Wolves have endured an incredibly tough start to the new season and are still yet to win in the Premier League.
Fans were in no doubt that it would be a difficult start when the fixtures were released.
Many are concerned right now, but Gary O’Neil is being given time to turn things around.
Despite the struggles, there have also been positives about the way Wolves have played at times. This is part of the reason O’Neil has received backing from the Wolves board.
The players are still playing for him, and with fixtures about to become a little more forgiving, the hope is that Wolves can start to get points on the board.
It has been intriguing to see who O’Neil has turned to in these opening fixtures, and one man we’ve barely seen so far is Pablo Sarabia.
Pablo Sarabia has become a forgotten man at Wolves
Up to now, Pablo Sarabia has been one of the least-used first-team players for Wolves.
The Spaniard appears to be way down in the pecking order at the moment at Molineux, having gotten just 153 minutes under his belt in total.
The only current first-teamers to have played fewer minutes than that are Dan Bentley (90) and Boubacar Traore (45), who has been injured. Youngster Alfie Pond has also played 90 minutes.
For perspective, Daniel Podence, who officially left the club on September 3, has only played 17 minutes fewer than Sarabia for Wolves this season.
It has been quite the change for Sarabia, who found himself to be an important player at times last term, amid injuries to other players.
Sarabia finished the 2023/24 campaign with 36 appearances and 2168 minutes to his name, scoring four goals and providing 10 assists.
Sarabia will surely seek to leave Wolves in January
It is quite surprising to see that O’Neil has barely leaned on Sarabia all season.
Ultimately, he is an experienced player and also someone who clearly has the capacity to create, as evidenced by his 10 assists last season.
But the Wolves manager just doesn’t seem to fancy him this time around, against other, more mobile options like Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Goncalo Guedes and Carlos Forbs. O’Neil has branded Sarabia ‘quality’ in the past, and hailed his technical ability, but right now the Spaniard seems unlikely to get chances.
| Pablo Sarabia for Wolves (all competitions) |
| Appearances – 53 |
| Minutes played – 3091 |
| Goals – 5 |
| Assists – 10 |
It will be very interesting to see what happens with him in January. Especially if Wolves stick with their three-at-the-back formation. This system change arguably doesn’t really suit Sarabia, as it points more towards defending and counter-attacking.
It was recently suggested that Sevilla are interested in Sarabia, and the Spanish club might try their luck in the next transfer window.
And realistically, it’s hard to see Sarabia wanting to stick around if his minutes do not pick up considerably.