On the Volley: Why Wolves had to fire Bruno Lage to take next step

By Charlie DeMatteo

When Portuguese manager Bruno Lage was brought in to replace Nuno Espirito Santo at the beginning of the 2021 Premier League season, many had high hopes. After all, the players at Lage’s disposal mainly comprised the same group that finished seventh in the league in back-to-back seasons. However, despite a good start to the 2021-22 campaign, one win in 14 dating back to the end of last season has left Lage without a job early on in this 2022-23 campaign.

For stretches of last season, Wolves were considered potential top four contenders due to their supreme defense. However, there were constant questions asked over whether or not they could score enough goals to finish in the Champions League places. Once their defense started to leak a bit, their offense was not able to catch up, and they ended up finishing the season in 10th, despite spending the majority of the season around the top seven. 

Due to Wolves’ decline in form at the end of last season, maybe it wasn’t a shock to see them sit 18th after eight games. From my point of view though, Wolves had to pull the trigger on Lage for a few reasons.

The first and main reason why it was absolutely the right decision to sack Lage was his inability to get the best out of quality attacking players. Ironically, it was the same issue former Wolves manager Espirito Santo dealt with leading to his dismissal. The two Portuguese managers seemingly couldn’t trust their defense to play in a back four, therefore compromising the entire offense by playing a back five in the hope of not conceding goals. Now while that plan did work — and they were a good defensive team — I can’t help but question this way of thinking.

When looking at the talent Wolves have going forward, they possess some of the brightest young players the Premier League has to offer in Pedro Neto and Goncalo Guedes. Yet instead of trying to play to these strengths, Lage would rather send out Jonny at right-wing back to offer more defensive support, instead of bolstering a strong forward line. Now, some leeway has to be given to Lage as his main striker Raul Jimenez has battled injuries over the last 18 months. Furthermore, the replacement Sasa Kalajdzic tore his ACL before even playing a game, leading to the signing of former star Diego Costa, who they seemingly brought out of retirement.

However, despite the injury issues they have had, I can’t help but feel Wolves never met their attacking potential under Lage, and more importantly, he didn’t make an effort to try and change things.

The second reason I think it was right to sack Lage is that Wolves must identify they are no longer a club where the goal should be just to stay in the league. Lage’s abilities are suited more to being sound defensively than being a rip-roaring offense. The sooner the Wolves board understands that they must maximize the talents of Neves, Nunes, Neto, and Podence, the sooner they will be able to properly climb up the table, because that’s where their sights should be set. 

While the Wolves job isn’t the most glamorous or appealing, I do feel strongly that the players currently at the club deserve better than Lage, and I hope they get that in his successor. Part of the beauty of soccer is admiring the talent of opposing players, and while I am not a Wolves fan, they have so many talented players that I would love to see flourish in a different system.

The current favorite to replace Lage is former Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui, who was fired just a few days ago. While Lopetegui being sacked recently may scare some off, I think he is exactly the type of manager Wolves should be looking at. Lopetegui has a proven track record as Spain’s coach as well as winning a Europa League with Sevilla just two seasons ago. Lopetegui’s sides like to have control over the game and attack the opposition, not just sit and counter like Lage and his predecessor Espirito Santo did.

For Wolves fans sake, I’m glad that Lage was fired. He seems like a humble and likable guy, but I think he was just out of his depth when it came to the talent at his disposal at Wolves. Bringing someone in like Lopetegui who has managed some of the best in the world before could spark a turnaround for the midlands club.