Authors: Stretford_End and Doron

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Manchester United put their 2-1 defeat to FC Basle behind them with a 4-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers to close the gap on Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table. Ryan Giggs, Ashley Young and Ji-Sung Park all dropped to the bench and were replaced by Michael Carrick, Danny Welbeck and Antonio Valencia. Wayne Rooney and Luis Nani scored two goals a piece as United scored more than three goals since the 5-0 thrashing of Bolton Wanderers earlier in the season.

Below, we discuss the talking points from Manchester United 4-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Carrick and Jones Partnership

Michael Carrick was suspended for the 2-1 defeat in Switzerland midweek, however if he had of been available he would most certainly have started alongside Jones to bring a sense of calm and patience in United’s play. Jones may have received the plaudits by many of the pundits for his driving runs, accurate passing and overall workrate – but Carrick’s performance was excellent as United bounced back from their Champions League exit.

Phil Jones is described by many as a ‘defensive midfielder’, which indicates that he is a destroyer of play rather than a creator. There is no doubt that Jones is strong in the tackle, can track runs and intercepts a vast amount of balls – however alongside Carrick, Ferguson has asked the versatile youngster to push on and join up with the attacking play, whilst Carrick sits. This is highlighted in their passing stats from the game yesterday:

Chalkboard 1: Jones and Carrick passing

Jones was on the ball less than Carrick but was involved in play higher up the pitch. The Phil Jones and Michael Carrick combination could well be the duo that lines up in the next couple of weeks following the impressive performance against Wolves. Generally in a two man centre midfielder pairing, one players sits and the other bombs forward – something that was evident, especially in the second half yesterday. Last week against Aston Villa, Jones got on the ball more – but in deeper areas. This more defensive approach didn’t stop him making forward runs and netting the only goal, but merely demonstrates his vast array of attributes that makes him such a complete player. Carrick has his critics (and probably always will) but his is a fine footballer, capable of controlling play and starting passing moves.

Are Jones and Carrick our first choice centre midfield pairing?

Goals Galore

Free scoring United netted four goals against Wolves, the first time United had scored more than one goal in a league match since the home game against Norwich City on October 1st . United. Apparently, the last time United went on such a lean spell was at the end of the 1988/89 season – lasting just over a month from a 2-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest to a 3-2 defeat at Loftus Road.

In that spell, United obtained five points from twenty seven whereas the recent run of low scoring games, United notched up fourteen points from twenty four. Following the 6-1 defeat to Manchester City, perhaps Ferguson wanted to get back to basics and tighten up the backline. Since the six goals, United have only conceded two goals (both at home) compared to five in the previous six games before the heavy defeat to City.

Have United found their scoring touch again?

Coping without Vidic

Losing your captain and best defender for the season is the stuff of nightmares. However, when that player seems to also bring out the best in those around him, it gets even worse. Fortunately, United are blessed with talent in the centre back area. Ferdinand, for all his critics after a shaky start, has been superb recently; Evans also has his doubters but he too is a talent who the boss has faith in; whilst Smalling and Jones have the potential to be stars.

Evans and Ferdinand were paired up for Wolves with Smalling at right back and Jones used again in midfield. Ferdinand kept to the left hand side of defence once again and assumed a more responsible role. As Vidic normally would, Rio attacked the balls, showing a side to his game we don’t often see – how strong he is aerially. Rio made 20 clearances, majority with his head, during the game – nearly half of United’s total (48) and nearly as many as the entire Wolves team (29). To put it into perspective – Vidic was lauded for his epic 19 clearances the week before against Villa!

Chalkboard 2: Rio clearances and Evans tackles

With Rio acting in the ‘Vidic role’, it left Evans without the need to feel like he had to be the dominator in the pairing and he had a fine game playing a solid high line with Rio and winning an impressive 7 out of 8 tackles made. Evans has been good this season but his red card against Man City tends to skew opinion on him. Whilst many would rather see Jones or Smalling there, Fergie clearly has had faith in Jonny all season. Hopefully he can continue his form into the busy Christmas period.

As a side note – I thought Evra had a much improved game. He’s played more minutes than any United player this season so it was sensible of Fergie to give him a rest with the side 4-1 up and allow Zeki to have some Premier League minutes.

Resurgent wing-play and a complimenting forward

In a game where Nani and Rooney’s return to goalscoring form was welcomed; it was Welbeck’s comeback that seemed more intriguing. The crucial thing with Welbeck; is that as a striker he offers so much more than goals.

Chalkboard 3: Welbeck passing heatmap and tackles

It was little coincidence that Rooney scored two and seemed to play better with Welbeck next to him. Danny, unlike Hernandez, drops deep and likes to get involved in the passing the ball around. It gives Rooney a chance to drift higher up the pitch, and into goalscoring areas as well as creating space for Rooney to operate in. As can be seen, Welbeck played 44% of his passes in the middle third of the pitch. Danny won all four of the tackles he attempted, again another indicator of how hard he works for the team. What isn’t shown there is the quality of his passing – he played some very clever balls through and nearly set up some goals.

Rooney ended an 8 match goal drought with two well-taken goals. The second in particular showcased superb technique to hit a ball that was behind him. Nani also notched two goals, which considering the number of shots he has was somewhat overdue. However two things stood out. Firstly, Rooney had no shots off target for the first game in a while; and secondly, Antonio Valencia’s contribution was excellent.

