You do not need to have watched much of Wolves this season, if any, to know that goals have been in alarmingly short supply. One look at the Premier League table tells you everything that you need to know.
Upon reaching a mid-season break, the men from Molineux had found the target on just eight occasions through 15 top-flight fixtures – while shipping 24 at the opposite end of the field and collecting only 10 points. Firepower has, rather, unfortunately, been thin on the ground in the West Midlands.
Restricted
?? @Raul_Jimenez9 ?? pic.twitter.com/n6n9aulK7u
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 1, 2022
That is due in part to the fact that Raul Jimenez has been restricted to just 211 minutes of action across three appearances. There is every chance that the Mexico international will see more games with his country over the coming weeks, as El Tri sits at 90/1 in World Cup winner odds than he has done at the club level in 2022-23.
Given his track record in England, with 55 efforts recorded for Wolves through 150 appearances, enforced absences have become a source of concern. There is, of course, nothing that can be done about untimely injuries being picked up. Wolves, though, have been eager to point out to their talismanic No.9 where his allegiances should lie in what has already become a frustrating campaign for all concerned.
Within a matter of days of becoming the new man in charge of the Premier League’s bottom club, Julen Lopetegui had said of a player that he will be looking to lean heavily on over the coming months: “He hasn’t played for Wolves for a long time. We need him at his best and I hope he will come back this way. The most important thing is not the World Cup. It’s Wolves. We have to defend our aims. I have respect for his situation and for Mexico but my focus is Wolves.”
Lopetegui makes a good and very valid point, with it those at Molineux – not in Central America – that pay Jimenez’s wages. It does, however, appear as though he is destined to fight a losing battle.
While domestic matters would be the top priority for any player in a perfect world, the chance to grace a global gathering in Qatar – with such events only coming along every four years – is too good to pass up for those that are unsure as to how many more opportunities they will get to perform on that stage.
Commitment
Raul Jimenez with an early contender for celebration of the season ???? pic.twitter.com/Pe9IJcvqpg
— GOAL (@goal) August 23, 2022
Jimenez’s commitment to the cause at Wolves should not be called into question, he has after all put his body on the line for the good of a collective effort on several occasions across three-and-a-half years in England. Instead, benefits from heading to the Middle East should be sought.
Rather than having to work his way back to full fitness and sharpness in pursuit of precious Premier League points, where there is little margin for error, he can work on getting up to full speed with Mexico. That is going to be the case regardless, so it may as well be accepted, with Lopetegui’s pleas forever destined to fall on deaf ears.
