Fabio Silva is struggling at Wolves – but there is one player he should seek to confide in as he looks to emerge from his tough moment.
The striker made headlines for the wrong reasons at the weekend, conceding a penalty right at the death in Wolves’ game with Sheffield United. Wolves lost the game 2-1.
Wanderers fell behind to a Cameron Archer goal, but equalised through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
But right at the end, referee Robert Jones gave a penalty to the hosts, after Silva had fouled George Baldock in the area. But replays showed Baldock was already going to ground.
The decision to give a penalty, and the fact it was upheld by VAR, has sparked outrage.
United scored the spot-kick, and Silva’s devastation was clear for all to see at full-time.
This is a young player who is desperate to prove his worth at Molineux, but right now it is just not happening for him.
But there is a Wolves player he may want to talk to about his situation, as he is someone who has been through a similar rough patch…
Fabio Silva should confide in Hwang Hee-chan, who’s also had some struggles at Wolves
You would imagine that the Wolves players will be rallying around Silva after what happened on Saturday. He will undoubtedly need the support right now.
He is, of course, not solely to blame for Wolves losing the game. But he is probably going to feel like he is.
Hopefully, he will realise that everyone wants him to succeed at this club and he might find talking to Hwang Hee-chan especially helpful.
That’s because Hwang has previously had some struggles of his own at Molineux.
Back in August of 2022, Wolves played a Premier League game against Newcastle United at Molineux. Wolves were in a great position to take all three points, but ended up drawing the game after Allan Saint-Maximin scored a sensational volley to equalise in the 89th minute.
The goal came about because Hwang – just on as a substitute – completely miscued his clearance. The ball went across his own box, and dropped to the Frenchman who scored with a first-time finish.
After the game, Hwang was heavily criticised.
And in the game before that, against Preston North End in the Carabao Cup, Hwang was handed a penalty by his teammate Raul Jimenez, but saw his effort saved. The idea had been to try and boost Hwang’s confidence given he’d been in poor form, but he could not convert.
More poor displays followed those two matches and people were on the South Korean’s back.
But look at him now. Hwang is one of Wolves’ best players, and is on absolute fire this season having scored seven goals across all competitions.
Silva may find encouragement in the fact that a senior player has been able to emerge from a tough time at Molineux to become a top player for the club.
Granted, Hwang is a more experienced player. But he’s still been through a hard time at the club before becoming a top player and very popular figure. He will likely have some good advice for Silva about how to turn things around.
Silva might just find talking to his £14 million teammate will help him.