Wolves boss Bruno Lage has revealed how he challenged Nelson Semedo in training earlier this season to try and prompt and response from the wing-back.
The manager has been talking about the need to sometimes be hard on his players, in a revealing interview with the Express & Star.
Lage is known for being fairly mild-mannered and gentlemanly in public.
Obviously, he had that surprise outburst after the Crystal Palace game. But by and large, the 45-year-old tends to be nice and relaxed before the cameras.
But Lage has admitted that behind the scenes he can get ‘nasty’ with his players if he needs to.
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And interestingly, he told of a time where he called out Semedo in training.
He said: “I’m not just the manager, I’m one more man in front of them and that’s the way I like to work. I’m here to win games but in the end I need to help them to be better. Sometimes to be better you need to challenge them.
“Sometimes it depends on the player. Some players you can be nice and cannot put a lot of pressure on them and with some you need to be a little bit nasty and put a lot of pressure on them.
“Now I can tell you, I was so hard on Nelson Semedo in September and October. In training I asked him one time if he was Nelson Semedo from Barcelona, for example.”
Lage goes on to insist that he is never personal. It is simply about getting the best out of people.
He also spoke of how pleased he has been with Ruben Neves, and Semedo.
Wolves players must respond in the right way, just like Semedo
This is an interesting revelation from Lage about the way in which he works.
We know he can be an intense character. We know how much emphasis he puts on simply working hard.
He seems to strike a good balance, and hopefully the players are all on board with this kind of style.
Semedo is proof that Lage challenging players like that can work.
The wing-back had been in absolutely brilliant form prior to his recent injury.
If everyone is willing to make the improvements just like the 28-year-old, then Wolves will be in a very healthy way.