Chalkboard 4: Valencia assists and Rooney shots

Of Rooney’s 10 efforts on goal, two were scored, three were blocked and five were saved (although most of those were probably his infuriating attempts at chips). One real highlight of the game was wing-play. Not just Nani scoring but Valencia remembered how to play like Antonio Valencia. He looked direct, he was quick, he was beating men and his crossing was consistently accurate. So much so that he ended up with three assists. A huge bonus for United considering Ashley Young appears to be rusty still post-injury.

City losing

The one advantage to being slow in writing these post-match thoughts is that City have now played. Their loss at Chelsea is somewhat significant. United play away to QPR before City host Arsenal next. A United win will see them return to the top of the table, even if only for a few hours before City play. Psychologically it’s a chance for United to remind City that they’re there and it’ll be interesting to see how City respond to the kind of pressures United are so used to.

Summary

After two months, United finally notched up more than one goal in a league game and provided a convincing display of attacking football with it. With key players missing, Carrick and Jones again stepped up with solid performances and importantly a good understanding of each other. Goals from Rooney and Nani suggest that confidence is starting to pick up again after the Basel disaster. A midday kick off in London on Sunday at QPR can see top stop regained for the first time in a while; the Reds are on the march!

AUTHOR: – Doron

So this is what a league defeat feels like?! First off, massive credit to Wolves for putting in a really good display – the purpose of this piece is obviously to analyse what United did right or wrong so the lack of focus on what Wolves did right shouldn’t take anything away from how they played. Talk of unbeaten records can now be put to bed. Despite taking an early lead through a great Nani strike, Wolves twice hit back in the first half with headed goals. A defeat away from home almost felt overdue but few would have predicted it would have come today; where did United go wrong then?

Talking Points

Centre Backs

Losing Rio Ferdinand in the warm up to a calf injury (he’s out for two weeks) is never a good thing. In came Jonny Evans, somewhat revitalised after a really great performance against Liverpool in the FA Cup a few weeks back. It’s of little surprise that United concede less with Rio playing than they do with Jonny when he plays (stats accurate before today’s game):

Click on diagrams to enlarge

Evans inclusion today at the last minute shouldn’t have caused many issues; it’s no secret he and Vidic both play better with the more vocal and experienced Ferdinand than they do with each other. Evans today didn’t make a single tackle or block – ok that’s understandable considering the United defence was rarely troubled. Incredibly though, it was Vidic who was at fault for both goals (if anyone is to blame). The first Wolves goal he was too late in trying to forcefully challenge Elokobi – yet the whole team are arguably accountable for being slow to react to a quickly taken corner. For the second goal he misjudges the flight of the ball and gets too far ahead of the Elokobi/Doyle combination allow them almost a free header at goal. United may feel aggrieved as Doyle certainly looked offside but the fact that Wolves were able to score with two headers relatively easily is a concern.

It goes without saying that Vidic, if he’s fit will be selected to face City next weekend; but who can replace Ferdinand? Personally I’d choose Wes Brown. Wes is experienced, a good defender and naturally a centre back. Whilst Smalling and Evans have had more minutes than him lately I think Wes’s experience will count for a lot in a game like this.

Rooney, Berbatov and Chicharito

If there was one thing in particular I felt Wolves did well, it was to defend deep and in numbers. I’ve always felt that the way to frustrate United is to let them have the ball 30+ yards from goal and make them play it through you. Wolves did that very well today and forced United to play the long ball fairly often. Hence the tale of our three strikers today is one of frustration.

Rooney as we guessed in our match preview did play up front in a 4-4-2 but was often found to be swapping places with Ryan Giggs. His frustration was clear to see and it lead to him trying to give an all-rounded performance. Last year when at his free-scoring best, Rooney was playing the majority of his game in the centre forwards position and was getting good delivery. A combination of frustration, poor crossing (see chalkboard below) and a desire to search the ball out lead Rooney to drop deep today and try to find the ball hence his positioning was all over the place (see heatmap below):

United’s 19 unsuccessful crosses

Wayne Rooney heatmap

For some reason and I can’t quite work out why, it just didn’t work for Dimitar Berbatov today. He was always on the periphery of the game and maybe it was Wolves tough approach that worked in keeping him quiet. Certainly getting service up to him seemed a struggle and on the few occasions there were good balls put in, it seemed like it was Rooney and not him getting close to the ball. Passes aren’t necessarily a great indicator of how involved a player is in a game, but in the 65 minutes he was on the pitch, Berbatov only made 16 passes (see chalkboard below).

Dimitar Berbatov passes

Berbatov’s replacement, Chicharito was given 25 minutes plus injury time to try and pull United back into the game. Incredibly, he only touched the ball 4 times whilst he was on the pitch (3 passes and 1 blocked shot). That’s not to take away from his movement or desire to be involved but it shows how many players Wolves defended with and how well they stopped the service to United’s front men.

Chicharito passes

Even if Rooney cut a frustrated figure today; at least he attempted to be more involved in the game today. As analysis of Berbatov only last week showed, he doesn’t always have to be constantly involved to be effective, but today he was on the fringes of the game, correctly substituted and seemed possibly more lethargic than usual (bar one moment where he tracked back to win the ball deep inside the United half).

Wayward United

Two areas of United’s play today were off-colour. Shooting and passing. Of United’s 14 efforts on goal, only 4 (including the goal) found the target. Three chances from under 8 yards out were all missed. United this season have not struggled to create goalscoring opportunities but away from home in particular, they’ve struggled to be clinical enough. The red lines below represent efforts off target (with dark grey indicating blocked shots):

Man United efforts on goal

The other area of United’s game that was poor was the passing; particularly in the midfield area. As I mentioned in the last section, it’s fair enough saying some of the striker’s didn’t get involved and that Rooney’s passing was poor but he was forced to come deep to actually try and influence the game; but the midfielders are the ones who have to supply the front players and today their passing didn’t reach the high standards expected of a United player.

