Ruben Neves is back, ladies and gentleman. If ever there was an opportunity to coin the phrase form is temporary, class is permanent, it was at full-time on Sunday.
As Wolves dug deep to find a late equaliser courtesy of Romain Saiss against Spurs, it was Neves who quietly ran the show in the middle of the park and played like a man possessed.
Nuno Santo has tinkered with his system in recent weeks and deciding on a four-man defence that was battered 4-0 by Liverpool only a few weeks ago was brave.
However, against a Tottenham side possessing the effervescent Harry Kane and Heung-min Son, they were made to look average. Very rarely did they have a chance to score and credit has to go to Wolves’ backline.
Saiss was considerably better than the performance he put in against Burnley but equally, Neves was better than we’ve seen all season. The Portuguese has struggled in 2020/21 and we’ll be the first to admit at FFC that we’ve doubted him.
Of course, it will take more than one performance to really start believing the midfielder’s hype again but against one of the title contenders, this was an excellent display.
That being said, it was a performance that is likely to go under the radar. Neves didn’t do anything too eye-catching but he quietly went about his business in a robust fashion. Throughout his time on the pitch, he won five tackles and five interceptions, making a mighty 11 ball recoveries.
His ability to reclaim possession of the ball was phenomenal and it was down to that reason that Son and Kane rarely had the chance to break. Neves was repeatedly in the way and then used his magnificent passing range to good effect.
The Portugal international completed 82% of his passes and was successful with all three of his crosses. This was a complete performance from someone who looked at ease playing against Spurs.
Neves’ place in the side has been called into question at times this term but this was a performance to silence the doubters. He definitely still has the attributes to thrive in this Wolves team.
Just imagine what he could do alongside a more mobile midfielder.