Wolves were outfought, outran and ultimately outclassed during their 3-0 loss against Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
Vitor Pereira’s men came into the contest just outside the relegation zone but defeat by a three-goal margin pushed Wolves back into the bottom three.
It was a bad night for most involved, as Mario Lemina’s refusal to play stole the headlines alongside some below-par performances.
Wolves fans slammed Hwang Hee-chan for his mistake which led to the first goal, and Goncalo Guedes was also poor, losing possession a whopping 16 times.
Pereira’s side weren’t just toothless in attack however, as they were ripped open too easily defensively, with Santi Bueno coming in for criticism.
Santiago Bueno isn’t a Premier League-level defender
Uruguayan defender Bueno has been ever-present under Pereira, playing every single minute in the Premier League.
Whilst Bueno was given a ‘special mention’ by Dave Edwards for his performance in the 2-2 draw against Tottenham, the same issues in his game keep cropping up.
Gary O’Neil criticised Bueno for his physicality in his penultimate game in charge, and that continues to be a problem.
The 26-year-old was bullied by Alexander Isak at St James’ Park, as the languid defender struggled to live with the Swede, and that is a narrative shared by many defenders this term.
However, there was no sympathy coming from Wolves expert Liam Keen, who doesn’t believe he’s a Premier League standard defender.
“Unfortunately, a defence with a central defender in Santi Bueno that can’t defend, simple as that. It sounds harsh, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m not sure he’s a Premier League defender,” Keen said on the E&S podcast.
Wolves signed Bueno from Girona for £8.5 million in the summer of 2023, and there was a possibility that he could have been shifted out at the start of the season.
Wolves nearly loaned out Santiago Bueno in the summer
Sadly, as Keen said, Bueno is only playing for Wolves because there is a shortage of defensive options, even with the signing of Emmanuel Agbadou.
Pereira plans on signing another centre-back to play alongside Agbadou in the back three, and with Toti Gomes soon to return, Bueno could quickly lose his place in the side.
Judah agreed with his podcast partner on the Uruguay international struggling with the divisions’ physicality, often getting bullied by his opponents.
“I’m not quite sure whether he is suited to be playing week in, week out in the Premier League. And I think he’s been exposed, I think he gets bullied a little bit. Like I say, there are some decent elements,” Judah said.
He also claimed that Bueno nearly left Wolves on loan in the summer however, a centre-back needed to join first and that never happened.
“Wolves wouldn’t have bought them if they weren’t. But let’s not forget that the Wolves weren’t convinced about Santiago Bueno this season either. They were ready to loan him out pretty quickly,” Judah admitted.