The 2018/19 season may not stand out much as a great season for Wolves but delve into the stats and you can see a team that was shaping up to be much more than an average, mid-table Premier League side.
The side was being built from the back, with Wolves conceding fewer shots than the league average, and the ones they did having to come from a distance with plenty of bodies in the way. The robust five-man defence never overcommitted in attack, stunting the goal return for the season, but this gave the side a reliable backline for them to build upon the next year.
Their defensive strengths also gave Wolves a route to Europe. Spending some of the 2019/20 season on the road in Europe could be a blessing or a curse for any side, and many felt that Wolverhampton’s small (but tightknit) squad may be overstretched this season.
Instead, Wolves have created a three-man midfield to link their creative strike force with its steely defence and stretched apart European and Premier League sides and the Wolves are on the hunt for a bigger finish to this season’s campaign.
What a Season So Far…
What a season Wolves have had so far! Relish it. Revel in it. Enjoy every minute of it. For too many seasons, the Wolverhampton faithful have had to endure mid-table finishes, relegation battles, relegations and promotions; now they are one of the league’s toughest sides, and one for neutrals to keep their eyes on.
The promise and potential of last season has bloomed into a side that can take on the best the league has to offer, home or away, and has some of Europe’s biggest clubs casting enviable eyes over the team’s style of play (and its players).
After a shaky start to the season, the team seem to have turned a corner and found their rhythm in September; and have not looked back. They’ve taken six points from Manchester City in the league this season. Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City home and away in the league.
The Players to Look Out for This Season (and the Summer)
There have been some amazing team performances from Wolves this season, but some players have stood out from the squad for the level of influence they have had on their teammates and the results. It may be unfair to single out some players for special recognition after the season Wolverhampton have had, be we are going to do it anyway.
- Leander Dendoncker
This Young Belgian had a torrid time for the first half of the season. He kept the bench warm until the end of December, making an almost instant impact on his Premier League debut away to Spurs. He has said he spent his time on the bench studying his teammates and how Wolves play. As such, he has shown himself to be an A* student. He is a player to watch for the rest of the season and will surely have a bigger role to play next year.
- Conor Coady
Lesser men would have spent this season wondering what could have been. The captain of Wolverhampton has been watching his boyhood club, who nurtured him as a young player, finally begin to dominate English football again. But Connor has been too busy dominating the Molineux. The captain has been enjoying his best season by far and has grown into the leader that Wolves were looking for, his cool head calming nerves at the back. Liverpool’s loss has been Wolverhampton’s gain.
- Adama Traore
The Beast from Barca has been playing the best football of his life in a Wolves shirt. After spending countless seasons in the Barcelona reserves, Adama has been given a new lease on life in Wolverhampton. His size is often the first thing people notice, with American Football teams even asking Barcelona about his availability at one point in his career, but it is the pace allied to his powerful frame that has set tongues wagging across Europe. He could be a player that moves on for a big profit in the summer, so make sure you see him now while you still can.
With so much success, tickets for a Wolverhampton Wanderers game are getting harder and harder to find. The next home game is on the March 7.
It’s often difficult to find tickets for matches, so it pays to look online. You can compare ticket prices for Wolves and other teams on Ticket-Compare.com. They search high and low for the best prices for tickets to the biggest sporting events. If you are looking for Wolves, Arsenal, or Brighton tickets, make sure you look here first.
The Right Man, The Right Place, The Right Time
You can’t talk about Wolves today, without talking about Nuno Espirito Santo. The boss has transformed the team since he took over in May 2017. Wolves had spent six seasons outside of the top flight and Nuno seemed to turn them around instantly. His first season began with a Manager of the Month award and ended with the club promoted back to the Premier League with four games to spare.
Since then, Nuno has earned legendary status among the Wolverhampton faithful. Nuno’s Wanderers aren’t just a team that can win games; they win them with style and they win them consistently.
His tactics raised a few eyebrows on the stands of the Molineux at first, but now they look like a revelation. Defensive discipline provides the team with a strong backbone to build from and after spending a season or so finding ways to link a robust defence with creative attackers, he seems to have cracked his midfield conundrum. Now the Wolves squad are a side that can deal with whatever the biggest teams England, and Europe, can throw at them.
There are still plenty of games to play in the 2019/20 season, but Wolves fans can for once look forward to the month of May with confidence. Wolves have been playing some of the best football in the league this season, and look set for a top seven finish. With Manchester City looking at a UEFA ban from European competition next year, you can be forgiven for dreaming of Champion’s League football at the Molineux next year.
