What to expect from Julen Lopetegui at Wolves - including tactics, formation & career honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers finally have a new manager from today, November 14 as Julen Lopetegui prepares to start work with his new club. The former Real Madrid head coach comes in for Bruno Lage, well over a month after his sacking.

Lopetegui arrives as a huge name in football having managed the likes of Porto, Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla. He also had a successful playing career as a goalkeeper, making 317 appearances with time at Madrid, Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano.

Steve Davis has been the man carrying out the duties in the Molineux dugout since Lage was relieved of his duties, but the Wanderers have been just as disappointing under his management. With just one Premier League win in seven games, against Nottingham Forest on October 15, Wolves have slumped to rock bottom of the table.

A 2-0 defeat at home to Arsenal was Davis’ last act as interim head coach, with the result confirming the Wanderers will be in 20th place on Christmas Day. Unlike other seasons, however, there will of course be a six-week break between now and Boxing Day as the World Cup plays out over in Qatar.

This gives Lopetegui plenty of time to establish his own style and structure at the football club and, theoretically, there should be quite the improvement by the time Wolves return to action. With that in mind, we decided to take a look at how Lopetegui has fared in the past - and which tactics he often deploys.

What formations and tactics does Julen Lopetegui use?

Over the years, Lopetegui has largely favoured two formations, according to Coaches Voice, using four at the back; the first being a 4-3-3 and the second a 4-2-3-1. The Spaniard prefers the former but has plenty of experience switching between styles, showcasing plenty of flexibility.

More recently with Sevilla, Lopetegui would operate with a deep-lying central midfielder in a 4-3-3 shape, enabling his full-backs to bomb forward on the attack. His number 6 - the furthest back of his midfield three - would often drop in to create a three-man defensive line once the full-backs progressed up the field.

Fernando, a physical Brazilian who used to play for Manchester City, was the player who filled the number 6 role at Sevilla. Whoever is selected to do this for Lopetegui at Wolves will likely become a key player in the new boss’ system. Of the current crop, this could perhaps be Boubacar Traore, Joao Moutinho, or Ruben Neves.

Short passing is another key element to Lopetegui’s game, so don’t expect too many balls to be launched forward. At Real Madrid, the likes of Isco, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos would often make short plays until spaces became available further up the pitch. From that point forward, the two selected as wide forwards would cut in, allowing the full-backs to overlap.

At Sevilla, Suso and Lucas Ocampos often drifted into the inside channels as Marcos Acuña and Jesus Navas pushed up - sometimes even as far as the byline when really advanced. Lopetegui could ask the likes of Nelson Semedo, Jonny Otto, Adama Traore, Daniel Podence and Goncalo Guedes to perform these roles at Molineux.

Lopetegui likes his sole central striker to drift wide before making sudden movements more centrally - getting between and in behind opposition centre backs. Arriving late in the box like this was particularly effective with Luuk de Jong at Sevilla, as he would often attack crosses unexpectedly at the far post.

In defence, Lopetegui demands an intense counter-press from his players. Midfielders adopt a double pivot when out of possession, providing further assistance to those across the back four, especially when full-backs have advanced. There is of course an element of risk playing high up the field, but the idea is if the players press effectively enough then nothing should come of it.

The counter-press is something that perhaps Wolves players will take a while to adjust to. Another big plus of having the World Cup break, though, is it will enable his side to do just that, and there could well be fewer teething problems as a result.