Wolves fans are hoping to see Gary O’Neil and the players build on last season – and the word so far about pre-season has been very encouraging.
Wolves have just finished up in Marbella after a week of warm weather training, and next week O’Neil will take his players to the US for a couple of weeks.
Wolves will play three games, against West Ham United, Crystal Palace and RB Leipzig.
They will then play one last friendly against Spanish outfit Rayo Vallecano, before gearing up for their opening Premier League fixture against Arsenal.
On Monday, Wolves played their first game against Italian club Como 1907.
Wolves won the game 1-0 thanks to a Matt Doherty header, but journalist Nathan Judah was very struck by one thing about the players.
Wolves’ pressing was ‘excellent’ against Como despite scorching heat
Warm weather training can be very unforgiving.
In the last week in Marbella, temperatures have reached into the mid-thirties, so the Wolves players have definitely been worked hard.
There have been training sessions every day under O’Neil, but the players have also had time to wind down of course, with the club releasing footage of some players in the squad playing volleyball in the pool.
There was just the one game for Wolves, against Como on Monday night. Mario Lemina was named captain for the first half, with Hwang Hee-chan taking the armband for the second.
The game has been talked about for the wrong reasons after a Como player allegedly made a racist remark to Hwang that resulted in the sending off of Daniel Podence.
But journalists Nathan Judah and Liam Keen have been speaking about the match on the latest E&S podcast – and Judah noted how well Wolves pressed.
He said: “I was impressed how hard they trained. The fitness was definitely… I think it’s easy to say Wolves weren’t the fittest team last year, but I think with a lot of the changes and the injuries, there’s definitely a focus on making sure they can really run for 90 minutes.
“In that heat, even at 6.30pm, that’s 37, 38 degree heat. The pressing was excellent, wasn’t it? That was a real big marker. I think it’s something Gary O’Neil is going to really drum into them.”
Raising fitness levels will be a big help for Wolves
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This is another very encouraging verdict coming from Judah and Keen after Wolves’ trip to Marbella.
Keen went on to talk about how O’Neil suggested last year shortly after he arrived that he felt fitness levels were below what they needed to be. It was something he got to work on quite quickly.
O’Neil is obviously now in at Wolves and overseeing his first pre-season, and it’s clear getting the players’ fitness levels to a high level is a focus.
Of course, all teams will be working on their fitness. But this is something that can help to give Wolves an edge if they are more intense with it than other clubs.