Wolves lost 5-1 to Manchester City on Saturday in the Premier League – and Gary O’Neil explained after the game why he took Mario Lemina off at half-time.
Wolves were comfortably beaten by City at the Etihad, with Erling Haaland running riot by scoring four goals.
The Norwegian striker gave Wolves centre-backs Max Kilman and Toti Gomes a torrid time, and the visitors just had no answer to a top side.
It was always going to be a tall order to get a result, and especially with Gary O’Neil up in the stands serving a touchline ban.
Wolves had some spells of possession in the game, but City dominated for the most part and were simply lethal in front of goal. Wolves grabbed one back in the second-half through Hwang Hee-chan, but were immediately pegged back again by Haaland.
After the game, O’Neil shared with supporters why he took off Mario Lemina at half-time…
Gary O’Neil says Mario Lemina had ‘tightness’ in his hamstrings against Manchester City
At this point in the season, it is clear to see that fatigue has set in at Wolves – and this was probably inevitable.
The squad is running out of steam as the season draws to a close, and that is a natural by-product of having a small crop of players.
Ultimately, the club could not really make that squad any bigger than it is without potentially breaching spending rules. So O’Neil – who had really wanted a new centre-forward in January – has simply had to make do.
Players are limping to the finish line now, with Mario Lemina being one of them. He came off at half-time against City, with O’Neil stating he was suffering from tightness in his hamstring.
He said (E&S): “He felt tightness in his hamstrings and didn’t feel he’d be able to push 100 percent in the second half. With how tough the second-half was going to be, I thought it was important to make a change.
“Hopefully Mario will be OK, but he felt some tightness in both hamstrings. I hope so and he seems to think so. It would have been a risk to send him back out.”
Lemina has been run into the ground
It is little surprise to hear O’Neil talking about tightness in the hamstrings of Lemina.
He is someone who covers a heck of a lot of ground every game, and he has played a lot of football this season. As per Transfermarkt, only Max Kilman, Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo and Toti Gomes have played more minutes this season.
The £45,000-a-week ace has given absolutely everything this season, but it’s been clear to see over the past couple of months that fatigue has been affecting him. Journalist Liam Keen said recently that when he interviewed Lemina after a game, the midfielder could barely stand up, he was so tired.
He’s been such an important player that O’Neil has been reluctant to rotate him. Hopefully, the star’s workload will not be as heavy next season and the manager is able to pack out his squad a bit more in the summer.