“Those were the days my friend
We thought they would never end
We’d sing and dance
For ever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we’re the Wolves
Oh yes we are the Wolves”
After a horrible season in 2011-12 where Wolverhampton Wanderers finished bottom of the English Premier League and were consequently relegated , Wolves have come back strong, won the Championship and been promoted to the Premier League for the 2018-19 season. With about a dozen games still left to play , a top half finish looks well on the cards for Wolves. There’s a certain distinction between Wolverhampton Wanderers and the other promoted sides. Wolves just don’t play football like the other promoted teams or the relegation strugglers. Their brand of football is like any of the top sides of the league and much of this can be attributed to their manager , Nuno. Their footballing style has also produced some results to remember with victories against Chelsea , Everton , Spurs and draws against Manchester United , City , Arsenal.
Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo, known simply as Nuno as a player, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Deportivo, Dynamo Moscow, FC Porto – Nuno Espirito Santo’s playing career involved renowned clubs, but his gametime was very limited. He mainly served as a backup to the first team goalkeepers in the clubs, the experience of which helped him view the game as a manager now. At the age of forty-four, Nuno took the Wolves to the top flight of English football, the Premier League, in what was only his sixth season as a football manager. Although his managerial stint isn’t very long, he already has accomplished plenty, taking advantage of everything he had learned from those with whom he had worked in his playing career. He has won the UEFA Champions League under Jose Mourinho; he is still inspired by the pure belief instilled by the Special One upon his players. While from a tactical point of view, Professor Jesualdo Ferreira was his mentor. Nuno was a part of the technical staff at Malaga and Panathinaikos and he often mentions Ferreira’s influence on his thinking towards football. “With him I understood that it isn’t just about the relationship between 11 players but about triangle connections, both in attack and defence. Everything in the game is based upon triangles, and how positionally balanced they are.”
His ability to adapt to different scenarios has helped him to rise to different challenges everywhere he has been. Instead of being married to a certain footballing style or formation, he has kept general principles throughout while adapting and improving his approach to the game with the players he has had available. At Rio Ave, he lead the club to its first Europa League campaign followed by two cup finals in the following season, through a counter-attacking football style that benefitted their pacy wingers and took advantage of Jan Oblak’s talent in goal. His move to Valencia forced him to adopt a more dominant approach. Even after that, he kept on experimenting different styles and formations. Lining up in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 for the most part, he also used 3-5-2 at times-memorably in a 2-1 home win against Real Madrid. Against a team such as Real Madrid, they could disrupt play using a man-marking scheme and still take advantage of space to counter attack quickly. After a season with FC Porto in 2016-17 campaign, he took over the charge of Wolves as a manager.
He immediately reconnected with intense, quick passing football. The renowned Wolves 3-4-3 haven’t been used before by Nuno, but we see a replication of a lot of previous ideas in this renovated scheme. He, then had a dream run promoting Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Premier League. They won the SkyBet EFL Championship as they drew with Sheffield Wednesday. Flags were laid out on every seat, waved with gusto as the champions entered the arena. Sheffield Wednesday’s players formed a respectful guard of honour. The fireworks and pitch side flame-burners did their thing. ‘Nuno had a dream…’ rolled out of the mouths of the joyous hordes as all four stands of this famous theatre acclaimed the Championship title-winners. It was a promotion party, and it was special. Triumphs through the end-of- season lottery are always special. The shindig that followed a glorious afternoon at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff ended a generation of hurt, emotions truly flowing over. . This time over , it just feels different. Those that make a difference, such as Diego Jota – on loan from Atletico Madrid – and Ruben Neves, signed for £15.8million from Porto, have added the gloss. The final line of ‘Nuno’s dream’ ends with the words: ‘We’re Wolverhampton; we’re on our way back.’
