When Bruno Lage arrived at Wolves last summer he toyed with the idea of switching to a back four before reverting to the formation that the players knew best. Now it is time to do things his way and that decision is set to define his time at the club.
The head coach has not only changed the system but the personnel. The departure of Conor Coady – Wolves’ captain, leader and longest-serving player – was symbolic. It also means the man at the heart of their back three is gone. In fact, the back three itself has gone.
“This is a different system,” Lage tells Sky Sports.
As a result, after one point from the first three games, the story is already written if this goes wrong. But speaking to Lage at the training ground on the eve of a huge game against Newcastle on Sunday, he is expansive and erudite in explaining his thinking.
“We saw that we did not have time to make the change in the first season but I think it was a good step. We did not change the system but we tried to play with a different style, to have more of the ball. I think everyone noticed the way we played with the ball.
“When I came here the project was not a revolution. It was evolution. To see how we could improve our squad. To grow up. After the first season, we are getting there. We are bringing good players in to improve the quality of the squad and increase the competition.”
Wolves impressed for much of last season and were six points off fourth with two games in hand in late February. “We were dreaming of Europe again.” A lacklustre finish in which they failed to win any of their last seven games put paid to that.
