Man Utd

Just as the January doom and gloom was beginning to set in, Bruno Lage finds a way of making us smile again.

There’s nothing quite like a first win at Old Trafford in more than 40 years to dispel the John Percy-induced anxiety of the last few days.

While this win won’t stop the fevered debate about Fosun’s ambitions for the club (or lack thereof), it does serve as a timely reminder of what we already have.

Make no mistake about it, this was a 1-0 battering.

Wolves controlled proceedings against a team whose bench cost more than most Premier League teams (including our own).

Sure, there were a few heart-in-mouth moments. It certainly wouldn’t have been a surprise if Fernandes had netted an equaliser at the death, especially when you think back to our last outing at this ground.

But we were more than good value for this result. It was as complete an away performance as you could hope for, and a further indication of just how good a manager we’ve bagged in Lage.

The discipline he has instilled in this team is remarkable, with every player seeming to have their role nailed down to a tee.

And the individual improvement is there for all to see. Semedo, Kilman, Coady, Saiss, Moutinho, Neves and Podence are all fine examples of that.

Heck, even Fabio made an impact when called upon. Perhaps all is not lost there after all.

There can be no doubt that reinforcements are still required, especially if we want to capitalise on the momentum that has been built over the first half of the season.

But nights like tonight are enough to remind us all that things are pretty sweet as they are, though one does hope that it will be enough to encourage Jeff and co to blow the dust off the Fosun coffers.

Back this manager and the sky is the limit.

Wolves would have benefitted from playing at least one of those games over Christmas.

You can’t second guess the Premier League but Watford at home was a great opportunity to gather more points and reach halfway with a commanding tally.

After that was cancelled, a tough assignment at Arsenal would have been made a bit easier by the strain a 48-hour turnaround would have placed on their squad.

When those fixtures come around again they might not feel so presentable.

It seems as if this one is happening and a visit to Old Trafford is a grand way to kick-off 2022.

Happy New Year by the way.

Man Utd

The results haven’t been too bad for Ralf Rangnick so far (3 wins and a draw) but the performances have remained stodgy.

The top 4 is still a realistic objective but they will have to improve to keep pace with the likes of Arsenal, West Ham and Spurs who all look more cohesive outfits at present.

They have individual quality but finding the right blend and style for the group remains a problem. It will be interesting to see if they try to solve that problem by entering the market in January.

Ronaldo has come in and scored plenty of goals but contributions from Fernandes, Rashford, Cavani, Greenwood and Sancho have been spotty, partly because of injuries and partly due to none of them holding down a consistent place in the side.

But it’s in midfield where they seem to have issues due to a chronic lack of options beyond the familiar combination of Fred and McTominay. They were linked with Ruben Neves in the summer and if that deal was there to be done it was madness they didn’t follow through.

Aside from Paul Pogba, they have a full-strength squad to choose from so will fancy their chances of collecting another win here to extend their unbeaten run in the league to seven matches.

The home end

I found the following on a pre-match thread for tomorrow’s game on a popular Utd forum.

Wolves gave us a real test earlier in the season Utd very fortunate to get the 1-0 victory thanks to a Greenwood goal from memory Trincao caused us loads of problems but wasted his chances. Havent seen much of Wolves this season but their games are normally low scoring they’ve scored 13 let in 14 in their 18 games so far so they’ll be a very tough side to break down.

For Utd it’ll be the 3rd game in 8 days so I’m expecting some rotation.

DDG

Dalot Varane Maguire Shaw

Greenwood McTominay Fred Sancho

Ronaldo Bruno

Can’t see Matic and Cavani starting back to back games I think we need the width to try and stretch Wolves across the pitch like we did vs Burnley try and create some pockets of space for Bruno.

My only worry is the lack of target in the air up top it’ll be difficult for us to be as direct as we were vs Burnley as Ronaldo is not a back to goal target man which means bringing the ball up the pitch with short passes which we are not good at.

Wolves

We don’t know who tested positive prior to Arsenal and we don’t know who is and isn’t available tomorrow.

Hopefully we see something like the above to give us the best possible chance of getting a result.

Hoever came in and did well against Chelsea but I think Semedo should be back in for this one. He’s improved considerably as this season has progressed.

Can we score a goal? Utd certainly haven’t been air tight defensively so you’d hope Traore might expose some frailties if he’s in the side and afforded the opportunities to do his thing.

Last time out

It was heartbreak last season with Marcus Rashford winning it with the last kick of the game after we’d defended manfully and given them very little.

