Wolverhampton Wanderers head into the winter break backside of the Premier League desk following their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on the weekend.
With Julen Lopetegui formally taking cost as of at the moment, a brand new period will quickly be underway at Molineux and the Spaniard faces an enormous process on his arms to save lots of the membership from relegation.
Will Lopetegui save Wolves from relegation?
Sure
No
With simply two league wins all season, the vast majority of gamers have been performing far under the required requirements anticipated on the membership, and the 56-year-old will take the break to evaluate who can play an element going ahead and who must be moved on.
He might discover an unlikely saviour in Boubacar Traore nonetheless, with the 21-year-old making simply 4 begins all season.
Bruno Lage signed the midfielder on a season-long mortgage deal from French facet Metz with an choice to purchase included within the deal, regarded as £9.5m and Lopetegui needs to be focusing his midfield across the teen, particularly together with his enthusiasm and power.
He didn’t make his debut till halfway by means of September, coming off the bench in opposition to Manchester Metropolis for a 20-minute cameo and receiving a SofaScore ranking of seven/10, which was higher than everybody minus Ruben Neves.
His kind not too long ago has proven that he needs to be beginning extra typically. The participant scored the winner in opposition to Leeds United within the EFL Cup final week, whereas placing in a strong show in opposition to Arsenal regardless of the defeat.
Traore gained six out of his eight defensive duels whereas additionally succeeding with 100% of his tried dribbles, proving he has the required energy and ball-playing capability to carry out on the highest degree.
Analyst Liam Henshaw dubbed the midfielder a “dribbling machine” and his stats from Saturday night time definitely justify this reward.
Lopetegui could have a strong 4 to 5 weeks to work together with his gamers earlier than their subsequent league match on Boxing Day in opposition to Everton.
The 56-year-old ought to give the Malian extra recreation time and combine him right into a midfield three alongside Neves and Matheus Nunes going ahead.
Ought to the brand new boss achieve this efficiently, Traore may play an important rescue act within the second half of the marketing campaign as they intention to climb the desk.