News of the Premier League’s return is music to the ears of Rúben Neves, even if it means the guitar lessons he started during lockdown may have to fade into the background. The midfielder had just completed Wolves’ first contact training session in more than two months on Thursday when news broke that his team could return to match action on the weekend starting 19 June.
Neves can already envisage repeating his pre-match routine. “Coldplay are my favourite band and that’s the kind of music I always listen to before a game,” the 23-year-old said. “Normally the last song I listen to before I take off my headphones is Fix You. I like the words and it helps me to get concentrated for the match.”
That seems a rather plaintive tune to use as stimulus for a Premier League showdown, but the lyrics are about resisting despair, carrying on despite heartache. So maybe it will sound particularly fitting when the season resumes in a country still tormented by Covid-19. Safety permitting, Neves believes the return of football will help to provide a dose of light relief. “It’s always good to have back the sensations of football, the emotions, the goals, everything. It’s really important for football to come back.”
On Thursday Neves and his teammates took a major step towards that return. “We are really excited – even more so after that training session because we could finally play proper football. So far we had only trained individually or in small groups without contact.”
The manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, had to be vigilant to ensure a combination of rustiness and enthusiasm did not lead to clumsy tackles. “The gaffer made sure everything would go right in the first training session,” Neves said.
“People were excited but he made sure they just focused on playing football. We still have time to compete and get back that [competitive] feeling. For now the most important thing is to get back the sensations of the team, the lines of play and the tactics.”
Wolves have a lot to play for when the season resumes. They were sixth in the table when play was suspended and were also looking good in the Europa League, having scored an away goal while drawing the first leg of their last-16 tie at Olympiakos. Owing to coronavirus that match was played behind closed doors, offering Wolves an experience of what the atmosphere will be like when the Premier League returns in empty stadiums.
“It is really strange, you don’t have the adrenaline of the fans,” Neves said. “We are used to playing in loud places, but unfortunately the situation is bad and we don’t know when things will get back to normal so we just have to get used to it.
“The warmup is the most important part for getting used to the [empty] stadium because it is quiet and you need to put your head in the game. We used the warmup to motivate us so that when the game started we didn’t think about [the silence].”
Other thoughts Neves says he and his fellow players are good at banishing are the ones about a thrilling Wolves team being picked apart whenever transfer activity is reignited. The one downside of their success as far as their fans are concerned is that many of their players have attracted the attention of more established powers. Neves is said to be coveted by Manchester City and many others.
“There has always been speculation since I’ve got here about our team,” says the player whose arrival at Molineux in 2017 was a big factor in the club’s triumphant drive for promotion from the Championship. “But we don’t think about it. We want to be together for as much time as we can but it’s football, the speculation will always be there. Our job is to play and leave this for the people who need to take care of it.”
