NEW Wolves Head Coach Gary O’Neil already faces a selection headache as the new season commences on Monday night at Old Trafford. The return of Matt Doherty to Wolves has meant Nelson Semedo now has real competition for his place, and with Doherty impressing in pre-season, could the Irishman become first choice?
Doherty’s return
The 2020 ‘summer’ transfer window saw a changing of the guard at right back for Wolves. Long term servant Matt Doherty departed to Spurs for around £12m, to be replaced by Barcelona’s Nelson Semedo for slightly over twice the price (plus add ons). Now Semedo and his predecessor are playing together, and both can make a case for game time in 2023/4.
Three years down the line from Doherty’s departure and for all the instability at Wolves, right back is an area where there are choices to be made. With minimal budget for signings and low expectations, the newly-appointed Gary O’Neil will have to try and get a lot out of existing players, and Doherty and Semedo can potentially be useful foils for each other.
O’Neil’s system
O’Neil’s Bournemouth side played predominantly in a compact 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1, which Wolves fans will recognise as being more suited to Semedo’s strength. Despite an (unfair) reputation for calamity, Semedo has proven himself to be a good, at times excellent, 1-on-1 defender. On the reverse, Doherty at Wolves made a name as having one of the best attacking outputs in the Premier League from defence, with 34 goal contributions (in all competitions) in his three years under Nuno. Wolves have struggled for goals since his departure in the same summer as Diogo Jota, with the least and fourth least goals scored in the league in the last two seasons.
The obvious factor to consider is the opposition’s tactical set up and player profile. Semedo is younger and more athletic, but Doherty was always adept at running in behind. Semedo is positionally adaptable, looking comfortable in a back four and a back five, while Doherty has always been seen as suspect without an extra centre back helping from inside.
On technical quality and defensive ability, Semedo is almost certainly the starter. While neither would be obvious examples of consistency, the Portugese is a more rounded player than Doherty, while the Irishman was traditionally offered feast or famine. This difference is indicated if you examine some of their defensive stats.
Statistical comparison
The naked eye has seen Semedo defensively smother dangerous attackers such as Allan Saint-Maximin and Michail Antonio in recent years, and the numbers back up his ability. Compared to Doherty he’s more of a volume tackler, with 2.35 per 90 minutes compared to Doherty’s 1.90, winning 1.47 of those compared to 1.03. Doherty does win a higher percentage, but a four-player system creates more risk when individual defenders are unwilling to engage, with fewer backups in the penalty box to stop balls into the box. Doherty also gets more interceptions per 90 mins (1.36 to 1.09), indicative of a willingness to risk upsetting the defensive shape in attempt to win possession.
Semedo is also better at keeping possession, completing 84% of passes compared to Doherty’s 75.6%. However, Doherty’s passing has a higher potential payoff, with a greater progressive passing distance. The picture that emerges is that Semedo is more stable, while Doherty is more likely to take risky options to try and win the ball or create. The numbers bear that out, with Doherty offering almost double the number of goal creating actions (0.34 to 0.19) per 90 minutes.
Tactical options
The reality for Wolves is that Semedo is likely to play, but there is comfort in Doherty’s different skillset. Gary O’Neil set Bournemouth up with four at the back and that will likely be the case at Molineux, if nothing else for personnel reasons. With only three recognised first team centre-backs and rumours about a Max Kilman departure swirling all summer, they may yet be called into action together if Wolves choose to sit in and defend leads. Doherty is no centre-half and has never been asked to be one, but were he shifted inside he wins a similar percentage of aerial duels and makes a similar number of blocks to his recently-departed centre-back countryman Nathan Collins.
If Wolves are dominating possession and need creativity, Doherty should and likely will get meaningful minutes with an increased goal threat and creative influence. With squad depth a consistent issue and question marks over the attacking options, Wolves will desperately hope that Doherty proves as shrewd of a signing as his statistics and previous spell suggest. Sentimental his signing may feel as he prepares to play second fiddle, but there is obvious scope for him to be important in his second spell at Molineux.
