Former manager Bruno Lage has been speaking about his time at Wolves – and suggested that one player he had was simply irreplaceable.
Lage sat down with The Coaches’ Voice to talk about his 16 months at the helm at Molineux.
The 48-year-old enjoyed a decent first season at the club in 2021/21, guiding the club to a 10th-placed finish, but endured a nightmare 2022/23 and only lasted until early October.
Lage was sacked after a poor run of results, leaving Wolves languishing in the relegation zone.
He has suggested that he knew his squad was not as prepared as it should have been, and expressed his regret about not being more persuasive with the board regarding bringing in more reinforcements.
Lage also pointed to the fact that one key player had fitness issues in 2022/23, which had a significant impact…
Bruno Lage points to Raul Jimenez’s fitness problems as a factor behind Wolves’ struggles
Lage’s last few months at Wolves were not pretty.
Performances were really poor, the football was terrible and he simply had to go when he did.
But the Portuguese does deserve a little bit of sympathy. He was not backed particularly well in the 2022 summer window, and everyone knows how the signing of Sasa Kalajdzic turned out.
But the signs were actually there long before 2022/23 that Wolves were on the decline under Lage. Results were very poor towards the end of 2021/22.
For Lage, the lack of continuity for Raul Jimenez was a major issue, despite him no longer being the player of old. He told The Coaches’ Voice: “The striker we had was Raúl Jiménez. He was a top player and a great mate, who was playing with protection on his head that made it almost impossible for him to head the ball.
“We didn’t have anyone to replace Jiménez when he was injured or suspended, or to play alongside him as a second centre forward – as I like to do in some situations.
“There were options of more mobile players, but none with the same characteristics as Jiménez to play the role of a number nine. That is very much needed in any team, but even more so in a competition at the level and with the demands of the Premier League.”
Chairman Jeff Shi has also spoken about Jimenez, admitting that even now, Wolves miss the peak version of the former Benfica man.
Lage needed better firepower in reserve
- READ MORE: Wolves fans react to Raul Jimenez: Code Red
It was sad at times to watch Jimenez for Wolves after that sickening head injury he sustained against Arsenal in the 2019/20 season.
The Mexico international became a shadow of the player he once was, it was clear that he would really struggle to become the same force he was before his injury.
Jimenez actually only missed four Premier League games in 2021/22 due to injury and suspension, but only contributed six goals and four assists. He did OK considering what he had been through and ultimately, Wolves just didn’t have anyone capable of coming in to replace him.
Fabio Silva was the other striker and the youngster was clearly still not ready to play Premier League football.
So Lage essentially deemed Jimenez irreplaceable, which was obviously a problem because everyone could see that this was sadly someone who simply wasn’t the same player as the one before his injury.