Wolverhampton Wanderers 1:1 Manchester United

HaliRed · Aug 17, 2019

Random Task said:
I don't think Periera is suited to the number 10 role and it showed in his first-half performance. He fared a little better when he switched with Lingard at right-wing, setting up Martial for the second, but his overall game didn't seem up to the mark. I'd like to see Gomes given shot at number 10 as he was effective throughout pre-season in that role, but I think Ole will likely go for Fred. I agree with you regards loading up on long-range shooters though. It may be our best option so we will want Pogba in an advanced role as he one of the best long shots on the team.

For me, the team would be:

DDG

AWB - Lindelof - Maguire - Shaw

Mctom
Pogba - Fred

James - Martial - Rashford

All 3 of the forwards are effective anywhere along the front line, so I'd give them license to interchange at every opportunity.

I agree that Pereira was better on the right. I do like him in the squad as I think he can be useful.

I do like your lineup as long as Rashford and James stay committed to tracking back when Wolves counter. I just wonder if Ole will be willing to let Fred start though, only because he keeps mentioning in his pressers to be in the same breath as Alexis in terns of where he is in his "preseason" compared to the rest of the team.

Dante · Aug 17, 2019

In Rainbows said:
Midfield does both. However, the midfield is the sum of its parts. Pogba provides a certain role of the midfield at a really high level. The same cannot be said of Matic. Pogba does not get carried. Matic gets carried. He does nothing at a high level. The same could be said of McTominay, but where McTominay compliments Pogba is his energy. He can't cover for both Pogba and Matic. But as I said, Pogba provides one of the midfield's roles single handedly.

If you were going to name one thing the midfield does really well, you would sooner say it provides creativity, thanks to Pogba.

Not well enough according to you. It sounds as though Pogba failed to do his job.

Incidentally, we were awful offensively last season. Is that all on Pogba?

In Rainbows · Aug 17, 2019

Dante said:
Not well enough according to you. It sounds as though Pogba failed to do his job.

Incidentally, we were awful offensively last season. Is that all on Pogba?

You're not making any sense. I never said Pogba had all the responsibility in attack. I said the midfield (as a whole) has roles to do. Those roles being helping the attack, helping the defense, running the match through passing, and being its safest passing option. If Pogba does one job incredibly well, it means the midfield is doing well in that department. Note, the midfield, not the entire attack. So that means the midfield's other 2 players need to provide what Pogba doesn't provide so that the midfield as a whole gives to the team in all areas sufficiently. It doesn't matter how you accomplish this. What matters is the sum of the midfield accomplishes all its tasks.

Matic helps in no areas in an impactful manner. He's not the defensive equivalent of Pogba, Kante. He's not the passing maestro David Silva is. He's not the midfield's energy. Look at McTominay. He's not some specialist in defending, but he helps through his energy.

We all recognize Pogba's flaws as a player. Which means you want to compliment him by having your other midfielders provide what he lacks. It has nothing to do with catering to him. As a team you want all your players fitting one another as you want the best team possible. Who seeks out a team that doesn't fit playing next to one another? The reason why Pogba is a mainstay in the midfield is because he's really good at one portion of the midfield's roles.

Matic doesn't need to be complimented. He provides nothing special to the team. Take Pogba out and put in another midfielder and the team just loses its creative ability and doesn't get all that better in other areas unless they're good at those other roles. In which case, we just go back to the basic fact that Matic doesn't compliment that new player. Why? Because Matic is good at nothing.

It's funny that Juve had the best midfield in the world with Pogba in the team. Maybe because all 3 players complimented one another and all 3 provided certain roles at a really high level? Couldn't be. It's impossible because Pogba needs to be carried defensively. Nevermind the fact that he carries the United midfield's creative burden.

I feel like many posters here only look at the defensive side of the game as a requirement for the midfield and so the team has to "compensate" for Pogba. Meanwhile nobody applies that to the offensive responsibility and how the team has to compensate for Matic and McTominay's lack of ability for that role. Or how the team has to compensate for the entire midfield's inability to run the game through passing and technical quality. You could say the same with regards to energy and how McTominay is the only one providing in that area. All of which still leads to the fact that Matic provides nothing really. He's a placeholder, slow DM. DM in name only.