These are the passing chalkboards of the two central midfielders that started the game today, Fletcher and Carrick:

Fletcher – 79% successful passes; Carrick 70% successful passes

What’s noticeable is that despite both players being comfortable in keeping the ball in the middle, as soon as either midfielder attempted to play the ball forward towards the strikers you see red lines appearing – unsuccessful passes. It may be surprising to know that in his 8 Premier League appearances this season, Darron Gibson has never had a passing completion rate as low as Carrick’s today, and only on two occasions has it been as low as Fletcher’s today.

Like the central midfielders, the wide players struggled to supply good ball today. I earlier pointed out that United’s crossing was poor but even when Nani and Giggs cut inside today they struggled to provide consistently accurate balls to the forwards as again this chalkboard shows many red, unsuccessful passes:

Nani – 65% successful passes; Giggs 66% successful passes

The only midfielder today to actually keep the ball well was Paul Scholes. But even he struggled to penetrate the organised Wolves defence:

Scholes – 91% successful passes

With Carrick today playing poorly and being withdrawn at half-time, and Fletcher despite being the best of a bad bunch somewhat still down on his usual performance level; it could be now that Anderson is given a chance after being out of the first XI picture a little bit lately (potentially due to the fact he revealed his knee still isn’t properly healed).

There was some suggestion post-match on Twitter today that United may have overused Giggs recently. With Park back amongst the squad now after the Asian Cup and a weeks break he may be the man to provide fresh impetus against City.

Unbeaten run ends

After 29 league games unbeaten, stretching back to Chelsea at home on the 3rd of April last year, today finally saw an end to the club-record equalling run. It was always unlikely that United would match “The Invincibles” Arsenal team in going 49 league games unbeaten but I think the manner of today’s lacklustre defeat will have disappointed many Reds.

I believe that to go 29 league games unbeaten is a great achievement and it’s something the club should certainly be proud of. Of course it will mean nothing if title number 19 isn’t won this season but nevertheless now it’s ended we can reflect and praise the team for it – something we have been reluctant to do or make a deal out of. I certainly believe that in some ways it lifts a burden off the team – the media on TV, radio and in the written press have been the people playing up the unbeaten run. With it now over hopefully there will be no added pressure coming from them; no more of the “United are still unbeaten” and speculation over when the run might end. It may even lead to some praise for the team and what they’ve achieved – something that I personally feel hasn’t gushed as much as it should have with instead articles written about how United’s squad isn’t good enough and the general consensus that United are only top because everyone else has been poor an inconsistent. Am I bothered that the unbeaten run is over? No but I’m proud.

Match Conclusion

It was a performance we’ve seen time and time again from Manchester United away from home this season; just without the dramatic finale. Unlike at Blackpool, West Brom, Stoke and Aston Villa there was no late show to grab a point or three. United took the lead within three minutes as a terrific bit of skill from Nani was followed by a cut-inside and an early left foot shot flew into the near corner of the goal. Wolves though were level within six minutes as United failed to react to a quickly taken corner. The corner itself was frustrating and dubious; Rafael should have passed the ball back to Edwin van der Sar but instead tried to win a through and in the end conceded a corner that looked suspiciously like a goal kick. As the corner was played short only Rafael reacted to block the first cross but the second found a free Elokobi who powered in an equaliser. The winning goal came four minutes before half time. A free kick was whipped in and a combination of Elokobi and Kevin Doyle headed in a second for Wolves. The only players marking Elokobi and Doyle were each other. Doyle claimed the goal ahead of the Cameroonian and in doing so caused another talking point as he looked to be in an offside position. For all their pressure and chances, United rarely came close to scoring and Wayne Hennessey wasn’t tested as much as he should have been. Wolves defended bravely and well – they were deserved winners.

Next up are rivals Man City at Old Tafford on Saturday. Having dropped points midweek, City beat West Brom 3-0 today as former Red, Carlos Tevez scored a hat-trick. The result leaves City only 5 points behind United but having played a game more.

strong>AUTHOR: – Doron

AUTHOR: – Doron

This match-up at Moleneuax pits the league’s bottom side against the league’s top team. Wolves have lost their last three games whereas United are on a run of three straight wins. That said Wolves are playing far from badly and few will forget how tough it was for United to win 1-0 at Wolves last season.

It’s been one those seasons for Wolves and their fans. When you seem to have no luck at all and you lose games you don’t deserve to lose you’re in for trouble. Wolves finished 15th last year with 38 points – without a lot of investment it would have been unrealistic to imagine that Wolves weren’t going to be in a relegation battle again. With the teams that gained promotion doing better than expected and other Premier League teams strengthening, Wolves are struggling and on course to finish with a lower points tally this year than they did last year. The worrying thing for Wolves though is the fact that they’re bottom (with a game in hand). Mick McCarthy has got one hell of a job on his hands to fix this; it’s far from as easy as the league table suggests.

It’s very hard to know what to expect from Wolves? In terms of formation at home they’ve mixed it up this year, playing a 4-4-1-1 against Stoke last weekend yet against tougher opposition in Liverpool and Chelsea they’ve gone for a 4-4-2. It would be a surprise if Wolves did go for a 4-5-1 though. United don’t like it when teams attack them and Wolves play at their best when they’re attacking. At the same time though, playing attacking football and opening the game up may well suit United.There is little recent history to draw upon ahead of this fixture. Only two games have been played in the Premier League era at Wolves and both have ended 1-0; with a win for each team. United were the most recent victors though, Paul Scholes scored as United earned a hard three points last season.

