O'Neil on Wolves 5-1 City thrashing
O'Neil on Wolves 5-1 City thrashing
Etihad Stadium, manchester, Uk
Etihad Stadium, manchester, Uk
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00:00Hi Gary, do you look back on that game as a whole or do you focus on that first penalty
00:26No, I think we and I have to take responsibility for the way the game unfolds.
00:33I think we made a lot of errors in the game, unforced ones as well really, which gave Manchester City some really good chances.
00:42The second goal, losing the ball how we did. The last goal, losing the ball how we did.
00:48The goal straight after we scored where we're late on the pressing phase.
00:52Mistakes against this team can be punished and they were. They punished us ruthlessly.
00:59I'll talk about the decisions obviously with you but I'm keen to state that the officials have no real part to play in the way the game ends up today.
01:11We're fully responsible for the performance and the mistakes that we make to give Manchester City such a lift.
01:19But the first penalty I thought was a really poor decision, really poor.
01:24I can sit there and speak about how poor my team were in certain moments with some of their errors.
01:30Not in application or determination or effort or the way they tried but just some really poor errors.
01:36The awarding of the first penalty I thought was terrible.
01:41Guardiola probably plays as big a part in the contact with Ryan as Ryan does.
01:47He has his shot and his legs still moving through and his motion probably creates the contact with Ryan as much as Ryan.
01:53I don't know what Ryan's meant to do in that instance really. He can't vanish.
01:58I don't see them given very often when the shot's been hit over the bar and there's just a coming together.
02:05It was a strange one I thought. I thought the second penalty was a penalty.
02:10Surprised how they reached it though. I thought on field they would give that.
02:15But then surprised that it was overturned because there was contact from Nelson but not much.
02:22Surprised that it was deemed clear and obvious but they do reach the right decision to be fair to them on that one.
02:28Potential check on Akanji's handball I thought. Not much made of that.
02:33I heard the Wolves fans appeal for it. Obviously I was quite away from it.
02:36But when I saw the replays on the floor, he seemed to punch the ball away with his hand when he was on the floor.
02:43But, as I say, so much for me to focus on within my own group.
02:48So for this three minutes that I'm in here with you, I'm happy to talk about the decisions and how I see them.
02:54But our mistakes and our sloppy turnovers mean that when you come to a place like this, you can get away with some mistakes against other teams.
03:05But we knew when we came here we needed to try and be as close to perfect as possible.
03:10We fell short on numerous occasions that meant it was a fairly comfortable afternoon for Manchester City.
03:18We saw in the first game at Molineux the job that Craig Dawson did on Haaland.
03:22Obviously you didn't have him today. Is it simplistic to say that that made a big difference to how Haaland performed?
03:28No, I thought we were slightly more open, slightly more aggressive.
03:34And the scoreline going, being what it was, made it obviously more difficult, made the game more open.
03:40Being 2-0 down here fairly early obviously relaxes the place.
03:45It means that Manchester City don't have to force too much and we need to try and be a bit more aggressive about the ball.
03:52And Haaland can obviously cause you some problems in that.
03:56I think most of his chances come from really bad errors from us losing the ball for the second goal,
04:02how we did before Rodri was able to stand it up for him.
04:06And then being late on the pressing phase just after we got ourselves back into the game,
04:10to be late on that and allow Foden to clip in behind us leaves Max in a tricky spot.
04:17When we're pressing, we need to get better pressure on the board.
04:20So some errors on our part that gave him some opportunities.
04:24And then he was unbelievably clinical, obviously, with them.
04:27He didn't miss many. I can't remember any that he missed, but he might have missed one or two.
04:30But it felt like every time he got sight of goal, it ended up in the goal.
04:34But that's the level that you face here.
04:36So if we're going to lose the ball or we're going to be a little bit late on the pressing phase,
04:41you maybe get away with it against another side.
04:44But Manchester City in May, when they're chasing down their fourth consecutive Premier League title,
04:50they're fairly tough to stop.
04:52And we were nowhere near at the level to test them, really.
04:57Hi, Gary. You talk about the mistakes.
05:00You can set the team up however you like, but you can't influence the mistakes on the field.
05:04How do you correct that coming away from today?
05:08I am responsible.
05:11I don't want anyone in here or anyone anywhere to think that I'm saying that that was all fine
05:16and the players made some mistakes and that cost us.
05:19It isn't that. Any mistake that's made is my responsibility
05:21because it's come from something that we've worked on or not worked on.
05:28Individual mistakes are not really – they happen, but they're not an individual's responsibility.
05:34They're all of us, myself included.
05:36So, yes, a lot of teams have come here and not been able to get a result.
05:43We were added to the list.
05:45If we'd have been absolutely perfect today, it still might not have been enough.
05:49We weren't, and we ended up being nowhere near good enough to test them or give them a tough afternoon.
05:56La Mina off a half-time tactical thing or any injuries?
05:59No, yes, just felt tightness in the hamstring.
06:04He didn't feel like he'd be able to push 100 per cent in the second half
06:07and obviously with how tough the second half was going to be,
06:10I thought it was important to make a change.
06:12JJ being back gave us the option to get him on as well.
06:16Hopefully Mario will be OK, but he felt some tightness in both hamstrings.
06:20More precautionary rather than...
06:22Yes, I hope so. He seems to think so.
06:25It would just have been a risk to send him back out, really.
06:29Can you squeeze any positives out of the fact that He-Chan got a second goal in two games?
06:35Yes, Pablo had a really good chance as well.
06:39We had some really good spells, I thought, with the ball.
06:44Created some sort of uncertainty for a good spell in the first half.
06:47Shame it was 1-0 at the time, but when we had that really long phase in their half
06:52and created a couple of crossing opportunities and Channing around the goal.
06:57Then I thought Jael Gomez and Bouba were excellent,
07:00worked their socks off no matter what the scoreline was,
07:03kept going, kept fighting. Nelson as well.
07:06Probably a couple of others, but there were some positives in there.
07:10But the bar is incredibly high here and if you slip at all,
07:15they're capable of punishing you, so it ends up being 5-1.
07:20We gave them one penalty that I thought was soft,
07:24and Manchester City are capable of causing you problems without that help.
07:29It was a tough afternoon, which we potentially knew it could be.
07:34This doesn't define any team's season in the league.
07:37You come here, you give it your best shot, you hope you're at your maximum
07:41and they're slightly off it. It wasn't the case.
07:44We need to get ready for Crystal Palace next weekend.
07:47Hi, Gary. You mentioned facing a City team in May when they're going for the title.
07:51Are they a different prospect in May?
07:53You've had success against them in different times of the year,
07:56obviously this season alone.
07:58Are they a different prospect at this time of year
08:00compared to playing them in December or January?
08:02I think they have an incredible focus at this point.
08:05They'll be the same throughout the season, I'm sure.
08:08But history tells you that during the run-in they're fairly tough to stop.
08:14We didn't make them show that today, really, because we gave them a couple.
08:20Once they're 2-0 up and they can take their time with the ball
08:23and the place feels comfortable, it's a tough afternoon.
08:27They're always tough to play, but we gave them a couple of lifts
08:32and the game then became really, really tough.
08:36Great, thank you.
08:37Thanks, guys.