It is the day after the night before at the hotel. With a game in hand on Manchester United, Bruno Lage's Wolves were set for fifth place in the league. Two late goals changed that.
Lage tells Sky Sports that they had chances to finish the game.
The squad is staying near London for the game against West Ham on Sunday, and Lage has already given a preview of the game to the national media. The emotional reaction to defeat recently showed how difficult it is.
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After lunch at the hotel, Lage moved on, encouraged by the reaction of his players.
He says that he saw it in their faces last night and this morning. That is the correct mentality. We need to become a bigger team with higher standards. They want more. They want more every time.
Since Lage was appointed, there has been a demand for Wolves to become a big team. He has only managed a senior side before. He won the title with Benfica. He won 36 of his first 38 league games.
He says that we need to understand what Wolves are and what Benfica are in Portugal. The fact that his league defeats there can be counted on one hand is a reminder that this is a coach who settles for less than the best.
Lage's Benfica side scored 103 goals in winning the title and had the most shots on target.
It's worth mentioning that when Wolves sit back and cling to leads there might be echoes of Nuno Espirito Santo's reactive game. The state of the game is to blame for that. Wolves don't need to chase it.
Manchester City have been behind in games longer than that, but Lage's side have been losing for only 156 of the 1,800 minutes. The focus has been on a solid defence and the exploits of goalkeeper Jose Sa.
He admits that the records are being done in a defensive way. Understanding the profile of the players is what it is about. What is our ability? What are our strengths? Good and bad points are given to every player.
We try to improve what they did in the past. That is why I am proud that Wolves have 40 points in the middle of February and that people are talking about the team.
When you win everything is not good, and when you lose everything is not bad. What I am seeing is the most important thing. The players wanted more after we had one point late in the game. The players have a mentality to do more.
Lage sees and hears evidence of that mentality when he looks around the temporary home of the team. There is some downtime. Those who weren't involved against the train on Friday. Some of them have family around. Others play a sport. There is a focus and a togetherness.
The squad plays a game called Wolf, a variation of Mafia, after dinner. 15 to 20 people are gathered in a circle. They enjoy spending time together.
Lage installed an auditorium at the training ground to facilitate his meetings, but football is always close by. I hear them talking about what they are trying to do on the field.
Lage is trying to change the Wolves style in a subtle way. The system his players have been used to has not changed. The passing angles have changed, from the outside game to the inside game.
Wolves were ranked second for open-play crosses last season, now they are 18th.
It was not efficient.
Thirty-five from open play is a high for Wolves since their return. It did not work. The other guys? No. We need to find a different way to score our goals.
It wants a different skill-set from him. He scored more goals with his head than any other player. He hasn't scored from a headed ball since he fractured his skull in November of 2020.
Raul is the same player. He is a top goal scorer. He doesn't feel different inside. The band does not give him the same power. Sometimes he touches the ball and it goes in a different direction. It is a big change. We can't forget that.
He says that Lage is encouraged to pursue goals from other sources. It is time to change.
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threaded passes between the lines of defence and the middle of the field to Daniel Podence. He has created the second most chances from open play per 90 minutes of any player outside of the top three teams.
His clever reverse pass to Hwang Hee-Chan almost resulted in Wolves doubling their lead. Look at his goals against the team. They are the moments we are looking for. The players are good at that.
The return of Hwang, a scorer on Thursday, offers something different.
He can play well in between the lines but he can also have an impact with the runs in behind. We have players who can change the game.
Every opponent can play in different ways. Some offer space between the lines. We need guys like Daniel to create one-on-one situations. We try to find a spot where we can make the best decisions.
There will be more scrutiny on Lage now that he has options. For the first time since he arrived, he had a full squad to choose from. Neto was joined on the bench by four other people.
He says it is about the competition.
This is the best way to put pressure on the players.
The squad looks stronger due to the emergence of Toti Gomes, the Portuguese defender who returned from a loan spell at Grasshoppers to start back-to-back wins in January. He made his debut in the win at Spurs.
Lage says that it was not a surprise what he did.
During the transfer windows, the Portuguese has pushed for signings, but they should not mask their commitment to youth.
I came from a club that always had support from the academy. Wolves have the same idea. I can see the work they are doing. I understand what we need for the future after eight months.
It is a balance. We need a good base in our squad. We need to understand the skills and personality of the players in the academy. We need to bring in top players from outside when we don't have the players in the academy.
That is our vision for the future.
The future of the club is likely to be determined by what happens in the coming games. Those that were eyeing a European Super League are mixing it with Wolves. Lage wants more and they are at their limit just to compete.
If Wolves win at West Ham, they will leapfrog their rivals and become the favourite to win at least seventh and earn European football in six of the last seven seasons.
The supporters went to Istanbul, Barcelona, and Turin. They want more. And so does Lage.
These are the games we want in the league. It is going to be difficult for us, but it is also going to be difficult for them because we are a strong team. When we beat them, we did a fantastic game, and that's what we showed against them.
The game that showed us the level we could play against strong teams was the one that we needed to find consistency in. Over the past three months, we have done that. We go to West Ham with ambition, mentality and character.
The West Ham vs Wolves game is on Sky Sports.
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