Wolverhampton Wanderers fans have argued the case for Ruben Neves to be deployed in a more advanced midfield role in future.
The discussion was begun following a post from The Athletic journalist, Tim Spiers, who argued that Wolves would not see the best of their Portuguese midfielder until playing him in an advanced midfield role (per The Athletic).
After sharing his article to Twitter, Wolves fans inundated Spiers in agreement of his case for Neves’ position in midfield.
Feel the same way Tim. He is always a threat higher up. It felt like we more creative as well.
— Oldy but goldy Wolf (@ButOldy) November 5, 2019
For me that was by far his best performance of the season. It was great to see him get a few shots off too.
— Darren Matthews (@DazzMatthews73) November 4, 2019
when we do 352, he needs to be more advanced – not donks
— (@c_wwfc) November 4, 2019
He looked more like the player we signed in the championship.First time he’s had more than 1 shot on goal in months.Hope Nuno keeps him up there especially against the so called bottom sides cause he could be the difference between winning rather than losing/drawing
— Roy Wooldridge (@roylegobrick) November 4, 2019
absolutely, it just seems so obvious
— Harry Hathaway (@hhatha304) November 4, 2019
The midfielder signed for Wolves from Porto in 2017, and has only found the net on two occasions in 18 league and cup outings for the Old Gold this season (per Transfermarkt).
In 16 of those appearances this term, the Portuguese midfielder was deployed in a deeper defensive midfielder role by Nuno Espirito Santo (per Transfermarkt).
With the latest outing seeing the 22-year-old be the most advanced up the pitch he has been all season – in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal – supporters wanted to see him there more regularly.
Totally agree Tim, watching the Boly, Coady, Neves, Bennett, Coady, Neves (repeat) interaction has become a bit of a sticking point, so Neves playing upfield releases more space. One thing I will say is that his defensive qualities have improved significantly over the last year
— Bruce Harper (@BruceHarper00) November 4, 2019
100% + there’s more chance of a good hand full of his missiles hitting the back of the net
— Scott Matthews (@scottmatthewsuk) November 4, 2019
Completely agree, he’s wasted sitting in front of the backline. Defensive injury crisis has actually done @rubendsneves_ a favour and reminded me what a fantastic player he actually is on the attack. Far more of a threat playing box to box than Dendoncker (who played well at CB)
— Lee Rimell (@LeeTwatter) November 4, 2019
What do we think?
Having been awarded an 8/10 for his impressive performance against Arsenal in the more advanced role (per Express and Star), that ranked higher than his 6.62/10 average for the season so far (via Whoscored).
This clearly shows how much more effective the Portuguese midfielder can be when deployed by Nuno Espirito Santo in a more advanced position.