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Despite a 1-0 win over Sheffield United that moved them up to eighth in the Premier League, O’Neill took out his frustrations during his team’s second half at Molineux.
Wolves struggled to impose themselves and consistently lost the ball despite defending deep to see the win.
Regarding their chances of qualifying for Europe this season, O’Neill said, “With our performance in the second half, we won’t be able to get close to Europe. We definitely have to improve.”
“They have done incredibly well and have earned a huge amount of respect and admiration from me for the number of games they have been able to win, the cohesiveness they have shown and the quality they have shown at times. ing.
“And every Premier League game is difficult to win, so I might be being a bit harsh today. You have no divine right to win a Premier League game.
“However, today’s performance in the second half felt like we were far from a team aiming for Europe.
“We didn’t expect to push Europe, but if other people want to talk about it, that’s fine. We’ll work on improving it and making it look a little better.” .”
During that difficult 45 minutes of the second half, Wolves were unable to unleash their attacking talent and were desperate for clearance.
The Wolves’ struggles this season have been against teams that want to sit back and defend, and O’Neal said he’s still trying to find an answer to that question.
“I briefly talked about this with the players in the changing room, but we really struggled to find the right solution,” the head coach added.
“I still had time on the ball, but I really struggled to find solutions and I told the players that a lot of it was on me. It’s easier for them to handle and easier for the fans to connect. You need to find a way.
“The solution will be easier if the team follows us. They are right in front of you and it’s so fast that you don’t have to make a decision. It resonates and the players feel it easily.
“Whereas today, when you have to think, process things and hold the ball for a second, you feel really anxious.
“I can’t wait to get started on figuring out ways to make it easier for players and fans to connect.
“We weren’t very good in the second half, so we need to improve on that.”
But despite his disappointment, O’Neill was happy with the aspects of the game that saw Wolves take a big step forward in their quest to secure a place in Europe.
“I’m really happy with the win,” O’Neill said.
“We are up to eighth in the Premier League but we were really disappointed in the second half.
“There’s a lot you have to show to win Premier League games, and we need to show guts and determination and dig in to defend a lot of long throws and direct play because the way the second half unfolded was so jarring. there were.
“The players were good at coming together and the fans were with them in difficult moments. You could feel the frustration in the stadium, but they attacked the players. That never happened.
“They stayed in the team even when you could see them thinking, ‘This is a little difficult considering we’re playing against the bottom team in the league.
“The players managed to hold on and get the three important points that will move us up the league.”
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