Bruno Lage insists Raul Jimenez is still ‘the same player’, despite the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker’s struggles this season.
Bruno Lage said: “This kind of season can happen to a player. Raul has been scoring 15, 15, 15, so when he scores six it’s not good. But when you look at the other teams, how many goals do their strikers score? The average is five or six. These kinds of things can happen.”
With three assists to his name, Jimenez has nine goal contributions in total, putting him ahead of his Wolves teammates. But the striker’s inability to find the net regularly has been a major problem for Lage, who has now benched Jimenez on four occasions. Silva, a £35million signing from Porto two years ago, hasn’t netted yet this season and Wolves are already eyeing up strikers heading into the summer window. The days of Jimenez being undroppable at Molineux are over.
Bruno lage explained: “We have changed our way of playing a little bit. Teams respect us more and defend more inside the box so he needs to adapt. He has good movements. What happened with him against Leeds was frustrating because he was in a good moment, then he was out for three weeks because we didn’t have a game. It’s not good for a player. It was the second time this season he saw a red card.”
In Jimenez’s defence, there have been international exertions with Mexico to factor in, as well as teething issues with the protective headgear he must wear for the rest of his career. He has now switched to a lighter headband, which should allow him to become potent in the air once more.
Bruno Lage added: “I can see the same player. The band gave a different direction when he was heading, this one doesn’t. I see him with more confidence when he is running, it’s lighter. The doctors are doing their best to help him to be the Raul we know.”