Wolves top goal scorer last season returned an unimpressive six goals. These came from former captain Ruben Neves and an unsettled Daniel Podence, therefore this season Wolves will want an answer upfront in the goal scoring department.
Enter Fabio Silva
The Portuguese striker had a successful time away from Molineux in the 2022/23 season. It began with a loan to Anderlecht where he became a regular starter, starting 17 of his 20 appearances in the Belgium Pro League. Here he netted 11 goals in all competitions including a handful in the Europa Conference League helping Anderlecht qualify and then progress through the knockout rounds of the competition. In the January transfer window there was significant interest in the forward. Wolves wanted to further continue his development overseas, so they decided to terminate his loan at Anderlecht and he was then loaned out to Dutch side PSV.
This loan spell was a very different experience as starts were harder to come by with only five in the league but this did not get in the way of his successes. During this period the striker scored four in the Eredivisie, whilst also contributing in the goals in the Europa League with a Man of the Match performance against Sevilla in the knockout stages. Not only this, he also picked up some silverware by confidently slotting the winning penalty in the KNVB Cup final. In this vastly impressive season he scored 16 goals in all competitions, but now over to you Wolves.
How did he look in Pre-Season?
With lots of teams after his signature this summer he has returned for pre-season. He initially made a cameo and looked full of energy and helped create the penalty for Wolves’ equaliser. This was followed by a start at Molineux against newly promoted Luton where he played alongside freshly fit Sasa Kalajdzic. The two strikers combined fantastically, having lots of clear-cut chances but were very unfortunate not to score. It seemed like old woes were back at Molineux with strikers struggling to convert. However, in the final pre-season game against Stade Rennes it was due to be a hard test after the French side had comfortably beaten West Ham and Nottingham Forest before visiting Molineux. Wolves were victorious, winning 3-1.
Fabio Silva was introduced at half time and had a large involvement in the 2nd goal. Matheus Nunes ran at the opposition defence and slipped it into Fabio Silva who nonchalantly left the ball for Joao Gomes who placed the ball past the goalkeeper.
What role will Fabio Silva play this season?
Despite the uncertainty around Silva’s future he has stated in an interview with the Express and Star “If I do stay I will give 100 percent” and then in an interview with Wolves he claims “My confidence is more than 100 percent because I feel happy, I feel the love from the fans and I feel the love from everyone with me in the training ground”. Unfortunately for Wolves it is hard to be certain the young Portuguese will stay at the club due to the need to sell this summer to avoid FFP implications.
Hopefully, it can be seen that this newly confident striker in a Wolves shirt could be a huge success this season and give the new manager (if it seems to be Gary O’Neil) a tough decision to make on his team selection this season.
Impressive performances from Matheus Cunha in pre-season has seen the Brazilian start more games, but a partnership with Sasa Kalajdzic playing off the target man as an advanced forward could be seen as an effective forward line that can hopefully create a flurry of goals for Wolves upfront. This is a void which they have struggled to fill since Raul Jimenez’ fantastic season in 19/20.
Julen Lopetegui did what fans feared most as he and Wolves agreed to part ways just days before the start of the season, leaving the club in a state of near turmoil. However, for those who know about the end of his reign at Sevilla, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
At Wolves, he found himself, yet again, at the heart of a club in need of a revamp and in financial trouble. His last season at Sevilla was marred with warning signs from past campaigns, as was his current one with Wolves.
With key players leaving to help balance the books, and money not being available to get adequate replacements, it seemed once again that the Spaniard was going to have to endure a difficult campaign with his bottle and tactical nouse strained more than ever before.
Finding himself at loggerheads with his board is not something new, and FOSUN should’ve seen this coming when they decided to restrict funds due to their spending in January.
Despite great achievements at Sevilla, behind-the-scenes issues plagued his last season in charge. So the key question is, was his new tenure plagued by the same issues as in Spain, and should FOSUN have seen this coming?
What are the similarities and differences between his time in Seville and Wolverhampton? Let’s take a look.
