Express & Star

Wolves 1 Werder Bremen 0 – Five talking points

Wolves beat Werder Bremen 1-0 in Austria to give Nuno Espirito Santo a winning start as boss.

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Nouha Dicko scored the game's only goal early in the second half in front of a couple of hundred happy Wolves fans in sunny Zell am Ziller.

Six of Wolves' eight summer signings made their first appearances in Wolves colours including £15million man Ruben Neves.

But what did we learn from the game? Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers picks out five talking points.

A Nuno dawn

Nuno giving orders to Conor Coady and John Ruddy (© AMA SPORTS PHOTO AGENCY)

A new man in charge and a new formation in the form of 3-4-3 – which on the whole looked pretty good.

The players have been working hard on shape and tactics for the past couple of weeks and it showed, especially in the first half when Wolves produced some tidy build-up play and looked comfortable in their positions, particularly the defence and midfield.

Seasoned observers have called for Wolves to try three at the back for a while and if you look at the current squad they've certainly got the players to do it.

Wing backs are vital to its success and Barry Douglas and Matt Doherty both made a promising start, particularly the former who had a tidy game and looks to have a good delivery on him (an inswinging corner should have been headed home by Willy Boly).

The back three weren't tested too vigorously until the closing minutes, and even then it was two dead ball set pieces that led to Bremen twice hitting the woodwork.

The front line will need some work but you can see the potential a mobile, pacey Nouha Dicko would have with two of Helder Costa, Ivan Cavaleiro, Jordan Graham and Michael Zyro either side of him and Ruben Neves, Ben Marshall, Connor Ronan, Jack Price and others pulling the strings from midfield. In those circumstances you'd back Dicko to score 15 or even 20 goals next season. It's not like he missed many sitters last season – he was starved of service week after week, as was Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

In defence Conor Coady was a shock inclusion as the central centre half but, as he did at right back last season, used his no-frills approach to good effect and looked pretty comfortable.

He was also the loudest man in Zell am Ziller, barking instructions and encouragement to every single team mate for the whole 90 minutes (he was the only player to play the full 90).

There'll be far sterner tests ahead (Bremen are behind Wolves in their pre-season campaign and it showed) but all in all this system has some potential.

Price is right

A team huddle in picturesque Austria (© AMA SPORTS PHOTO AGENCY)

Just a few weeks ago it appeared Jack Price didn't have a future at Wolves.

Like George Saville he'd been given a year extension on his contract and like Saville it's believed he was told – before Nuno's arrival – that his time at the club was up if/when a suitable offer came in.

Skip forward to July 12 and Price started Nuno's first game in charge – and was the best player on the pitch.

It looked like he'd been playing regular football for months but this was just Price's second first-team action since early March.

The formation suited him to a tee, he regularly recycling possession, briskly playing it out to the wings or looking for a through ball to the front three.

Romain Saiss and Connor Ronan showed flashes too, particular the latter with his raking ball which led to Dicko's goal. But Price stole the show and launched yet another one of his Wolves comebacks in the process.

New signings

Barry Douglas had an impressive debut (© AMA SPORTS PHOTO AGENCY)

Six of Wolves' eight summer signings were on show and Douglas was probably the pick.

Ruben Neves came on for the last 31 minutes and even though this was a glorified practice game he still stood out, making difficult passes look easy and oozing class in possession.

The man mountain that is Willy Boly was aggressive in his defending – there's nothing subtle here, he's big, physical and straight to the point. He'll score no points for artistry but could be well suited to the rigours of the Championship.

Roderick Miranda and Ryan Bennett kept things simple at the back in a relatively stress-free second half and John Ruddy made a couple of regulation saves (although Coady said afterwards his experience and communication was excellent).

Plenty more to come from all of these six in Austria, plus goalkeeper Will Norris who is likely to feature on Saturday and/or Tuesday.

No Zyro no party

Michal Zyro was back in Wolves action (© AMA SPORTS PHOTO AGENCY)

Almost forgotten in the excitement of Nuno's first game with a new formation and several new signings was the return of Michal Zyro.

It had been 15 long months since his last action for Wolves' first team, when his burgeoning career was temporarily ground to a halt by that despicable challenge from Antony Kay.

Well he's finally back – and how good was it to see him in a Wolves shirt again.

Understandably the Polish forward was a bit rusty but this wasn't about how well he played – this was about being fully fit at the start of pre-season and beginning to get used to playing proper football again.

He'll be feeling it today but his 45-minute appearance on the right side of the front three is a big step in his route back to being the promising player he looked all that time ago.

Feelgood factor

Wolves fans turned out in good numbers (© AMA SPORTS PHOTO AGENCY)

As supporters you all must be noticing the feelgood factor around Wolves at the moment – it's tangible.

Social media is always a dangerous barometer for these things but the positivity on Twitter right now is very evident. And the fans in the stands at Zell am Ziller all seemed confident for the season ahead, not least after beating a mid-table Bundesliga team which featured talents such as German international Max Kruse (although the agreeable Austrian beer certainly helped encourage that positive mindset!).

It's very, very early days and there are few bona fide reasons to get carried away. But after two years in the mid-table wilderness of the Championship Wolves fans are daring to dream again. And with the squad increasing in quality by the week, why shouldn't they.