Wolves Fans' Verdict v Manchester United: The good signs are there!

Clive Smith

Happy New Year, lets hope so for Wolves too. Not so against United unfortunately, particularly disappointing, as we headed into the last quarter on level terms.

Getting more of the players to find their best form will be crucial. At the moment it is not consistent enough, and given we are using 16 of our squad every game, we need improvement.

In front of goal Costa and Hwang still look unlikely to score which is obviously hugely disappointing. Playing out from the back feels slightly more nervy with a back four but the long diagonal to Semedo proved a productive way of retaining possession further forward.

The referee seemed to allow Casemiro, and latterly Fred, two chances before receiving a yellow card while Semedo only had the one. Whether his card was a factor or not our use of substitutions did not work as it had done in previous games.

Adama coming on had provided more upfront than Costa but he did not see enough of the ball in the right positions. The three changes that saw Jonny, Gomes and Ait-Nouri come on did not help. The former two should have done better with the goal, Collins too, it is a mute point whether Semedo would have done better.

Jonny has not shown much good form all season and never got to the pace of the game. Fitting Gomes into a back five, as at Everton, brought confusion rather than strength to the defence even though we were obviously chasing the game from then on. Ait-Nouri was a loose cannon and he too showed no obvious method despite his usual energetic input.

Elsewhere, Neves continues to shine and Sa looked back to his best. Nunes probably had his best game and Bueno is a regular feature in many of our attacks, especially during the first half.

John Lalley

There is absolutely nothing to be gained from consoling yourself in a damaging defeat; gallant failure has no place in this unforgiving League.

That said, this is a game that may well have degenerated into a rout prior to the World Cup. Wolves most likely would have been excruciatingly passive, timid and lacking in stamina before imploding into feeble disintegration.

Instead, this was a worthwhile contest and though Wolves were undeniably second best, on a more fortunate day, tangible reward was by no means out of the equation.

Lopetegui is endeavouring to maximise the abilities of a squad he has inherited and no doubt he currently has to utilise some players he would probably like to replace. But regardless of the limitations that exist and there are many otherwise we wouldn’t be in such a precarious position, no Wolves player has shirked their responsibilities.

The defensive solidity that was the bulwark of our success was inexplicably dismantled and we now wait in trepidation for a glaring individual clanger to derail us. At Everton on Boxing Day and again against United, we were indebted to Jose Sa for reminding us of the brilliance he routinely displayed last season.

He bailed us out and set up the ecstatic conclusion at Goodison; a pity his heroics didn’t have a more favourable outcome at Molineux. Lopetegui perceptively conceded after the win at Toffeeopolis, that Wolves couldn’t compete with Everton in a physical arm-wrestle. This lack of muscle was again evident against United; tackles, secondary possession, loose balls and heading duels seem disproportionately to favour our opposition.

I’m not suggesting that we recruit what Mick McCarthy used to delightfully term as a ‘snotter’ but a robust body or two plainly wouldn’t be unwelcome.

In total contrast, what a pleasure and indeed what a relief it was to see Matheus Nunes belatedly striding like a thoroughbred in midfield. Shimmying into space, controlling possession, demanding responsibility and simply working his guts out. Been a long time coming; first definitive signs of what all the fuss was about. If we do indeed clear up this dire mess, one suspects this guy will have had considerable influence.

With Matheus Cunha now on loan, recruitment has already started; it’s notoriously difficult to secure value in this window, but how shrewd Wolves manoeuvre their dealings will likely determine whether or not we lock horns with the likes of Manchester United again next season.

Rob Cartwright

Wolves didn’t deserve to lose this game; we will feel hard done by, particularly with a referee who appeared intent on doing anything he could to give the away team an advantage. A draw was a fair reflection of the game.

This was a good performance, overall, but with some of our ‘old’ frailties still apparent.

- we look incapable of testing their goalkeeper with shots on target. Certainly not enough.

- a couple of times a game the defence goes kamikaze which inevitably leads to us conceding.

