Bruno Lage: Francisco Trincao trying to adapt at Wolves
Boss Bruno Lage says Francisco Trincao is still adjusting to the demands of the Premier League as the winger looks for his first Wolves goal.
Trincao, having joined on loan from Barcelona in the summer, has had an up and down time thus far.
The 21-year-old Portuguese has caught the eye in a few outings but struggled in others – Wednesday’s win at Brighton an example of the latter.
He is still yet to open his Wolves account, and Lage is looking for more as he said: “Sometimes he needs to understand the game better, how we start.
“That’s the biggest thing he can learn.
“If you look at the game (at Brighton), I don’t exactly how much but for 15 or 20 minutes, every time he tried to link the game, he was pressed and lost the ball.
“After that, he came into the game along with the team, and he tried to link it the way we want.
“That’s the big (thing to) learn for him and the big impact the Premier League has.
“When he starts, the teams are there and they go until the end of the game. Always with a good tempo and a good rhythm.
“That’s the thing. When you come from outside, you need to adapt.”
Trincao is not the only Wolves forward to have struggled in front of goal.
Adama Traore and Daniel Podence, while they have at least chipped in this season, have not been prolific either.
Defender Romain Saiss – or the ‘Moroccan Maldini’ as Lage calls him – got the winner at Brighton.
On Wolves’ attackers lacking ruthlessness, Lage said: “We have two or three players that deserve to have more goals.
“If you look at the first games, Adama, for sure, deserved to score three or four goals with the way he created chances.
“Trincao has had chances to score goals.
“So, these are the little things. All my strikers, all my forwards, are working hard.
“They create a lot of situations – crosses, on the floor, outside of the box and inside the box.
“There are a lot of things, so they’re working hard to increase their average, to score goals.
“I don’t put pressure on them. I put pressure on the way we work and the way we want to play, in the defensive way and offensive way.
“The goals will come. If they come from our Maldini from Morocco, or one of the strikers, I’ll be happy.”
Lage, while hoping for more goals, says his forwards are playing their part in keeping teams at bay.
Wolves have four clean sheets from the last six games and he added: “It starts from the strikers.
“Adama is pressing, and the way he presses with Daniel and Trincao made it very hard for Brighton.
“It’s not just about the defenders. It’s about what we’re doing as a team.”
