Wolves extended their poor form in the English Premier League with a defeat to West Ham 2-1 to make it the 10th straight loss this season. While there are rumors that Gary O’Neil might be replaced as manager, he stays at Molineux, though Wolverhampton yields support while ranking only 19th and five points away from the relegation zone.
The match also exposed Wolves’ weakness at the back especially dealing with set pieces. The Jasper’s inability was again evident in the match with Tomas Soucek scoring from a corner, the 15th set piece goal conceded in the season, Wolves had the worse set piece record in Europe.
Critics such as Jamie Carragher also fumed that Wolves forgot how to tackle this recurring issue. To further stress the problem, Carragher noted that no side in the Premier League history has conceded as many set-piece goals before December in each of the past seasons.
After the match, O’Neil commented that he was worried with physical side of the game and referred to Santi Bueno in particular. The manager was also disappointed at the strategy applied regarding transfers and accused the club of stocking up Wolves with poor defenders after some prominent players left.
Despite their regular scandals in set pieces, Wolves continue living uncomfortable life that portrays a close proximity with relegation. The experience is a lesson and analysis shows that the club suffered relegation in other seasons that had more set-piece goals. Wolves failed to cover this weakness and, therefore, may suffer a similar fate this season as well.