Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Bruno Lage is today featured on the cover of Portuguese newspaper Record.
They bring a five-page interview with the coach, who’s now been unemployed since last year.
Record dedicated part of the conversation just to talk about Lage’s job at Wolves. They started by asking what went wrong for him to get sacked just after the beginning of his second season there.
“The first season was very good – we were always on the rise until December,” he said.
“After January, when we won every game, we got the team playing for European places. By the end of February we were one of the teams in Europe that had conceded the fewest goals.
“We ended up with 51 points, eight away wins, and the truth is that after our departure, even with higher investment, nobody has beaten these records.”
Lage was asked about the real reasons why their form dropped, and he elected to blame the club for some of the decisions they made.
“The following season the club didn’t renew the contracts of some key players and it was crucial to strengthen the squad in good time,” he added.
“The momentum we had built up over the six weeks of pre-season, with excellent results, was lost, which affected our performance. For us, as well as for the fans, there are good memories of our way of playing, the victories at Old Trafford, in London with Tottenham, or the turnaround from 2-0 to 2-3 at Villa Park.”
Quizzed about the Premier League and some of the managers who caused him the most trouble, he brought two usual names to the table.
“It’s a very competitive league, every game is different and each one has its own story. You look at the range of managers and you realise that four or five of those who could be on the other side have already won the Champions League,” he concluded.
“Then you look at the squads full of international players and finally, which is what I like best, the tactical duels, analysing the opponents and preparing the team with the best possible strategy to beat them.”
“Man City and Liverpool were head and shoulders above everyone else. With Man City away and Liverpool at home we played two great games, but we couldn’t take points off them.”
Bruno Lage managed Wolves between July 2021 and October 2022. In that period, he had 19 wins, nine losses and 23 draws in 51 games in charge.
His only job after leaving Molineux was in Brazil, as he took charge of Botafogo in July 2023, with the club on top of the table. Things didn’t go great there, and he ended up sacked after just three matches, with the club losing the title and finishing fifth after his departure.
