Having gone into the break behind, the head coach was forced to change the dynamic of the team in a bid to turn the game in his favour, and it appeared to be having the desired effect when Rayan Ait-Nouri’s header found the back of the net. However, Lage was left unhappy that his players were unable to take another of the chances which fell their way.
On ending Molineux campaign with a point
“Firstly, I’m frustrated over the result, but also over the history of the results of the last month, April and May – it’s been easy to score goals against us. In the Premier League, no matter who it’s against, whether it’s the first in the table or the last in the table, it’s always hard to come back.
“But we tried to do our best, we changed the dynamic a little bit and we scored one, we should have scored more, but it’s a draw. It’s not good for us and especially for me because I’m not happy.
“We wanted to finish the season at home with a good performance and a good victory for the fans because they supported us all season. They’ve been there for us since day one and they’ve been amazing supporting us.”
On one home win in five
“It’s about the standards. The games are about the balance, and in the last month, we’ve been suffering first. The first goal has come for the opponent and sometimes they come when we are controlling the game and trying to find our spaces to play.
“Today, we were controlling the game, and two passes between our team, with the striker in front of the goal, and it’s too easy to score goals, and that’s so frustrating.”
🏆🏆👏 pic.twitter.com/VNBRG3hILz
— Wolves (@Wolves) May 15, 2022
On conceding the first goal
“What our defensive line was doing since the first day was amazing, we remember the best compliments was about them, but now we’re missing some players and they don’t really understand our ideas and we offer a lot of spaces, and after it’s easy to pass by, find spaces.
“It’s hard for me to be in this moment because the last two months was very hard because we offer these spaces and offer goals for the opponent.”
On Ait-Nouri’s equaliser
“What Rayan’s doing is a fantastic season and he deserves this moment. We tried to do our best and we changed a little bit. We came out with a different idea and a different dynamic.
“We tried to play with two defenders and opened with Chiquinho on the line to create chances, and it’s one point. We scored one and we should have scored more goals, but we didn’t.”
RAN 👏 pic.twitter.com/6xlDd2T8k0
— Wolves (@Wolves) May 15, 2022
On replacing the captain at half-time
“It’s a decision. When we changed three defenders just for two, we need to understand the striker is fast and we need to control the ball. They were defending the goal with a line of five, but we changed to find a different dynamic.
“It’s hard [playing with a back four]. Nuno tested it during last season and it’s hard. Even when we have a line of five, we’re still conceding a lot of chances and a lot of spaces and a lot of spaces in front of us to control, so with four, it would be even harder.”
