A beleaguered Gary O’Neil accepts that Everton had something his Wolves side simply couldn’t deal with during a 4-0 hammering at their Premier League rivals on Wednesday night.
And that is ‘physicality’.
Sean Dyche teams tend to be pretty powerful – a fleet of six-foot-somethings in a ‘land of the giants’ sort of selection – and just days after Everton were hit for four by Manchester United, The Toffees flipped that scoreline around as they piled more misery on Gary O’Neil at Goodison Park.
Gary O’Neil admits Wolves could not ‘cope’ with Everton strength
“We weren’t able to cope with Everton’s physicality,” O’Neil sighs in his post-match press conference. “Long balls, balls in the box, just unable to cope.
“[There is] an awful lot of work to be done to give the group a better chance in games coming next. Try and find a way to give them more of a platform to have a chance.
“As I’ve said a million times, the other stuff is irrelevant, because we’re giving away so many goals from situations that are fairly basic.”
Ashley Young, Everton’s oldest ever outfield player, opened the scoring after just 10 minutes. Orel Mangala’s first for the club then doubled the advantage before a pair of own goals from the usually-reliable Craig Dawson put the game out of sight.
As such, Wolves have now conceded four goals in each of their last two matches, at home to Bournemouth on Saturday and away to Everton on Wednesday.
O’Neil fighting for his future ahead of West Ham United clash
“Bournemouth are a pressing team, and we [could not] cope with that. Everton are a physical team, and we didn’t cope with that,” O’Neil adds. “So, there’s an awful lot that we need to get into them to try and find a way to give this team more of a chance on a consistent basis.
“We’ve found ways in recent weeks to be competitive in the four games that we managed not to lose. But as we are right now, sat here, [losing 4-0 at Everton is] a real tough blow for myself and the group and the supporters who deserve a big mention for the travel that they do, the support that they’ve given me since I’ve been here and I understand all of their criticism.
“We couldn’t cope [Everton’s] their physicality. We had people in the right spots and weren’t able to compete in the duels.”
With O’Neil likely to stay on for another few days, next week’s clash with West Ham United has a real ‘El Sackico’ sort of feel about it. Can a game this early in the season really be described as a ‘six-pointer’? If the answer is yes, then Monday night’s battle between two crisis clubs is certainly that.
