Lucky Devils

Wolverhampton Wanderers have always been a tricky team to face for Manchester United and I believe most other big teams as well since their promotion into the Premier League under Nuno Espirito Santo. Nuno has left Wolves to become the new Tottenham Hotspur manager and Wolves have a new Portuguese manager in charge in the form of Bruno Large. I have not watched them play their first two matches but I am aware they have lost them both.

Wolves Domination

Against United yesterday, they dominated us. Adama Traore was a handful with his direct running, pace and power while Trincao was causing problems with his trickery and dribbling. We were lucky in the first half that Traore made some bad decisions in good positions and Aaron Wan Bissaka produced a great last-ditch sliding tackle to clear off the line from Trincao. We never got going in the first half. We were better in the second half but we were still not at our best. We had our first shot on target in the second half. Wolves’ threat reduced in the second half as the longer the match went on at 0-0, there were some nerves and tension creeping into their game from the energy of the crowd. But despite that, they nearly scored through Romain Saiss. He forced David De Gea into a double save from close-range to save our blushes.

United’s Goal & Sporadic Attacks

In the first half, we did find the net but Bruno Fernandes was flagged offside from a Paul Pogba pass. The second time Pogba found Bruno, he couldn’t quite lay it off for someone to score. Mason Greenwood forced Jose Sa in the Wolves goal to a fingertip save near the end of the first half. The save was missed by everyone as a goal kick was awarded instead of a corner. We scored the match’s one and only goal with 10 minutes left in controversial circumstances. Ruben Neves had a delayed reaction and dropped to the floor when Paul Pogba came sliding in. The referee allowed the game to go on with Neves on the floor. The ball made its way to Greenwood who squeezed a shot pass Sa. Wolves were furious as they felt the goal should have been disallowed for a foul but from viewing the replays, it didn’t look like Neves was touched. Another reason for contention was also that in the first half, Bruno went down from a challenge that was similarly innocuous and minimal but Wolves put the ball out of play so that he could receive treatment but United didn’t do so.

Gaping Holes In Midfield

This game highlighted the need to sort out our central midfield because were all over the shop in this game leaving acres of space for Wolves to run at our defence. Fred couldn’t get to grips at all with Traore and his poor control of a routine mop up nearly gifted Wolves a goal. Paul Pogba, playing in a central midfield position was not working in tandem with his midfield partner and was getting caught on the ball. It doesn’t appear that United would sign a central defensive player the fans are craving for so Solksjaer has his work cut out in trying to find a solution to this problem. Nemanja Matic is still the best bet in that position but his legs are gone now and Scott McTominay would be another good option but he is injured.

Debutants’ Performance

Raphael Varane made an impressive debut and for most parts, he was cool, calm and collected. He was beaten easily by Roman Saiss and that is a welcome to the English Premier League for the Frenchman. He needs to get to grips with this aspect of the game. Jadon Sancho looked off his game and he needs some game time to get into the groove. I did feel as well that he was played out of position on the left wing. Now we look forward to Cristiano Ronaldo’s return but there are still areas that need to be worked on quickly during this international break. For some players, the time during the international break could be valuable as they improve their match fitness.