Rob Edwards must quickly work out what his best Wolves team is – and there is one statistic that won’t do Marshall Munetsi any favours.
Edwards was confirmed as Wolves’ new manager earlier this week, and he now has a gargantuan job on his hands.
Wolves have had a woeful season so far, and Vitor Pereira’s position as head coach became untenable in the end. The club were right to part ways with the Portuguese, and now Edwards must pick up the pieces.
Edwards’ move to Wolves has caused controversy. But the overriding internal feeling at Molineux is one of delight, and there is real optimism that this is a good appointment for the long term.
Edwards now has to establish his best team and formation.
And one man who’ll be hoping to continue playing regularly is Marshall Munetsi. But one statistic about the Zimbabwe international could make that tricky for him.
Poor Marshall Munetsi passing statistic is food for thought for Rob Edwards
Munetsi is a player who’s divided opinion at Wolves since he sign from Reims in January 2025.
He was essentially the replacement for Mario Lemina, who left midway through the last campaign, and he has been a regular in the side since arriving.
He was a firm favourite for Vitor Pereira, who previously branded Munetsi an ‘animal’ in terms of his work-rate.
But many fans have suggested Munetsi lacks quality on the ball – and one statistic is doing the rounds about the 29-year-old that won’t help his case to continue as a regular under Edwards.
Data MB have shared data that shows how successful Premier League midfielders have been this season in terms of their progressive passing.
Unfortunately, the graphic shows Munetsi close to the bottom left corner. When it comes to progressive pass accuracy, he is sitting at around 45-50%.
And in terms of actual progressive passes per 90, he has only averaged two per 90, which is extremely low.
Munetsi may be giving Rob Edwards a headache
There is no getting away from how poor this stat is. And alarmingly, there is no other player in his immediate vicinity.
It just shows that Munetsi really does struggle when it comes to advancing play, and this data will further suggest that he needs to improve on the ball.
It is potentially going to give Edwards a headache, because Munetsi is probably the kind of player he would like to pick.
Edwards is all about players who show good work-rate and can press, and we know that Munetsi is good at those things.
But right now Wolves have a clear creativity problem, and some will say Munetsi’s defensively qualities alone should not make him a regular.
There is a case for either Jean-Ricner Bellegarde or Fer Lopez to be taking a third midfielder spot if that is the system being used.