West Ham United 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanders
The future of Bruno Lage as manager of Wolverhampton Wanders is reportedly under serious threat after defeat to West Ham United left his side in the Premier League relegation zone.
The 2-0 loss in the capital sees Lage’s men drop to 18th place with just one win from eight matches this term, during which Wolves have managed just three goals. To add to the pressure on Portuguese boss Lage, his substitutions were poorly-received by the travelling Wolves fans, including the decision to remove Matheus Nunes during the final twenty minutes.
Wolves became the first team to field eight non-English players from the same country when Lage named his line-up: José Sá; Nélson Semedo; João Moutinho, Rúben Neves and Matheus Nunes; Daniel Podence, Gonçalo Guedes and Pedro Neto, who was replaced midway through the first half due to injury.
The defeat means Wolves have won just 1 match from their last 15 league outings, leading to growing pressure on Lage. Analysts have pointed to the lack of firepower at the club, particularly with the current absence of Mexican forward Raul Jimenez and summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic, leading to a recent move for free agent Diego Costa, who made his debut this weekend off the bench.
“The result is hard to take after what happened in the first thirty minutes,” Lage told the BBC. “We had the game well under control; we had two good chances. Then came the injury to Pedro. The first time West Ham went to our goal after thirty minutes when we had dominated everything – they scored.
“Second half we tried to bring more energy and tried to score, but most importantly it’s clear to understand that we are a different team when we play with a striker. Diego [Costa] gave a big impact in the thirty minutes that he played. Our team needs that. Strikers are important, not just for my team.
“Others teams, the goals come from where? 60-70% of the goals come from where? We will continue to work hard, but we are completely different when we have a striker in our team. When we have started with a striker in the first eleven, we have not lost in the Premier League. This is not an excuse, but it’s a fact.”
It’s not enough - Neves
Midfielder and club captain Rúben Neves was clear in his assessment after the match, telling reporters: "What we are doing in the Premier League is not enough and having the ball is not enough. I think everyone, including me can give a little bit more. We are not in good form so something needs to change. The people [fans] don't deserve to see what we are doing at the moment.
"It is not the manager's responsibility it is everyone. We are the ones that can get the results. It is about us, not anybody else. We struggled a bit in the beginning with a lot of new players, a lot of players going out, but no more excuses.”
According to the BBC, no decision had been made on Lage’s future but it is believed the former Benfica boss is coming under scrutiny based on the poor results from last season continuing into the current campaign. Wolves’ next match sees them travel to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea, after which they host Nottingham Forest at Molineux.
By Sean Gillen