Ollie Derbyshire · Aug 17, 2019

PieCrust said:
I think having Shaw as the weakest of the back 4 is not a bad problem to have. It speaks more to the overall improvement of the other 3 positions more than it does the deficiencies of Shaw.

Which is why we don’t need to worry about Shaw right now, plenty of other positions need solidifying first.

Brightonian · Aug 17, 2019

chromepaxos said:
Taking Andreas out who we know has an eye for a pass and good delivery, in favour of Lingard at #10 who has neither of things, against a packed defence?

That seems...odd.

If you didn't read the rest of the post, sure. Lingard is in there to man-mark Neves. Pereira wouldn't do that job anywhere near as well.

Random Task · Aug 17, 2019

HaliRed said:
I agree that Pereira was better on the right. I do like him in the squad as I think he can be useful.

I do like your lineup as long as Rashford and James stay committed to tracking back when Wolves counter. I just wonder if Ole will be willing to let Fred start though, only because he keeps mentioning in his pressers to be in the same breath as Alexis in terns of where he is in his "preseason" compared to the rest of the team.

Have to confess, I don't know much about Dan James other than what we saw in pre-season, least of all his ability to track back, but Rashford is a proper workhorse, he'll graft tirelessly up and down that left flank.

Lingard offers good pressing ability, it's his overal contribution to the game that is somewhat lacking.

TMDaines · Aug 17, 2019

Any win will put us top! Only two games in but you love to see it. C’mon lads.

Moiraine · Aug 17, 2019

Our next fixtures after this game are:
Palace (H) & Southampton (A)

If we win this, we will go to international break leading the Table.

Come on United!

Castia · Aug 17, 2019

Good chance to get a couple of points on Spurs and City this!

RedDevilRoshi · Aug 17, 2019

shahzadi said:
Our next fixtures after this game are:
Palace (H) & Southampton (A)

If we win this, we will go to international break leading the Table.

Come on United!

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and just take it one game at a time. Full focus on Wolves first then Palace and so on.

kouroux · Aug 17, 2019

Lots of Monday night football this season

Foxbatt · Aug 17, 2019

It is going to be a tough game and the midfield had to be operating at 100%. We need to use any chance we get and cannot afford to miss chances and at the same time be tight at the back. I did not like the way Chelsea went through our midfield and we gave them too many chances to score. We need to be much tighter and Wolves are a very good team especially at home.

Cee90 · Aug 17, 2019

Nervous about this game to be honest.

They're the bogey team of the top 6, not just us. Away at their ground on a Monday night too.

Head says this will be 1-1.

M Bison · Aug 17, 2019

Cee90 said:
Nervous about this game to be honest.

They're the bogey team of the top 6, not just us. Away at their ground on a Monday night too.

Head says this will be 1-1.

Wouldn’t be a bad result, gonna be a tough game and likewise, I’m nervous.

Nou_Camp99 · Aug 17, 2019

I'd take a draw now tbh. That would be a 3pts improvement on Chelsea H, Wolves A from last season.

A win would be great obviously as we'd go top of the league even of just for a little bit.

Foxbatt · Aug 17, 2019

In the Chelsea game, in the first half they were first to the second ball and this is something we have to be quick to the ball.

Brightonian · Aug 17, 2019

Ah feck I only just noticed this was Monday, thought it was tomorrow for some reason. Am I ever going to be able to watch my team play live again?

Dante · Aug 17, 2019

Brightonian said:
Ah feck I only just noticed this was Monday, thought it was tomorrow for some reason. Am I ever going to be able to watch my team play live again?

Me, too!

Fecked my weekend up. I hate Monday night games.

Brightonian · Aug 17, 2019

Dante said:
Me, too!

Fecked my weekend up. I hate Monday night games.

Likewise. I work alternate weekends anyway, so it'd be nice if just occasionally on my free ones I could actually watch United.

Rant over. First world problem, I know.

