A steadfast commitment to fast, attacking football, high-pressing and youth development; if Wolves fans are pining for excitement following a yawn-inducing, insomnia-curing end to the Bruno Lage and Nuno Espirito Santo eras, then the appointment of Peter Bosz would act as a metaphorical slap around the chops.
If Wolverhampton Wanderers have served up Horlicks football over the last 18 months, a plodding stlye of play that would send anyone to sleep, then Bosz is the sporting equivalent of a espresso shot; adrenaline-fuelled football to get the heart beating and the blood pumping.
“Barcelona had the three-second rule. We’re not Barcelona, so I’ve introduced the two-second rule,” Bosz quipped when taking over at Borussia Dortmund five years ago, highlighting one of his core principles; swarming the opposition while snatching back possession at the earliest opportunity.
Bosz’s sides press from the front with a ferocious intensity. Wolves, in contrast, are fourth-bottom of the Premier League for pressures in the attacking third this season (FBERF).
Wolves did move towards a more possession-based style under Lage, meanwhile, with Nuno preferring a counter-attacking approach. They still averaged less than 50 per cent of the ball in 2021/22, however. Compare that to Bosz’s Lyon; upon his departure this month, Les Gones averaged the second-highest possession figures in Ligue 1 (nearly 60 per cent).
Wolves interview Peter Bosz as manager search continues
“Here, we want to win – and to do so in style,” Bosz, who led an Ajax team with an average age of just 22 to the 2017 Europa League final, said upon his unveiling at Lyon last year.
“I have a philosophy of offensive play, of attractive football. Because we play for the fans and not for ourselves. It is not easy, but it is possible to play beautiful attacking football and win titles.”
Only Rennes and PSG scored more goals in Ligue 1 than Lyon last term (66). Throughout his managerial career, Bosz’s teams have scored over 1,200 goals – almost two per match on average. His goal-difference, meanwhile, stands at plus-341. When you consider that Wolves have looked rather toothless for a couple of years now – four goals in 10 Premier League games this term – the prospect of Pedro Neto, Adama Traore, Nelson Semedo, Matheus Nunes and Goncalo Guedes plying their trade under a coach who graduated from the Johan Cruyff school of tactics should have supporters watering at the mouth.
“He has the crucial ability to continually develop a team,” sporting director Rudi Voller said of Bosz during their time together at Bayer Leverkusen.
“Peter’s approach to the game fits in perfectly with us as Bayer 04. (He has) played aggressive and high-tempo football with joy for many years.”
‘Aggressive and high-tempo football’
According to The Telegraph, Wolves are now in talks with the 58-year-old Dutchman. His style reportedly appeals to the Molineux hierarchy too; suggesting a desire to move on from the cautious, one-paced approach of Bosz’s potential predecessors.
Of course, if Bosz was a tactician on par with Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp, he would not have been fired by a Lyon side stuck in mid-table. He wouldn’t have lost his job at Borussia Dortmund after just eight wins in 24 games. Bosz’s commitment to free-flowing attacking football tends to leave his sides very open at the back. Lyon scored 66 times in 2021/22, but they also conceded 51. There is a fine line between bravery and madness, and Bosz’s teams tend to stride across that line with reckless abandon.
But Wolves supporters would take a rollercoaster ride over the stupefying boredom of the last few years, right?
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