Premier League Preview - Matchday 6
Sep 22Ahead of a brand new season of Premier League football on BT Sport, we spoke to fans of each and every team about their expectations for what lies ahead over the next nine months.
Talking all things Wolves, BTSport.com spoke with Dazzling Dave of Wolves Fan Dazzling Dave TV to get his thoughts on the new season.
NEW NAME. SAME GAME.
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Hopes
Most Wolves fans will hope we can get back into the Europa League positions, that would be amazing. However, things are a bit up in the air due to the uncertainty with Nuno Espirito Santo’s sudden departure and all the changes that have taken place. Some fans were disappointed with finishing 13th last season but in reality it wasn’t bad with all our injuries.
The last 18 months of Nuno, the football was not as expansive. Wolves have always been a side who’ve used wingers well over the years but the football became stale.
We want to play on the front foot, control the game and score more goals. Nuno was very compact but Bruno Lage’s teams press from the front and are more offensive. We want more excitement and Bruno comes in with a pedigree for that – his Benfica side were scoring for fun.
When Wolves and Leeds play each other this season I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 6-5!
Fears
There’s always a worry when you sack a manager. You worry what could go wrong. We do have a tough start but in some ways that takes the pressure off.
We need to strengthen at the back and it will be interesting to see where Conor Coady plays for Bruno because if he features in a four his lack of pace can get a little exposed. He will be key to knitting the dressing room together.
Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence and Raul Jimenez are all fitness worries coming into the season too. But I don’t think we will struggle to score goals, it’s just about getting used to a new style and a new system under Lage.
Once they get used to that they could be an exciting team as long as Wolves make sure they keep the backdoor shut. The concern will start if we don’t start well and are left needing to play catch up.
We need to make sure we get some points on the door and the first game is at home to Tottenham – the return to Molineux of Nuno! I just hope it doesn’t overshadow Bruno’s first game at home. I feel quite positive we won’t be in a relegation battle.
Most important player
Raul Jimenez. We missed him. He was the one player who we talked about that if he ever gets injured, we don’t have a replacement.
He's been out for eight months and when he got injured we were sixth s I think we did well to finish 13th. He was such a big miss and having him back is a boost for the squad, boost for the team and boost for the fanbase. He’s got a protective band on now and they are building up his fitness, he should be the main man again.
Rising star
Fabio Silva. He’s been working a lot on building up his physical fitness this summer. He got thrown into the firing line after Jimenez’s injury. Wolves paid £35million for him but that’s not his fault.
He’s got something about him and the way he moves, the way he reads the game shows he’s a real player. At the end of the season he started to score the goals too.
Fabio is still lightweight because he’s so young but he’s got all the building blocks of being a great player if he can bulk up.
What I’ve missed the most
The atmosphere. I might be biased but a lot of away fans say that Molineux in full voice is unbelievable. When we are on song and we are playing it’s brilliant.
It’s an old school ground and the whole matchday has been missed.
We’ve got our season tickets so we are very much looking forward to it. The first home game against Tottenham will be emotional because we haven’t seen people for so long.
It’s just part of your life so it’s like a reunion especially with Nuno coming back… he was like a prophet to us.
Prediction
7th.
We’ve got enough quality, we’ll have a bigger squad and I think [the Wolves hierarchy] have learned from having a small squad.
We have big players coming back as well and if we come out of the transfer window well, then we’ve got a really good talented squad once we’ve got the new system sorted.
I have got to be positive and hope we can get Europa League football for the year after.
I’d like us to make a cup run and go to the FA Cup final. My dad who is 83 has never seen one so it would be brilliant for us to get to one this season.