Wolves are battling through a difficult start to the 2024/25 season, with several players needing to do more.
Gary O’Neil is desperate to secure his first win of the Premier League season at Wolves, who sit bottom of the league table.
Only five games have been played so far, giving the Old Gold time to improve, however, having one point from a possible 15 is simply not good enough.
What is frustrating is that Wolves’ performances have not been entirely bad, with positive passages of play evident, but never for a full 90 minutes.
Jorgen Strand Larsen called a ‘passenger’ for start to life at Wolves
Wolves have collapsed in a number of second halves this season, most prominently against Chelsea, where four goals were conceded after the interval.
The Old Gold went in at half time in good spirits on the day, as Jorgen Strand Larsen netted his first Wolves goal to level the scoreline at 2-2 at the break.
Unfortunately for the Norwegian striker, he hasn’t found himself on the scoresheet since, with his recent performances coming under scrutiny.
When assessing Wolves’ winners and losers from the 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa, journalist Liam Keen called for Strand Larsen to be more involved.
“You need some attacking threat from a player of his quality, and there have been moments, he scored the goal, he’s had good moments in certain games,” Keen explained on The Keen & Judah Show.
“I do feel like he’s slightly isolated at the moment and he’s been a little bit of a passenger.”
Strand Larsen played an hour of Wolves’ defeat to Villa and missed a great opportunity to score his second in Old Gold.
“They need him to get into the game a bit more, if you look at the game against Villa, he had 12 touches in his hour on the pitch and the majority of those are not in dangerous areas.”
The 24-year-old is the target man that O’Neil desired last season however, Keen also hinted at whether the manager is utilising the striker correctly.
Gary O’Neil is partly to blame for Strand Larsen’s struggles
All in all, Strand Larsen is a good fit for the Premier League, being an incredibly strong and athletic forward with the ability to stand his ground.
As seen against Newcastle, the summer arrival, who will be signed for £23m from Celta Vigo next summer, provided a superb assist to set up Mario Lemina, showcasing his innate reading of the game in the final third.
Touching on the ability that Strand Larsen has despite his trialling start to life at Molineux, Keen sympathised for the Norway international.
“It’s not always necessarily his fault,” Keen clarified.
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“I think the way Wolves are playing against some of these tougher teams means that they’re having to rely on him to try and hold the ball up and be slightly isolated.”
Wolves’ difficult start has written them into the history books however, it doesn’t tell the full story of O’Neil’s side’s struggles.
The Old Gold have played four of last season’s top seven already, emphasising Keen’s assessment of Strand Larsen’s isolation early on as a result of O’Neil’s game plan.
There will be hope that the forward can find his way into games more simply under the manager, so long as the Midlands club change their approach in tough fixtures, prompting the Norwegian to play more of a part.