Don Goodman: Wolves face massive fight to clinch seventh again

Four games into 2020/21, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have six points – beating both Fulham and Sheffield United while losing to each of Manchester City and West Ham.

The victory over Fulham was much-needed after being humiliated at the London Stadium, but Nuno feels they need to improve.

And Goodman – who scored 33 goals in more than 100 appearances for Wolves in the 90s – agreed as he said: “I think they’re going to have to play a lot better than they did against Fulham if they want to get anywhere near seventh.

“I think the league is stronger this year when you look at the business teams particularly in the bottom half have done, let alone the top half.

“Teams like Villa, Newcastle, Brighton – Everton were in the bottom half last year – already look way stronger and capable of taking points off some of the top teams. Then you look at what Chelsea have done, Tottenham being full of confidence, Arsenal recruiting.

“If Wolves get into the top seven this year, it’ll be a street ahead of anything they achieved last year or the year before."

There have been some shock results already in the top flight, with Wolves’ 4-0 loss to West Ham particularly alarming.

Villa, meanwhile, have thrashed Liverpool 7-2 and Spurs beaten Manchester United 6-1, and Goodman is interested to see how that unpredictability affects Nuno’s side.

“There are going to be lots of teams taking points off each other, so we’ll have to see whether that will help or hinder Wolves.” he said.

“There are sterner challenges coming their way and they are still searching for more fluency going forward, no question.”

“But the strangeness of the preparation coaches have to endure at the minute has to be taken into account.

“You are going to find that teams are at different stages this season more than ever before, and at the moment Wolves are just a little bit of a work in progress. You would expect them to improve with every game.”

Wolves get back going after the international break at Leeds next Monday, and Goodman added: “Pedro Neto really impresses me, Daniel Podence impresses me and Raul Jimenez impresses me. But those are relationships which are still forming.

“Whenever you saw Jimenez and Diogo Jota, you always thought they always were so on the same page.

“That’s lost now, so you are trying to form new relationships. Nuno is trying to change the style a fraction in terms of trying to dominate teams a bit more with the ball, rather than relying a lot on the counter-attack.

“Six points after four games is not a bad start. It’s a work in progress and, hopefully, the players get sharper. If they do, we’ve already seen what they’re capable of over the past two seasons in the Premier League and Europe.”