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<\/p>\nGary O\u2019Neil talks through Wolves\u2019 training routine on Monday Night Football<\/p>\n
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Sky Sports tried something new in its analysis on Monday Night Football this week, and the results were fascinating.<\/p>\n
Host Dave Jones and regular pundit Jamie Carragher were joined by Wolves manager Gary O\u2019Neil, who came to the studio armed with clips of training sessions before Wolves\u2019 win at Bournemouth last weekend, and proceeded to calmly explain how his team dismantled the opposition\u2019s midfield three in devastating detail.<\/p>\n
MNF has a rich history of guests on the show including Jurgen Klopp, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Mauricio Pochettino. O\u2019Neil \u2013 a solid if unspectacular Premier League midfielder in his second managerial job \u2013 may not have been near the top of many viewers\u2019 wishlists. But the way he explained his idea for beating Bournemouth, and then showed clips of that exact plan coming to fruition in a Premier League match \u2013 \u201cI could show about 15 of these instances in the game,\u201d he said \u2013 went far beyond any analysis we\u2019d seen before.<\/p>\n
It added a little spice that O\u2019Neil was demonstrating how to beat Bournemouth, the club who sacked him in June, even after he had kept them in the Premier League against the odds. O\u2019Neil said he wasn\u2019t bitter about that, just as he humbly insisted his players should get all the credit for Wolves\u2019 win. But watching his masterplan play out, you were left with the impression of an intelligent, thoughtful manager with the skill to outsmart his rivals.<\/p>\n
This was no doubt part of the appeal of appearing on the programme: a platform for O\u2019Neil to showcase himself to whoever might be listening, whether that be former employers or future ones. MNF is the closest thing to a manager giving a Ted Talk to the entire football congregation, and the response on social media revealed an audience who were rapt.<\/p>\n
Later he talked through Wolves\u2019 tactics to nullify Manchester City, in a game his side surprisingly won 2-1. It was like watching a magician reveal the secrets of his trick, except there were no grand gestures, just a deadpan Gary O\u2019Neil explaining why Erling Haaland failed to score against Craig Dawson.<\/p>\n
Jones and Carragher asked the questions you were wondering, but ultimately these shows are only as good as their guests, and O\u2019Neil was compelling on a range of subjects. He talked about himself as an \u201caverage\u201d player who had to use his brain to keep up. \u201cCentral midfield seems to be a decent position to become a manager from,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to have a good understanding of the game. You\u2019re involved in a lot of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He became intrigued by coaching when, at Middlesbrough, Gareth Southgate suddenly made the step up from player to manager. \u201cGareth had to switch from going for drinks with the boys to being the one who sets the highest standards every day, and it got me thinking how I would go about that.\u201d Through O\u2019Neil\u2019s playing career, different managers gave him pieces of the coaching puzzle: Sam Allardyce always delivered a crystal clear understanding of every role, and Alex Neil brought tactical insight and energy on the training field.<\/p>\n
The wider show around Tottenham v Fulham was full of typical new-age insight, like the pizza charts comparing their key data points, which were naturally in sharp contrast. <\/p>\n
Then there was the entertaining post-match interview with James Maddison, with a screen wheeled in beside him to analyse some key moments of Spurs\u2019 2-0 win. Carragher\u2019s questioning of the second goal \u2013 \u201cwhy are you looking over your shoulder here?\u201d \u2013 brought out enlightening answers from Maddison, who revealed how he pressured Fulham\u2019s Calvin Bassey to use his weaker foot, forced an error, and then checked Bassey\u2019s position to know he would be onside when Son Heung-min played him in to score.<\/p>\n
These shows reveal a few things. That football, a game which gets much of its popularity from its simplicity, is a complicated game at the elite level, played out on small margins, in precise details that bypass most of us most of the time. It is a useful reminder that the game is hard, and that when someone makes a mistake, like Bassey last night, they might be culpable but they might also be the victim of a targeted tactic, days in the making.<\/p>\n
MNF has been pioneering football coverage for over a decade, with Carragher and Gary Neville at the forefront of a mission to tear up the old script of disgruntled ex-players complaining about defending; to approach the game with nuance, and assume similar levels of knowledge and fascination in their viewers. For football lovers, it is one of the best shows on TV.<\/p>\n
The recent appearance of Brentford manager Thomas Frank was another good watch, yet this episode set a whole new standard. For all the recent fly-on-the-wall documentaries trying to get under football\u2019s skin, this felt like raw and real. Unexpectedly, Gary O\u2019Neil has opened a treasure trove of football\u2019s secrets, and now we want more. The next MNF is on 6 November: Spurs v Chelsea. Come for the game, stay for the granular football chat.<\/p>\n