different these days.
The way Wolves qualified for European competition
made the nation sit up and take notice. It wasn’t just
about results; Nuno Espirito Santo’s easy-on-the-eye
playing style tested the very best. You don’t win six
games against the ‘Big Six’ in all competitions within
a single season without implementing an identity first.CAn WOLVES AVOID THE DREADED
SECOnD-SEASOn SYnDROME?
PREMIER LEAGUE
2019-20
Every player is comfortable on the ball. Wolves build
from the back, then switch play and catch opponents
cold with sweeping long passes from centre-halves
Ryan Bennett, Conor Coady and Willy Boly out to the
wing-backs, Matt Doherty and Jonny. Doherty – the
club’s longest-serving player, having joined in 2010 for
£70,000 – was a revelation last season, contributing
eight goals and eight assists in the league and FA Cup.
In midfield, Portugal internationals Ruben Neves and
Joao Moutinho, who at £5m was one of the season’s
best buys, keep the ball, provide a platform and feed
the forwards, Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez.
And yet... concerns about a second-season slump
do have merit. The squad is small. Just 17 outfieldplayers touched the ball for Wolves in the 2018-19
Premier League season. That’s how Nuno likes it, but
the investment is there for him to use – and Wolves,
who have genuine quality that’s the envy of some
bigger clubs, are an increasingly attractive proposition
to top players. With the Europa League bringing extra
matches and a mentally draining Thursday-Sunday
schedule, Nuno needs more options available to him.
For one thing, even Wanderers’ superb fitness and
conditioning team may struggle to keep the stellar
starting XI injury-free for a second year running. No
team was fitter in 2018-19: while Manchester United
racked up 61 individual injuries with a total of 1,392
days lost to the treatment room, Wolves suffered just
five injuries, with 88 days lost. With the best will in the
world, that incredible record is unlikely to be repeated.
Using the academy will help. Fortunately, Under-17
World Cup winner Morgan Gibbs-White is the tip of
the iceberg – Wolves’ under-23s just won Premier
League 2 Division 2. Acclimatisation is required, but
the return of big European nights to Molineux doesn’t
have to mean a domestic tumble down the table.LAST SEASON
PREMIER LEAGUE 7th
FA CUP Semi-Finals
LEAGUE CUP Third Round
TOP SCORER
Raul Jimenez (17)