Darren Bent shocked by what Rayan Ait-Nouri was doing for Wolves during Bournemouth clash

Rayan Ait-Nouri has had a pretty interesting season so far for Wolves.

The Algeria international was one of Gary O’Neil’s best performers last term, and played the majority of the games ahead of Hugo Bueno, resulting in the Spaniard being loaned out this season.

 

There was plenty of transfer speculation about him in the summer. But he stayed put after big-money sales of Max Kilman and Pedro Neto were approved.

Fans would have hoped to see Ait-Nouri kick on, but he’s actually been slightly disappointing this season.

Going forward he’s been pretty good, contributing three goals and two assists.

But we’ve also seen him struggle defensively. Fans absolutely slammed Ait-Nouri’s performance against Chelsea back in August, which came one week after a poor display at Arsenal.

Darren Bent was present at Molineux at the weekend – and has been critical of the star for one bad habit he has.

Bent says Ait-Nouri takes too long to pass the ball for Wolves

Ait-Nouri is a bit like Matheus Cunha in that he is a maverick.

 

He’s someone who may not have it all down defensively, but he can certainly provide moments of genuine quality.

He has supreme technical ability, which we all know about at this point. But sometimes, Ait-Nouri can be guilty of overcomplicating things.

Bent watched the game against Bournemouth on Saturday, and made one claim about Ait-Nouri that some fans will probably firmly agree with. He also didn’t like the body language he showed at times.

 

He said on the Ben Foster – The Cycling GK YouTube channel: “It wasn’t good to watch. I mean, Ait-Nouri, every single time he’s got the ball – and he’s a talented footballer – he’d take too long to pass it at times, he’d walk about, he’d throw his arms about. Teammates are looking at him to pass and he’d just turn his back on them.

“It almost felt, from minute one, that Wolves turned up thinking ‘We’ve won the last two games, brilliant at Fulham, we’ll run over Bournemouth.”

Only last week, journalist Liam Keen was critical of Ait-Nouri after his display at Fulham, saying he was giving the ball away needlessly and constantly turning into danger.

Ait-Nouri needs to be more consistent

Ait-Nouri has the potential to be really frustrating for Wolves at times.

He is an absolutely fabulous footballer when he’s on song. Some of his footwork is mesmerising at times and arguably, he’s right up there with the very best technical players Wolves have ever had.

But certainly, what Bent says about Ait-Nouri taking too long to pass the ball, many Wolves fans will agree.

Rayan Ait-Nouri for Wolves (2020-present)

Appearances – 130

Goals – 10

Assists – 10

But he’s obviously still young and many years away from the start of his peak.

For Ait-Nouri, it’s all about striking the right balance. He should look to play simple more often, but obviously not lose that directness and technical brilliance he has.

If he’s able to improve his consistency, then he will become some player – and likely Wolves’ next big-money sale.

 

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