Wolves Fancast pundit Jordan Russell has heaped praise on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
The stopper has been situated at Molineux since the summer of 2018 after terminating his own contract with Sporting Lisbon after an attack by supporters at their training ground (per BBC).
Since his arrival, the 32-year-old ‘keeper has made 90 appearances for the Old Gold, in which he has kept 27 clean sheets and conceded 100 goals (per Transfermarkt).
In the latest episode of the Wolves Fancast, the pundits discussed their choices for the player of the season and Russell waxed lyrical over Patricio.
He said: “Best performer this season for me – Rui Patricio. He got a bit of stick last season for his distribution and it really wound me up.
“Basically, the tactic was: aim for [Matt] Doherty, and that’ll get us up the pitch. But if you overhit it, or Doherty misses the header then obviously it looks like his distribution was poor.
“People were like, ‘Oh, he can’t kick a ball’. He can, he was just aiming at one player, and what actually helped him was when we moved to 3-5-2, [Leander] Dendoncker went over there as well. So then, all of a sudden, his distribution was okay.
“This season, some of the saves… I just think he’s so consistent and any good team, or any title-winning team or cup-winning team, have all got fantastic goalkeepers.
“I can’t tell you or can’t think of a mistake he’s made. Granted, maybe there’s the odd one where he could’ve come off his line quicker or could’ve commanded his box a bit better, but for me, he’s just an unbelievable goalkeeper.
“We’re so lucky to have him because, for me, as an all-round goalkeeper, he’s definitely in the top three in the Premier League.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the pundit had to say, he clearly highly rates the Portuguese stopper as he believes that he is in the top three best goalkeepers in the league.
Do you think Rui Patricio is one of the three best goalkeepers in the Premier League?
No, he's not that good
Yes, he's a quality player
However, of all of the goalkeepers to play over 10 matches in the Premier League during the 2019/20 season, Patricio only delivered the 12th-best average rating (per WhoScored).
With a 6.63/10 average rating, players such as Brighton & Hove Albion’s Mat Ryan (6.67/10), Crystal Palace’s Vicente Guaita (6.69/10) and Southampton’s Alex McCarthy (6.71/10) all scored better than him.
The fact that the Portuguese stopper finished with the joint-third-most clean sheets in the league with 13 is still an impressive feat, though.