How Nuno Espirito Santo led the resurgence of Wolves in Europe?

The English side made it to the quarter final of the UEFA Europa League in the 2019-20 season.

When Wolverhampton Wanderers first achieved promotion into the Premier League, European football was a distant dream for many fans. Despite their impressive work in the Championship, there were still doubts on how well they could do in the Premier League after a lengthy absence from the top-flight.

But the club’s clever long-term planning was structured exactly to work in their favour when the heat started to rise in terms of competitiveness. It started when the Chinese investment group Fosun International took over the club in 2016, putting an end to years of mismanagement at the top level.

After a few tweaks and turns, the club hired Nuno Espirito Santo, who had earned the reputation for a decent spell at Valencia. Unlike pandering to the English core, the Portuguese started building his own team. In came a number of players from Portugal, creating the running joke that perhaps a Portuguese team had taken over the Championship – considering a number of actual Liga NOS sides didn’t have as many Portuguese players as Wolves did.

But the roll of the dice of Nuno Espirito Santo turned out to be successful. Wolves bulldozed their way into winning the Championship title to book a ticket straight back into the Premier League. While his side had a defensively strong enough base, there were a number of holes in other areas of their squad. So the tactician was allowed a packed transfer chest to make the signings he wanted.

In came Portuguese #1 Rui Patricio, experienced midfielder Joao Moutinho, a wild card Mexican Raul Jimenez, an upstart Adama Traore. Moreover, loan deals for the likes of Diogo Jota, Jonny and Willy Boly were also made permanent. Effectively, Wolves almost had a completely different look than they did in their Championship-winning campaign.

While everyone hyped up the Premier League top six, Wolves started to make strides with their effective brand of football. Not the fanciest or most attack-minded, Nuno Espirito Santo set up his structure to be a stubborn shield against the pacy oppositions and created a counter-attacking style perfected by Jota and Jimenez.

They didn’t play the most attractive football, but they were often clinical. Often reverting to an old-school style involving playing crosses into the box for an old-school striker like Jimenez to pounce on, they often displayed old-school vibes on occasions. They had the fourth best defensive record in the league by the end of the campaign and picked up big wins over Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

So with a sensational seventh place finish in the league -with many predicting them to either get relegated or a mid-table finish – ensured Wolves European football in nearly 40 years. Espirito wasn’t handed the bumper transfer budget this time around, but still allowed to make key squad additions to improve the depth of his side.

When it came to Europe, Wolves tweaked their style a bit. They weren’t as passive or cautious, but more adventurous and willing to take their chances. Of course, they didn’t have anything to lose and weren’t under pressure to perform in the Europa League as some of their English rivals. Fortunately, they were placed in a decent group comprised of Besiktas and Braga. The Turkish giants had a meltdown, allowing Espirito Santo’s side to waltz their way into the knockout rounds.

To their credit, Wolves and Nuno Espirito Santo did manage to cope up with the intensity of European football and packed schedule pretty well. Even with a very thin squad and persistent injuries, they kept their foot on the pedal to move forward in Europe. Fortunately lady luck shone on them in the Round of 32 draw, as Wolves were paired against struggling La Liga side Espanyol.

The Barcelona-based side were relegation contenders in the league and played like that in Europe, with Wolves and Nuno Espirito Santo outclassing them to move into the Round of 16. Here is, however, where their class really shone through. They faced a sturdy Olympiacos side and fought tooth and nail to get a draw from the first leg, before sealing an impressive hard-fought win in the second.

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However, their fortunes slipped away in the quarter-finals where they faced record winners Sevilla. Even a brilliant Adama Traore – who immersed himself as one of the best right-wingers in the league after a stunning individual season – couldn’t save them from a narrow exit, with Lucas Ocampos’ last-gasp winner causing heartbreak.

Unfortunately for Wolves and Nuno Espirito Santo, they will not be able to play in Europe next season despite managing a top-7 finish again. However, for a side mirroring the big ambitions shown by their evolving manager, this is a side that has a glowing potential of pulling off the next Premier League fairy tale in the near future.

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