Wolves are currently on a 3 game losing run. However since the turn of the new year they’ve only had 2 league games at home – a defeat against Liverpool and a very impressive win against Chelsea. Wolves are bottom primarily because their away record is by some margin the worst in the league. By contrast, their home record is better than Newcastle’s who are in 10th. 17 points from a possible 36 at home is by no means brilliant but it’s better than quite a few teams in this league. Yet it says a lot that there are only 4 teams in the league who have scored less at home and only 4 teams who have conceded more at home. Wolves though may take some heart from the fact that United have only won 3 on the road from 11. There’s no reason for Wolves to feel intimidated for United away from home is a different proposition from United at Old Trafford.

Mick McCarthy has no new injuries in his squad for this game. There are four players though that will be missing this game – Guedioura, Hunt, Kightly and Mancienne. Karl Henry has been called into the England 40-man strong provisional squad; it’s his first call-up and is a reflection on the fact Wolves have probably played better than their position suggests this season. However this is a surprise call-up for Wolves fans, Louis said, “This comes at a weird time. Injured for last 8 games and coming in for a lot of critisism from Wolves fans!”

Defeat for Wolves would see them lose four successive games for the third time this season. As unlucky as they may have been their 15 league defeats (mainly due to a terrible away record of P12 W1 D1 L10) is more than any other team. No doubt Sir Alex Ferguson will be congratulating Mick McCarthy as this will be his 100th game in charge of a Premier League team – his record in those games is W17 D18 L64 – McCarthy turns 52 on Monday.

Enough on Wolves…onto United and my predicted line up:

This is a surprisingly tough team and formation to predict…

Edwin in goal is simple, as should be the back four. Rafael has been confirmed as available by Sir Alex Ferguson and I’d expect him to replace O’Shea. Of course this is the first time in a preview we can definitely rule Gary Neville out of selection after his shock and immediate retirement. As per usual there is good back up in the form of Smalling, Evans, Brown, O’Shea and Fabio all fit to take a place on the bench.

The problem comes in the midfield. Away from home, Fergie has often favoured a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1 variation. However whether the game at Blackpool where he had to switch to a 4-4-2 will have any baring remains to be seen. I actually think that we’ll see a flexible 4-4-2, with Giggs shifting in and drifting along the middle and Rooney dropping out towards the left when that’s needed. In which case I think Scholes selection may be key. In away games he is so vital to United being able to control a game and keep the ball. The selection of Carrick with him therefore may come as a surprise. Scholes probably needs someone to do his running but on the basis that United will have the ball, who better than someone like Carrick to play next to Scholes for he like Scholes uses and keeps the ball well. Fletcher is likely to be fit despite a gash to his head but I think he and Anderson may be best used from the bench if need be. Once again I’m unsure if Park is available having had some time off after the Asian Cup.

Rooney almost certainly won’t be dropped and you’d have thought Berbatov will also start. Keeping the ball, as I seem to have said a few times now, will be key. Once again this will be ever so harsh on Chicharito but he spoke recently about understanding how a squad is used and knowing that he’s only 6 months into his first season with United.

United remain top and following midweek results they have kept their small 5 point gap over Arsenal. The gap to City in third though has increased to 8 points now. I don’t feel there is any need for much squad rotation – there is a week until the City game with players able to rest the weekend after when Crawley come to Old Trafford. Some of the squad will be on International duty this coming week but even so they should be fresh enough for City..

Recent form shows United sitting top of the form league with 16 points taken from a possible 18 in the last six games. Whilst United’s home record is excellent, away from home the draw column seems a bit heavy; a record of P11 W3 D8 L0 is ok at best and certainly far from anything catastrophic but the “win” column needs to start to catch up the “draw” column soon. Since the turn of the year, United’s away form does seem to have picked up though; three games have been played with two won and one drawn. It’s helped make United’s away form look good in comparison to other teams (only Tottenham and Arsenal have picked up more points on the road in their past six away games). Wolves will of course be trying to remove the “unbeaten” tag from United – not that the players or staff seem too bothered by this unbeaten league run. To do that they’ll have to break down a defence that has conceded only 14 goals away from home; one of the best away records in the league. United have scored only 17 goals away from home, I say only as that really should be more, yet only three sides have managed to score more on their travels. Wolves will hope to repeat their feat of 2003/04 when they defeated United 1-0 – their only league win over United since August 1980.

For those interested in the unbeaten run and how it compares to Arsenal’s at the same stage, United reamin four points down on Arsenal’s ‘invincible’ squad of 2003/04. United have 15 wins and nine draws from 24 games, compared with the Gunners’ 17 wins and seven draws. Avoiding defeat tonight will see the run come to an incredible 30 Premier League fixtures dating back to April 2010, setting a brand new record for United’s best-ever top-flight run. Berbatov’s 19 league goals this season is just five fewer than the entire Wolves team; he is of course the league’s top scorer. Nani is the league’s top assister. West Midlands teams have had a hard time against United in 2011, losing all three games. Three is also the number of away wins United have this season – on each of those occasions, Chicharito has scored!

I can see this being a tough game and whilst I’d like to think United will go 4-4-2 and be positive, we’ve hardly seen that away from home this season. Ferguson will probably go with a more cautious formation; I reckon this will be one of those nervous games! I predict a 2-1 win for United.