Earlier this season we were again unfortunate to lose by the odd goal after playing well and creating lots of chances but ultimately getting punished for not taking them. There was a foul on Ruben Neves in the build-up to their goal so we can rightly feel we’re perhaps due a bit of luck in this fixture.

Predictions

Well done to Sea Pigeon, BG, Prawny and Cannock Wolf who all correctly predicted a goalless draw with Chelsea last time out. All collect a maximum.

Cannock Wolf takes over at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 18.

As always, if you’d like to join in, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.

You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.

Up The Wolves!

Polite request – when commenting in the preview article after the game has finished, can you not place score predictions in the boxes, please? It confuses the system. Many thanks.

I’m sure I’m not the only Wolves fan who assumed we’d be pointless at the end of August.

After all, the fixture list was far from kind. 

What I didn’t expect was for the margins of defeat to be so narrow. 

How Bruno Lage’s side have contrived to lose three games they have dominated is the most maddening of mysteries. 

The hardest thing to take about today’s reverse is that it was oh so predictable.

Put simply, you have to take your chances against the top sides when they come. 

Wolves should have put an under-par United to the sword by half-time, but they once again left their shooting boots at home.

Cue a late winner for the visitors, courtesy of some inevitable Mike Dean melodrama and dodgy keeping from Jose Sa. 

On the topic of the foul-that-never-was, if Dean isn’t demoted to the Championship by tomorrow morning then that tells you all you need to know about what is wrong with the standard of officiating in this country.

VAR is there to correct clear and obvious errors, and yet to my knowledge it wasn’t even used to review Pogba’s foul on Neves. 

It’s that sort of double standard that leaves many fans to feel the Premier League is becoming a closed shop. 

That aside, we can’t be too disheartened and need to remember that this month was never going to define our season. 

How we fare against the calibre of opposition that is coming up in September will tell us more about how far the ‘Bruno Ball’ revolution will take us. 

But we certainly can’t afford to keep squandering gilt-edged chances like the ones Trincao and Saiss missed today. 

Hopefully our new South Korean forward will add some panache up top. Hee-Chan’s signing is a welcome one but I still think we need to add a top-class centre back if we’re really to kick on.

All eyes will be on Jeff and co. over the next few days, with it certainly feeling as if our success this season hinges on what we do on the transfer front. 

10 games are sufficient to weigh up what you can expect from a season, which is just as well, because there’s every chance we’ll be on zero from three after this one.

To some that will sound overly negative, but it’s just the reality.

There’s been enough in the performances to suggest we can eventually climb the table but equally, enough deficiencies to show we’ll struggle against the better sides.

Rattling in four against Forest will be a morale boost for those involved and if we have Podence and Boly back in the squad our prospects improve, but this is a big ask so early in the Lage era.

Should we get a result, it would offer a real catalyst to get the season properly up and running. Even if we can’t do that, I hope we can at least score a goal.

Man Utd

The draw at Southampton last weekend saw Utd equal the record for the longest undefeated away run in Premier League history, meaning they can move clear by avoiding the L here.

That doesn’t surprise me as they’re a good counter-punching side with a solid defensive setup and pace to hurt teams on the break.

Where they’ve been caught short at times is breaking opposition down that don’t give them those spaces to exploit.

In that sense, Bruno’s Wolves will be a more enticing prospect than Nuno’s, but that’s no guarantee of success.

They were disappointing on the south coast against an unfancied Saints team, but Mason Greenwood made it two goals in two games – having also scored in the 5-1 rout of Leeds the previous weekend – to ensure they got a point.

Summer signings Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho could be handed a start, with big things expected from both of them.

Marcus Rashford, Edison Cavani and Scott McTominay are three notable absentees.

Wolves

Did anyone play themselves into contention in midweek? Other than possibly bringing in Ait-Nouri for Marcal, I’m struggling to see who might drop out.

I suppose you could argue that using Gibbs-White, Fabio or even Daniel Podence somewhere across the front line could be an option to offer some fresh ideas to the attack.

It was encouraging to see Trincao getting into the box and scoring the other night and we need him in those inside positions more often. Against Spurs, he did some decent things but never threatened the goal.

All the credible transfer speculation seems to focus on us bringing in a high-profile centre half, but I’d still like another attack-minded player.

Last time out

We lost this fixture 2-1 in the final game of last season to a second-string Utd side. Nelson Semedo gave us a deserved equaliser to cancel out their early goal, but after Traore went off injured we were predictably one dimensional going forward and lost to a soft penalty.

