Gary O’Neil was delighted with the way his Wolves players were able to overcome a dangerous Everton side at Goodison Park to come away with three points for the first time as head coach.
Despite the Toffees putting his team under plenty of pressure as both teams searched for their first wins of the season, Sasa Kalajdzic was able to rise highest in the box to head Wolves to victory, but O’Neil praised his players for the way they put their bodies on the line to stay in the match before taking a key chance up the other end of the pitch.
On three points at Goodison Park
“I’m pleased, really pleased. Of course, you don’t want to be stuck on zero for too long and I’m pleased for the lads because within the last 15 days they’ve taken on a lot of information and trying to learn what we want them to do.
“The most important thing when you come to Goodison is have togetherness and resilience and hard work and I thought they were excellent.
“There were some improvements in terms of the control we had, but there’s still a whole lot more improvement to make in that, but I’m really pleased for the boys and they get a victory, because from their last three performances they didn’t deserve to be on zero, so I’m delighted that we’re now on three.”
His first Wolves goal 💛 pic.twitter.com/cmfsVDZwmG
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 26, 2023
On second-half improvements
“There was just an understanding of where we needed to be and where people needed to stand. It was important because they’re a keen and willing group, and sometimes they move too much, they’ve been used to playing in a way which is quite free and it’s important they learn to be in the right positions.
“We know where everyone is and we managed to fix that a little bit at half time for the second half, but it’s credit to the players because when you come to Goodison, you can’t stop Everton from putting it in your box all the time, and you can’t stop them mucking in the channel, getting a throw and getting a corner.
“You’re going to have to face that and Sa, Daws [Dawson], Max [Kilman], Nels [Semedo], Toti when he came on, Hugo [Bueno] when he was on, defending the goal, there was that willingness to defend the goal and put bodies on the line, which is important when you come to places like this.”
On weathering an Everton storm
“It feels like a storm, but it’s just balls in the box which can land at their feet, they can land at our feet, and that’s what you face when you come here.
“I never felt like we were pinned in and going to be stuck in our penalty area for ages, it was more they were going to put balls in the box and we’re going to have to get bodies around it and see out these, and that’s why it’s important to have more control of the ball in these situations.
“The more you can have of the ball, the less of that you have to face. I don’t know how many corners we faced today, but you can reduce that by having better spells with the ball and having more control, so there’s a lot to work on, but I’m delighted that the lads have worked their socks off today and bounce back after a tough home defeat, it was impressive from them.”
And what a performance, @josesaoficial... 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/VFIP13z8Jb
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 26, 2023
On getting off the mark for the season
“Premier League wins are massive. They’re all massive, especially on the road. It was not the fact we were against Everton, it’s not the fact that we were both on zero points after two games, it’s just the fact that it’s a Premier League game and they’re all tough to win.
“You need to work your socks off, you need to have quality and we were able to show enough today to get over the line. I’m really pleased by hoping to improve it with the group as well, and I know they feel there’s improvements they can make too.”
On Kalajdzic opening his Wolves account
“He’s fantastic, he’s very popular among the group, he works really hard, and he’s willing to learn and listen.
“It’s somewhere I felt we were arriving in the final third a lot with Hugo getting good crosses in to the box, even Rayan at times and Pedro being able to come inside on his left foot, we were able to get enough deliveries in and I felt Sasa might be able to get on the end of one for us and thankfully he did.
“But it was a hell of a ball from Pedro, who I thought was excellent all afternoon.”
On utilising Rayan Ait-Nouri on the wing
“With Matheus [Nunes] unavailable for us, we don’t have loads of options in that wide left position, so to lose Channy [Hee Chan Hwang] and Matheus Nunes too who would play off that side for us meant that we had to be a little bit creative with it.
“I’ve no doubt that Rayan can play there and he’s a threat going forward, and I thought him and Hugo would have a decent relationship, it wasn’t overly clever because there wasn’t too many options to choose from.
“But he did well when he came on, and I felt Hugo did really well as well, in his first game in, I thought he did really well, especially dealing with some of Everton’s direct play.”
