Wolves could only manage a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday – and Gary O’Neil admitted after the game there was ‘a technical breakdown’ for his side.
Wanderers fell behind early doors when some poor defending led to a goal by Harry Toffolo.
The wing-back was able to outjump Nelson Semedo at the back post to head past Jose Sa. The Portuguese defender didn’t cover himself in any glory, but it was a series of errors with Toti Gomes, Hugo Bueno and Jose Sa all poor.
Wolves had most of the ball in the game but were lacking ideas and creativity.
Gary O’Neil admitted after the game that his side weren’t at it, bemoaning the technical shortcomings of his side on the day.
This makes his decision not to put on Tommy Doyle all the more strange…
Gary O’Neil not putting Tommy Doyle on for Wolves against Forest was a bizarre decision
Wolves spent most of the game just working the ball from side to side in front of the Forest defence.
The goal scored by Cunha was a rare moment of quality Wolves, and it was a shame there weren’t any more build-ups like that.
After the game, O’Neil said (Wolves official): “We didn’t show enough quality really. There were too many technical turnovers of the ball and we got into some good situations, but loose touches would force us to go backwards and we’d have to recycle it.
“There was a technical breakdown today and I understand it, but I don’t accept it.”
If O’Neil felt there was a technical breakdown, then surely it would have made sense to put Tommy Doyle on, a player who’s come from Manchester City and is all about getting on the ball and trying to be incisive with his passing.
Doyle – who Wolves are expected to buy for £5 million next year – hasn’t featured a great deal for Wolves so far, but when he has played he has looked to play forward and break the lines, something that just wasn’t happening on Saturday.
Doyle could have made a difference for Wolves against Forest
O’Neil decided that he would not use Doyle at all against Forest and that felt baffling.
He was forced into a change when Mario Lemina went off with a tight hamstring – but it was Boubacar Traore who got the nod from the head coach.
Wolves were not creating or threatening, so surely Doyle – someone former Molineux winger Mark Kennedy branded ‘outstanding’ – was somebody to turn to. If not when Lemina was coming off, then surely shortly after that.
But O’Neil overlooked him completely, and later put on Matt Doherty and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, with Sasa Kalajdzic coming on for the final minutes.
Wolves finished the game with 69% ball possession, but could only muster up four efforts of target, and it just feels like O’Neil not turning to Doyle was a bit of an oversight, especially with what the head coach admitted after the game.