Premier League: Victory Over Wolves And the Manager Sends a Message

Manchester United travelled to the midlands of England for a Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on New Years Eve. Their ground, Molineux, has been a tricky place to play for the Red Devils in recent seasons. The club locally known as Wolves always seem to give United trouble, no matter what tournament they play them in. They are usually very well-disciplined defensively and know how to use to their modest amount of talent in attack effectively. They have not been as good this season as previous ones, but new manager Julian Lopetegui was going into this match likely hoping to spark some life into a frankly feckless attack. United manager Erik ten Hag meanwhile knew that his side would go 4th in the table with a win.

United had the first real chance of the match on just 5 minutes, after a ball from a corner was flicked on by midfielder Casemiro and deflected over the bar. United then should have realistically been ahead on 16 minutes when the ball was gifted to forward Alejandro Garnacho in the Wolves penalty area, but his rather tame shot was saved by the onrushing Wolves keeper José Sá. Good keeping for sure, but Garnacho should have done better. Wolves then got into the game a bit and pressed United up the pitch, forcing them into errors. A shot from striker Diego Costa was confidently saved by United keeper David De Gea on 25 minutes. United winger Antony dos Santos then saw his header denied by Sá on 37 minutes after a fine move down the left hand side. This was the nature of the first half, very end-to-end. Both sides went close but neither could find the back of the net. The edge was probably with United though on the balance of play.

Striker Marcus Rashford was brought on at the start of the second half, having served his team-imposed suspension for oversleeping and missing a team meeting. More on that below. United had half a shout for a penalty for handball on 51 minutes, but even by my biased standards it probably would have been harsh on Wolves. The shot from Antony appeared to hit the Wolves defender in the abdomen and then the arm. I’ve seen them given for that and I would have taken it had it been, but I’m not too upset that it wasn’t called. Wolves then had an excellent chance from a free kick by midfielder Ruben Neves that was saved by a sprawling De Gea on 58 minutes. It was an excellent curler of a free kick from Neves from considerable distance, but De Gea showed his masterful shot-stopping skills by getting over in time to block it.

United got their go-ahead goal on 76 minutes, which began with Rashford playing a very neat 1-2 with midfielder Bruno Fernandes on the left side of the Wolves penalty area. The return ball bounced off Rashford and away from a potential Wolves clearance about 6-7 yards from the goal, only for Rashford to pounce on it again. He finished with a low and powerful shot underneath Sá for 1-0 to United! Rashford is in sensational form right now and it’s great to see him back playing so well after the debacle of last season. His playing style has been complimented by ETH’s tactics and he is United’s top scorer so far this season. He had the ball in the back of the net again just five minutes later, but his potential game-sealer was disallowed after a lengthy VAR review. It was determined that Rashford’s rebounded shot off Sá came off his arm before going in. I am not sure what Rashford was supposed to do there, though. It was point-blank range and he was in mid-air when the ball hit his arm! His arm was down low too, not raised up or using it to try and score. Harsh on Rashford, but that’s the rule I suppose. The score remained 1-0.

Wolves were inches from getting their equalizer in stoppage time. A corner was played in and it found the head of substitute striker Raul Jimenez, who powered a low shot towards the goal only for it to be reflexively saved by De Gea. Replays showed the shot was fairly close to the big Spaniard, but there was such power and venom on the header that it took some real reflexes to parry it away. United cleared the ball after that and Wolves were denied. There were no more major opportunities for either side after that, and it ended 1-0. De Gea’s save at the end was worth as much as a second goal!

United moved into 4th place temporarily at first, but Tottenham’s loss to Aston Villa earlier today means that they will remain there for another match week. A good result for the Red Devils even if they struggled to finish off their chances. A lack of clinical finishing has been the problem all season, but so far we’ve largely been getting away with it. The January transfer window is now open, and a striker is needed. Nevertheless, the best teams still win even when they aren’t firing on all cylinders. United did that in this match. Rashford coming on was the difference maker.

