Wolves finally got their first win in the Premier League on Saturday, beating West Ham United – and Jhon Arias was again deployed in a midfield role.
The Old Gold have moved on to six points courtesy of the win, meaning the gap to safety is now 12 points.
There is still a long way to go. But recent performances and the first win against West Ham have given Wolves fans renewed hope of survival.
Rob Edwards has put an awful lot of work in since taking the job, and we are now starting to see the fruits of his labour.
Even in some of the games he lost, Wolves were unlucky.
The hope now is that Wolves can put together a bit of a run – and perhaps Jhon Arias will keep his place after a recent position tweak.
Rob Edwards praises Jhon Arias after position change at Wolves
A couple of weeks ago, Arias’ popularity at Wolves was fairly low, after he’d turned in several poor performances.
He was ironically cheered when he was taken off against Manchester United at Molineux, and there has even been some talk about his future.
But Arias recently reaffirmed his commitment to Wolves and won’t be departing this month.
And it seems he actually could have a new lease of life now in this new midfield position, with Rob Edwards singing his praises after the win over West Ham.
He said (via Wolves official): “His last two performances have been really good in that eight role, a deeper role. He covers the ground really well and obviously has a real calmness in possession with the ball.
Did Jhon Arias give his best display yet for Wolves against West Ham? He certainly had some impressive stats…
This new midfield role could be his catalyst at Molineux 🤞
“They (Arias and Mane) went again because they deserved to. The other day was maybe out of necessity, we had to make changes and shuffle the pack a little bit, but today certainly the plan was there and they had the opportunity to go and do it again and back it up, and I’m really pleased they did.”
According to Sofascore, Arias contested a staggering 21 duels, which was the most of any Wolves player and second only to Crysencio Summerville.
He also made eight defensive contributions – only Yerson Mosquera made more for Wolves.
Arias has looked a different player
Arias in central midfield is not something anyone particularly saw coming.
But the suspension of Andre against United opened the door though, and Arias and Mateus Mane looked really good ahead of Joao Gomes.
Arias was previously so ineffective in many games playing out wide or in the number 10 roles.
Perhaps he simply did not suit those roles.
But in the last two games, his industry has served Wolves extremely well in the middle of the park, and he’s also looked after the ball quite well on the whole, showing good technical quality.
Many had written him off. But perhaps this could be the start of a real turnaround for Arias at Molineux.
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