Lage: Wolves must take ‘responsibility’ to score goals off Jimenez

News Desk
Wolves boss Bruno Lage

Bruno Lage has emphasised that Wolves’ goalscoring is not just the responsibility of striker Raul Jimenez.

Lage’s men, who lie eighth in the Premier League, have registered only 19 goals in 22 top-flight games this season.


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Since returning to action at the start of the campaign from a fractured skull suffered in November 2020, Jimenez – scorer of 17 goals for the club in 2018-19 and 27 in 2019-20 – has netted four times.

Lage told a press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tottenham: “It is not about just one player.

“I put pressure on the whole team, not just on Raul because he’s a striker, it’s everyone.

“Wingers should score more goals, the way we put full-backs very high, they should score more goals. Midfielders are scoring goals, like Ruben (Neves), Joao (Moutinho) and Leander (Dendoncker). Centre-backs on the set-pieces.

“It’s not just one man’s responsibility, it’s the team’s responsibility.”

Wolves head into Sunday’s contest after suffering back-to-back 1-0 home losses, to Norwich in the FA Cup last weekend and then to Arsenal in the league on Thursday.

Lage said he felt his team did better in an attacking sense in the Arsenal game, before adding: “Where comes the threat to score goals, and what is the average of our players to score goals? We don’t have too many players with a good average.

“We have Raul with a good average, and I think it was Ruben (who scored the most goals) last year. Now we have Daniel (Podence), Hwang (Hee-chan) (who have each scored four goals in all competitions this season).

“I think we have players outside who can help us to every time have a good rhythm of the game and to score goals. Those are the things that come with work.

“Of course, if I had the chance and money to get (Cristiano) Ronaldo it makes it more easy for us because from a half-chance he can score goals.

“But, look, I think the most important thing is for me to continue to give confidence to the players, to create and understand where they can appear, with the dynamic, and to continue to work and to give a lot of confidence to score goals.”

Wolves face a Tottenham side that sit one place and two points above them, having played one game fewer.

Hwang (back) and Moutinho (calf) are being assessed, while Pedro Neto (knee), Yerson Mosquera (hamstring) and Willy Boly (calf) remain unavailable.