The Athletic’s Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers claims that Ruben Vinagre needs to improve if he is to displace Jonny and become the club’s first-choice left-back, per The Molineux View podcast (December 10th, 17:42).
What’s the word?
Jonny has made 38 appearances in all competitions this season but he has missed the last two outings with an ankle injury sustained against Norwich City; Wolves beat Tottenham Hotspur and drew with Brighton & Hove Albion.
In those games, Vinagre has deputised, playing 90 minutes in each game, but Spiers believes that the 20-year-old is lagging some way behind his more senior team-mate, who is 26.
He said: “They do miss Jonny, that transition. He’s so good at that.
“He’s got a really good instinctive link up with (Diogo) Jota as well which they miss when he’s not in the team, and he’s just so solid defensively, you know exactly what you’re going to get from Jonny; not many mistakes, again knows his role inside out, knows his limitations, knows his strengths, whereas for Vinagre, I don’t know if you’d say that about him at the moment.”
He added: “I think he has improved defensively, certainly his one-on-one situations, but he is prone to the odd lapse in concentration. And he offers you more going forward than Jonny, certainly, on the overlap. And he’s a very explosive talent on this day.
“Jonny is very much more of a safe pair of hands and more Nuno (Espirito Santo’s) type of player, I think at this moment in time, so it will be interesting to see how Vinagre develops going forward because he’s got a little bit of catching up to do if he wants to be a first-team regular.”
Only natural
This isn’t exactly surprising.
Jonny is an established senior pro, making 298 appearances as a professional for both Celta Vigo and Wolves; he also has three senior caps for Spain to his name.
Vinagre, by comparison, has played 61 times for the Molineux club and has been capped at a maximum of U21 level by Portugal.
For true Wolves fans only: How much did each of these players cost?
Add into that the uncertainty over Vinagre’s position – he has played as both a left winger and a left-back this season – and it becomes clear why he is perhaps an erratic presence under Nuno Espirito Santo.
It also explains why Jonny can be seen as more of the manager’s type of player, because he knows the role of a left-back inside out, and has been playing at a very high level for a number of years, certainly longer than Vinagre has been.
Meanwhile, Wolves have to unleash this man!
