Keep seeing how he is supposedly a deep lying playmaker who runs games, and yet Wolves have been one of the more pragmatic sides around that don't really play possession football. Something doesn't really tally there. He's either not getting the opportunity to backup these claims because of their style imposed by Nuno or he's simply not all he's cracked up to be and we underrate our own as usual. Pinging a few long range passes is not exactly a key skill we require either, no idea why that's constantly brought up as a reason to get him. Maguire, Lindelof, Pogba have a decent range of passing, it's not exactly a key failing.
Agreed.
The issue Nuno had at Wolves was that he was lumped with numerous players where he had to fit them all in. And the best way to fit players like Neves into your team is to play a reactive brand of football. Nuno when he was appointed Valencia head coach, implemented a high pressing, high tempo, fast transition play style, with two high energy #8s and had his CM, wide forward and striker, all pressing as high as the opposition goalkeeper. You can't do that effectively with Neves because he gets bypassed too easily due to how immobile he is. He then had to fit Moutinho into the team who at 32 was past his peak but still out shone Neves for several seasons before his decline due to age started showing.
So it was sensible from Nuno to adopt a low to mid-block with the hand he was dealt. And playing with a 3 man back-line gave the likes of Neves and the aging Moutinho protection which was required. Neves was also targeted quite regularly against teams who were adept at pressing high up the pitch and looked lost on a number of occassions when there was no space. Which isn't a surprise due to how immobile he is both on/off the ball.
IMO we need a player in midfield who isn't just technically strong but is also someone that has the capability to get around the pitch quickly, which is important if a team wants to effectively press high and counter press in a style which favours fast transitions rather than possession play.
Moutinho was the correct profile of player for such a role, but he's past his best now. So IMO, the likes of Camavinga, Caqueret etc should be considerations because they're players who have the touch and technique but also have the dynamism both on and off the ball which really helps if one wants to implement a fast transition play style with a high back line. Both Camavinga and Caqueret are also comfortably better at evading the press in comparison to Neves. We would still need a more defensive minded CM next to them, but the aforementioned two would provide a much better balance for the reasons I've described.