{"id":544851,"date":"2020-03-04T12:22:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T17:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=544851"},"modified":"2020-03-05T12:38:54","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T17:38:54","slug":"wolverhampton-wanderers-thriving-despite-europa-league-pressures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/03\/04\/wolverhampton-wanderers-thriving-despite-europa-league-pressures\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolves Thriving Despite European Pressures"},"content":{"rendered":"

In August 2018, when asked about the pressure of more fixtures from being in the Europa League, Burnley<\/a> manager Sean Dyche gave an honest and interesting answer.<\/p>\n

Wolverhampton Wanderers Thriving Despite Europa League Pressures<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for the players because they constantly get a barrage of \u2018too many games and \u2018Europa\u2019 \u2013 they looked a little bit flat,” he told TalkSport<\/a> after his side’s 4-2 defeat to newly-promoted Fulham<\/a> at the start of the 2018\/19 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the outside noise just took an edge off our performance today and it did a little bit against Watford<\/a>. We\u2019ve got the obvious challenge of numbers. We didn\u2019t get as many players in the market as we wanted to. We knew we needed more and that\u2019s been clear. They\u2019re facts, not excuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a constant feeling that the message is: \u2018too many games\u2019, and it is a lot of games. There is a lot of travelling as well. But that\u2019s where you\u2019ve got to be mentally tough. It is new to them, it\u2019s a new challenge for all of us \u2013 the recovery periods, the fact we\u2019ve got another big game coming. It\u2019s how we take on that challenge. But we are lacking numbers at the minute and that\u2019s making it more of a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clubs Have Struggled in the Past With Added Pressure<\/h3>\n

For all the benefits of playing European football, both on and off the field, is the Europa League providing a strain on teams that do not possess the squad depth and strength of the Premier League’s ‘big six’? Dyche seems to think so and it is telling that arguably Burnley’s toughest period since earning promotion back to the Premier League in 2016 coincided with more fixtures and an earlier start to the season due to Europa League qualification.<\/p>\n

So, you would have been forgiven for fearing that a similar fate would happen to Wolverhampton Wanderers<\/a>. After a stunning first season back in the top flight, which saw them finish seventh and seal European football for 2019\/20, the praise for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men was fully justified but there were bigger challenges that would await.<\/p>\n

Could Wolves sustain their league form? How would the squad cope with an earlier start to the season and more fixtures from the Europa League? Many other teams have concluded that the competition negatively affected their league form as the physical strain on the squad increased. How Wolves would handle it would be particularly intriguing.<\/p>\n

Initially, the signs were not good. Wolves’ season started on July 25 with a 2-0 Europa League qualifying win against Irish side Crusaders but, after playing eight games in August alone, their league form started to dip. There was no win in their first six league games and results such as a 5-2 home defeat to Chelsea<\/a>, a 3-2 loss against Everton<\/a> and draws to Burnley<\/a> and Crystal Palace<\/a> started present the notion that their side were in for a long season.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>