TESTING TIMES STILL TO COME, NUNO!
BACK in August, I tipped Wolves to struggle over the winter. Heavy pitches, fixture pile-up, no midseason break. Historically, that sort of grind takes its toll on overseas players.
Not because they are weak or ‘soft’, but because their bodies are accustomed to playing fewer matches at a slower pace.
In response, Wolves fan David Sims got in touch to suggest – among other things – I’d be left with egg on my face.
So far, I am pleased to say Mr Sims is being proved right. Nuno’s golden boys have won all but one match since the end of September, scoring for fun along the way.
Nevertheless, with five games in 15 days over Christmas – a time when the likes of Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota would normally be chilling with mulled wine and a turkey sandwich – cracks could still appear.
That presents Nuno and Fosun, the club’s bigspending owners, with a conundrum. Do they sit tight, hope legs don’t weary and rely on a squad that has gelled into the division’s most fearsome attacking unit?
Or raid the market for reinforcements in January and risk chucking a spanner into Nuno’s machine?
Even the best signings are a risk. As a regular at St James’ Park in the 90s, I saw how the signings of David Batty and Tino Asprilla inadvertently helped to disrupt a team nine points clear at the Premier League summit.
Getting that balance is tricky – and it may prove the difference between romping to the title and scrapping to avoid a playoff spot.