A bit of context:
By the time Lopetegui had been appointed, Sevilla had experienced a chaotic few seasons behind the scenes, masked by impressive performances on the field by key players.
President Jose Maria Del Nido had also been arrested on corruption charges and fans were understandably frustrated at a lack of stability at the top.
Legendary sporting director Monchi had left for Roma, and Sevilla’s managerial and playing recruitment had suffered as a result, with Monchi also suffering a poor run of recruitment at AS Roma.
Monchi returned to Sevilla in 2019, and with him came Lopetegui. They were tasked with bringing some stability to the club with smart signings and tactical nouse, something Monchi thought was a given due to Lopetegui’s pedigree.
With 3 successive top 4 finishes and a Europa League win, it’s fair to say it worked.
Hobbs and Lop – The biggest ‘what could’ve been?’
One key point of note was that Lopetegui had a very good relationship with Sevilla sporting director Monchi, according to The Analyst.
They managed to sign players from smaller, niche markets and develop them into better players. They had some huge successes such as Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde, but also recruited some duds across their few years together.
The first window under Lopetegui marked wholesale changes and some intelligent buys with him and Monchi working well in tandem to rejuvenate the Sevilla squad, with seven new players lining up in his first team.
Not too dissimilar to the start he had at Wolves during the January window, where he brought in five first-team-ready players.
The synergy between Matt Hobbs and Lopetegui in the January transfer window was quickly picked up on and expressed in interviews by Hobbs. A good sign for Wolves and one which would’ve sounded oddly similar to Sevilla in 2019.
Both men were newly appointed (although Hobbs was promoted from within) and they were both set the task of leading the club through a challenging period and to get them competing at a higher level.
Whilst they managed to comfortably keep Wolves up, there is a real feeling FOSUN could have taken advantage of this blossoming partnership to try and recreate a similar effect to what Monchi and Lopetegui did at Sevilla.
In the last year of Lopetegui’s reign, Sevilla’s recruitment didn’t quite hit the same heights with Monchi seemingly losing his mojo.
Due to the small sample size for Hobbs and Lopetegui’s work together we can only theorize how their recruitment could’ve played out.
There was some disagreement on player signings, Hobbs had eluded to wanting to keep Nathan Collins despite him being sold to Brentford. Monchi had similar issues with Lopetegui’s decision to sign Isco on a free transfer.
Despite that, it’s certainly a frustrating end to what could have and should have been a long and fruitful relationship between manager and sporting director – what was a rare sense of stability for Wolves.
Spending of the past haunting the present
Sevilla and Wolves have had similar strategy changes whereby they banked on success or achieving a certain goal to maintain their spending. They aren’t the first clubs to do it, but it represents a dangerous strategy.
In his second season in Sevilla, they began to sign experienced players on bigger wages, relying on qualifying for the Champions League and progressing into the knockouts. Being knocked out early in the group stage began their issues with FFP in Spain.
The issue was that other clubs knew of Sevilla’s very public financial troubles, therefore lessening their bargaining power in the transfer window (starting to sound familiar anyone?).
Wolves pursued a similar strategy by spending big money on players to try and push the club back into Europe. What ensued was a perfect example of poor squad building and a lack of understanding of how to balance a team.
You could argue this began under Nuno with the acquisitions of Fabio Silva and Nelson Semedo. Whilst they have performed to a decent standard it’s hard to see past the roughly £60m fee it took to bring them in. They have seen no return on that investment.
Another £30m was spent on Goncalo Guedes and £40m was thrown at Matheus Nunes. Guedes never wanted to join and only lasted six months, and Nunes was underwhelming at best.
They signed players for high fees with increasingly poorer resale value due to age and/or poor performances, leading to them having financial issues down the line.
Wolves have also taken a three-year bank loan from Macquarie against their Premier League revenue, meaning if relegation were to occur, they could be in potentially deeper financial trouble.
A lack of financial security and spending left three of Sevilla’s managers competing with a stale squad with a lack of previous star power, as was the issue for Nuno (in his final season), Bruno Lage, and now Lopetegui.
