Wolves may have lost to Manchester City on Sunday but several players performed really well.
Wolves lost 2-1, with John Stones scoring an injury-time header at Molineux following a huge defensive effort.
The goal was controversial and some supporters are still irked that it was given.
But Gary O’Neil will take plenty of positives from the game, including how much more assured his backline looked.
Yes, Wolves conceded two more goals. But one was to a stunning strike by Josko Gvardiol and the other may well have been saved by Jose Sa had it not been for Bernardo Silva’s influence.
Overall, Wolves looked better in a back three – and Santiago Bueno did his prospects of starting against Brighton this weekend no harm at all.
Santi Bueno shone for Wolves against Man City
It was just the second start of the season in the Premier League for Bueno against City.
He hasn’t really been in favour with O’Neil since his arrival at the club for £8.5 million in the summer of 2023, but Bueno now has a golden opportunity to impress.
Seemingly, the plan is to proceed with this formation that uses three centre-backs at a time.
Against City, Bueno was quietly impressive. He caught the eye early on in the game when he took a risky ball from Craig Dawson away from Jeremy Doku and swept it out with his weak foot to Nelson Semedo on the wing.
Semedo then put in a brilliant cross for Jorgen Strand Larsen to tap home.
City applied a lot of pressure in the game, but Bueno was pretty solid defensively.
As per The Other 14, Bueno made two blocks and six clearances in the match. He also won three of the five aerial duels he contested.
His passing was decent with 14/20 completed for an accuracy of 70% (via Sofascore).
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Bueno could pull a Toti Gomes for Wolves
To say Bueno had only previously started one Premier League game this season before facing City, Bueno did really well on Sunday.
Craig Dawson was the one who largely tied up Erling Haaland, just as he did last season. But Bueno did also hold his own against the Norwegian on occasion.
Bueno also fared quite well for Uruguay over the latest international break, so it’s been a pretty good past couple of weeks for him.
There were suggestions Wolves could have loaned Bueno out in the summer transfer window. But he now finds himself with a chance to really nail down his place in the starting XI.
We saw last season how Toti Gomes became a regular after the formation change against City. The Portuguese became an ever-present on the left of a three last term, and Bueno surely has the chance to follow his teammate’s example, only on the opposite side.