Generally, we look solid in defence and midfield and play with a lot of attacking intent.

Neves, Nunes and Moutinho all played a part in keeping Man United at bay for the majority of this game.

Semedo tried to gift them a goal with a short pass back early on. Sa made a great save. Wolves' best attempt coming from a Neves free kick which was saved by de Gea.

The booking of Semedo had a big impact on 26 minutes. His challenge was no different to several from the opposition which had gone unpunished, even when free-kicks were awarded.

Indeed, Casemiro made three professional fouls which were intentional to break up our play. It was the second, on 57 minutes, when he saw yellow. This would have been red. He went on to commit a similar foul where only a free-kick was given.

These are the game changing decisions.

Rashford came on at half-time and made a big difference to their attacking prowess.

He scored with 15 minutes remaining. Good play by him, assisted by woeful defending with Jonny and Toti left wanting for a challenge in the box.

He nearly added a second shortly after. Everyone could see the rebound had come off Rashford's arm. Everyone except the referee and assistant who had a clear view. VAR did their job for once!

Lopetegui uses his subs well. Semedo off for Jonny was a strange one, except to protect Semedo who was on his yellow card. Jonny does not look up to speed.

I’d have liked to see Jimenez for much longer too. Maybe he should have come on at half-time along with Adama.

I think there are lots of positives to take into January. We have some massive games coming up this month in all three competitions. I just hope Cunha can hit the ground running and we get the promised other signings in quickly.

Liam Kennedy

Saturday felt like a missed opportunity to me, for large parts Man United looked poor and were there for the taking and maybe if the team were in better form with a bit more confidence we would have.

Saying that, Wolves were far from poor on Saturday and showed some encouraging signs throughout the game but whilst we still have the same players as before the World Cup, then we are going to struggle to score goals.

We all knew at the time Costa was a panic buy and most likely wouldn’t work out and Saturday almost felt like his final chance to prove he could offer something, a chance that he didn’t take and it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if that was one of the last times, we saw him in a Wolves shirt.

There is a top-level player in Nunes and whilst for some he hasn’t showed it as much as they would like, against Man Utd he definitely did. A midfielder who can drive with the ball is something many of us cried out for years and on Saturday he was our best player, the way he was gliding past Casemiro and Erikson like they weren’t even there at times, wherever he plays Lopetegui has to get him into the team, he is a difference maker.

I thought most of the team were decent and I saw enough signs from the players we have, the depth on the bench and our intent in the transfer window to believe we should definitely be alright. It doesn’t always work out like that in football and that comment could look terrible come May but I can’t help feel something will have had to go terribly wrong for there not to be three worse teams in the league than us.

The window is vital for addressing the lack of goals and they acted quick with Cunha but here’s hoping watching Wolves in 2023 will be more enjoyable than 2022.

Chris Ward

A much improved performance with plenty of positives to take from the game and on reflection a point may have been a more fair result.

It’s clear to see there is already an improvement in this Wolves side with Lopetegui in charge and has now started to stamp his identity. The work rate of the players has increased as well as the aggressive pressing when loosing possession which is a welcome sight after the amount of lacklustre performances under Lage.

Collins was fantastic but let himself down along with Jonny for ultimately the Manchester United winner. Both were very weak defensively and should have stopped Rashford. Something isn’t quite right with Jonny and he looks a shadow of the player we remember. Sa was back to his best with a number of outstanding saves and looked more confident with the ball at his feet. It was another invisible performance by Hwang who offered next to nothing for the whole 90 minutes.

It can’t be a coincidence when the standard of refereeing is so poor when it comes the officiating of Wolves. Another extremely poor performance where opposition players weren’t being booked and soft fouls given against time and time again. Wolves are their own worse enemy at times needlessly giving away possession by not opting for the simple pass but there is certainly an aspect of playing against 12 men more often than not.

There are still plenty of points to play for and we haven’t been cut adrift. Additional signings will now define our season and future. A big month ahead for recruitment. Happy New year!