We enjoyed a hint of the deep-thinking tactical genius rarely displayed by Gary O’Neil since his Monday Night Football appearance over a year ago. But Wolves need much, much more.
Sunday league footballers nodded in acknowledgement as Trevoh Chalobah swung with one leg as the ball hit the other when faced only with the goalkeeper, momentarily deploring his own clumsiness before blocking Philippe Mateta’s goal-bound shot on the line. It summed up a first half of good chances and woeful finishing from both sides.
But the Chelsea loanee made up for that comical moment in the second half, displaying the poise and quality so lacking from every other player on the pitch up to that point when given an opportunity to score.
Far more seasoned finishers would have panicked as the ball fell to Chalobah at the back post after Jose Sa came and flapped at a cross. He took an excellent touch on his thigh before half-volleying his shot from a tight angle into the empty goal.
Crystal Palace had a number of chances before that and plenty more after, with Ismaila Sarr chief among the profligates. It ended up being almost impressive that he failed to score, spooning perhaps the best opportunity well over the bar from around the penalty spot after a ball was cut back to him, also curling another shot well past the post when placed.
Matheus Cunha was Wolves’ greatest threat, and was denied two brilliant assists by the indecision of Pablo Sarabia, who waited too long twice when faced only with Dean Henderson to spurn those clearcut chances, and was being booed by the Wolves fans by the time he was hauled off on the hour mark, when Gary O’Neil incurred the wrath of Wolves fans by taking off Tommy Doyle, throwing caution to the wind with a triple change.
He had to, it was feeling like the end for him.
Having given Palace the lead Chalobah made a boob as Wolves restored parity, miscalculating the flight of a switch that left him sprawling on the ground as Cunha took the ball down on his chest, with a suspicion of arm, before playing a delicate pass with the outside of his boot for Jorgen Strand Larsen to run onto and slot calmly under Henderson.
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Five minutes later Mario Lemina, who came on for Toti Gomes but was essentially playing in midfield, did brilliantly to find Cunha, who drove at the Palace defence, fed substitute Goncalo Guedes on the right before his first-time square pass found the excellent Joao Gomes, who calmly passed the ball into the corner. It was a lovely move.
But neither team had control of what was a thoroughly entertaining game in the second half. Palace kept pushing and Marc Guehi equalised from a corner thanks to some very static defending from Wolves, whose manager clings to his job after another game without a win.
O’Neil retains his status as one of football’s deep-thinkers in the minds of the majority, a reputation built it seems mainly through his Monday Night Football appearance on Sky Sports over a year ago.
No Premier League side that has played all of the 39 games since has collected fewer points than Wolves (38), and although many would say – quite reasonably – that O’Neil illustrated his tactical chops here as his substitutions and in-game management turned the game on its head, there’s only so long we can turn a blind eye to the results and the ease with which opposition teams get at Wolves and score against them.
They’ve scored as many goals (14) as Nottingham Forest, who are third, but have conceded 27 to their seven. They’ve shipped six more goals than any other Premier League side. They’ve got enough in attack through Cunha, Strand Larsen and others to be a mid-table team, and O’Neil’s tactics in possession are working. There are clear patterns of play and Wolves are a decent watch.
But in defence they’re all over the place, both in open play and from set pieces, and yes, they lost their best defender in Max Kilman in the summer, but this looks as much about poor organisation as a lack of individual quality.
The buck stops with O’Neil, who can count himself fortunate to still be in the job despite an admittedly very difficult run of fixtures at the start of the season. But this was a game they should be winning against a team of similar quality on their own patch.
There are relatively easy fixtures to come for Wolves, who need their manager to impart some of his lesser seen tactical genius to drive them away from the bottom of the table and keep himself in the dugout.
