Wolves recorded the unlikeliest of victories over Manchester City on Saturday – and Gary Lineker has praised the game plan implemented by Gary O’Neil.
Wolves took three huge points at Molineux, after losing to Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup just days earlier.
It was a performance that rather came out of nowhere.
Wolves had been struggling to pick up results.
That loss to Ipswich was a really tough one to take, and it had to have affected morale a little in the days following.
But O’Neil adopting a different plan against City and it worked a treat – and Lineker praised the head coach for the way he set up…
Gary Lineker praises Gary O’Neil for the way he set Wolves up against Manchester City
Wolves’ shock win over City came up on The Rest Is Football podcast.
It was always going to, especially with Micah Richards being an ex-City player.
Richards was actually full of praise for Wolves, and highlighted Pedro Neto for his brilliant display.
And Lineker made sure praise went the way of the manager.
He said: “By far the most prolific (striker in the Premier League) is Haaland. But he was kept quiet, and that brings me on nicely… because we could not go through this podcast without mentioning that fabulous victory for Wolverhampton Wanderers against Manchester City.
“It was backs against the wall stuff for most of the game but to be honest, City didn’t create too much against them. It was an excellent game plan from Gary O’Neil. They thoroughly deserved that victory in the end. Brilliant counter-attacking game.”
Well done Gary O’Neil
It was indeed an excellent game plan from O’Neil, as Lineker says.
The Wolves head coach got it absolutely spot on against the champions.
Getting men in and around Haaland to snuff out his threat was crucial.
And then, deploying his fastest possible – and also hardest working – front line in Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha was a perfect call.
O’Neil hasn’t always got things right this season.
But this was proof of his talent as a coach, and hopefully we can see more of these tactical masterclasses.