Wolves manager Bruno Lage preferred a 4-4-2 system at Benfica, which allowed his side to get on the front foot.
It might have been expected that the Portuguese would implement the same system at Molineux.
But the Athletic claim that Wolves will still use the same two formations Nuno Espirito Santo utilised last season.
That means that 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-3 will be the order of the day for Lage during his maiden Molineux campaign.
Why would Lage use these systems?
It seems most likely that Lage doesn’t want to try to change too much too quickly.
When changing formations, it’s really important to do some good solid work on the training ground beforehand.
That’s why Nuno’s first summer at the club was so important. He drilled and drilled the three-man backline on the training pitch before taking the Championship by storm.
But with some senior players off at the Euros and potentially not back for the start of pre-season, Lage has seemingly decided not to oversee such a big undertaking.
Is this good for Wolves?
This writer always prefers managers to do with their preferred philosophy.
Lage has been brought to Wolves to get them on the front foot. And if they don’t do the groundwork during pre-season, when are they going to do it?
Changing mid-season would be a risk.
That said, there’s something to be said for evolution, not revolution. Perhaps Lage doesn’t want to overwhelm his players and risk not getting results in the early part of his reign.
Nuno did build such a strong foundation and perhaps Lage feels he can get early results with just some tweaks.
That would build belief in his methods, buying him time to implement more sweeping changes further down the line.
It’s not necessarily what Lage was expected to do given his Benfica success with a 4-4-2, but time will tell on how it’ll play out.
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