Maximilian Kilman praised Diego Costa, after the striker made his debut for Wolves in the 2-0 defeat to West Ham United.
Wanderers slipped to another defeat yesterday at the London Stadium to slip into the relegation zone.
The result leaves Bruno Lage clinging to his job at Molineux. The Telegraph have said that club officials are now seriously considering his position as head coach.
Wolves had the lion’s share of possession.
But there was once again a struggle to create chances of real quality.
Lage once again deployed Daniel Podence through the middle as a false nine, which is something that just doesn’t work.
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That was because Costa needs breaking in gently after not playing for so long.
The 33-year-old was introduced on the hour mark, replacing Guedes.
And Costa actually put in a surprisingly good cameo performance.
He linked up well with those around him, and was regularly in the penalty area waiting for crosses.
And he did have one excellent chance from an Adama Traore cross, heading just wide. He should have done better with it, but perhaps it can be put down to rustiness.
Kilman was impressed with what he saw from the veteran, telling the club’s official website: “He’s got a very good personality and of course he’s a very top player for what he’s done in the past. But he’s still got it and he can still do very well.
“He came on, he affected the game and held the ball up really well, so I’m excited to see him play more.”
Diego Costa’s cameo was one of the only positives against West Ham
Costa actually looked fairly sharp at the London Stadium, which is encouraging.
Wanderers looked more threatening with him on the field, and fans would love to believe he’ll score a few goals moving forwards.
He’ll be disappointed with that headed chance. Maybe he scores that with a bit more game time under his belt.
But there was a lot to like about Costa’s all-round game yesterday.
As well dropping deep and showing good link up, he also showed a willingness to run in behind. He was fractionally offside when Traore slipped him in and he crossed for Daniel Podence to score.
It may not be possible, but many fans would love to see him starting against his former club Chelsea next weekend.