Three questions Lage will be looking at in Wolves’ friendly with Crewe

Wolves will get their pre-season underway today with a friendly against Crewe.

It will be Bruno Lage’s very first game in charge of the club and his first as a manager in English football.

The result isn’t really important but here is a look at three questions the new Old Gold manager will be looking at…

What’s his best formation?

Nuno Espirito Santo used 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3 last season and a report last month claimed those are the two approaches Lage will use initially too.

But which one will he use here? Nuno drilled his side relentlessly with the three-man backline, especially during his first pre-season.

Without the right coaching time, the switch to the back four never looked comfortable.

So it’ll be interesting to see which way Lage goes, or whether he flips it throughout the game.

The decision could be influenced by the personnel available as much as his tactical preference but it’ll still be interesting to see what he does.

How fit is Jimenez?

Most Wolves fans were happy for Jimenez’s recovery to be managed patiently last season.

Pre-season was always the realistic goal. Now it’s here, so how fit is Jimenez?

He’s been training, which is of course a good sign, but he’s not played a game for a long time and might need easing back to action carefully.

A goal would be great for his confidence and it’ll be interesting to see whether he’s ready to start.

Will any young players impress?

Lage has had 12 of Wolves’ young players training with the first team since he arrived.

That’s to flesh the squad out given the absentees who have been handed an extended break after Euro 2020.

Have any of them made enough of an impression to get a game here?

Wolves have a thin squad, which they’re looking to expand without spending huge money.

One way to do that is promoting youth and that’s something Lage did very well at Benfica.

So there might just be a pathway to the first team at Molineux, if any youngsters grab their chance to impress on the very first day of pre-season.

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