Paul Scholes scoring the winner at Wolves last year, his 100th league goal:

You can share with us your thoughts ahead of the match and your favourite moments from games away to Wolves on our forum.

Ji Sung Park struck 2 goals, one in injury time, to snatch three points on a special anniversary for the club after visitors Wolverhampton Wanderers looked all set to take a well deserved share of the spoils.

All the early positivity that surrounded United and Old Trafford – the recent upturn in form, Sir Alex Ferguson marking his 24^th year in charge of the club, and Owen Hargreaves making his first start in over 2 years, took just a few minutes of this game to evaporate.

Hargreaves pulled up in the 5^th minute and took less than 60 seconds to decide he couldn’t play any further part; Bebe was introduced as his replacement and had a speculative effort soon after coming off, though it was easily blocked out. The subdued atmosphere encouraged the visitors to impose themselves on the game, and they did so using the same avenues as they did in the recent Carling Cup tie between the sides. Matty Jarvis was a thorn in Wes Brown’s side in the first half, but it was Nemad Milijas who came the closest for Wolves – his effort taking a huge deflection of Nemanja Vidic and going just wide.

United were just as unconvincing going forward, missing 5 of their first choice front 6 this season, as well as Ryan Giggs, this was hardly a surprise, but this only served to heighten the frustration on the numerous times Bebe found himself in a good position wide only to screw the crosses into the stand.

Despite all this, the Red Devils snatched an unlikely lead on the stroke of half time. Perhaps borne out of complacency from the visitors with their sense of comfort, United showed that it’s dangerous to take the foot off the pedal against them even with a side so clearly depleted. Darren Fletcher was allowed to carry the ball for a fair distance and then pick his pass – Ji Sung Park had drifted into a central position and picked the ball up, unmarked, and with plenty of time to pick his spot and give United the lead.

Though the hosts seem to grow in confidence in the second half and dictate possession, Wolves’ own renewed determination was evident – a chance just after the hour mark, created by Evra but fired straight at the goalkeeper by Bebe, was the closest United came to extending the lead. On 66 minutes, if the home team needed a shot to wake them up, they got it when old boy Sylvain Ebanks Blake came off the bench to equalise, spinning Vidic to latch onto Milijas’ shot and firing through van der Sar’s legs.

Paul Scholes and Kiko Macheda were introduced – for O’Shea and Bebe – but United still struggled, helped, ironically, by Wolves own intentions to snatch 3 points. That desire almost lead to a Steven Fletcher goal but the Scot ballooned his chance on 80 minutes.

It was left to Park to be the unlikely hero. As United huffed and puffed with a variety of aimless balls, Park changed track 2 minutes into injury time and headed direct into the visitors box, past two defenders and slotted in with his left foot from 10 yards. It was a goal that seemed too easy; but it was far from it.

Ratings : van der Sar 6, Brown 6, Ferdinand 6, Vidic 6, Evra 7, Hargreaves (Bebe 5, (Macheda)), O’Shea 5 (Scholes), Fletcher 6, *Park 8, Obertan 7, Chicharito 6

This all seems a bit strange, didn’t we do this one just recently? Yep, Wolves are back at Old Trafford just 11 days after coming for the fourth round of the Carling Cup. This one is a league game that *shock horror* is at three o’clock on a Saturday – a welcome return to normality, hopefully as the result will be too.

Since last time when I reported: “Mick McCarthy brings his team to Manchester in poor form…” a few things have changed. They do still sit 19th in the Premier League but are now three points ahead of bottom placed West Ham. Already it is shaping up to be tight at the bottom end of the table; one win could propel Wolves from 19th to 10th so not too much should be read into their league position. What has changed is that Wolves are out of the Calring Cup now having been beaten by United but more importantly for them and us, they have added a second league win to the statistics – they beat Man City last weekend.

The visit to Old Trafford in the Carling Cup appeared to have the galvanising affect that Mick McCarthy had hoped it would have. Wolves were excellent against us and came close to winning the tie altogether. Winger, Matt Jarvis, was their stand out man. He was quick, direct and caused us problems. He’ll be someone to keep an eye on tomorrow. The spirited defeat took Wolves into a big home game against City. It’s fair to say City were poor but even so, Wolves were excellent and deserved their win. It was a nice change for them having not won at home since the opening day of the season. Wolves are however yet to win away from home this season in the league, they may well feel this could be the time to change that.

Against United last year in the league, Wolves selected a side with 10 changes to their outfield personnel from a team that had beaten Spurs 4 days earlier. They were later given a £25k suspended fine by the FA for fielding a weakened team. I do not expect the same thing to happen this time round. Wolves have a bigger squad and having survived in the league last year, they are more ambitious. In fact, as I predicted, they picked a strong team in the Carling Cup… “McCarthy may go for a morale boosting result at Old Trafford with a strong side in order to lead his team into their tough three league fixtures.” – call me Mystic Meg!!!

I’m not sure if I could successfully predict the Wolves line up but I think it would make sense if the team that beat Man City last weekend started this game – Hahnemann, Foley, Berra, Stearman, Ward, Jarvis, Edwards, Henry, Milijas, Hunt, Doyle.

Before the 1983/84 season this was a common league fixture, however since then this will be only the third league meeting at Old Trafford. In 2003/4 United won by a single goal, a first for United for John O’Shea – United played with Roy Keane at centre back that day. Most recently, last year, United beat Wolves 3-0 at Old Trafford. I had the pleasure of attending that day and I can recall how very very dull it was – quiet stadium, strange Wolves team, weakened United team – and it was cold! A well taken goal by Antonio Valencia did however add some sparkle to the game. It’s 30 years now since a last Wolves league win at Old Trafford, however a more pressing stat for McCarthy may be that Wolves are the only side in the league yet to keep a clean sheet this season!

