The head coach felt his team put in an under par showing in the soggy West Midlands conditions but having played well and not taken anything from the away clash against the Foxes, Lage accepts that at this stage of the season, securing maximum points as the campaign enters a crucial point is the most important aspect of the contest.
On winning when not playing well
“The three points is the most important thing in the game – 40 points from 24 games and that’s good for us, but about the game, I didn’t like it. I think we should do better.
“The way we started, we did it very well, we created with the ball and our very first goal, I think is amazing. We need to continue to work hard because I think we suffered a little bit, because we need to control the game more. In some periods we didn’t have the ball and that’s why we gave confidence to Leicester.
“They have a strong team and played today with a lot of midfielders, we didn’t press the way we should press, just a little bit, and they played with men between the lines and they had the game under control more than us.
“But team spirit, massive teamwork, and we are in a good way. We had our chances and we scored. In the end, when you look at both games against Leicester, we played much better in the first game, but didn’t get any points in that period, and now I think it was a balanced game and we won the three points.”
⚽️ @rubendsneves_
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 20, 2022
⚽️ @daniel_podence
🇵🇹🔥 pic.twitter.com/WjgdmNDdNu
On defensive stability
“I think we had that consistency. Today we didn’t. They created a lot of problems. Against these teams, they have quality players, who can find spaces between the lines, they created a lot of problems and we were there, but not as strong as we usually are.”
On Pedro Neto retuning
“He can bring good things for us. He’s a special player. It’s a long time without playing and we need to give him minutes like this to give him confidence. We know what he can do for us, and now it’s teamwork. Every time to keep going.
“We have Pedro, we have Hwang, we have Trincao, we have Podence, one more time he scored a goal, and it’s about going with solid things with solid performances, every time, with the chance to win points and grow up as a team.
“The next step, that’s why it’s so important the team understands what we are talking about, because it’s about character to step forward and continue to play their game with the ball and they need to continue to press. That’s what I want to do with these boys, to make them a big team.”
How good was it to see this guy back? 💛 pic.twitter.com/jLLdOb8G3Q
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 20, 2022
On secrets to being a Premier League form team
“Hard work. There are no secrets in football, we said to the boys before the game, there’s no secret so we need to go again for 90 minutes.
“We came from a good performance and a good week of training. We can do something special, but only if we continue to work.
“We analyse this game, look at the problems Leicester did to us, see what we can do better. In four days, we go again, and also Arsenal know we are a strong team.”
