Is Bruno Lage A Good Manager Or Should He Go?

[prawnking]

I think it's deliberate from Lage (and stats driven) and it's absolutely the wrong thing to do

When you say stats driven, do you mean he's advised to do this from within the club? That's a worry if so

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I agree with much of this, I some is ingrained into many of our players for a variety of reasons, but a manager worth his salt would be all over sorting it out

Yeah, this is key.

It's not just about the players that are available. If Newcastle had made exactly the same signings they have in 2022 but handed them all to Steve Bruce rather than Eddie Howe, I very much doubt they'd have drawn 3-3 with Man City yesterday.

This excuse of "he doesn't have the players" was paper-thin in the first place because despite the deficiencies that we can all see, we have owned a lot of very good footballers throughout, and now it can be well and truly hoyed in the sea.

 

[Johnny75]

When you say stats driven, do you mean he's advised to do this from within the club? That's a worry if so

I think that's been happening for quite a while.

We've seen it with corners where we always used to aim for the near post because statistically that's where most goals were scored from.

Now we're constantly trying to cut the ball back when we get into the box which is derived from the cut back chance being the one statistically with the most chance of being a goal.

What these stats guys don't seem to work out is that there needs to be indecision created in defenders and by doing the same thing over and over again the opposition only need to defend one thing over and over again.

It's the same with the movement off the ball in the final third. We literally move one player at a time instead of fluidly moving them all on different angles.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I agree with much of this, I some is ingrained into many of our players for a variety of reasons, but a manager worth his salt would be all over sorting it out

I don't think you can definitively say that a better manager would fix it it all. Some tendencies are too deeply set within individuals to ever be completely corrected in my opinion. Individuals need to have the capacity, willingness and application to change or learn new skills, you don't always get all three.

I'm sure we've all had things in our lives that we've just never mastered, whether through lack of ability or inclination. Could you say all/any of those things would be achievable if only you had the right guidance?

 

[prawnking]

might work if you've got the biggest bloke in the box but Wolves don't. Other than some Peter Crouch style freakshow I don't see how any striker solves that

*ahem*

 

[prawnking]

I don't think you can definitively say that a better manager would fix it it all. Some tendencies are too deeply set within individuals to ever be completely corrected in my opinion. Individuals need to have the capacity, willingness and application to change or learn new skills, you don't always get all three.

I'm sure we've all had things in our lives that we've just never mastered, whether through lack of ability or inclination. Could you say all/any of those things would be achievable if only you had the right guidance?

I don't think the manager ever fixes everything, I'd expect him to make a tangible difference though, then sideline the players who can't do what he wants/don't fit in

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I don't think the manager ever fixes everything, I'd expect him to make a tangible difference though, then sideline the players who can't do what he wants/don't fit in

Think the level of improvement is dependent on how wide the divide is to begin with. I know there are things could ask of me in my job role that are perfectly acceptable ways of doing things but I'd never embrace as the best way of doing it so I would always be obstructive to operating that way.

I think the problem is probably far deeper than Lage and the first team squad. It's not like the days of Ferguson at United where he comes in as manager and makes all the calls to get his way. Someone higher than Lage is setting the agenda now and there might be some things he's simply not allowed to do, like the rumours around Hwang's continued involvement.

I don't think you're going to get everyone singing from the same hymn sheet whilst you've got a board who seem more concerned with the brand than anything else. They're trusting most of the recruitment to an agent who is going to prioritize putting players I'm places that suit their progression and his bank account. Then the head coach is just sort of plonked in the middle to do what he can. It's little wonder there doesn't appear to be the same level of symbiosis at Wolves as other clubs may display when major people seemingly have very different drivers.

 

[YoungWolf]

If we sign a good striker, we've got a really good matchday 18 imo. If we're in a relegation battle it's on the head coach at that point.

 

[1986]

Preston , Newcastle and Bournemouth between now and Wednesday of next week - 3 huge games for Lage .

We need to see a clear intent in those three matches to create more chances with far more impressive forward play . Nunes and Guedes will have had more time on the training field at that point which should help . However , regardless of this , Lage simply has to come up with a style of play that gets players into the box at the right time .
The three examples that Deutsch showed yesterday were prime examples of ball being played to the wings and almost no one to aim for in the middle .

Let's be fair here - not many clubs will go to Spurs and come away with a 1 - 0 defeat , where they dominated the home team , but you must express your dominance on the scoreboard .

Lage has got his back 4 , he has been backed by the owners with very good signings so far and it almost looks certain that we will add to that . The excuses are gone , no more sob stories to the press about a weak bench , just get the job done .

 

[Tredman]

We don’t need to see intent we need to see wins. His record is borderline appalling at Wolves. No more excuses.

 

[1986]

We don’t need to see intent we need to see wins. His record is borderline appalling at Wolves. No more excuses.

Yes to wins , yes to more goals , yes to getting forward in numbers and all of that .

 

[Mel Evo]

We don’t need to see intent we need to see wins. His record is borderline appalling at Wolves. No more excuses.

Why is this hilarious? I’m not sure how both looking like and being in trouble would be either funny or any kind of platform for a holier than thou stance.

 

[Johnny75]

Why is this hilarious? I’m not sure how both looking like and being in trouble would be either funny or any kind of platform for a holier than thou stance.

The guy laughing isn't even a Wolves fan.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

"We have changed style".

No we haven't. We still don't press and we still create nothing.

 

[The Bear]

No-ones ever said we're any kind of Gegenpressing team nowadays

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I didn't say they had.

I said we play no differently to last season, which was shit.

 

[Lupollet]

We are a very laborious team. Watching us is very unpleasant indeed.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

After 41 league games, does anyone know what a Bruno "doesn't have the players" Lage team actually plays like?

 

[WsWolf]

After 41 league games, does anyone know what a Bruno "doesn't have the players" Lage team actually plays like?

I don't think anyone does, we don't really have any identity whatsoever.

We want to play out from the back but build ridiculously slowly, we don't press much. We don't cross or fill the box when we get forward. It's pretty much the opposite of what everyone else is doing tbh.

 

[prawnking]

We are a very laborious team. Watching us is very unpleasant indeed.

I think this is a bit OTT, we haven't hit our stride yet but we're an improvement on the end of last season and much of the season before in terms of watchability imo