Here’s how I believe United will line up:

This is quite a hard game to predict the line up for, it’s at home against one of the weaker sides in the league and we have a huge game away at City only three days later. I’ve picked a strong side with a few surprising names in it. Ultimately I think it is a ‘safe’ team and would allow for a strong enough bench should we need it. The bad news is that Anderson, Evans and Macheda all have flu. Gibson did as well but I believe he may be ok to play. Fletcher hasn’t been ruled out after going over on his ankle midweek but I can’t see him being risked. Nani however has joined Giggs, Valencia, Hargreaves, Rooney and Owen in being definitely ruled out.

The back four is strong. I can see Fabio being included but I can’t justify why. Sometimes Fergie makes decisions like that for games like these(!). I think Rio will play however I can understand why Smalling may play in place of him again. I think Rafael’s importance may be paid the ultimate compliment as he may be rested for the City game.

We don’t have many options in the midfield, particularly out wide. Obertan did well against Bursaspor and you would suspect he is ahead of Bebe for a wing position in this game. Carrick has rediscovered some form and with Fletcher, Anderson and Hargreaves out he will start, whether it’s with Gibson (if he is over his flu) or Scholes we shall see. Should Gibson not make it, Magnus Eikrem should be on the bench again. Berbatov and Chicharito pick themselves up front with the other three strikers all unavailable. Berbatov hasn’t scored since the Liverpool game, it’s getting close to two months that now…he needs some goals. With only Bebe as cover for the wings and strikers there may be an opportunity for one of the younger players to make the bench again – maybe one of Morrison, Brady, Cofie or Keane

United go into this game having won five games in a row with three clean sheets as part of that run. Still, United are the only unbeaten team in the league and as a side-note, the only team yet to concede in the Champions League. Berbatov will make his 100th appearance for the club should he feature but a bigger milestone is that the game marks 24 years since The Boss took over. Here’s to the next 24!

I’m going to predict a 3-0 United win, I feel confident after finally getting a correct prediction last weekend!

Before I sign off, I would love to point you in the direction of our first Vodcast in which we preview this game and Yolkie tells us his line up for it – or you can listen/watch it right here:

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Bebe scored his first goal for the club and Chicharito continued his elevation to hero status with a winner from the bench as holders Manchester United progressed to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup. Both of Wolves’ full backs had brought the visitors level in front of a jaw dropping attendance (for all the wrong reasons), either side of a Ji Sung Park goal, but it was the small Mexican who added to his ever growing reputation.

A forgettable first half was punctuated with flashes of encouragement from Bebe and Obertan; the former setting up an opportunity for Macheda after the latter had an appeal for a penalty turned down in the 12^th minute. Park forced Wolves’ keeper Hennessey into an easy save early in the second half but just two minutes later, summer signing Bebe hit a goal on his full debut – after being forced wide, the wingers’ cross was deflected in and just over the line.

Just 4 minutes later, Wolves won a corner and levelled; when Elokobi seemed to be unchallenged, rising high to head home. It could have been worse in the 63^rd minute at Matt Jarvis ripped through the home side with devastating pace for the umpteenth time, setting up Stephen Hunt who clipped the bar.

Bebe set up Macheda who blazed over; and in the 70^th minute, Park put United back in front, exchanging a pass with the Italian prodigy and slotting brilliantly into the far corner with his left foot. The lead lasted only 5 minutes, when a good move from the visitors ended with Fletcher threading the ball to Foley, who coolly finished past Ben Amos.

Chicharito came on for Bebe on the 81^st minute; he instantly made an impact, creating a chance which was saved for Obertan, before the Frenchman wasted a long, flicked on pass from Gary Neville. In the 90^th minute, though, Chicharito struck, just as he did to decide the game late on at the weekend against Stoke, and ultimately score his 4^th winning goal since joining the club, after being put through by Gibson. The forward still had work to do, but added to his growing reputation by rounding his marker and finishing with composure.

United are through to the quarter finals on the march to even more club history; last seasons success in this competition was the first time the Red Devils had ever retained a domestic cup, and advancing to the quarter finals has made the possibility of a third straight success even more of a possibility.

Ratings : Amos 6, Brown 7 Smalling 7, Evans 6, Fabio 7, (Neville), Obertan 6, Carrick 6, Gibson 6, *Park 7 (Morrison), Macheda 6, Bebe 7 (Chicharito)

United’s defence of the Carling Cup continues with a home tie against Wolves in the fourth round. United are expected to name an entirely different starting XI to the team that finally won away from home at Stoke on Sunday. Wolves have had to beat Southend and Notts County to get this far so will expect a far tougher test at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Mick McCarthy brings his team to Manchester in poor form. They sit 19th in the Premier League and are level on points with Liverpool (above them) and West Ham (below them). Their two Carling Cup wins have both come in extra time against lower league opposition; they also make up two thirds of victories achieved this season by The Wanderers. Against Premier League opposition their only victory came on the opening day of the season against Stoke.

Most recently, in October, Wolves have lost away at Chelsea, drawn at home to West Ham and lost away at Wigan. Their trip to Old Trafford couldn’t be worse timed.

