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Under-fire Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O’Neil threw three of his players under the bus after the 2-1 loss to Ipswich Town.
Wanderers have now conceded 16 times from set plays in the Premier League this season, cost dearly by poor positioning and the lack of a commanding aerial presence. Both frailties were evident for Ipswich’s last-gasp winner as Jack Taylor was afforded far too much time and space, the midfielder able to convert his header to make it 2-1.
O’Neil revealed in the post-match press conference that two of his players - presumably Rayan Ait-Nouri and Santi Bueno given they were nearest to Taylor - swapped roles for the corner when they shouldn’t have done. The head coach is convinced Wolves would’ve avoided conceding had they stuck to the original instructions he’d set out.
“Two areas we’ve suffered massively with this season, direct play and balls in the box. The set play goal I will happily take responsibility for if the players were stood in the right place, but for some reason two of them have decided to change roles very late on in the game,” O’Neil said.
Gary O'Neil couldn't believe two of his players changed positions for the corner Ipswich scored their winner from.Gary O'Neil couldn't believe two of his players changed positions for the corner Ipswich scored their winner from.
Gary O'Neil couldn't believe two of his players changed positions for the corner Ipswich scored their winner from. | Wolves via Getty Images
“I’m 100 per cent confident that if we were stood in the right spot, our player goes and heads that way. That’s the players’ decision making under stress - players change things around and try and find fixes all the time - but that was a really poor decision from them in a really important moment.”
The other goal Wolves conceded was just as poor, if not more so, as Matt Doherty turned the ball into his own net after several shots, blocks and ricochets. O’Neil was particularly disappointed by the build-up as Nelson Semedo was shrugged off far too easily by Ipswich striker Liam Delap.
“The first goal is unacceptable for Premier League level,” O’Neil added. “We saw Liam Delap score that goal a lot when he was playing kids two foot smaller than him, he looked like he was playing two years up bashing people out the way and running through. It’s not acceptable to concede that goal, Delap won’t score that against any other Premier League team.”
O’Neil was understandably furious with Semedo’s lack of intervention as it gave Ipswich the chance to go ahead and give Wolves a mountain to climb. That’s exactly what Wanderers had and the task proved too arduous.
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