Red Dreams · Aug 18, 2019

Ole wont be worrying about what Wolves do. He would have studied them for sure.
But we will play to our strength.

I do not believe they can cope with us.

Nou_Camp99 · Aug 18, 2019

Red Dreams said:
Ole wont be worrying about what Wolves do. He would have studied them for sure.
But we will play to our strength.

I do not believe they can cope with us.

They have proved they can cope with all the big teams numerous times. I really hate this arrogance. Wolves away is one of toughest games of season. Fancy us more at Arsenal.

WolfInSharp'sClothing · Aug 18, 2019

All this discussion about teams and tactics just demonstrates one thing, you still need a few months before your side settles.

At Wolves, we know what our strongest team is and we know how we will play. None of this worrying about what the opposition are doing.

The best Man United teams in the past picked themselves and played their game regardless of the opposition. You will no doubt get back to that point in the next few months but it’s a good time to play you if you still don’t know what your strongest side is.

royboy16 · Aug 18, 2019

1-3 Utd.

haram · Aug 18, 2019

Playing on Monday sucks. 3-0 United lets GO

.

Samid · Aug 18, 2019

Win and we'll be at the top after a gameweek for the first time in almost two years.

Canagel · Aug 18, 2019

I can see a hard-fought 1-2 win. Our new defence on the right hand side makes me confident we will get the job done. No more players like Young in our line up to mess around and do stupid things like last season.

Devil may care · Aug 18, 2019

I think Ole will likely start with the same team as against Chelsea but I'd be tempted to start Greenwood or Gomes over Pereira. It's going to be a test of this team creatively as so much still rests on Pogba but hopefully improved movement from Martial and Rashford will help, having said that I'm going 1-0 United, Maguire header from a set-piece.

pocco · Aug 18, 2019

An early goal would be fantastic. I worry that the longer this goes on without us scoring, the more anxious they will get. I believe that our team is quite fragile mentally so an early loss of points could see us wobble a bit. If w can get through this with a win then we're up and running. Get a few wins on the board early doors and the players should grow in confidence.

032Devil · Aug 18, 2019

Brightonian said:
Start Lingard in the hole and have him basically man-mark Neves. Moutinho and Dendoncker are both good players but the former is running a little slower these days and Dendoncker won't be used to the pace of the PL yet. With Lingard keeping Neves out of it as much as possible, the full high press from the engines of Rashford, James and McTominay will interrupt their usual pattern of play and hopefully turn the ball over high up the pitch. This is crucial, as Wolves are such a tight unit against attacks built more slowly from the back.

Rashford Martial James
Lingard
Pogba McTominay
Shaw Maguire Lindelof AWB
De Gea

United definitely need a three-man midfield otherwise we'll be over-run. So many of the "lesser" teams use either three or five-man midfield to negate the midfield of top teams. And as I said above, why change a winning team.

If we do change the team I might replace Pereira with Fred but Pereira deserves his place with that magnificent cross he made for Martial's goal that changed the whole mood of the game from Chelsea's point-of-view.

::sonny:: · Aug 18, 2019

Unpredictable game, could end 2-1, 1-1, 1-2.

Rui particio

Bennet Coady Boly

Doherty Dedonker Neves Vinagre

Moutinho

Jimenez Jota

———————

Martial

Rashford Lingard

Pobga McT

Matic

Young Maguire Lindelof Awb

De Gea

Jeppers7 · Aug 18, 2019

In Rainbows said:
You're not making any sense. I never said Pogba had all the responsibility in attack. I said the midfield (as a whole) has roles to do. Those roles being helping the attack, helping the defense, running the match through passing, and being its safest passing option. If Pogba does one job incredibly well, it means the midfield is doing well in that department. Note, the midfield, not the entire attack. So that means the midfield's other 2 players need to provide what Pogba doesn't provide so that the midfield as a whole gives to the team in all areas sufficiently. It doesn't matter how you accomplish this. What matters is the sum of the midfield accomplishes all its tasks.

