Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Manchester United: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis | FA Cup 2018-19

Wolverhampton Wanderers upstaged Manchester United twice in two matches this season, this time around at their home.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s team completely outclassed United as they never let the visitors settle down by continuously breaching their slow midfield and probing the feeble backline. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team succumbed to the incessant bounds of pressure eventually, conceding twice within a matter of few minutes to completely lose any sort of control over the game.

Marcus Rashford notched a consolation goal in the final minute of the game but it hardly had any impact on the game as Wolves had well and truly closed down the match by then.

Their sheer tenacity and diligence, combined with an astute tactically flexible gameplay struck a meaty blow to United, who face their first difficult period ever since the Norwegian took over the reins.

Here, we discuss the numerous sub-plots from the game and analyze certain crucial moments throughout the course of the ninety minutes.

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#5 Wolves take control, breach the midfield and display their tactical acumen for the most part of the game

Moutinho was a class apart

For some time now, United have had a knack of starting matches poorly and then taking charge over the proceedings. As some teams have allowed them the luxury of freely doing so and then clawing their way back into the match, Wolves were clearly in no mood to do so.

The duo of Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves, who had previously caused a lot of trouble to United’s midfield in September, came back again to outclass the trio at the center of the park for Solskjaer’s team. Moutinho particularly ran circles by recovering the ball, switching the play and regularly making his way inside the box through small channels towards the backline.

Neves recovered possession brilliantly, as Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic had another lackluster game. The Portuguese was diligent, timing his challenges to perfection and moving the ball up ahead as the likes of Matic took one touch too many before passing the ball to wider areas quite a few times.

They were quicker in moving the ball around, passing it to their fullbacks or the forwards who shifted to lateral areas, drawing players there and then suddenly switching play to exploit on the space created by the opposition players.

Moreover, Wolves garnered a lot of set-piece opportunities and were genuinely threatening from such situations. They took advantage of a slackened United team, that looked a bit undercooked and certainly lacked the drive that had propelled them to some excellent victories in the last few months.

#4 Manchester United’s issues in the squad prevent them from trying out certain stuff

It was a thoroughly dismal performance

There were certain assumptions before the match began that Ole could opt for a back three in order to play both Anthony Martial and Rashford at the top.

This would mean that Diogo Dalot would have played as a wingback in the absence of Ashley Young, a position where he has looked far more suitable so far. This could also have stopped rushing Jesse Lingard back from injury, something that we will discuss in the upcoming slides.

However, this could have allowed the manager to play a nearly fit squad. However, as visible in recent months, United’s backline is thoroughly dysfunctional whenever they line up with three men in the backline.

The defenders just aren’t confident, compatible and flexible enough to carry out their roles flawlessly whilst playing in a back three. Eric Bailly was hauled off within the first half against PSG as he had failed miserably in his role at the right-hand side of the defensive line.

Similarly, starting Chris Smalling and Phil Jones together would have been a huge risk too, given their knack of committing silly errors and often inappropriate positioning. Victor Lindelof has had an excellent season, emerging as the leader of the back by justifying his potential in the United shirt.

However, even he seems to have had a couple of indifferent games in the last week and would have to be back to his lethal best if United are to battle the upcoming stretch of difficult matches in April.

Manchester United needs significant defensive upgrades in the summer.

#3 Wolves’ front duo causes all sorts of trouble to the visitors

Jota scored a sensational goal

Raul Jimenez has arguably been one of the players of the season, having made a seamless transition to the Premier League and quickly becoming the focal point of Wolves’ entire gameplay. Last night again, he had a fine game, thereby causing immense problems to the opposition’s backline.

Jimenez is quick, strong and can hold the ball up brilliantly for his strike partner Diogo Jota. Yesterday, he used all these attributes to perfection and was the person who created the most havoc inside the box. Firstly, he was really threatening from corners.

His positioning was accurate, often gauging his marker and creating some sort of movement that took his adversaries by surprise. Secondly, he constantly ran the hard yards, shielding the ball from the defenders and using his smooth passing acumen to switch the ball to wider areas.

Eventually, the goal he scored was a testament to his abilities. Initially, a couple of attempts were somehow blocked by United’s players, but Jimenez found a way to recover the ball back, screening it from the defenders and finally making a sharp turn to shoot the ball inside the box.

Jota, on the other hand, landed the final sucker punch as his run came through a quick counter-attack.

He was wily, strong and agile enough to evade Luke Shaw’s attempt to recover the possession and finally notched a second goal for his team, thereby almost knocking United out of a very important competition with respect to this season for them.

#2 Old habits come back to haunt United players

A frustrating night for Anthony Martial

One of the major reasons for United’s inconsistency under Mourinho was the fact that the players were far too inconsistent during such games and hence that somehow held the team from putting a stretch of good collective performances.

Two of the major culprits here were Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba, who were simply mundane and apathetic in their displays. Martial returned back from an injury and was actually invisible throughout the duration of the match; meaning, he hardly had any significant contribution.

The Frenchman went missing on certain crucial moments, looking uninterested at times and that had a big impact on the overall lack of cohesion and drive in the final third.

Pogba was playing a bit deeper than usual but that shouldn’t be an excuse for him being unable to assert at least some control over the game. He conceded possession far too complacently, hardly ever made the effort to recoup the ball from the opposition.

Complacency has been major vices of both these Frenchmen and the sooner they get rid of it completely, the better it would be for the overall fortunes of the team. United’s squad depth is not the best and hence they cannot afford their star players going awry in such important matches.

Rashford might have notched a late goal but even he looked far too hurried with the ball at times, thereby contributing to the worst cumulative performance for Manchester United in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure so far.

#1 Rushing players from injury seem to have backfired

Jesse Lingard was clearly not fully fit

Two defeats after probably the biggest win of the season for the Red Devils; there is obviously something that needs to be resurrected in the current setup.

The mood was high and positive after having knocked out PSG in the Round of 16 but it should be noted that United have even more important matches coming up in the next few months; matches that will have a big say in their top four prospects and an improbable European campaign too.

The loss against Arsenal was still easier to accept, as United were close to notching goals and just lacked the final touch on certain occasions.

However, they seemed completely switched off against Wolves and were deservingly knocked out of the tournament by a team that looked more hungry, determined and tenacious to get the job done at the end of ninety minutes. Here’s where the management comes into play.

Rushing the likes of Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard into play certainly backfired as Matic hasn’t seemed to recover well from the knock he suffered before the match against Liverpool. Similarly, Lingard was reluctant to commit into challenges and run that extra yard at times, thereby blunting United’s attacking movements.

There was no incision in passing and very less intent to win the ball back higher up on the field. Moutinho and Neves ran around Matic and he wasn’t alert enough to recover the ball back.

Pogba had to play deeper on the field because of this but even there he wasn’t convincing, often surrendering possession and looking for fouls rather than regaining the possession. There seemed to be some confusion over Ander Herrera’s role too as the Basque switched from the right-hand side of the midfield to the deepest area in the midfield and was seemingly off-guard on many occasions.

What makes the inclusion of these seemingly half-fit players even more surprising is the fact that the likes of Andreas Pereira, Fred and Scott McTominay are in an excellent run of form and deserved to start ahead of the likes of Matic and Herrera.

The management needs to get their selection right at times hereon if they are to sustain the good work that they have done over the course of the last few months.