Against United last year in the league, Wolves selected a side with 10 changes to their outfield personnel from a team that had beaten Spurs 4 days earlier. They were later given a £25k suspended fine by the FA for fielding a weakened team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wolves again weaken their team for this game. Their next three fixtures in the league are against Man City, Man United and Arsenal – and whilst maybe 0 points are expected from those three games, they may take priority over the Carling Cup. Alternatively, McCarthy may go for a morale boosting result at Old Trafford with a strong side in order to lead his team into their tough three league fixtures.

Starts are likely for Hennessey, Milijas and Elokobi. Alongside them Stephen Hunt may win a chance to continue his recovery from a long term injury and Ebanks-Blake should get an opportunity to feature on his return to Old Trafford. One unfamiliar name who is an outsider for a start is 19 year old David Davis – the young midfielder made the bench at Chelsea on Saturday and could make his Wolves debut tomorrow night.

Wolves in the league cup at Old Trafford is hardly a new affair. Last year this was the draw for the third round tie. United won it 1-0 with a well taken Welbeck goal after Fabio was sent off. The omens are not good for Wolves, it’s 15 years since progress beyond the fourth round and 30 years since a win at Old Trafford. By contrast, United are unbeaten in this competition since September 2007.

Here’s how I believe United will line up:

Ive predicted a wholesale 11 changes from the team that won at Stoke only two days before this game. With Kuszczak on home game duty in the Champions Leauge, Ben Amos will have a chance to add to his one appearance against ‘boro in this competition two years ago. He would’ve played at Scunthorpe but needed a minor arm operation.

The back four is totally dependent upon who’s fit. At the time of writing I’m unsure if Evans or Fabio are fit to play. I think of the two Evans is unlikely to be ready and so I’ve opted for the da Silvas in the full back positions. Wes Brown has been out of the scene for a little while so I think he may partner Smalling in the heart of the defence. There is a case for Gary Neville to start after his time on the pitch was cut short against Stoke at the weekend.

Unfortunately I don’t think the midfield will feature any of our promising reserves or academy players. Obertan you’d think is a certainty along with Gibson, Anderson and Park – none of whom featured on Sunday. With Chicharito and Berbatov playing a full game only 48 hours earlier, Macheda and Owen should come in for them up front.

The bench will be the interesting area of our squad selection. Many of the young players at the club have impressed in the early parts of this season. Certainly the captain of the reserves, Magnus Eikrem is surely pushing for a start as is new signing, Bebe. Other players that may well feature on the bench are William Keane, John Cofie, Paul Pogba, Cameron Stewart and the ridiculously exciting Ravel Morrison.

And what of Owen Hargreaves? Last we heard he had a minor calf injury…could Sir Alex spring a surprise and include him?

United should head into this game full of optimism. The Carling Cup has been good to the club in recent years and offered a great opportunity for success. The result at Stoke will hopefully galvanise the players and start a good run of wins that we can take into the game against Spurs at the weekend.

I’m going to predict a 3-1 United win, although I should add my predictions have generally been quite off so far this season!!

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Paul Scholes scored a landmark goal to give Premier League Champions Manchester United a crucial (if unconvincing) three points against division struggliers Wolves at Molineux. The United legend’s 100th league goal for the club returned them to the top of the league.

It was a twist of a somewhat ironic nature that presented itself to Sir Alex prior to the game in terms of available players; while he was able to field the clubs’ Champions League winning defence for the first time in almost 18 months, he was severely restricted in attacking options. Wayne Rooney’s decision to play in midweek for England on a heavily criticised Wembley pitch lead to a reported aggravation of a knee complaint and added United’s leading scorer to a list of absentees that included Ryan Giggs, Anderson, Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves.

With such an impressive array of creative talent sidelined chances were likely to be at a premium against a team fighting for their lives and it made for an uncomfortable 90 minutes for both sets of supporters. Neither manager will make an apology for that – indeed, after the game, Sir Alex maintained that his side had played good football at times while Mick McCarthy lamented missed chances, and at the business stage of the season it was probably widely expected that this fixture was never likely to present a feast.

Of the first half chances, both sides helped themselves to a couple of decent shouts – after eight minutes, Antonio Valencia created space before driving into the side netting, and on the quarter hour Nani’s free kick got through the wall to Darron Gibson. The Irish midfielder was to squander later openings but did well to react and try to connect with the ball. The shot went wide although there was half a shout for a penalty due to what could have been deemed excessive handling.

Before the break, Wolves created two good opportunities in the space of 3 minutes. First of all, former United trainee David Jones hit a shot that was deflected helpfully into Van der Sar’s waiting hands, before Steven Ward headed a Jarvis cross straight at the veteran goalkeeper. Both chances were clear openings; both misses were greeted with a collective sigh of relief from the visiting faithful, who, through their colourful protests, had probably created a better spectacle off the pitch than the one that was being provided on it.

If the first half was forgettable, the second was just unpleasant. Patrice Evra’s double half chance from a Gibson pass was, other than substitutions for the Champions of Neville and Diouf for Brown and Gibson, the only notable event until the scoreline was finally affected. Paul Scholes played the ball wide to Valencia, whose cross was snuffed out by the defence, only to be met by Nani who had crept out of position in the knowledge that with Park limbering up, he was due to be replaced. Nani’s pass found its way to Scholes – and he used all of his experience to evade a challenge and coolly finish, to relief that was almost tangible from his reaction, though typically clearly more for the meaning of the goal in the circumstances than the personal achievement he had reached.