I do appreciate however the message sent by ETH to every player on this team by suspending Rashford: a high standard of professionalism is expected at Manchester United. No one player is bigger than this club, and that is a philosophy many United legends would echo. He has benched Garnacho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and now Rashford over the course of this season for various offenses, such as tardiness and missing meetings (or in the case of Ronaldo, petulance). It takes a fair amount of gumption to suspend players with the stature of Ronaldo and Rashford, so credit to the manager for enforcing a strong club culture. Every player knows that anyone can be punished with a lack of playing time if they let their standards slip.

So not an impressive victory per se, but an important one nonetheless. United were able to end 2022 on a high, which is important. Next match is at home to AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday, January 3rd.

Happy New Year to all and Glory Glory Man United!

I Hate That I Have to Care About the Nations League

First things first, it feels weird that football is being played in a non-tournament summer. These players need time off. It’s not long that the club season is off each year, so for there to be international matches with some degree of value being played is odd to me. There’s 3 months of club season and then a World Cup coming. Let them have June and early July off, as is tradition. Their bodies need it to keep performing at the highest level. It won’t happen though. Not as long as UEFA and the respective football federations want to keep making money. It’s all about the money!

I’m also pissed off because England suffered their worst defeat on English soil in almost a century today, losing to Hungary 4-0 at Molineux in Wolverhampton. I watched the most tepid draw I’ve seen in years versus Italy at the weekend, and I expected more of the same today. That did not happen though. England looked toothless in attack for most of the match, and the defense went to shit when center back John Stones was (controversially) sent off after a second yellow card late on. Just a very bad outing overall.

What’s going to be even worse than the loss though is the reaction from the press and social media. It’s a long summer with few fixtures, and one of England’s worse losses under manager Gareth Southgate will give them plenty to chew on. In all four of England’s Nations League games this month, he has been criticized for a conservative style of play that has so far only netted two points and 0 (zero) goals from open play.

I dare say that the seat under Southgate may be starting to heat up. Had England just gone out and played to another dull draw, this match probably would have been forgotten about as soon as the final whistle blew. But a 4-0 loss at home to a frankly inferior team attracts attention. A 4-0 loss at home makes people ask questions. What’s wrong with England? Are they crap again? Is Southgate the right man for the job? The questions mount easily.

Now it’s going to be an endless debate over the summer about whether Southgate should manage England at the World Cup in November. It’s true these results are not encouraging, primarily because Southgate does not want to seem to adapt his game plans to whoever England is playing. He hasn’t learned his lesson, as he plays the same way each time. Sometimes it works, but it frequently does not work against talented opposition.

The other side of the debate is that Southgate is (perhaps sadly) the most successful England manager in 50+ years. He took us to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2018, the semifinals of the Nations League in early 2020, and the final of the European Championships in 2021. Despite his style of play, he wins matches at tournaments. No other England manager, aside from the legend Sir Alf Ramsey himself, can really say that. Factor in as well that he has been experimenting with the team selection in the last few matches and they simply haven’t worked. There’s also the fatigue factor for the players, as mentioned above.

Yes, a 4-0 loss at home is bad. Very bad. But I think once the reactive takes and opinions calm down a bit, cooler heads will prevail. Southgate needs to deliver a win to make everyone feel better and get some confidence back in the team. There are at least two more matches to do that in September, and they are against quality opposition in Germany and Italy. I think the FA will also schedule a friendly fixture or two against smaller nations so that England can use them as tune-up games. I would not feel confident about England’s chances if the World Cup were starting this week like it usually would, but given that we are still 5 months away, there is time to fix things. I think Southgate should be given the opportunity to do so.

But I ask – no, I implore – him to try being a bit more adventurous with his tactics. We have glorified friendlies coming up along with some actual friendlies most likely – so push the edge of the envelope a little! The matches mean next to nothing, so take a few risks and let the lads play a little bit. The Three Lions have an array of depth in attack, and we need to use it!