When Lopetegui joined in November 2022, the spending of the Nuno and Lage eras was already plaguing the club. Then they spent around £100m in January 2023 to keep the club from dropping into the championship.
With Sevilla being in a chasm of debt this summer, the story is starting to sound similar…
Sevilla’s financial issues left Lopetegui with an increasingly aging squad of players and without the money to replace them. Whilst Wolves’ squad wasn’t old when he was appointed, it was more or less stale after a couple of years of stagnation when Lopetegui arrived.
Again, without the money to revamp it bar a few new signings in the January window.
Sevilla also had to sell their star centre-back pairing of Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde just to balance the books. Similar to what Wolves have done this summer.
In fact, the side has been left with only two senior centre-backs in the entire squad, namely Max Kilman and Craig Dawson.
A similar narrative has played out this summer with Lopetegui again feeling aggrieved at the lack of support and resources available to sign what he feels are ready-made players.
Lopetegui has twice now inherited a squad in need of a revamp. This time he faced the issues he did in his last season with Sevilla but in his first with Wolves.
A story of two sides
Lopetegui was known at Sevilla for bringing passion back to the club, something which Wolves fans have seen plenty of since he joined.
Some will argue that the squad is still far better than the one left to Bruno Lage, and you would have a case to make. Wolves’ squad is young and full of flexibility, energy, and technical quality.
With the vast wages paid to him and his staff you could make a case that, as an elite coach, he could have stayed and worked with what he had. Something coaches have had to show in past eras in order to prove their worth as elite.
However, at the same time, a manager of his caliber will not accept the bare minimum considering he was dragged from a personal family issue and joined after a very taxing final season at Sevilla.
Unfortunately, that is what FOSUN have delivered. Whilst you have to respect the fact they don’t want to ruin the club financially, there is still a looming issue of what happens if Wolves do go down.
Whilst some may argue his stabs at the board did not help the sense of unity Wolves needed, you can hardly blame him if he was not properly informed of the financial situation before the summer.
It’s all well and good wanting to wait until next summer so Wolves aren’t in unassailable debt, but if they go down this strategy doesn’t matter. It’s simply a huge risk and Lopetegui knew it.
The search will have to go on to find an adequate replacement, but the overarching frustration is that FOSUN really missed a golden opportunity to push for the top half and even Europe after getting the manager they have wanted since they took over.
John Ruddy left Wolves in the summer after a five-year stay at Molineux. The former England international sat down EXCLUSIVELY with Talking Wolves to chat about his time at Wolves.
“The move only came about after Carl’s news broke which was devastating for everybody and Wolves needed to act quickly. For both parties it worked really well as the club was replacing an experienced goalkeeper with a goalkeeper with similar experience but for me it worked because I was going to a club who had ambitions to get promoted.”
The promotion winning season
That summer, Wolves brought in the likes of Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Willy Boly.
“You could always see the quality with Neves, Diogo and Boly,” explained Ruddy. “There were other players too though – Bonatini, Douglas and Bennett were pivotal for us.”
When asked if he knew straight away that the club were going to be battling for promotion, Ruddy explained that you could see quality across the squad but the team cohesion helped too.
“Nuno came in and never changed his philosophy for any team and we knew every player’s role across the team which made it a lot easier for the cohesion across the group. Going into games, we all knew what we expected from each position which was massive for us that season and the only disappointment was not getting 100 points.”
Wolves went to already relegated Sunderland on the final day of that season, needing just one point to break the 100 points barrier but head coach Nuno Espirito Santo made wholesale changes to the line-up as Wolves lost the game 3-0.
“I was having a hernia operation that day so I couldn’t play,” Ruddy said. “I think Nuno wanted to give people recognition for stuff behind the scenes that most people wouldn’t have seen. He was very good at managing the squad and keeping people happy that season but he was still expecting to bring at least a point back!”
THAT Cardiff game
Wolves fans will need no reminders about the game that almost clinched promotion back to the Premier League for Wolves in the most dramatic fashion.
