Wolves in Full Focus: What to Make of Bruno Lage’s Maiden Premier League Campaign
By Tanish Menon
The 2021/22 season has been rather underwhelming for Wolves. Despite this being only their 4th season back in top flight football, fans have been left somewhat dismayed with the results towards the latter part of the season.
Despite beginning the year with a win away at Old Trafford, the club has only managed 8 wins since.
The draw against Norwich essentially confirmed no European football at the Molineux next season. Add to the fact the loss against a title-chasing Liverpool side on the final day, now has the club finishing 10th and missing out by 5 points.
Outgoings
When the season began, fans felt rather pessimistic after their former manager Nuno Espirito Santo left the club to join Tottenham. Added to this, veteran goalkeeper Rui Patricio and Spanish winger Adama Traore also left the club to join Roma and Barcelona, respectively. However, current boss Bruno Lage has been nothing short of a revelation.
Incomings
The Wanderers spent big this summer bringing in the likes of Jose Sa from Olympiacos, and making the signing of loanee Rayan Ait-Nouri from Angers permanent. The club was able to fend off interest for wantaway Portuguese playmaker Ruben Neves which was a vital boost.
The club also managed to bring in Trincao from Barcelona on a loan alongside Hwang Hee-chan from RB Leipzig. Two exciting prospects Chiquinho and Yerson Mosquera were also added to bolster squad options.
Now onto serious business: The club has only managed to put up 51 points this season.
They’ve scored just 38 goals and conceded 43, keeping the GD at -5. Defensively, the club managed to keep 11 clean sheets, a slight improvement from the previous season.
They have also conceded the least number of goals per match this season (1.1), only behind Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea. New signing Jose Sa has been a massive part of that. However, they have also conceded the highest number of penalties (10), only behind Norwich (12).
The forward line however has been disappointing throughout. Wolves are ranked second to bottom in terms of xG.
They also rank 16th for Big Chances Created and 9th for Big Chances Missed. The Wanderers also rank 17th for shot conversion rates in the league, only above Watford, Burnley, and Norwich. Wolves have an average of only 1 goal per match, a slight improvement on their previous campaign but in hindsight only above Burnley, Watford, and Norwich.