Bruno Lage might soon need to make a very big decision for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Last night saw the club go out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur and former manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
It is the second time already this term that Nuno has left Molineux a happy man.
Last month, he oversaw a somewhat lucky 1-0 victory in the Premier League.
In the end, it was penalties that were Wolves’ undoing.
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It reached that point after Wolves had come from two goals down to finish the 90 minutes at 2-2.
Unfortunately, it was not a good night for captain Conor Coady.
The England international was named on the bench as Lage rang the changes, but was called into action less than 10 minutes into the game as Yerson Mosquera succumbed to injury.
Just moments after coming on, Coady made an error as he blasted the ball against Tanguy Ndombele, who then waltzed through to eventually score the opener for Spurs.
The 28-year-old was then poor on the second goal, rushing out from his position to create a big space for Harry Kane to exploit.
Lage facing big call on Coady?
Coady’s ability to play in defence has been questioned by some in the past, and calls for him to be dropped are growing louder.
It is a really tricky one, as Coady is undoubtedly an exceptional leader and is a huge personality at the club.
But with him now looking suspect in a back three, his supposed comfort system, that is worrying if Lage plans to shift to a back four.
It would be a massive call from the manager to start leaving Coady out of the starting XI. But it’s something that, at this point, he has to give some consideration too, for the potential good of the team.
With Willy Boly available again and Max Kilman having largely been great this term, maybe a brutal decision is on the horizon for the captain.