da dobrowin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
da bwin： Wolverhampton Wanderers soared into the top half of the Premier League for the first time since the opening day as they eased to victory on Sunday afternoon.
Nuno Santo’s side defeated local rivals Aston Villa 2-1 at Molineux to move into eighth position from 15th with only one other team in the entire division losing fewer games than the west Midlands club, Liverpool.
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Wolves are quietly going under the radar after a rough start, which was in no doubt down to them adapting to the demands a Europa League qualification campaign brings.
They have also had to deal with significant injuries whereas last season they were pretty lucky in that department.
Willy Boly is expected to be out for the foreseeable future leaving them awfully short at centre-half, even if it is through the stubbornness of the man in charge.
On the Chalkboard
Nuno is yet to play Jesus Vallejo in the league or in Europe since the 28-year-old picked up his nasty training ground injury with him opting instead for wing-back Matt Doherty and more recently midfielder Leander Dendoncker, who is valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, in the role.
They have both been utilised over Max Kilman too, although he did impress on Thursday night against Slovan Bratislava.
However, in doing so, Wolves may have found their future at right centre-back as the Belgian put in his best performance of the season against Villa on Sunday.
The 24-year-old won five aerial duels, recorded a passing success rate of 89.2%, and managed 11 clearances, per WhoScored, which makes him appear to have all the traits to suit Nuno’s philosophy.
Having made 22 appearances this season, it may be a little unfair to say that his Wolves career was in any sort of jeopardy, but Birmingham Live revealed that the club are to pursue a central midfielder in January, which could see his standing in the side decrease significantly.
It is unlikely that neither last season’s eight-assist king Joao Moutinho or the Real Madrid-linked Ruben Neves are dropped, even more so after this weekend’s victory as they combined for the opener.
Until his move to centre-back, Dendoncker’s performances just weren’t at the level required having managed over a 6.70 rating just once in nine games, which only strengthens the argument that any additions would knock him back in the pecking order.
Therefore, Nuno’s masterstroke decision to play him in defence has been game-changing and may have just saved him his future at the club.
The Portuguese chief is surely going to continue to trust him over Vallejo, and then it’s down to whether he still prefers him over Ryan Bennett, who has been out injured recently.