This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Wolves boss Nuno Santo rung the changes for their Europa League second leg against Armenian side Pyunik on Thursday night, giving starts to three of Wolves’ four senior summer arrivals.
Pedro Neto and Jesus Vallejo were handed debuts whilst Patrick Cutrone was given a first start after a pair of substitute appearances.
Diogo Jota scored the pick of the bunch with an acrobatic overhead kick in the 87th minute clinching a second 4-0 victory in the space of a week.
Also on the scoresheet was Neto, who provided an assist on his debut for Morgan Gibbs-White’s first-ever goal for the club.
The performance of the young winger has given Nuno plenty of food for thought as Wolves will now face five games in the space of 14 days.
On the Chalkboard
Wolves lacked much squad depth last season having heavily relied on the attacking exploits of both Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota – between them they scored 47% of their Premier League total (22 of 47) with Jimenez netting 13 goals from 38 appearances and Jota scoring nine from 33.
Nuno has taken steps to rectify that this summer through the arrival of four senior squad players as Thursday night marked the first major game time for most of them.
Those measures were a smart move from the Portuguese boss as they face such a hectic schedule after qualifying for the Europa League. Wolves have already played four European games compared to just the one in the Premier League so far.
However, one player who can help them is the 5 foot 8 Neto, an individual who dazzled on debut which could suggest he has more to bring to the team than just a bit-part backup role.
If you don’t know the words to the Joao Moutinho chant in the video below, are you even a real Wolves fan?…
Neto was a regular threat in attacking situations for Wolves on Thursday which should have come as no surprise following remarks made about him when he joined.
Alex Goncalves, a Portuguese football expert, described the attributes of Neto, saying he offers great pace and dribbling, whilst he’s also very confident on the ball.
That appears to be exactly the case after getting his first glimpses in the old gold shirt with Tim Spiers writing that the 19-year-old was Cutrone’s ‘support act’, putting in an all left-footed performance displaying his close control and ability.
It may have been against lowly opposition but you can only play against what is put in front of you and Neto surely ticked all the boxes.
Given how under the radar his acquisition went, this will have been a hugely pleasing performance, especially given how Helder Costa performed last term, scoring just once from a similar role.
Neto has already equalled that and could act as somewhat of a replacement in the future.
