Julen Lopetegui explained tiredness was a factor in the substitution of Adama Traore against Bourmemouth on Saturday.
Wolves crashed to a disappointing 1-0 defeat against the Cherries at Molineux.
It was a golden opportunity for three more points. Gary O’Neil’s side had really been struggling in recent weeks.
But the south coast club managed to nick a goal against the run of play in the second half.
They then got men behind the ball and made it very difficult for Wolves to break them down.
Wolves ended the game having had 16 shots. They also had 40 touches in the opposition penalty area.
But, despite several changes made by Lopetegui, Wolves just couldn’t find the breakthrough.
The manager made a rather interesting decision towards the end of the game that saw Traore make way for Raul Jimenez.
Some fans were disappointed to see him go off, as he had given Bournemouth problems throughout the game.
He had been Wolves’ best player, and it felt as though he could potentially be the one to make the difference.
But he was hooked for the final 15 minutes or so, and Lopetegui has explained his decision.
He said (Express & Star): “It’s because we wanted to play with two forwards and we needed our full-backs to arrive and Adama was a little bit tired.
“We needed another kind of player in this moment. They (the full-backs) had space to run and that’s why I made the change.”
Adama Traore substitution was very unfortunate, Bournemouth were terrified of him, as Lopetegui explains decision
It was frustrating to see Traore go off against the Cherries when he had caused so many problems for them.
Undoubtedly, he was the biggest threat for Wolves.
But seemingly, the £18 million star just couldn’t last the whole game and once he went off it didn’t feel very likely Wolves would find the breakthrough.
It was a shame, but Lopetegui clearly felt it was needed at that moment.
He surely would have seen the game he was having, and would not have taken him off had he not felt it was necessary.