Julen Lopetegui has praised Wolves full-back Nelson Semedo following the player’s recent upturn in form.
The 29-year-old has had a few good displays of late for Wanderers, after a shaky start to the season.
Semedo came into the 2022/23 campaign without a pre-season under his belt.
At the end of last season, he suffered a hamstring injury that required him to undergo surgery.
Semedo was unable to feature for Wolves in their pre-season schedule, eventually returning to action against Fulham in the second Premier League game of the season.
Semedo seemed to struggle as a result of that lack of a pre-season.
The full-back was being beaten in one-vs-one situations and was a bit all over the place in terms of his positioning.
His struggles meant that he couldn’t really nail down a place in the starting XI, with Jonny Castro Otto rotating in from time to time.
Under Lopetegui though, Semedo’s performances have improved.
After the Premier League defeat to Manchester United in which he was shaky, Semedo has turned a corner.
He did well against Aston Villa, and then against West Ham United he had arguably one of his best performances ever in a Wolves shirt.
Lopetegui has been speaking about the former Barcelona, and is pleased with his recent resurgence.
He said (Express & Star): “We are happy with Nelson’s performance.
“His commitment is very big in his daily work.
“He wants to improve, so we try to help him. At the moment he’s playing very well.
“I think he’s defending well, which is very important. In elite football, first of all you have to defend well and after he is to do more, because he’s a good player.”
Nelson Semedo can become a key player for Wolves again after upturn under Lopetegui
Semedo has definitely had a rough first half of the season. But in the last few games he has done well.
Hopefully, this will be the start of a true turnaround for him at Molineux.
Last season, Semedo was one of Wolves’ best players up until his first hamstring injury in February.
The £80,000-a-week star was thriving as a wing-back under Bruno Lage, and really was a brilliant outlet for Wolves.
Lopetegui needs him to get back to that kind of level. Semedo is looking a bit more assured now and hopefully he can kick on.