Wolves defender Ki-Jana Hoever has finally responded to the criticism he infamously received from Bruno Lage last season.
The youngster was the subject of a public blasting from Lage, who seemed to blame him getting injured on a lack of preparation.
Hoever suffered a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace back in March, which forced him off in the first-half.
He was replaced by Jonny Castro Otto and after the game, which Wolves lost 2-0, Lage shocked the football community with his fiery comments.
Lage fumed (via Goal): “Ki is a good example of the young kids, the young players, they want everything to happen.
“When you are out and your teammate is playing, you are not training at the intensity you need to train, you’re not preparing yourselves enough. And when you have a chance, these kind of things happen.
“I have too many kids in my team, sometimes they don’t work the way they should work. They don’t prepare the way they should prepare.
“It’s just not for Ki, it’s more kids in our team who need to understand I don’t waste time with guys who don’t work hard every day to improve.”
Interestingly, Hoever didn’t make another appearance for Wolves in 2021/22 following that game. Once recovering from his injury, Lage didn’t hand him any minutes, even though he said the player would get another chance under him.
The former Liverpool man is now spending the season at the Philips Stadion.
Wolves are hoping he can play regularly, having struggled for minutes at Molineux in his two years at the club so far.
Hoever has finally now responded to what Lage said, admitting that while he’s ‘not always the easiest guy’, he does work hard.
He told Voetbal International: “I’m sure I’m a hardworking player.
“That’s what got me where I am now. I’m not always the easiest guy, I admit that, but I wasn’t injured because I didn’t train hard.
“It was a learning moment, for both parties. It’s not nice, people might think differently about me. Now I have to prove them wrong.”
Time for Hoever to prove himself at PSV as defender publicly acknowledges Lage comments
This is the first time Hoever has addressed what happened back in March.
It was shocking to hear Lage go in on Hoever at the time, and then take the opportunity to reference other young players at the club.
Until now, it hasn’t been known how Hoever felt about the situation.
It does seem like he totally agrees with Lage’s suggestion. But it’s good to hear that the £13.5 million man is out to prove people wrong.
Hopefully he can do that at PSV and return to Wolves as someone who can perhaps challenge for a starting berth next season.