Wolverhampton Wanderers continue to defy the odds at the top of the Championship.
Wolverhampton Wanderers are just a few short months away from gaining promotion back to the Premier League, in what has been one of the most dominant Championship displays we have ever seen.
The Midlands club has been in this position before on many occasions over the course of their history, with the latest being their 2009 title triumph. With that being said, their success in that year was nothing compared to the their 2017/18 campaign.
Their story has taken on a life of its own, with the Chinese and Portuguese connections taking centre stage above everything else. From the owners to their influx of foreign stars, the re-building of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club has not taken anywhere near as long as was predicted.
Usually, when new wealthy owners are introduced there is a period of uncertainty, as they adjust to the style of English football. Thankfully for most this usually happens when a team is in the Premier League, which is not quite as fast-paced and hard-hitting as the second tier, despite what many fans would lead you to believe.
But as you have guessed by now, there is absolutely nothing normal about this scenario.
The Portuguese invasion has allowed some of Wolves’ longest-tenured players to mesh with these stars who, in reality, should already be playing at a much higher level. This club is now so well run that they were able to convince the likes of Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves to make their way to Molineux, at a time where it would’ve been the biggest gamble of their young careers.
But with their guidance in addition to a strong work ethic, Wolves are doing something that is positively unheard of prior to entering the Premier League – they are playing consistently attractive football.
Their confidence is clearly so sky high but we often see that turn to arrogance, with teams at the top of the table becoming frustrated when games turn into a ‘hoof ball’ fest. When it comes to Wolves, though, their maturity shines through as they’re able to calm the situation down before reverting to a style of play that feels familiar to them.
It is not that they are already looking ahead to the future, because manager Nuno Espirito Santo has reinforced the idea that they need to take it one game at a time. We all know that the Championship is a marathon, not a sprint, and Wolves are showing more intelligence than we’ve ever seen at this level.
There is nothing complicated about it because it is a simple strategy that they have managed to virtually perfect.
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