---
title: "Wolves: Steve Madeley surprised by Bruno Lage decision against West Ham"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/steve-madeley-surprised-neves-centre-back-west-ham/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Premier League News"
published: "2022-10-01T18:26:22Z"
modified: "2022-10-01T18:26:22Z"
---

# Wolves: Steve Madeley surprised by Bruno Lage decision against West Ham

**The Athletic’s [Wolves](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wolves-news/) correspondent Steve Madeley offered his reaction [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/SteveMadeley78/status/1576248452186619906) after spotting Ruben Neves operating in the middle of a back three against West Ham on Saturday evening.**

### The lowdown

The Old Gold fell to a 2-0 defeat against their hosts at the London Stadium, with goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Jarrod Bowen inflicting the damage.

Lage faced issues in the centre-back department coming into the match, with Nathan Collins [suspended](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/wolverhampton-wanderers/startseite/verein/543) following his red card against Manchester City two weeks ago. That left Max Kilman and the inexperienced duo of [Yerson Mosquera](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/yerson-mosquera/leistungsdaten/spieler/716276) and [Toti Gomes](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/toti/leistungsdaten/spieler/606718) as the [only available natural options](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/wolverhampton-wanderers/kadernachposition/verein/543).

In the end, the manager overlooked both Mosquera and Toti and instead fielded a natural full-back in Jonny Otto [alongside Kilman](https://www.sofascore.com/west-ham-united-wolverhampton/dsM), with Nelson Semedo and Rayan Ait-Nouri stationed on the flanks.

### The latest

One Lage innovation caught Madeley’s eye within ‘seconds’ of the kick-off at the London Stadium, and it concerned the third individual used in that makeshift central defensive unit.

The Athletic reporter [tweeted](https://twitter.com/SteveMadeley78/status/1576248452186619906): “Looks in the early seconds like Neves is playing in the middle of a back 3. That is…. interesting.”

He explained [in a subsequent tweet](https://twitter.com/SteveMadeley78/status/1576249771014103041) that Wolves seemed to be moving from a back three to a back four fluidly, with Semedo dropping back.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”410492″\]

### The verdict

Lage surely felt a degree of pressure coming into the game after picking up just three points from the first 21 available this season, and this was certainly a bold move as he tried to inspire an improvement.

According to [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ruben-neves/leistungsdaten/spieler/225161/plus/0?saison=ges), Neves had no experience of starting a game as a centre-back prior to this evening.

It was an experiment which delivered mixed results, with the Portuguese midfielder picking up a [SofaScore](https://www.sofascore.com/team/football/wolverhampton/3) rating of 6.7/10, by far [his lowest in a Wolves shirt](https://www.sofascore.com/player/ruben-neves/280955) so far this season.

He completed 72 of the 83 passes that he attempted (an accuracy of 87%) but he also earned a booking which will see him [suspended](https://twitter.com/LiamKeen_Star/status/1576260544155119616) for his team’s next match against Chelsea, given that it was already his[fifth in the league](https://twitter.com/LiamKeen_Star/status/1576260544155119616) this term.