Sky Sports pundits Jamie Redknapp and Alan Smith both delivered high praise of Jose Sa yesterday before Wolves beat Leicester City 2-1.
The club have moved back up to seventh in the Premier League table after a really hard-fought victory at Molineux.
Wanderers were not at their best. But they were able to get the job done, with Daniel Podence the match-winner.
Leicester applied lots of pressure during the game, especially for the first 20 or so minutes of the second-half.
Podence’s goal came against the run of play, and there was then some great defending from Wolves to see the game out.
Sa was once again on top form for Wolves, and he needed to be in tricky conditions.
He made six saves in total (via Sofascore), with three of those coming from Leicester chances inside the Wolves penalty area.
Prior to the game, Redknapp and Smith both praised the 29-year-old for the impact he has made on Wolves.
Redknapp said on Sky Sports: “The ‘keeper has give them a massive upgrade (on Rui Patricio). He gives them that confidence when he makes saves. There’s always that belief that he’s going to do the right thing.
“He reads the game, he understands the game. He’s got real intelligence as a goalkeeper. He does thing well, he makes really good saves, he makes them look easy because he’s really calm and confident. He gives everyone around him a belief that they’re going to keep clean sheets.”
Smith, on co-commentary, then showered his own praise on Sa.
He said just before kick-off: “He’s been sensational since arriving. All the best ‘keepers make the job look easy and he’s in that category for me.
“Well protected, it has to be said, by a very good defence, but this lad must be one of the bargains of the season.”
Jose Sa continues to do the business for Wolves
Thankfully Redknapp and Smith did not jinx Sa with their pre-match praise.
It could easily have been a tricky outing for him given the testing conditions.
But Sa was, once again, absolutely solid between the sticks for Wolves and just did everything with real confidence. This is something Wolves fans now come to expect from him.
It was good to hear a couple of high-profile pundits giving him his due credit as he really is having a wonderful season and has had a totally transformative impact on the team with his goalkeeping style.