What is going wrong with Wolves this season?

For the first time in Nuno Espírito Santo’s Wolves managerial career, questions are starting to be asked. Winless in nine of his 19 games played this season.

Defeat to rivals West Brom in the black country Derby put more pressure on Nuno after his side sit 14th in the Premier league table with 22 points.

There has been a number of injuries at the club which has led Wolves to be in the position they are now. Raul Jimenez and Jonny we’re set with long-term injuries, whilst Adama Traore, Daniel Podence and Willy Boly have also suffered major setbacks.

The main loss was of Jimenez and was one which Wolves are finding it hard to replace. Nuno’s men have seen a significant drop since his head injury against Arsenal, picking up only five points from 27. The Mexican was not only scoring most of their goals but was giving opposition a tough time with his movement on and off the ball.

Wolves broke their transfer record to sign 18-year-old Fabio Silva from Porto following Diogo Jota’s move to Liverpool in the summer. The teenager has been thrown into the deep end considering the lack of options up top, he has had to deal with a lot of pressure at the start of his Wolverhampton career.

Nuno’s side look to be lacking in confidence. They’re missing the goal scorer of the Mexican and the danger he can possess. It’s not only the results that fans have been disappointed with but it’s also the performance. They tend to run out of ideas once they get to the final third.

Wolves have re-called back forward Patrick Cutrone  from his loan spell at Florentia and Morgan Gibbs White from Swansea, which hope to give Wolves more attacking threat for the rest of the season.

The Wolves’ manager doesn’t give much away in the media and when he does after a defeat it’s normally the same things over again, which is not going well with some of the Wolverhampton Wanderers fans, who are looking for answers following several defeats.

It’s not only the attack that’s been worrying for Nuno but defensively Wolves haven’t looked good. Conceded nine times this season from set-pieces, the second-highest behind Leeds. The loss of both wing backs Matt Doherty, who was sold to Tottenham in the summer and Jonny who is still recovering from his injury has not helped.  Nelson Somedo was the player Wolves invested in from Barcelona but the Portuguese defender is yet to show his attacking threat.

At this stage last season, Wolves were 6th with 34 points and finished 7th twice the following two seasons, including qualifying for the Europa League. Considering the start this season, it feels unlikely that they will be doing similar this season.

Nuno has enough quality in the squad to improve. The likes of Pedro Neto, Podence and Coady have shown that this season along with positive results against Chelsea and Arsenal. However, with Wolves experimenting new things this season such as the formation, it can take more than a few games to get used to with the correct players.

What do you think of the Wolves start this season?