Watch the extended interview with Traore on Soccer Saturday from midday on Sky Sports News
Friday 20 December 2019 10:57, UK
Wolves' Adama Traore has drawn 24 bookings this season with his pace and power. How does the 23-year-old cope with the attention? Johnny Phillips found out...
He has become the target for the most professional of fouls. Opponents taking one for the team. That particularly cynical foul. The reducer. Adama Traore has found himself a marked man in the 2019/20 season.
In his 26 appearances to date, the Wolves winger has drawn bookings from his markers on 24 occasions. Traore is in the line of fire whenever he takes to the pitch, and he knows it.
"I know the way I play is with speed and ability," he says. "I know my game is about trying to get past players and I know that if a bad tackle is coming my way, I have to jump or push my body out in front, but this is football. If they try to foul and target me, then I'm doing something good."
Traore is incredibly sanguine about the situation. Last Sunday at Molineux, he was systematically targeted by Tottenham's players. Toby Aldweireld, Eric Dier and Harry Kane were all cautioned for bringing the player down with no genuine intent to win the ball. Traore left the field with a shoulder injury which caused consternation in the home dugout. So, does he have to be brave to face up to this sort of opposition?
"Yeah definitely, I have to be brave," he continues. "There are some bad tackles that we don't like. But it's not my job to look at that, it's the referee's job, he has to see what is going on. All I try to do is keep going.
"Most of the time, when they foul me, I get up and go again. That is my mentality - whatever happens in the game, whatever the difficulties I am experiencing, I keep pushing and keep working."
Traore is at his most effective when he isolates his marker one on one. On Saturday, it will be interesting to observe whether Norwich City, and in particular left-back Sam Byram, adopt a similar approach to that taken by Jose Mourinho's side. Doubling up on the Spaniard might be an option too, but Traore believes that is not an effective solution.
"One of my qualities is when it is one on one, that is true," he adds. "But if the opposition puts two or three players on me, it means that some of our other players are free. If I can play like that, then it is better for the team. Any situation in the game when you have the ball you can see there are good opportunities."
Of course, these physical tactics are not unfamiliar to Traore's current team-mates. When Wolves beat Middlesbrough on their way to the Championship title in March 2018, Matt Doherty and Ruben Neves were both sent off for being cautioned twice. Each player was booked for chopping down Traore.
When the Spaniard was prised from Teesside for a then-club record £18m in August that year, eyebrows were raised amongst Wolves fans. An inconsistent first season in the Premier League led to some observers suggesting it was money poorly spent.
Traore's transformation has been one of the most pleasing aspects of Nuno Espirito Santo's team this season. It is down to hours and hours of one-on-one coaching at Wolves' Compton Park training base.
"Nuno works with each player individually," Traore explains. "He has worked with me tactically, on where I have to move and when I have to move. I have been playing three positions this season. I started at wing-back, then striker and then a wide man. My defensive work before coming here was always as a winger but having to play wing-back is different.
"Nuno explained all this to me, how I can adapt to the team and learn the different positions and, of course, which is the best one for me to show my qualities. He has been working individually on all these things with me, but also with the players who have been here for many years [Doherty, Romain Saiss and Conor Coady] who have adapted a lot too."
One man in the background who must also take some credit for Traore's improvement is Julio Figueroa. The Argentinian first team coach is the elder statesman of the backroom staff and is a reassuring presences for those players going through tough spells, as Traore undoubtedly did during his first year in Wolverhampton.
"He's been amazing, he has been speaking with me, telling me what I have to do step by step," Traore adds. "He's an amazing guy and I appreciate how he has helped me. But also my team-mates, they all really help - 'Adama, maybe you are better in this position' or 'Adama, we need you over here'. Everyone has been helping me to give my best."
Traore's potential to unlock defences, even in the tightest games, has marked him out as a special talent. The 23-year-old knows what his team-mates and supporters expect from him every time he takes the pitch, and he is learning to handle the pressure with every passing week.
On the afternoon we meet up, he has been spending a couple of hours with team-mates Raul Jimenez and Pedro Neto at Compton Care hospice, which provides support for people who are living with incurable illnesses, just down the road from the club's training ground. It is one of many community visits the club engages in at this time of year, and Traore throws himself into the role, donning a gold and black Santa hat as he hands out gifts.
"You can always do these simple acts to make people happy even if it's just for a few moments," he continues. "It's amazing how happy you can make people and how happy they can make you in return. Off the pitch, in these different situations, it helps you take your mind away from the game."
There is little time to forget about the football, though. Wolves have played 31 matches already this season. It has been a brutal schedule but Traore has risen to the task. The team's most improved performer has an indefatigable work ethic and a neat turn of phrase when looking to the challenges ahead.
"I'm so happy with how things are going, but of course you always can be better," he concludes. "I'm working every day. If I am the same Adama as yesterday, then it is one day I have lost."
You can make a Christmas donation to Compton Care at www.comptoncare.org.uk