Matic helps in no areas in an impactful manner. He's not the defensive equivalent of Pogba, Kante. He's not the passing maestro David Silva is. He's not the midfield's energy. Look at McTominay. He's not some specialist in defending, but he helps through his energy.

We all recognize Pogba's flaws as a player. Which means you want to compliment him by having your other midfielders provide what he lacks. It has nothing to do with catering to him. As a team you want all your players fitting one another as you want the best team possible. Who seeks out a team that doesn't fit playing next to one another? The reason why Pogba is a mainstay in the midfield is because he's really good at one portion of the midfield's roles.

Matic doesn't need to be complimented. He provides nothing special to the team. Take Pogba out and put in another midfielder and the team just loses its creative ability and doesn't get all that better in other areas unless they're good at those other roles. In which case, we just go back to the basic fact that Matic doesn't compliment that new player. Why? Because Matic is good at nothing.

It's funny that Juve had the best midfield in the world with Pogba in the team. Maybe because all 3 players complimented one another and all 3 provided certain roles at a really high level? Couldn't be. It's impossible because Pogba needs to be carried defensively. Nevermind the fact that he carries the United midfield's creative burden.

I feel like many posters here only look at the defensive side of the game as a requirement for the midfield and so the team has to "compensate" for Pogba. Meanwhile nobody applies that to the offensive responsibility and how the team has to compensate for Matic and McTominay's lack of ability for that role. Or how the team has to compensate for the entire midfield's inability to run the game through passing and technical quality. You could say the same with regards to energy and how McTominay is the only one providing in that area. All of which still leads to the fact that Matic provides nothing really. He's a placeholder, slow DM. DM in name only.

Well said, it's exactly that. It's crazy how people focus purely on defensive qualities and if you don't have them then we have to compensate yet defensive midfielders aren't compensated for ?

Jeppers7 · Aug 18, 2019

Dante said:
Not well enough according to you. It sounds as though Pogba failed to do his job.

Incidentally, we were awful offensively last season. Is that all on Pogba?

Didn't Pogba have the best offensive stats for a midfielder in the league last season ?

Handré1990 · Aug 18, 2019

Can’t wait! We’re going to beat them comfortably.

Amarsdd · Aug 18, 2019

we'll probably see the same team as last week with Lingard and Perreira doing a job on Moutinho and Neves when not in possession.

Fridge chutney · Aug 18, 2019

Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date

Brightonian · Aug 18, 2019

Fridge chutney said:
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date

Interesting line to take. Does that mean Wolves haven't had any supporters since their 1980 (I think?) League Cup?

Jacob · Aug 18, 2019

How confident are we lads? Tempted to lay down a 100 pound bet on us winning at 2.30.

We showed our threat in the first game but if Wolves nullifies our counterattacking threat, I'm not so sure we'll be able to break them down. Pogba needs to bring his A-game.

Gasolin · Aug 18, 2019

All these stories about Pogba should stop now, and if we win tomorrow, I think the momentum will build back. Let's go score some goals!

Foxtrot · Aug 18, 2019

How’s our record for Monday night games? Don’t recall them being too good, think we have a pretty bad record playing away on Monday night, correct me if I’m wrong.

How great would it be to get a win tomorrow considering 3 of our top six rivals drop points. Would be monumental. Only two games in but would be so uplifting and a big confidence boost considering the horrible transfer window and our disastrous last season. Come on get the 3 points in any way. I wish we can do it but I think we would draw, we always struggle at Molineux.

Camy89 · Aug 18, 2019

Nervous about this but I have an undercurrent of optimism which I haven't felt in a while.

Wolves are our bogey team, but in the past 2 matches I've watched, they've looked a bit static in midfield. When they get a counter going, they're very fluid and quite scary so we need to control the midfield in order to nullify them. Pace out wide will prove helpful and we need to be pressing them hard - you give these guys too much room, or underestimate them in any way, they will take advantage.

It'll be a close one, but I'm going for a scrappy Wolves 1 - 2 United.

I'd like to see James start this one, but part of me thinks he'll be a sub. He might be a breath of fresh air with pace and directness when the Wolves players are beginning to tire.

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