LATEST POSTS 
Manchester United are set to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night in the Premier League curtain raiser.
As discussed elsewhere by The Peoples Person, Erik ten Hag may well have had to rip up his notebook heading into this match, with Wolves replacing Julen Lopetegui with Gary O’Neil earlier this week.
That presents a challenge, as the Dutchman is incredibly detail-oriented and will have planned out hit pressing and build-up structures with the Spaniard in mind. He did, however, play against O’Neil on two occasions last season.
Both times resulted in wins for The Red Devils over Bournemouth, with O’Neil favouring a 4-2-3-1 on both occasions, albeit a more conservative one on his visit to Old Trafford, where Philip Billing often dropped in alongside Lewis Cook in central midfielder as Jefferson Lerma anchored.
That is not a million miles away from the 4-3-3 Wolves have favoured during their preseason fixtures, and given the turbulent week at the Molineux, the new boss will likely not want to be changing too much too fast.
Of course, the option of a double pivot is there for Wolves, although the summer departure of Ruben Neves would be a huge limiting factor on their midfield’s ability to vie for control of the match in midfield. A 4-1-4-1 setup seems more likely as a result, allowing Matheus Nunes and Mario Lemina to influence the game as box-to-box midfielders.
The downside there, of course, is that Wolves lack a dependable defensive midfielder, and spent much of preseason using Joe Hodge in midfield. The 20-year-old is a highly-rated former Man City youth player, but has featured in just six Premier League matches to date.
Their other option, Boubacar Traoré, featured in ten Premier League games last season while on loan and – while The Old Gold have seen enough in him to make his move permanent – he might also be seen as a risky option to shield the defence. Lopetegui certainly did not seem to favour him during preseason, although O’Neil may well see things differently.
This is therefore the obvious area to hurt Wolves, and Erik ten Hag is likely to field two natural number tens in Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount. While the Dutchman often has his attacking midfielders working the channels and combining with his wingers, Monday could see the pair combine more often in central areas to overload either of the opposition’s inexperienced options in defensive midfield.
The two will likely take it in turns to hound Hodge or Traore off the ball to force errors in dangerous positions, while United can bank on Mount’s blind-side runs causing problems every bit as much as Fernandes’ ability to create space for dangerous passes. It would be no surprise to see either end up being Manchester United’s man of the match when all is said and done.
If Ten Hag really wanted to exploit the space in front of the Wolves defence, he could further compound the issue by fielding Jadon Sancho as a false nine. The former Borussia Dortmund winger has shown great potential in that role over the summer and his ability to drop into the hole and cause havoc could prove lethal.
Around about eleven years ago, Liverpool fans were excited by a new midfield prospect in their first team: Jay Spearing. The youngster had impressed in a handful of matches and had many Anfielders convinced he would be the anchor in front of their defence for years to come.
In that match, Sir Alex Ferguson was utterly merciless, instructing Ryan Giggs to vacate the flank and join Wayne Rooney in running rings around him, just as Paul Scholes pushed on to support play in the hole. The key to United’s success on the day was simple: Spearing was undercooked for the level of intelligence and dynamism he was up against, and in overloading him 3v1, Sir Alex exploited that fact with ruthless efficiency.
A similar situation could unfold on Monday night, should Ten Hag choose to go in a similar direction. Wolves will be forced to rely upon a young player with few league credentials due to their poor summer of recruitment. Hodge and Traore may well turn out to be good players, but for now they present a good area to attack.
All in all, Manchester United will be expecting a much better result to the start of this season than the last as they look to build upon their Carabao Cup win and third-placed league finish. With the credentials of Erik ten Hag proven and the manager now having more options, there is plenty of reason for optimism.
The post Tactical Preview: Manchester United versus Wolverhampton Wanderers appeared first on Man United News And Transfer News | The Peoples Person.
Whatsapp: 08130162561
Email: Teeloadedblog@gmail.com
| Article Name | Ten Hag can ravage Wolves with tactical trick straight from Sir Alex Ferguson's playbook |
| Description |
|
| Author Name | Candyboy |
| Published On | August 12, 2023 |
| Post Category |
Man Utd
|
About Telenovela BlastersTelenovela Blasters Is A Top Telenovela blog that provides you with latest Updates from Zee World and Lots more.
No comments:
Post a Comment