Wolverhampton Wanderers maestro Ruben Neves has admitted his first-half showing against Southampton on Sunday was nothing short of ‘horrible’.
The 23-year-old was very slow out of the blocks at St. Mary’s Stadium, and was remarkably wasteful in possession in the early stages.
Indeed, The Athletic reporter Tim Spiers noted at one point that Neves had lost possession three times in the space of just one minute.
He wasn’t the only Wolves player to perform poorly in the first-half, with Southampton much the better side.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Neves conceded: “We knew we were not playing well and for me, it was a horrible first-half.
“We maybe started the game well, but I lost a lot of balls in that first-half, really bad passes, and as a team we were not able to play, not able to press as well, so we needed to focus, we needed to talk at half-time and we did it.”
Thankfully, whatever Nuno Espirito Santo said at half-time had the desired effect, with every player stepping up their game in the second-half.
It was Neves who started the comeback from the penalty spot after a controversial handball decision, with Pedro Neto then hitting the winner in superb fashion.
On his talented teammate, Neves added: “Pedro’s been a fantastic player for us since he came. This season, I think for me he’s been the best player that we have in the squad.”
Nuno deserves big credit
He’s come under fire in the past few months, but Nuno deserves a lot of credit for his role in Sunday’s win.
Clearly he fired his players up after that dreadful first-half showing, and he also made the decision to switch Neto and Adama Traore over.
That paid dividends, with Neto grabbing his goal from the right wing, and Traore looking arguably more dangerous from the left