In pre-season, mental preparation is just as important as physical and Gary O’Neil is using all the tricks in the book to prepare Wolves for 2024/25.
The 2024/25 Premier League campaign is just over three weeks away as Wolves face a daunting trip to Arsenal.
Gary O’Neil’s squad are currently out in the United States preparing for their first of three pre-season friendlies, starting with a clash against West Ham in Jacksonville.
O’Neil has welcomed three new faces to his squad in pre-season following the additions of Pedro Lima, Rodrigo Gomes and Jorgen Strand Larsen while Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Pedro Neto and Joao Gomes have been given an ‘extra holiday’ after a packed summer of action.
It’s expected that the quartet will return from their holidays next week ahead of fixtures against Crystal Palace (August 1st) and RB Leipzig (August 4th).
In the meantime, though, O’Neil has been working hard to mentally and physically condition his players as they aim to improve on their 14th-place finish.
How Gary O’Neil is ‘mentally’ preparing his Wolves players
Wolves have arguably one of the toughest fixture runs of all clubs at the start of the season, as they play Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City in six of their first eight matches.
Last season, O’Neil’s men claimed the most points of any team against the ‘big six’ than any other side, posting victories over Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea in the Premier League.
The Wolves boss made his side hard to break down in their usual 3-4-3 system, while they were dangerous on the counter-attack through the pace of Hwang Hee-chan, Matheus Cunha and Pedro Neto.
In an unforgiving fixture schedule at the start, O’Neil is already readying his side for the mental and physical demands to try and overcome Arsenal in the first game.
As revealed by E&S journalist Liam Keen, he’s been telling his players to imagine they’re 1-0 up against the Gunners in the 80th minute, as a tool of motivation to drag every ounce of effort out of his squad.
Speaking after day two of their pre-season training in Miami, Keen said: “They’re going to put Wolves through the wringer and it’s going to be tough and you’ve got to be prepared for that.
“And I could hear Gary at one point in the five a side, obviously split into teams, all desperate to win and trying to score. At one point, there was a team 1-0 up, almost at the end of their game and Gary starts shouting, ‘1-0 up at the Emirates, two minutes to go’ like he was starting to mentally prepare the players for that game.”
Wolves conceded a lot of late goals in 2023/24
Whilst Wolves were strong against the big six, particularly in the first half of the season, O’Neil’s men did tend to switch off in matches and concede a lot of late goals.
The Old Gold lost a lot of points through shipping goals from the 80th minute onwards, including against Crystal Palace, Man United, West Ham, Sheffield United and Fulham, while even surrendering a late lead against Coventry City in the FA Cup quarter-final.
It seems like O’Neil is making a conscious attempt to flip the narrative next season and do everything in his power to stop Wolves from conceding late on and losing valuable points.
He acknowledges how important it is because against a world-class side like Arsenal, you only have to switch off for a second and the ball is in the back of the net.
Hopefully, Wolves have learned some key lessons from last term and the work O’Neil is doing on the training ground helps them concede fewer goals in the dying embers.