Wolves blog: Let the good times roll
Six goals for Wolves in their last three matches, and a maximum points return - Wolves have had a fruitful advent calendar so far this month...writes Wolves blogger Tom Tracey.
After the return of Nightmare November, Wolves are sitting seventh (!) in the Premier League table, with one final game left to play before Christmas.
On paper, Bournemouth represented a sticky challenge, despite their run of bad form before the match on Saturday.
Eddie Howe’s men have been in the top half all season, but like Wolves until recently, had lost five of their last six games.
They have built a decent squad, and many people have a soft spot for Bournemouth. Many do, but Wolves fans, on the other hand, probably don’t have as much reason to feel that way, given some of the decisions and results in recent match-ups against the Cherries.
Bournemouth dominated the ball, but Wolves looked very comfortable defending against them. Rui Patricio had a few bits to do and he did well considering the slippery surface, but his kicking leaves a lot to be desired.
Ryan Bennett managed another crowd-pleasing slide tackle which look even better in awful wintery conditions. He was superb, playing his part in the first clean sheet in over two months, and deserves his new deal without a shadow of a doubt.
Another goal for Raul Jimenez puts him on ten total goals and assists. He can play parts of the match out wide, and is the focal point through the middle - he really is vital to this team, and if Jeff Shi and co are able to find an improvement on Jimenez in January, this squad will be extremely strong.
It is great to see Diogo Jota back to his high standards. It was gutting to see him go off injured, as his confidence appears to have returned. His fellow wideman Helder Costa might just need the same turning point as Jota, a goal to go in, and his confidence could return.
Despite a poor game, Costa still registered another assist with a perfectly-weighted through ball to the storming Ivan Cavaleiro in the 95th minute.
In midfield, Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho were better than they have been for a while, and with Romain Saiss and Morgan Gibbs-White playing well too, the midfield is looking promising at the moment.
You wouldn’t have guessed a few months ago that Wolves’ four wingers would be leapfrogged by Gibbs-White, but playing him allows Wolves to adapt to a 3-4-1-2, a subtle change to Nuno’s tactics which appears to counter the issues we had against three-man midfields in recent weeks.
Saiss and Ruben Vinagre were very unlucky to be dropped after the last match, but Nuno is utilising what is a fairly small squad well now, and everyone has a part to play.
The substitutions made in the last few games have really affected the play, which is great to see as this was an area Nuno was arguably underperforming in.
Wolves have already amassed the same amount of points as their last Premier League campaign in 21 matches less. We are on course for around 56 points at the moment, which would have been enough for seventh last season.
You can get odds as high as 5/1 for Wolves to beat Liverpool on Friday night. A game against top of the league on a Friday night before Christmas at Molineux - this is what you relish.
Wolves will have no fear in a game against one of the big clubs. Only Spurs have managed to beat Wolves of the six teams above us.
Storm Deirdre may have battered fans at Molineux on Saturday, but Storm Nuno is taking hold in the Premier League. Roll on Friday.
