Wolves have released their shortlist of players for the Castore Player of the Month award for December.
Wanderers had three games last month following the end of the World Cup, which were Julen Lopetegui’s first as head coach at Molineux.
Wolves started off with a 2-0 win over Gillingham in the Carabao Cup. It wasn’t a great performance against a stubborn League Two side, but the job got done. A quarter-final tie against Nottingham Forest awaits.
Wolves then had their first Premier League game back after the World Cup against Everton.
It was another fairly uninspiring performance, but Lopetegui made some changes in the game to get another win, this time 2-1.
And to close out the month, Wolves were beaten 1-0 at Molineux by Manchester United.
Wolves probably gave their best display under Lopetegui so far, but came away with nothing thanks to a Marcus Rashford goal.
So a decent start under the new manager, and the club have selected a few players that caught the eye for fans to consider as the Player of the Month for December.
Jose Sa, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Ruben Neves and Daniel Podence are all eligible to be voted for this time around.
Out of these four players, goalkeeper Sa arguably deserves it the most.
Prior to the World Cup, Sa’s form had been a little patchy.
He was not the absolute force between the sticks he was throughout 2021/22.
But he’s come back from Qatar and appears to have rediscovered his mojo, which is excellent news for Wolves.
Jose Sa deserves to win Wolves Player of the Month for January, just ahead of Rayan Ait-Nouri
Ait-Nouri has been really good for Wolves coming off the bench in the last three games.
Obviously, he got those late goals against Gillingham and Everton, which is fantastic to see.
But Sa’s made some vital contributions in the three games under Lopetegui so far.
His save against Anthony Gordon against Everton was as good as Wolves scoring a goal. That kept Wanderers in the contest and allowed the players to believe in taking all three points. And, of course, that is what they went on and did.
And against United, he may have ultimately ended up on the losing side. But Sa made six saves – the most he’s made in a game this season.
His lightening quick reactions to bail out Nelson Semedo were fantastic to see, and against the Red Devils he just looked his old commanding self again.
Arguably, he has been the standout player of the Lopetegui era so far.