Rijo Sam Daniel
Bruno Lage reveals how Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Manchester United 1-0 in Premier League
Manchester United were handed a 1-0 loss by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, and Bruno Lage has explained how they were the winners on the night. The loss comes at a terrible time for the hosts as their direct rivals have ramped up their performances in the top-four fight.
It was the first loss under the reign of Ralf Rangnick, and it paints a clear picture of how challenging the task on his hand is. Man United never looked to be in control of the game, and that ultimately reflected in the result. Several players failed to impress and there was a lack of cohesion and chemistry between our defence, midfield, and attack.
Speaking in the post-match interview with Sky Sports (h/t Manchester Evening News), Lage dissected how his team were the better side which enabled them to win the game. He detailed how they had found space regularly on the outside in the first half and how they took full advantage of it.
“If you look in the first half, when they are defending and trying to block – I saw it from the bench – they have [Edinson] Cavani trying to block Ruben [Neves], Cristiano Ronaldo trying to control [Conor] Coady and the wingers inside.”
“So the space is outside. That’s why Semedo and Marcal had a lot of chances and a lot of ball in the first half and the boys found those spaces. That’s why it’s so important when you have the ball to know where the space is and when they are defending, if Trincao and Podence understand that if the full-backs are in front of them or, if they go, it is not your man, so control the space inside.”
An in-depth analysis
The Wolves coach’s words paint a clear picture of how tough life is in the Premier League. Micromanagement has become a part of the game, and the standards are higher than ever before. It is not the best feeling when your team gets beat and tactically outplayed during the process- that too at home.
Rangnick was slow to react to Wolves’ attacking approach and their use of wing-backs. We have to be tactically adept if the club is looking to raise their ambitions and get back to our glory days.
While we had a decent system, it always felt like it was in place to limit the shortcomings of some of the players. The team was unbalanced, and that has seemed to play a part in our loss. We never looked like we could salvage even a point from the game as the visitors were the better side.
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Shortcomings are a part of the rebuilding phase, but the important thing is how improvements are made moving forward. Some may not like this, but the club’s best interest must be protected at all costs, even if some of the favourites have to be axed in the process. The substitution of Mason Greenwood, for instance, made no sense to many fans during the Wolves game.
Let’s hope that Rangnick will make some bold decisions moving forward if we want to qualify for the Champions League next season. There is a lot of football still left but the German manager should be wary of how a string of bad results can prematurely end our season. Anything but a top-four finish will feel like a disappointment.
Well, courtesy of Lage, at least we have some basic idea of how we should set up against Wolves whenever we meet them next.