Ruddy was involved in two late penalties for Cardiff, with Wolves 1-0 up – saving one of them as Junior Hoilett hit the crossbar with the other.
“It was a lively bus on the way back from Cardiff”, said Ruddy. “Rui Silva came on the bus (assistant manager at the time) and we all asked whether we could have a few beers considering we’d just pretty much won promotion. Him and Nuno strolled over to the Asda and bought us all a few crates so we could have beer on the way home. It was a real nice moment.”
For most Wolves fans watching, they were watching those closing moments through their fingers but Ruddy said the team knew what to expect.
“We knew how they were going to play and we stood up to that until the last minute but I still don’t think the ‘push’ from Coady was a foul,” explained Ruddy.
“I’ll give Cav the benefit of the doubt for the other one and he’s still adamant to this day that he slipped but I still don’t know what he’s doing,” jokes Ruddy.
Promotion to the Premier League
That summer, Wolves bought Rui Patricio who was instated as Wolves’ No.1 by Nuno, meaning John Ruddy would have to watch from the side lines for the majority of that season. Ruddy knew the club would bring in goalkeeping reinforcements but he felt it was his shirt to lose.
“When Nuno told me he was going to be playing Rui then there’s not much I can do apart from just take it,” said Ruddy. “Nuno told me two weeks before the Premier League season was meant to start.”
Ruddy felt that Nuno could have told him sooner about his decision as the Championship season was starting one week after the news was broken to him, meaning it was unlikely he could find another club to play for.
“You either sit here and kick up a fuss or you just get on with it and the person I am, I just got on with it,” explained Ruddy. “I always backed myself and if I was given the opportunity I would have taken it but that didn’t come.”
Wembley heartbreak
Wolves missed out on reaching the FA Cup Final that season in the most heartbreaking fashion as they lost to Watford in extra time – despite being 2-0 up for most of the game.
“It’s the one game in my career that I’ve never watched any footage back from and it’s the biggest regret in my career,” explained Ruddy. “We were ten seconds away from winning the game and by that point you’re so deflated and it’s very difficult to get yourself going again but all the lads feel the same and it shouldn’t have gone the way it did.”
Wolves in Europe
Despite their FA Cup woes, Wolves still managed to pick themselves up and qualify for the Europa League as they finished seventh in the league.
Wolves’ Europa League campaign started in Armenia and Northern Ireland and Ruddy explained that the travelling did take it out of the players a little.
“We landed back in England from Armenia at five o’clock Friday morning and then you’re playing again on the Sunday,” said John. “It was brilliant for the club and it helped the club grow a lot quicker in terms of the techniques used for recoveries and from my point of view, to go to the likes of Besiktas to play was a dream.”
The decision and the timing came as a shock to many Wolves fans and Ruddy explained that the timing was strange but the decision was less surprising.
“We had a meeting just before the Everton game and Nuno brought us all into the changing room and told us what was happening,” said Ruddy. “It was a tough meeting because you’d shared a dressing room for four years, so it was tough to see him getting so emotional as he had invested a lot into the club and we’d invested a lot into him during that period.”
Ruddy explained further, “The timing was a shock but you could just sense that something was brewing and something wasn’t quite right. He started to tinker with things which he had never done before which was one of the first signs.”
Rui Patricio out and Jose Sa in
In the summer that Nuno left Wolves, No.1 goalkeeper Rui Patricio also left the club for Roma meaning there was a vacant goalkeeping spot in the Wolves team. Wolves bought Jose Sa to fill this void and Ruddy explained he’d already called what would happen in April that year.
“I was round Ruben’s (Neves) for dinner in April and we were chatting about Rui maybe moving on and I said “If Rui leaves we’ll just bring in Jose Sa anyway” and Ruben knew Jose anyway and he said “ah yes, that would make sense because Jose might be looking to leave Olympiacos.””
Ruddy feels that Sa can reach the heights of Patricio’s career and feels he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves from the Portugal national team but feels Rui may have struggled to play the way Bruno Lage wants to.
