Wolves took on Leicester City yesterday and lost 2-1 – and there was again no sign of Raul Jimenez.
Julen Lopetegui once again selected a two-man attack of Matheus Cunha and Diego Costa at the King Power stadium.
It had served him well in the previous two games.
Against Brentford, they showed fantastic link-up play, and Costa was finally able to score his first goal for the club.
Against Leicester they were at it again in the first-half, but Wolves struggled as a collective after conceding the equaliser.
The form of the duo has made things difficult for Jimenez, who has now not played since the 4-2 Premier League defeat to Leeds United last month.
Lopetegui left him on the bench against Nottingham Forest.
And he hasn’t selected him in his squad for the last three matches.
Some have been wondering if there is something going on with the Mexican.
Well yesterday, Sky Sports reporter and Wolves supporter Johnny Phillips wrote an article in the Express & Star about life behind the scenes at Wolves.
He commented on how things have changed for the better under Lopetegui.
Regarding Jimenez, he explained that there is nothing odd going on. He said simply: “Without wanting to criticise Raul Jimenez – the greatest striker this club has seen since the days of Steve Bull – there is a good reason he has not made the last two matchday squads.
Like Rayan Ait-Nouri, the Mexican is one of the squad’s more laid back individuals. There is no attitude problem, it is just that others are displaying greater intensity to their work right now.”
Raul Jimenez and Rayan Ait-Nouri will need to bust a gut to reclaim places in Wolves’ matchday squad
This is an interesting line from Phillips and it does shed some light on the way Lopetegui thinks.
The manager is clearly a huge advocate for intensity.
You could tell that with the way he spoke about Toti Gomes after his performance against Brentford.
It is good to know there is no issue between the players and the manager, and that it is simply just one of those things.
Wolves just have so many good players available at the moment, so it is going to come down to things like intensity in training in order to make decisions.
Perhaps both Jimenez and Ait-Nouri will just need to become a little less laid back if they are to play again this season.