Big news broke at Wolves on Friday as Gary O’Neil revealed Mario Lemina had been stripped of his captaincy.
It was a bold call from O’Neil but ultimately the correct one after Lemina was involved in a brawl against West Ham.
Lemina, who replaced Max Kilman as captain in the summer, ultimately lost his head at the London Stadium and showed no signs of leadership.
The 31-year-old has struggled to maintain his usually consistent performances, perhaps weighed down by the expectations of being a leader, and now O’Neil has named Nelson Semedo as captain instead.
Controversially, the Portuguese defender sees his contract expire in 2025, although Wolves do want to keep Semedo and will offer him a new contract.
With Semedo now expected to lead Wolves to survival, Lemina has sent a classy message to his teammate after handing over the armband.
Mario Lemina’s first words after being stripped of Wolves captaincy
O’Neil had a conversation with Lemina about stepping down as captain, and the Gabon international took the news surprisingly well.
Some players may have thrown their toys out of the pram and been unhappy with the decision but after his petulance on Monday night, the midfielder showed his class on Friday.
In his first words following Semedo’s appointment as captain, he posted a message to the defender on his Instagram story and wrote: “Love my brother, you know everything. Big fan. Let’s overcome all this situation.”
Time will tell as to whether this is the correct decision from Wolves, particularly handing Semedo the armband, as others perhaps had more of a shout.
Saying that, Craig Dawson not being given the captaincy could hint at a summer exit with his contract expiring in 2025, and some would say Matheus Cunha is deserving of the leadership appointment for what he’s achieved at Wolves.
One thing is for sure, Lemina being axed from the role has to inspire better performances from the midfielder and Wolves in general.
Lemina must use this decision as fuel for improved displays
Wolves fans agreed about Lemina being stripped of captaincy, and he must use this news as fuel to return to his best, something we haven’t seen from him in 2024/25.
Lemina has been poor at times, as seen during the 5-3 defeat at Brentford, with his best performance arguably coming as a centre-back against Fulham.
As highlighted by FBref, the experienced midfielder hasn’t done the fundamental basics well in possession, letting his team down with a lack of creativity and lacklustre passing.
| Mario Lemina’s per 90 stats vs Premier League midfielders 2024/25 | Statistic | Percentile rank |
| Progressive passes | 3.04 | Bottom 13% |
| Progressive passes received | 1.23 | Bottom 36% |
| Progressive carries | 0.51 | Bottom 11% |
| Shot-creating actions | 1.59 | Bottom 18% |
| Pass competition | 81.1% | Bottom 32% |
Although Lemina arguably isn’t a ball-playing midfielder and Andre is there to do that job, the Gabon star still needs to be more tidy in possession.
Last season, for instance, the Wolves man had a pass completion of 85.8% and 0.97 progressive carries per 90, which shows there has been a slight drop off.
Hopefully, a change in leadership and less responsibility for Lemina will work in his favour, with supporters hoping he can improve in the second half of the campaign.