Antonio Conte's nightmare week took another twist on Sunday with Bruno Lage masterminding a Wolves win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Losing 3-2 on Wednesday evening against Southampton despite leading going into the final ten minutes, Tottenham were once again on the losing side with the West Midlands club picking up a well-deserved 2-0 victory.
Goals from Raul Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker proved to be the difference between the sides, with Hugo Lloris, who unfortunately played his part in both strikes, managing to keep the score down in the first half with some good saves.
Usually lining up in a 3-4-3 formation since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo at Molineux in the summer, Lage made a tactical change as he opted for an extra man in midfield in a 3-5-2 setup.
The change worked to perfection and their extra body in the midfield battle duly saw Conte make a change on 28 minutes as Spurs switched to 4-2-3-1 with Dejan Kulusevski replacing the unfortunate Ryan Sessegnon.
Admitting after the game that Luke Cundle was brought into their midfield after Wolves' scouts gave Lage information about Tottenham's midfield, the formation change was very similar to what the Portuguese boss did in December to frustrate Chelsea and claim a 0-0 draw.
“I decided when my scouts gave me the information about Tottenham and the way they play,” explained Lage in his post-match press conference.
“We needed to play with one more midfielder. Luke is playing in that position, like Joao, and he played.”
He added: "It was more of the same idea to have more of the ball, especially in the middle, but it was more similar against Chelsea to try to create more men in the midfield.
"We tried to guess because if they are playing when fit with Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura, [they have] line of five and just two midfielders, so we tried to put more men there to have more time on the ball.
"And after if we control the game with the ball, the chances will come. I think we did, that's why after that I can see how they changed to put one more man to press Ruben because we played with more men in the midfield at the beginning.
"After when they adapt, also we adjust but it was harder to control the game in the second half with the ball, I think we did in the first half, second half more hard, but we controlled the game without the ball."
