A Tough Road Ahead For Wolverhampton Wanderers

When different teams emerge on the European scene it’s always exciting, especially when it comes to teams from English football. It offers up a fresh perspective and a change of pace from the status quo, which is something we all often try and get away from. The top six have been controlling the narrative in England at this level for far too long now, and it feels like it needs to stop.

With that in mind, it’s time for the masses to welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers into the equation. The Chinese-owned Midlands side were able to finish seventh in the Premier League this season, in addition to reaching the semi finals of the FA Cup. As a result of Manchester City’s win over Watford in the FA Cup final, Wolves qualified for the Europa League which will mark their first appearance in European competition for 40 years. It obviously goes without saying that this is a huge, huge moment for the club, but a lot of folks are already looking ahead to the pros and cons associated with taking part in such a competition.

Take a step back

As reported by Birmingham Live things are starting to become a little bit more clear regarding what Wolves want to do in the summer transfer window, but of course, one of the big problems they’ll have is that they won’t have nearly as much time as other clubs to get everything sorted. Why? Because the stage at which they enter the Europa League is going to commence at the end of July, meaning they’ll start off their competitive season a few weeks before everyone else. In order to just get to the group stages they’ll need to mastermind their way through three ties, aka six games, before they even kick off in the Premier League. That’s a pretty tall order, especially for a team that didn’t use all too many players in the top flight last season.

Express & Star is reporting that the club has a major shirt sponsorship deal that will likely lead to a great deal of money being generated for the team, but things like that don’t really matter when you stack them up against actual, legitimate results.

On the right track

Nuno Espirito Santo has done a great job with this Wolves squad and that kind of goes without saying at this point, but now, he needs to try and take them to the next level. That’s easier said than done within the realms of the European game, and they kind of need to get moving when it comes to bringing in some fresh faces. They can rely on their youth stars to help them through the first round or two, as well as their standard first team stars, but beyond that it’s going to get a little bit trickier for them.

Considering the ambition that the club possesses for the next few years it’s not hard to imagine them going quite far in the Europa League, but they still need to be able to manage their expectations as best as they possibly can.