Wolves are hoping to turn things around soon after a rough start in the Premier League – and a number of players have fallen short of expectations so far this season.
Wolves are bottom of the league after six games and have also already gone out of the Carabao Cup.
It was always going to be difficult. The fixture list wasn’t kind to Wolves.
But Wolves have gone toe-to-toe with teams and should have taken more points than they have.
Unfortunately, some players who are really solid for O’Neil last season just haven’t hit the ground running and arguably, Nelson Semedo is a player who falls into this category.
Nelson Semedo has struggled for Wolves in 2024/25
Last term, Semedo was one of Wolves’ best players and his fine campaign was acknowledged at the end when he was named Players’ Player of the Season.
Semedo himself stated that he had had his best season for Wolves since joining in the summer of 2020 from Barcelona.
Few could really disagree – the Portuguese showed much more consistency throughout 2023/24, and was never once under threat of losing his place in the team.
But he did get a red card in the last game of the season against Liverpool, meaning he would miss the first three games of the current campaign.
Quite possibly, this has not helped Semedo, who has yet to really find his feet this season since coming back into the team.
Semedo did OK on his first game back against Nottingham Forest, but has struggled to impress since. Fotmob have rated Semedo below a seven in every game he’s played since.
On Saturday against Liverpool, immediately after Wolves found an equaliser through Rayan Ait-Nouri, his lack of awareness saw him bring Diogo Jota down in the area. The Reds then went back in front through Mo Salah’s penalty.
In the previous game against Aston Villa, Semedo was weak in the lead up to the hosts’ first and third goals.
O’Neil needs more from an experienced player
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O’Neil needs £29 million signing Semedo to rediscover his mojo and quickly, because the alternatives just aren’t there right now.
Matt Doherty actually did fairly well in the first two games but then came in for criticism for his showings against Newcastle United and Brighton in the cup.
Pedro Lima is very promising, but still has a lot of developing to do first before he can be seen as a viable option to play regularly.
So, O’Neil needs more from Semedo, who is one of the most experienced players at Molineux now and also one of the highest earners. He is a player the manager stated he was ‘desperate’ to keep ahead of the 2024/25 season. O’Neil also branded Semedo a ‘huge’ player for Wolves.
Semedo, of course, is not the only one O’Neil needs more from. Hwang Hee-chan, who like Semedo was great last season, has also disappointed this term and the manager needs him to step up.