The Athletic’s Wolverhampton Wanderers correspondent Tim Spiers has recently discussed the Old Gold’s packed schedule.
During the 2019/20 season, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side played in 59 matches in all competitions across the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup (per Transfermarkt).
Between their final game of last season, the 1-0 defeat to Sevilla, and their first game of the 2020/21 term, the 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, Wolves had just 34 days to rest and prepare.
Furthermore, during the current international break, Nuno Santo has proclaimed that he will be without “almost 98% of the squad” as they have been called up by their nations (per Express and Star).
So, in the latest episode of The Athletic’s The Molineux View podcast, Spiers discussed the Old Gold’s lack of preparation time and their packed fixture list.
He said: “They had this marathon season last season [with] 59 games and then they had a 30-day turnaround before the new season.
“They tried to have a bit of a break and then they came back and then they went away on international duty. So, they had two or three days together to prepare for the entire season. I mean, that’s a joke.
“Then you’ve got the tight schedule of the games this season, they’re all going to be crammed in. We’ve never seen a season like it. They’re back away on international duty again now, they go away again next month.
“They’ve got three international games over the next couple of weeks. Nuno’s really furious about this and he’s a training ground manager at heart.
“That’s what he is, he wants his players on the training ground. He wants to drill [the tactics] into them and he hasn’t had time to do that over the last few weeks.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he believes that Nuno Santo is “furious” about the lack of time that he has been afforded to prepare for this season.
Are you frustrated about Wolves' lack of time to prepare?
No, the same for everyone
Yes, I think it is ridiculous
However, following the long suspension of football earlier this year due to the current viral outbreak, perhaps a busy fixture schedule is to be expected.
With Wolves having had such a little amount of time to prepare for the current season, though, it is perhaps clear to see why the Old Gold’s Portuguese manager is supposedly frustrated.