“With all due respect to Rui, I feel he may have struggled to play the way that Bruno wants his keepers to play,” said Ruddy. “That’s why Sa stood out last year because he’s the complete opposite in terms of playing styles to Rui.”
Working under Bruno Lage
Ruddy spent his final season at Wolves under current Head Coach Bruno Lage. Ruddy believes that Lage is a fantastic coach but is still learning other parts of his trade.
“He’s a very good coach on the training pitch and is extremely thorough,” Ruddy said. “His man-management could be improved as he’s very passionate so you know exactly what he’s thinking, which, sometimes it’s a good thing and sometimes it’s a bad thing. At this level of management you need to find a balance and with Bruno, he will come in and you will know exactly how he is feeling – whether that is good or bad.”
“It’s different styles of management for different people though and in terms of how he coaches a team, he is very, very good.”
Leaving Wolves on a free transfer
John Ruddy left Wolves at the end of his contract in May this year after five years at the club. Many reports suggest that Ruddy was offered a new deal and he explained, with real sensitivity, what actually happened.
“I had a meeting with people at the club and they explained that they had an option for an extension which I didn’t know about,” said John. “I said I wanted to go and play first team football but I will do what’s right for the club and if you’ve got the option then the ball is in your court. It got to about six or seven weeks before the end of the season and I was informed they were going to take the option.”
Despite wanting playing time, Ruddy said that he was happy to stay at Wolves but the contract saga took a twist just days before the end of the season.
“The day before the end of the season was the day they had to confirm they were going to take up the option and it was on that day that the club let me know they weren’t going to trigger it.”
Ruddy would then have to come on to replace Jose Sa in the fixture at Anfield the next day.
An Instagram post from Ruddy’s account suggested that the goalkeeper was a little disgruntled with how the club dealt with it but Ruddy said he understood the decision.
“The club is a business and if they feel as a business then it will be better not to carry me for another year then that’s fine but honesty in football is quite hard to come by but there are honest people at Wolves. I’ve got no issue with the outcome – just how the outcome was dealt with.”
Ruddy doesn’t feel like the situation is a big deal though and genuinely wanted the best for the club but alluded to the fact that senior board members at the club had the final say on the decision. Ruddy believes that both Scott Sellars and Bruno Lage were in favour of him staying.
The former England international also feels that the club has had the opportunity to push on and break into the top six if Wolves had made some key signings.
“I don’t think it’s just necessarily last season but Wolves have had a couple of quiet windows and finishing seventh twice in a row would have been a good opportunity to bring in the right people, at the right time and we could have kicked on but you have to find the right people. For every Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto, there are players that you aren’t going to make your money back on so it’s about finding the right players and nurturing them the right way.”
Ruddy believes that the injuries that have happened in recent times can’t be legislated for.
“When you lose key players in the way that we did then it will affect any squad and you can’t legislate for that. Perhaps the club could have made more additions but would have those additions gone straight into the first team. You can buy players for the future like Fabio Silva and if you get the injuries Wolves have had then there’s no guarantee these players are going to be ready.
Life after Wolves
Ruddy, who travels from Norfolk but plans to find somewhere closer to Birmingham for himself, is now the No.1 keeper at Birmingham City. He admitted it was a quiet summer for clubs trying to secure his services.
“It was very quiet in terms of approaches but I think it was a difficult window for a lot of people. I’m 35 and I’ve not played consistently for four years so it’s hard to say to these clubs “come and pick me up” but Birmingham came in and the manager has been brilliant with me since I’ve gone there.”
Being the No.1 is a good feeling again for Ruddy who’s had an unbeaten start to his time at St Andrews.
John Ruddy has already started doing his coaching badges but he explained he still isn’t sure whether that’s for him but it’s good to have options.
“It’s a lot of work and admin”, joked Ruddy. “It’s not something that I am desperate to follow but the badges are something I’d like to have as an option.”
Ruddy finishes with a statement of fond memories and a real proud feeling about his time at Molineux.
“It doesn’t matter how it ended, I will always have fond memories of Wolves and it was a real honour to be part of the club and to play a small part in the success we had.”
