Frank Lampard gave credit to Wolves’ defensive shape and solidity, after his Everton side fell to a 1-0 defeat yesterday.
Bruno Lage has regained control of the ship after a tough past few weeks.
Wanderers had lost three games in a row to lose momentum in the bid to secure European football.
But Wolves got a thumping 4-0 win over Watford on Thursday, before following that up with another important win yesterday at Goodison Park.
Lage named a very interesting starting XI for yesterday’s game.
He decided to go with a three-man midfield, with Leander Dendoncker occasionally pulling out to the right wing which is something we have seen before this season.
That meant Daniel Podence starting on the bench, although he didn’t have to wait long to come on as he replaced the injured Hwang Hee-chan.
Fernando Marcal also got the nod over Rayan Ait-Nouri, so eyebrows were certainly raised.
Wolves did not play great until they got the goal via Conor Coady.
Then, Wanderers really worked well both in and out of possession.
After the game, Lampard complimented the way Wolves had set up as it give his side difficulty.
He said (evertonfc.com): “We were the stronger team in the first half, but Wolves don’t give you many opportunities, which is why they don’t concede a lot of goals.
“We lost to a good team in a tight match, with 10 men at the end of the game, when we wanted to push.
“Wolves have five defenders and three in midfield and try to stop you playing through the lines.”
Bold team selection paid by Bruno Lage off for Wolves
A lot of fans felt slightly underwhelmed looking at the teamsheet before yesterday’s game.
Some had suggested it was a negative setup, and to be honest it didn’t really serve Wolves well in the first-half.
But Lage kept the faith with it, and the goal really swung momentum in Wolves’ favour. The team were then much slicker in possession and then when Everton had the ball, there were never really any routes through for the hosts.
Playing through the lines in football is a great way of getting into dangerous positions.
Lage puts great emphasis on it. He wants Wolves to be able to do it, while also denying the opposition which is effectively what happened in the second-half yesterday.