Medical expert makes ‘smoke and mirrors’ claim after Lage’s injury confession at Wolves
Wolves boss Bruno Lage used “smoke and mirrors” to gain an advantage over Leeds United last weekend.
So says injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Wolves were 1-0 up and seconds away from three points at Elland Road on 23 October before Rodrigo Moreno’s penalty levelled the scores.
Rayan Ait Nouri started the match at left-back ahead of Marcal, who had until that point started all of Wolves’ league matches in 2021-22.
It was later revealed that Marcal had sustained a calf problem during mid-week and that Lage had elected to keep that information under wraps.
“I didn’t say it because the opposition manager might think how to create problems for Rayan,” he told Birmingham Live after the final whistle.
And Dinnery insists that Lage’s discretion gave Wolves an edge on the day.
“We could discuss this forever and a day,” he Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams
“Why would you want to disclose information and give an advantage to your opponent?
“That gives them the opportunity to target a certain player as a weak spot. So do I understand it? Absolutely.
“It’s all smoke and mirrors, all a guessing game. There are always lots of things going on behind the scenes that we’re not privy to.
“Of course, you always want to maintain that edge with small margins in any way, shape or form.
“It’s a sharp way of doing things. There is no obligation for full disclosure in terms of player availability.”
In other news, pundit slams Newcastle United bid to sign Coady as Wolves asking price reported.