Wolves place a lot of emphasis on signing the right characters, as well as the right players for the squad.
It’s all well and good signing top quality players. But so much more goes into recruitment and Wolves have really tried to ensure that the players they do sign are also really good for the dressing room.
In recent times, the squad dynamics have been much better.
Reportedly, it wasn’t in the best place at the end of Bruno Lage’s tenure at Molineux. And things didn’t improve too much under Julen Lopetegui, even though he did execute a successful safety mission
But the Wolves dressing room is healthy right now, and there are a number of leaders in the group now.
Gary O’Neil has called on a few Wolves players to show that leadership more than ever now, amid the club’s struggles.
But the Wolves manager also mentioned two players he feels have made great strides when it comes to leadership.
O’Neil says Joao Gomes and Toti Gomes are leaders for Wolves
Wolves have a leadership group which consists of the likes of Mario Lemina, Matheus Cunha, Nelson Semedo, Pablo Sarabia and Dan Bentley.
These experienced players act as a bridge between the manager and the rest of the group.
But it’s important for everyone in the squad to try and act like a leader, so that everyone is taking responsibility.
And ahead of the game with Everton, O’Neil put in a quick word for two players who’ve really improved recently in terms of their leadership.
He told the E&S: “Look at Joao’s transformation from young potential to senior member of the team that has a voice. Toti the same.”
Great to see, especially with Joao Gomes
It’s encouraging to hear O’Neil speak about players emerging as leaders who you may not necessarily expect.
Toti is a very popular player in the dressing room, and is someone who’s quite calm and collected. He has never really come across as someone who is really outgoing like Lemina or Cunha.
So it’s really good to hear the manager talk up his leadership qualities.
And it’s especially nice to hear Joao Gomes is emerging as a leader, because the Brazilian started off quite reserved at Molineux following his move from Flamengo.
That was completely understandable, moving from South America to the Premier League at a young age. Gomes also has a stammer, and has previously spoken about the challenges he’s faced dealing with that.
So the fact he’s now showing leadership is amazing, and hopefully, that dressing room will be benefiting from that for as long as possible.