Had Mame Diouf been more confident or less ring rusty there may have been more to follow; two gilt edged chances went begging before a home substitute found himself with far more important retrospective recriminations. Michael Carrick was guilty of inexplicably surrendering possession in the area – in injury time! – casually giving the ball away during a defensive melee. The ball was played to Sam Vokes who somehow, with the goal at his mercy, fired the ball way over the bar. Any hopes of a “there there son” were extinguished when he went on to head another decent chance wide and in the process end Wolves’ chance of a result.

The misses – the first, in particular – represented a stark contrast to the teams respective plights. It would be difficult to reasonably argue against United deserving the victory but at the same time Wolves barely deserved to lose in terms of their commitment; when you think of the league in the fierce way it has been competed this year and the potential that miss has to effect the difference between survival and relegation it would take a thick skinned person to not feel a degree of sympathy.

It wasn’t pretty, to say the least, but taking into account the list of those missing (Darren Fletcher was also left unused) the performance will be discounted and filed under “one of those games you need to win”.

Ratings : van der Sar 7, Brown 6 (Neville 6), Ferdinand 7, Vidic 7, Evra 7, Valencia 7, *Scholes 8, Gibson 5 (Diouf 6), Carrick 6, Nani 5 (Park 5), Berbatov 7

Wolverhampton Wanderers were today fined £25k for fielding an understrength side against United back in December. Wolverhampton Wanders lost the match 3-0, however made a number of changes from their game against Tottenham Hotspur the previous weekend for the clash against Manchester United. Mick McCarthy obviously felt that he should rest his side for the match against Burnley after United – a match that Wolves won 2-0. The Stretty Rant feel that the Premier League are demonstrating complete double standards on this issue.

Firstly, a £25k fine is quite pathetic compared to the prize money the club will receive from staying in the League but how comes the Premier League have no problem with United putting out a weakened side against Hull City but do with Wolves against Manchester United? If Kevin Doyle or Nenad Milijas were injured against United (the two players to score against Burnley) and didn’t play on the weekend – what cost could that be at the end of the season? Whether you agree with him, McCarthy obviously felt that it wasn’t worth risking the fitness of the majority of his first eleven in a match that he believes wouldn’t have a bearing on their season. Now, if that is the case, what has that got to do with the Premier League? If Wolves stay up by a point and Burnley go down by a point – the McCarthy made the right call. The people who have a right to be annoyed are the Wolves fans that traveled up to Manchester for the match to see a reserve team put out.

You may think “what has it got to do with you?” especially considering United were not punished for the match against Hull City last season. Well, we do take an interest in things that are non United related (like the decline of 3-5-2 in modern day football or Zonal Marking vs. Man Marking if you’re interested!), and I am generally disgusted at the level of hypocrisy showed by the Premier League. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got the best league in the world but its no thanks to those lads down in West London. United and Wolves have a rich history with some glorious teams (older readers will be aware that the great Stan Cullis described Wolves as ‘the best team in the world’ after beating Hoved of Hungry – who were made up of a number of the Mighty Magyars) throughout the years – which have been a contributing factor to what made football great (and the birth of the European Cup), not Scudamore and his money grabbing schemes. Game 39? No thanks.

Relegation threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers sacrificed their best top flight run for over two decades after back to back wins by making ten changes against Manchester United but Sir Alex Ferguson’s men still managed to make heavy work of it despite the flattering scoreline at Old Trafford.

Any pre-match thoughts of a first half procession were quickly disspelled as the Champions embarked on such an abject display it appeared they were trying to redefine that very word. Chances were at a premium with the only two worth mentioning in the first half hour both being instigated by Gibson and both ending with Rooney shots saved by Marcus Hanhemann, the only player in the Wolves side to survive from their weekend win at White Hart Lane.

Wolves had their own chances as George Friend shot over when presented with a glaring opportunity while Tomasz Kuszczak was presumable inspired by the insipid display of his teammates and decided to join in, fluffing his catch at a free kick and getting away with it. After a rare good move down the left between Obertan and Evra, Rooney saw another chance deflected wide.

The sight of the visitors second string clearly wasn’t enough to inspire the Red Devils to put on a proper reaction to their loss against Aston Villa and on the half hour they extended a further gift to their hosts when Ronald Zubar ridiculously handled in the box giving Steve Bennett no other choice than to award a penalty. Rooney converted but Wanderers’ generosity wasn’t finished; after another forgettable 14 minutes where United decided to not press home their advantage, a Gibson corner was headed goalwards by Vidic and fumbled in off the post by Wolves’ American keeper to give United a thoroughly undeserved two goal lead at half time.

The second goal by rights should have prompted a far more confident display in the second period but it didn’t transpire – Friend squandered another chance for Wolves and it took until midway through the second half for the game to reach a definite conclusion. Gibson and Scholes combined to send Berbatov into the area, and the Bulgarian showed a touch of class to flick to Antonio Valencia who used the outside of his right boot to cleverly flick in. Though Berbatov’s flick was great on the eye it must be remembered that it was against a second XI of a side expected to be relegated and it was the only bright spark of an otherwise substandard display.

The goal did come at the end of the best passage of play for United but any hopes of extending it were never likely to bear any fruit, despite the impressive cameo from Welbeck.

The next task for the Champions is a visit to Fulham where they suffered a loss last season and after tonight’s runout – significantly featuring another defensive run for Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher with Nemanja Vidic subbed off after scoring – Ferguson will be hoping for a far improved performance.

Ratings : Kuszczak 6, De Laet 7, Carrick 7, Vidic 7 (Fletcher 6), *Evra 7, Valencia 7, Gibson 6, Scholes 6, Obertan 6 (Welbeck 7), Berbatov 6, Rooney 7 (Owen )