Comment: Tight pack can work to Wolves’ benefit
Nuno Espirito Santo has made a conscious decision to have a small Wolves squad – and it makes a lot of sense.
He insists having 16 senior outfield players is a help, not a hindrance and when you think about it, the positives of having a tight-knit group outweigh the negatives.
The obvious drawback is that if a key Wolves player picks up an injury, especially Raul Jimenez now back-up striker Leo Bonatini has gone, there are not many options – or not a single out-and-out one in the case – in reserve.
But now Bonatini and centre-half Kortney Hause have been sent out on loan to Nottingham Forest and Villa respectively, there is nobody in the first-team squad who is merely making up the numbers.
Everyone is playing a part, nobody is kicking their heels and wondering what they have to do to make a matchday 18, never mind a starting XI.
So many clubs these days seem to stockpile talent for a rainy day, only then to find they have too many toys at their disposal.
The shiny new ones get all the attention, while others are forgotten about and left to gather dust. In an ideal world, Wolves would have two more senior players on their books – another centre-half and another striker, improvements on the outgoing Hause and Bonatini.
But while the club have a lot of money in the bank, they are not just going to sign players because they can, having options for option’s sake.
They are savvy and Nuno, a man who pays great attention to detail, clearly knows what he is doing. Snapping up players just because you can opens the door to having a much of a muchness.
Nuno has spoken a lot about only signing players who bring something special and unique to the table, and when you look at the Wolves squad, while there are not the pure numbers some may have wished for, there is an abundance of ability.
For example, in central midfield, there is long-range shot master Ruben Neves, perfect passer Joao Moutinho, relentless runner Leander Dendoncker and the ever-so-efficient Romain Saiss.
And the same can be applied to the defence and attack.
You do not have to look too far for a great example of bulk buying – and spending large sums along the way – not working.
Stoke, who have helped Wolves out by buying Benik Afobe, Danny Batth and Sam Vokes recently, have invested massively in a bid to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Since the summer, they have spent almost £57m and brought in 11 players, but they are languishing in 15th in the Championship after recently sacking Gary Rowett – a man who they had to prize away from Derby.
That is a classic case of having the money and, supposedly, the players to be successful but proving to be a group which lacks cohesion and chemistry.
For those former Wolves players’ sake, let’s hope they get it right soon.
Wolves, undoubtedly, are a team, a pack – and the benefits of that are for everyone to see.
It is easy to forget this is their first season back in the big time, as they sit seventh ahead of today’s game against Everton at Goodison Park.
Of course, they will make improvements in the future.
In fact, it would not be a big surprise to see them set their stall out in the summer and signal their intent to step up another gear in the Premier League.
But January has been and gone, and you can see why they have not bothered to settle for someone who, in the long term, would not have been right for the vision Nuno is implementing.
After all, why go out for a run-of-the-mill burger when you have a premium steak at home?
