On the latest episode of the Mail’s ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ podcast, Ian Ladyman named a surprise Wolves player in his team of the season, and it wasn’t mercurial forward Matheus Cunha.
Wolves have been inconsistent this term. Under Gary O’Neil, the side looked likely candidates for relegation but underwent a midseason revival after his January dismissal.
New manager Vítor Pereira managed to pull the Midlands side from the brink, with Wolves now sitting in a comfortable 13th, above the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
This turnaround in form was spearheaded by creative dynamo Cunha and a firming up of a previously leaky defence.
Ian Ladyman named a surprise Wolves player in his team of the season, and it wasn’t mercurial forward Matheus Cunha. Listen here
The Mail’s Football Editor credited Algerian left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri for the side’s defensive transformation, going on to name the 23-year-old in his team of the season. Listen here
The Mail’s Football Editor credited Algerian left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri for the side’s defensive transformation, going on to name the 23-year-old in his team of the season.
Ladyman told co-host Chris Sutton: ‘Ait-Nouri is a terrific player and has played a superb part in Wolves’ revival under Vítor Pereira.
‘He’s played 34 times in the Premier League this season. Apparently, Wolves are thinking about a new contract because there’s interest from elsewhere – he’s had a very, very impressive season.’
The Wolves left-back has recorded a healthy tackle success rate of 63 per cent and contributed going forward, scoring four goals and assisting seven.
He has been linked with a summer move to title winners Liverpool, with Wolves reportedly placing a £50million price tag on their star defender’s head.
Chris Sutton: ‘Do you not think Vítor Pereira would pick Lewis-Skelly above Ait-Nouri?’ Listen here
Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic made up the rest of Ladyman’s back four of the year
Sutton also had Virgil Van Dijk in his defence of the season, with Forest’s Ola Aina and Murillo, as well as Arsenal’s Miles Lewis-Skelly filling out the rest of the defence
Ladyman explained that although Wolves have struggled at times, when it comes to naming a team of the season, a player in a less consistent side should be given greater plaudits as the odds of success are stacked against them.
‘You have got to consider who players are playing for and compare that to how well they have played,’ the Mail columnist said.
‘Otherwise, you’d just choose a full Liverpool back four. You must look at Wolves’ season as a whole and say, he has been a terrific left back.’
Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic made up the rest of Ladyman’s back four of the year.
Sutton also had Virgil Van Dijk in his defence of the season, with Forest’s Ola Aina and Murillo, as well as Arsenal’s Miles Lewis-Skelly filling out the rest of the defence.
The former player turned pundit said young Lewis-Skelly had been ‘head and shoulders’ above any other left back this term.
‘Do you not think Vítor Pereira would pick Lewis-Skelly above Ait-Nouri?’, Sutton asked his co-host.
‘Wolves conceded over 60 goals this season, and Ait-Nouri was a part of that – and you’ve named him in your team of the season?’
To hear the full debate on Ian and Chris’s defences of the season, listen to ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ now, wherever you get your podcasts.
