Why O'Neil deserves huge credit for transforming Wolves' fortunes
When Gary O’Neil was handed the reins at Wolverhampton Wanderers on the eve of the new season, he knew there was one area of the team that he needed to improve above all others.
For most of their time in the Premier League since promotion in 2018, Wolves have been among the division’s lowest scorers. That did not prevent them achieving great things under Nuno Espirito Santo, whose disastrous spell at Tottenham Hotspur somewhat overshadowed the back-to-back seventh-placed finishes he masterminded at Molineux, with runs to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and quarter-finals of the Europa League thrown in for good measure.
In their first Premier League season under Nuno, Wolves scored 47 goals - the 13th-best record of all 20 teams. In 2019/20 they improved to rank joint-eighth, but it has been continually downhill from there: 16th in 2020/21, 17th in 2021/22 under Bruno Lage and 20th in 2022/23 under Lage and Julen Lopetegui.
Based on their attacking output alone, Wolves were fortunate to stay up last season. Crystal Palace in 2019/20 are the only other team in the last five years to have survived with a tally of 31 or fewer goals. In that time, 10 sides have been relegated with superior goal returns to Wolves’ last time out.
O’Neil did not exactly walk into the club in favourable circumstances either. He arrived just days before Wolves’ opening game of the campaign against Manchester United after Julen Lopetegui decided to walk away. And it is fair to say his appointment did not exactly set pulses racing in the Black Country.
Yet although Wolves are still far from possessing the Premier League’s most feared frontline, there have been promising signs of improvement in the opening 12 rounds of fixtures. Pedro Neto has been one of the standout attacking performers in the league, but it is far from a one-man show as Wolves demonstrated in the absence of the Portuguese at the weekend.
They may have left it late to beat Tottenham, as strikes from Pablo Sarabia and Mario Lemina turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in second-half injury time, but the scoreline was ultimately a fair reflection of the game.
After conceding early Wolves fought their way back into the game by playing on the front foot, pressing Spurs high up the pitch and creating chances from turnovers. They outshot Ange Postecoglou’s side 17-6 and really ought to have restored parity long before Sarabia’s sensational late leveller.
A few more comparisons with last season are instructive. Wolves are averaging 12.2 shots per game in 2023/24 compared to 10.8 in 2022/23. Tackles are up from 17.4 to 19.8 per match, evidencing a team more willing to engage their opponents - and often in higher areas. Interceptions, meanwhile, have gone from 7.3 per game (the third-lowest last season) to 9.1 (the fifth-highest in the current campaign).
As was the case against Tottenham, many of the chances Wolves create come from quick transitions. They are averaging a remarkable 13.7 dribbles per game so far this season, by far the highest figure in the Premier League.
In the Spurs game alone there were an astonishing 21, as the likes of Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Lemina carried the ball up the pitch. Before suffering an injury last month, Neto was vital in that regard too.
It is still early days but this Wolves side certainly carries more of an attacking threat than some of its predecessors. Compared to 20th in 2022/23, Wolves currently rank 11th for goals scored with 16 in 12 matches. O’Neil can be pleased with the work he has done so far.
