Wolves fans watched on last night as the team lost 1-0 to Bournemouth – and Gary O’Neil made an interesting remark after the game.
Wanderers‘ winless run stretched to six games in the Premier League, and it was a very poor performance at Molineux.
Wolves struggled throughout, and were second-best to Bournemouth for the majority of the contest. Only when Milos Kerkez was sent off on 79 minutes did Wolves start to show a bit of fight and quality.
Aside from Jose Sa, no Wolves player could lay claim to a good performance. The substitutes that came did OK, especially Boubacar Traore and Tawanda Chirewa.
But it was just an off night for Wolves, with O’Neil branding it one of the worst performances of the season so far.
After the game, a frustrated O’Neil spoke to the media – and gave an interesting verdict referencing his predecessor Julen Lopetegui…
Gary O’Neil makes Julen Lopetegui reference amid current Wolves struggles
A couple of weeks ago, after the 1-1 draw with Burnley, O’Neil said in a press conference that he had expressed his concerns about a small squad to the board.
He feared overloading the players, and injuries taking a hold of his squad.
That came to pass, with key stars ending up sidelined and Wolves’ momentum halting. Wolves were in contention for European football, and that will now be practically impossible to achieve.
Ultimately, Wolves have run out of steam, caused by the lack of rotation by O’Neil. But the manager hasn’t had scope to rotate because he didn’t have the players.
Speaking after last night’s game, O’Neil made an interesting comment about Lopetegui, who ultimately left the club because he felt he wasn’t backed.
Nathan Judah quoted him as saying: “You don’t see too many managers walking out on Premier League football clubs very often. So it gives you a clue as to some of the issues that we’ve had to deal with this season.”
Judah added: “For those who need more, he’s obvs talking about Lop walking away & showing how far the team has come to get to where they are this season – I only get so many characters to use!”
An interesting comment
O’Neil seemingly understands why Lopetegui departed the club when he did.
The Spaniard reportedly felt as though he couldn’t achieve what he wanted to with the squad at his disposal and the inability to really add to it.
O’Neil has done a good job with the resources he’s been afforded so far, and this slightly feels like a way of asking for backing this summer, by highlighting the nature of the situation
Between this and the comments he made after Burnley, it seems O’Neil is determined to have a strong summer, so that he can maximise this team’s potential.
Because Wolves’ season is finishing with a bit of a whimper as a result of these injuries, and it is quite a shame given how things were going only a couple of months ago.
