The end of the Bruno Lage reign has been coming for weeks. Wolves have won one of their last 15 matches and the understandable decision to keep faith after a dismal end to last season has not paid off. Lage was never a histrionic, passionate personality, but over the early weeks of this season, he seemed resigned to his own fate. The only question is which Portuguese manager comes next.
Get it wrong, and Wolves are in big trouble. They have become far too easy to defend against and their summer recruitment – combined with the serious injury to Sasa Kalajdzic – has left them painfully short in the final third. Wolves have scored eight goals in their last 15 league games and two of those were scored by players (Conor Coady and Francisco Trincao) who are no longer at the club.
Coady is relevant here because the decisions made over the club captain this summer embody the muddled processes that surround Wolves as they look for a new manager. Firstly, Lage decided that he wanted to move away from his back three to a back four. Then it became clear that Lage did not believe that Coady could work in that back four. Because Coady had so much goodwill at Molineux, the club decided to allow him to leave on loan and join Everton. That wasn’t viewed as particularly controversial amongst Wolves supporters because of that goodwill.
Here’s where it begins to get silly. Wolves signed five players in the summer, but only one of them was a centre-back. All the while, Coady was settling in very nicely in a back four at Everton; so maybe he could do it. Then, when Nathan Collins got sent off for a lunging challenge on Jack Grealish and was therefore suspended for three matches, Wolves were suddenly very short of centre-backs. And here’s the punchline: without enough recognised central defenders, Lage went back to the three-at-the-back formation anyway but had no Coady to play there.
More from Football
Haaland and Foden are generational talents and proof of Man City's limitless potential02 October, 2022
Haaland 10, Foden 9, Dalot 4 - Ratings and reaction as City thrash United in Manchester derby02 October, 2022
‘Erik ten Hag knows no player is bigger than Man Utd, much like Sir Alex Ferguson’02 October, 2022Instead, in Lage’s last match, Ruben Neves played in central defence, Wolves understandably lacked his control and bite in midfield and were dismal in their 2-0 defeat against West Ham. At that point, the only question was whether Lage would be sacked on Sunday or Monday. The news came through on Sunday afternoon.
Wolves have a system; we know this. They have relied upon their contacts to recruit excellent Portuguese players who would not have joined the club otherwise. It has worked for them in the past and it may well keep working.
But Wolves and their owners now face an enormous decision about who takes this project on. The attack looks bereft of confidence. The defence looks light on numbers. The Portuguese midfield trio are clearly very capable but cannot carry the team on their shoulders. And for the first time in a while, supporters are questioning whether Wolves are sleepwalking backwards.
This is an excerpt from The Score, Daniel Storey’s weekly verdict on all 20 Premier League teams’ performances. Sign up here to receive the newsletter every Monday morning
from Football | News and analysis from the Premier League and beyond | iNews https://ift.tt/84ZYOG6
Post a Comment