Ruben Neves reckons Wolverhampton Wanderers will be a force to be reckoned with under new head coach Bruno Lage. Wolves brought in ex-Benfica boss Lage to replace Nuno Espirito Santo during the close season and the Portuguese is currently enjoying his first pre-season with his new players. Results have been mixed under Lage so far, with Sunday’s 2-1 win over Coventry City their second victory in five pre-season matches. Lage has been drilling his players relentlessly on the training ground as he looks to transform Wolves from a counter-attacking team to one which enjoys more of the ball and presses high up the field. And Neves – who has been the subject of transfer interest from Arsenal this summer – believes Lage will get the best out of this Wolves team.
Ruben Neves said: “He’s a very good coach. I am really happy to work with him. I spoke with a few friends when he signed for Wolves – that were players in Benfica and are good friends of mine – and they said a lot of good things about him. I can see it now. He’s a very good coach with lots of good ideas. I think that when things are completely together, we’ll be a really hard team to beat.”
Neves captained Wolves in their latest friendly and netted the second goal at the CBS Arena, while the Portugal international also assisted the opener for compatriot Fabio Silva.
Ruben Neves said: “It was a good game, a hard game, with the game yesterday as well,” he added. “It was a good test for us, I think we did it well, but we have two weeks to improve a lot of things before we go to the Premier League. What we wished most was for the fans to come back, it makes a lot of difference for us so we are glad to see them back in the stadium.”
Wolves finish their pre-season campaign at Molineux on Saturday, where La Liga side Celta Vigo will be their opponents.