Manchester United’s five things noticed as 14-touch star kept being ignored vs Wolves

Manchester United failed to engage their most obvious threat against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Here are five things we noticed from the Premier League encounter.

Rúben Amorim chose to start Leny Yoro as Manchester United faced Wolverhampton Wanderers away from home in a Premier League fixture on Boxing Day.

The tie was doused with a lot of midlands fog but started fast, with both sides pushing for an early opening goal. However, it was Wolves who looked like the more dangerous team, with Matheus Cunha a bright spark.

The referee seemed keen to hand a foul wherever possible, with both Bruno Fernandes and Yoro receiving early bookings, and the teams went into the dressing room with the deadlock in place at half-time.

xG at half-time: Wolves 0.23 – 0.24 #mufc

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Although United no doubt would have set up to take the lead in the second half, captain Fernandes was sent off less than two minutes into the game, with Wolves scoring immediately after, but it was ruled out for offside.

Minutes later, Cunha was able to kick off scoring proceedings for Wolves, scoring directly from a corner as André Onana failed to stay strong enough on his line.

Although United continued to push for an equalising effort, they were shut out rather systematically by Wolves’ defensive line, and Hwang Hee-chan netted a second in added time to seal a 2-0 win.

#1 – United kept ignoring Højlund’s runs

From the opening minutes, it was clear that Højlund’s instructions were to play right on the line of Wolves’ centre-backs, and make runs in their blind-side that the players would feed.

However, United’s creators failed to do so, either making sloppy passes that couldn’t find the striker or ignoring/not seeing the forward in favour of other options.

The red card only made life worse for Højlund, with Fernandes being a key attacking outlet, and United almost strangled in attack with Wolves overpowering them across the entire field.

He was a key outlet that should have been used, and United paid the price for ignoring him.

#2 – United’s midfield is too exposed

While Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo’s respective strengths make them a good midfield pair on paper, the duo seemed to leave United’s midfield exposed, with Wolves carving through them on multiple occasions.

Mainoo did not have his best game, with multiple poor forward passes leading to Højlund looking visibly frustrated at the lack of service.

Both players came off in the second half and were replaced by Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.

#3 – Fernandes ruined United once again

After Fernandes found himself sent off early in the second half, the dynamic of United completely changed, with United chasing shadows from the moment they went to 10 men.

It was completely irresponsible from Fernandes, with him supposed to be the man who shows leadership and calmness when life is not going swimmingly for his club, but instead, he was rash.

As he came off, he was utterly ignored by Amorim, which was fair. He completely ruined United’s chances through multiple stupid moments.

#4 – Depth is such an alarming problem

While almost every critique in the book can be thrown at United for how they performed, another alarming problem at the club is the lack of sufficient depth.

In reaction to Fernandes’ red card and Wolves’ first goal, Amorim threw on Antony, Eriksen, and Casemiro – three players who have had no impact during Amorim’s reign so far and strike little fear into opposition players.

The substitutes had predictably little impact during the second half as United waddled to yet another defeat.

#5 – Amorim predicted where United would fail vs Wolves

Against Wolves, United had little to no real identity on display, which spits in the face of what Amorim has been trying to instill into the players during his first six weeks.

“In the end, it’s the result that counts, and today, we have to be better,” Amorim said ahead of kick off.

Read More: Rúben Amorim’s frosty reaction to Bruno Fernandes spotted after Wolves red card, he deserved it

“We have to take advantage of the opportunities; we have to be better in set pieces because it sometimes changes the momentum of the game, and we have to be clearer in our identity.”

Almost everything Amorim mentioned is what United failed to show. They failed to be brave, failed to show who they were, and, worst of all, failed to defend set pieces.

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