Here are some of the key players of Nuno’s class of 17-18 who have been instrumental in the brilliant performance that Wolves has been putting up over the last few years :
Matt Doherty : The versatile Irish fullback can play on both sides of the defence. Also, he has played more than ably as a wingback whenever Wolves has fielded a back three. Doherty has been a constant in the Wolves defence. He isn’t afraid to step forward and help the team attack , as his well documented by the number of goal contributions he has per season. Over the last 2 seasons in the Championship , he had recorded 8 goal contributions ( 4 goals and 4 assists) . This season , so far , he has been involved in 7 goals. He surely can reach his season best statistics and even surpass that. His impressive performances have seen him push Seamus Coleman to the limits as the two battle it out for Ireland’s fullback positions.
Willy Boly : The French centre back has been a rock for Wolves. He has formed a solid partnership with Conor Coady at the heart of the defence. He came to Wolves only last season and has so far won many plaudits in English football. Very strong in tackles , he also has an uncanny habit of getting at the end of the crosses in the opposition’s penalty box and score a goal or two.
Conor Coady : He’s the ideal partner of Boly at the back. He is calm with the ball at his feet and likes playing out from the back. He holds the distinguished tag of never being at fault directly for an error leading to a goal. Coady hasn’t been as prolific in terms of scoring goals as he was at Huddersfield. But he isn’t in the Wolves side to score. He provides the much needed stability in the Wolves’ defence. In fact Wolves have won 12 of the 26 matches this season where he has fatured.
Ruben Neves : The Portugese central midfielder has been at the heart of most good things for Wolves. He was phenomenal in the Championship and already has a lot of big European clubs keeping tabs on him. His vicious long shots end up more at the end of the net than not. Or at least , force the goalkeepers to stunning saves. Neves , though , hasn’t quite made the impact in the Premier League that everyone hoped for. However , he’s still young and has plenty of time to build up his game. Come summer and some of England’s elite clubs might come knocking at Wolves’ door who surely face an uphill task to keep hold of the Portugese.
Diogo Jota : Another one of the Portugese here at Wolves. He has the pace to beat his man and often links up well with Jimenez . Only 2 Portugese players at the age of 22 had scored hattricks in the English Premier League. One is Cristiano Ronaldo. The other one’s Jota.
Adama Traore : The 23 year old speedster was much hyped about at the start of the season. This lad has frightening pace and it’s difficult to stop him with his tricks and flicks . However , the Spain U-21 international hasn’t started as many games as he would have liked and has been used by Nuno more as a substitute coming off the bench in the last few minutes of the match. Going into the final lap of the season , he would surely like to get a few more goals and assists to his name.
The promise of Premier League football saw Wolves sign a host of excellent players during the summer transfer window. And most of them have hit the ground running.
Raul Jimenez : The Mexican forward is on loan from Benfica and has already impressed in his debut season with Wolves. The Mexican number 9 played a pivotal role in Mexico’s impressive World Cup run , which saw them defeat the defending champions , Germany. In his first season in English football , he has already found the back of the net 9 times and assisted 5 times. He’s the perfect targetman for Wolves , who can hold the ball up while the likes of Jota and Costa make the forward runs down the wings.
Joao Moutinho : He provides the much needed creativity in the Wolves’ attack. Marshalling the midfield along with Neves , the former has already recorded 7 assists this season. And his goal at Old Trafford saw Wolves pull off a famous draw against Manchester United. The duo of Neves and Moutinho has been touted by experts as ‘ Portugal’s future and Portugal’s present‘.
Rui Patricio : Coming off another impressive stint for Portugal in the World Cup , this man has pulled off spectacular saves at the right time. He has already managed 6 clean sheets this season. He is a top , top keeper with outstanding reflex and agility. He has saved goals at crucial moments in big matches for Wolves. Also , his distribution from the back finds Jimenez or Jota or Costa more often than not , setting Wolves off on regular counter attacks.
Wolves currently sit at seventh in the table and the only 6 ahead of them are the ‘big six‘ of English football. Their position on the table tells you what kind of a season they are having. Straight out of the Championship to securing a top half finish in the table. What an achievement it will be for Nuno. But the real challenge lies ahead. Wolves will definitely struggle to keep hold of some of their star players as some of the European giants decide to splash money in the summer transfer window. Wolves , surely are a side who are capable of beating any team on their day and they do deserve a consistent run in the Premier League.
– Chirag Somaddar and Sayan Chakraborti
The Sport Catalogue 