Gary O’Neil says there’s no reason why Wolves can’t spark a fresh unbeaten run when they return to action at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
A run of four matches without defeat prior to Saturday had improved Wolves’ standing in the Premier League significantly, and before Christmas they face four sides within close vicinity of them in the table. That period starts against Everton on Wednesday evening, and having fully debriefed the loss to Bournemouth, particularly the mistakes which led to goals, the head coach insists the group are determined to put things right on Merseyside.
On responding to Bournemouth
“It’s the same as always, we managed to learn from the debrief that we always do, the process that we go through. They're ready to respond, as they always are. We understand that we are going to have some tough games in the Premier League. We didn't expect Saturday to go the way it went.
“Obviously, we played a large part in our own downfall very early in the game. When I watched it back, there were actually some real good moments in there, but the score’s already 3-1, and the game gets away from you, but they have responded very, very well. They're ready to go to Everton, it’s a completely different type of test, and one that we're looking forward to.
“Where we are in the league is, of course, not where we want to be, but still in touching distance of a lot of teams just above us. We’ve come off the back of a four-game unbeaten run, two wins on the bounce that change the outlook for us, and there’s no reason we can't start another one of those runs tomorrow night.”
Goodison Park memories 💭 pic.twitter.com/LFS4VjYsnX
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 3, 2024
On cutting out the errors
“They’re crazy, crazy errors at really key stages in the football match. The first goal was something that we'd worked on. I even mentioned it in my press conference around Marcos Senesi and what he does with the ball, so to be punished off something like that so early, obviously, gives us a setback. To be able to bounce back from it, and then to give away two penalties by passing one to their centre forward and passing one to the goalkeeper who gets tackled by their centre forward can't happen in Premier League games.
“Because of the emotion inside the stadium and the emotion inside the group at that stage, all the good phases that we were able to produce are forgotten because everything needs to be perfect from that moment, once you're 3-1 down. Real disappointment that we gave it to them so early, but an understanding of how we did it, trying to make sure that we improve the individuals involved and improve the group's understanding, to make sure that it happens much less frequently.”
On repeated mistakes
“We're making too many in key areas at the moment. We had a better spell against Southampton and Fulham, and still made two big errors at Brighton to give away goals, really cheap giveaway on the second goal and the poor kick for the first goal. So, we are costing ourselves a lot of goals with errors, and it has to improve.
“There's no coincidence that the teams that make the most errors are down the bottom and the teams that make the least errors are at the top. They will have a big bearing on what you're able to achieve. So, I push the players every day to be better and we're working very hard on them. They buy into everything we ask. We just need to see the fruits of the work in the Premier League, on the big stage at the weekends.”
On Strand Larsen improving
“I think it was one of his best performances for us [on Saturday]. I think the Newcastle game at home he looked like a handful, and the Bournemouth game he looked like a handful. We're still trying to push him to be that all the time. It was a big improvement from him performance wise.
“His numbers are excellent for a new striker to the league, coming from Spain, to hit the ground running with his goals and assists is a big plus for us and for him, because it’s not easy to do. Then, his all-around game I saw an improvement, which is important, with his relationship with Matheus, and we’re trying to utilise his strengths better.
“Some of the time when we've gone into him direct, maybe he's found the jump in physicality in the Premier League difficult against certain centre back, but I thought he was much better at that against Bournemouth, when we went into him with longer balls, he did really well against their centre backs at getting hold of it and running into channels. A good performance for him, and we're going to need him, he's a very important player to us.”
On the Norwegian’s fitness
“He is in a much better spot physically, which helps him show more what he is. I don't think it's a coincidence that it was one of his best performances for us, and he was able to last, so pleased for him, because he is working very hard at it. It is a step up in level, he's doing much more high speed running and total distance than he was at his former club, because that is the demand of the Premier League. While he wasn't quite at top speed, he was still able to produce big moments for the team, and now if we can get both going at the same time, he can really help us.”
