0 tackles, 0 interceptions: Nuno Santo must drop 29 y/o liability - opinion

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

The first cracks in Wolves’ season started to appear on Sunday as they needed a 96th minute penalty to even come away with a point at Molineux.

Their opponents, Burnley, should serve as a stark reminder that competing in the Europa League can prove to be more of a hindrance than a positive – Sean Dyche’s side didn’t even make it to the group stage but still lost four of their opening five matches in the league and finished 15th.

Nuno Santo’s men faced a pre-season trip to China and will have played a sixth European tie by the end of the week, and the warning signs are there already.

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Those matches have shown that some players may not be up to the intensity or standard required to play two matches per week against European and then Premier League opposition.

None more so than Ryan Bennett, whose time at centre-back is looking thinner by the game.

On the chalkboard

It was the 29-year-old’s headed clearance that led to the visitors opening the scoring on Sunday as he handed the ball on a plate to Dwight McNeil, who only had to put it into the path of Ashley Barnes to strike from outside the box.

The centre-back also alarmingly completed zero tackles and made no interceptions throughout the match – quite a shocking stat when you consider that even Diogo Jota managed one up front.

At one stage he was even dispossessed of the ball himself, always a huge concern for a defender, on top of conceding one foul. It was a really poor all-round performance from the former Norwich man, who looked a total liability at times.

In the summer, Santo signed Jesus Vallejo on loan from Real Madrid and he’s already impressed fans at Molineux with his appearances in the Europa League.

The 22-year-old has played top-flight football in both La Liga and the Bundesliga, he’s won the Champions League with Madrid, and this summer he captained his national side to glory in the Under-21 European Championship.

It seems foolish to not utilise a player of his pedigree and we doubt Zinedine Zidane sent him to the west Midlands just to warm the bench for someone who has played more games in League Two (103) than he has in the top-flight (98).

from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/2Pj5rx3