In the game at Old Trafford earlier in the season, we acquitted ourselves quite well and were unfortunate to lose with the last kick of the game to a deflected Marcus Rashford goal.

Predictions

Well done to Ash K who was the only one to correctly predict a 1-0 defeat to Spurs and picks up the first maximum of the season to lead the overall table at the end of Gameweek 2.

As always, if you’d like to join in, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.

You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.

Up The Wolves!

As per a special request from Clive From Houston, many happy returns to long-term blogger and top chap Twixfix! Have a good one mate!!

Well, we made it.

Seasonus horribilis will live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons and yet, it could have been so much worse.

There’s no question the team needs rebuilding, but the main thing is we’ll be rebuilding in the Premier League.

I think we’ve got the right manager and owners that still want to achieve something – a foundation.

Recruitment has to improve right down the spine. They’ve done it twice before with the Boly/Neves/Jota summer followed by Patricio/Moutinho/Jimenez a year later.

Players of that quality for the here and now.

Man Utd

It’s been a decent season for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team who are guaranteed a second place finish, which I suppose points to progress.

But they’ll know the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea will come stronger and harder next season, so they themselves will have to enter the market for some key additions.

They’ve been fortunate in the respect that Bruno Fernandes has stayed fit and they’ve been able to field a reasonably consistent team.

Even though the likes of Rashford, Cavani and Greenwood have fired at different times, it’s still Bruno that ignites many of their best performances and their squad isn’t anywhere near as good as City’s.

Everything is on the Europa League final against Villareal on Wednesday, so you’d have thought we’d be looking at a shadow side for this game.

That said, if they avoid defeat at Molineux they’ll have gone the whole season undefeated away from Old Trafford, so that’s something to play for I suppose?

Wolves

How do we score a goal? For a start, we’ve got to have at least 3 decent headers of the ball who can give us a chance from set pieces, so I’d start Boly, Dendoncker and Willian Jose.

I thought we knocked the ball around well in the first half at Goodison Park but it was only when Traore got at them we really looked like causing them pain.

But even when he got free of his double markers, we didn’t get bodies in the box and it always felt unlikely Fabio was going to get the better of Keane and Mina.

I’d try to get both Dendoncker and Jose into the area as often as possible as it at least asks a question of the opposing center halves. Fabio to come on later when the spaces open up a bit.

It’s a shame we won’t see Raul but it’s a dead rubber so better to have him fully firing and up to speed in August than a symbolic cameo on Sunday.

Last time out

We did well at Old Trafford in December and were unlucky to lose with the last kick of the game. Packing the midfield worked a treat and Utd created very little before Marcus Rashford scuffed home the winner via a Romain Saiss deflection.

It was a 1-1 draw at Molineux at the start of last season, which seems an eternity ago now. Ruben Neves scored that sumptuous equaliser and Rui Patricio saved Paul Pogba’s penalty to earn us a point.

Predictions

Well done to Gold Wolf Sven, Brompton Wolf, PeteRobbo, Ash K and MILDENHALL WOLF who all correctly predicted the 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park.

Brompton Wolf and Mildenhall Wolf are tied at the top with one game to go, but Mosman Wolf and Prawny could both still win it too. Best of luck lads.

As always if you’d like to join in, simply leave your prediction for this game in the comment section below, which is where you’ll find my best guess.

Up The Wolves!

The performance merited a point.

And if we allow ourselves to zoom out – which is difficult after a last-minute concession – there is much to feel good about.

Collectively and individually this was more like the Wolves we’ve come to expect.

Compact out of possession, intelligent with the ball and making the opposition answer a lot of awkward questions.

Vitinha strolled around Old Trafford like he’d been playing there for years, not like a man making his full senior debut. I thought it was a mistake taking him off, especially with Podence looking jaded and uninterested.

Ait-Nouri and Hoever belied their meagre years to play with control and maturity, not always making the right moves but always doing enough.

If there’s a concern with Ait-Nouri, it’s whether he’s switched on enough defensively at times, but perhaps that will come with hours at Compton under Nuno’s watchful eye?

Neto and Traore were sharp in the early stages but predictably faded in the second half when the rapid turnaround time between fixtures came into the equation.

Without their tireless industry, the ball kept coming back and there was a period when it looked like Utd would find that moment.

When that purple patch came and went, it seemed the point was secured, only for a hoof forward and a horrid deflection to sour the deal.

The major concern remains our own route to goal, with enough good positions occupied tonight to suggest an experienced striker could have made the difference.

We must do that business in the coming weeks, because everywhere else on the pitch, there are good players doing the right things.

Here’s to a happier new year.