After Wolves’ The bad run continued, with a fourth in a row Premier League loss, Gary O’Neill has been fired by a manager.
Their four straight defeats, coming against Bournemouth, Everton, West Ham and Ipswich, have proved costly, leaving them 19th in the table and leading to O’Neill’s sacking.
Wolves had more possession against Ipswich, having 54% of the balltaking 16 shots (more than Ipswich’s 10), creating one big chance and generating 1.27 xG (more than Ipswich’s 1.20 xG). However, despite the Tractor Boys performing better in some metrics, the result is the most important and it was another loss.
Many factors have hurt O’Neil and his efforts to revive Wolves this season, losing some key players to injury and most importantly, losing stars like Pedro Neto in the summer transfer window, failing to replace them effectively.
The death of Gary O’Neil
O’Neil’s side averaged 46.4% possession this season (14th in the league), averaged 11 shots per game (fourth lowest in the league) and averaged 14.6 shots against (sixth highest).
This was lower than the average possession last campaign (48.6%), shots per game (11.3) and shots on goal (15.2), with their performance declining across the board.
Along with that, Wolves only conceded ten goals from set-pieces in 38 games last season, yet already this season, they have conceded 14 in just 16 games.
With their performances slipping this season, alongside the acquisition of a new Achilles heel, O’Neil’s time as Wolves manager has come to an end and they could already have a Premier League legend waiting to take over .
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New coach for Wolves
Reports from David Ornstein on Sunday afternoon suggested the club were making a move to sign Vitor Pereira.
Despite these claims, there could be an alternative. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was spotted at Molineux for Wolves’ 2-1 defeat by Ipswich as pressure mounted on O’Neil and this led to many rumors of Solskjaer taking over as Wolves manager.
The Norwegian hasn’t appeared in management for three years, it would be a big gamble, but what exactly could he bring to the Midlands?
Well, Solskjaer is best known for scoring 91 goals in 235 Premier League games, while also providing 41 assists in that time. However, he has already managed several English teams, including Manchester United, most famously, where Bournemouth boss at the time (Eddie Howe) praised the work he did for the Red Devils as “super“.
|
Solskjaer’s record manager |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Club |
Games |
Points per match |
|
Reserve of Manchester United |
25 |
2.12 |
|
Molde FK |
123 |
1.85 |
|
Cardiff |
30 |
1.07 |
|
Molde FK |
118 |
1.84 |
|
Man Utd (Caretaker) |
19 |
2.32 |
|
Manchester United |
149 |
1.79 |
|
Statistics taken from Transfer market |
||
The 51-year-old Norwegian often used his Manchester United side in a 4-2-3-1, which would be a huge contrast to recent Wolves managers, who often opted for a back-five approach. However, the team is fit to have three behind the striker, allowing the in-form Matheus Cunha a freer role at number ten, which could get the best of him.
This would also allow the inclusion of two wingers such as Hwang Hee-Chan, Goncalo Guedes, Carlos Borges and even Pablo Sarabia when he returns from injury.
Solskjaer could bring a much-needed change of dynamics to the club, allowing them to catch teams off guard, be more aggressive with their talented technicians like Cunha, and start building something slightly different to what they are used to. Wolves fans recently. times.
