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Bull: Neves hasn’t been at his best

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Image for Bull: Neves hasn’t been at his best

Wolverhampton Wanderers legend Steve Bull has criticised star midfielder Ruben Neves for his recent performances for the club.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed moments of brilliance this season, missing just two league games throughout the campaign, but he has also been slightly inconsistent and Bull feels that he needs to improve moving forward.

“Fingers crossed Ruben Neves is back to his usual standards against the Bluebirds,” he wrote in his Express & Star column. “A few supporters have been saying he has been off the pace a bit over the past few weeks, and I have to agree.

“Those 40-yard cross-field passes which have previously looked so easy just have not been coming off – the ball has been flying out of play instead. Against the Terriers he was just a second or two too slow, playing at the pace he would have been used to in the Championship, so fingers crossed those instinctive pieces of brilliance return this afternoon.”

OPINION

This, while being rather polite, is still very much a criticism by Bull. He’s not very happy with Neves’s recent form and clearly is not afraid to communicate that. It’s true, though, Neves hasn’t been at his best of late. He’s not quite dictating games in the same way that he was earlier in the season and he’s been outshone by his fellow midfielders Joao Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker recently. It’s just not quite happening for him at the moment and he needs to improve if Wolves are to beat teams like Huddersfield Town the way they should. He’s obviously a wonderfully talented footballer but he hasn’t quite made the seamless step up to the Premier League that some people claim he has. He’s been good, there’s no doubt about that, but he’s not been out of this world by any means. We probably forget at times just how young he still is and that inconsistency will occur because of that, but he’ll likely be back on song soon enough.

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