Five issues Ruben Amorim discovered as Man Utd droop to disastrous defeat to Wolves
Manchester United slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Wolves at Molineux in what was the worst performance of Ruben Amorim’s brief spell in charge of the club.
The opening 45 minutes were a dreadful affair, with both sides playing down to each other. However, after the break, United captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a second yellow card following a challenge on Nelson Semedo.
It was the sending off which flipped the game in Wolves favour, who immediately began to put pressure on United’s backline. And just before the hour mark, Wolves, now managed by Vitor Pereira, found their breakthrough when Matheus Cunha scored directly from a corner with United goalkeeper Andre Onana left flapping and flailing as he tried to claim he had been fouled inside the box.
A VAR check confirmed the goal. And come the final whistle, it was Wolves who walked away from the Boxing Day clash with all three points, moving out of the relegation zone in the process when Hwang-Hee Chan netted in injury time to make it 2-0. United dropped a place to 14th, and here are five things manager Ruben Amorim will have learnt from the disastrous result at Molineux…
A frankly embarrassing and worrying performance
The first half at Molineux was frankly abysmal. It was an appalling display. The second half, you could understand with United down to 10-men why Wolves dominated them.
But it truth, United were abysmal, shocking, dreadful; insert whatever descriptive you want in here. Wolves have been one of the worst sides in the Premier League this season. That United made them look vastly superior to them speaks to where they are right now.
Bru-oh-no Fernandes
The one thing Man United did not need after their dismal first half display was to go a man down away from home. So of course, they went a man down immediately after the break when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a second yellow card, which came from a bad challenge on Nelson Semedo.
It was a bad challenge and Fernandes put his teammates and his manager under huge pressure as a result. It was the United captain’s third red card of the season, and one his side could ill-afford given their poor recent form. Yes, they beat rivals Manchester City in miraculous fashion, but bar that and the 4-0 win over Everton, United’s form of late has been shocking – and now they will be without a key man for a clash against in-form Newcastle.
Yet more set-piece woes
The last five things we learned from a Manchester United game pointed out Ruben Amorim needs to solve their issues when it comes to set-pieces. They conceded to Bournemouth from a set-piece in their 3-0 defeat to the Cherries and did so again just days later against Wolves.
And unfortunately, the goal they conceded against Wolves was even worse than the one they conceded to Bournemouth, with Matheus Cunha scoring directly from a corner. United have now conceded in four back to back Premier League games from set-pieces. Amorim has to sort this out.
Honestly, we’re not really sure what more we can say about this, United are really bad at defending set-pieces.
Toothless in attack
Prior to Vitor Pereira’s arrival at Wolves, they had kept one clean sheet this season. We’ll keep this brief. That United failed to score against this Wolves side is embarrassing.
If we’re being fair, Wolves absolutely deserved to win this game. They were the better team. But with what United’s expectations were this season and with the players at their disposal, they should be doing better. They are an embarrassment right now.
United are getting worse
Putting the stunning come from behind win over Manchester City aside, United have now won just one Premier League game under Amorim. They drew with Ipswich, beat Everton, then lost to Arsenal and Nottingham Forst.
The Etihad miracle came next, something which was a huge boost for the atmosphere around the club – which was then immediately undone by losing to Spurs in the Carabao Cup and then by losing to Bournemouth.
United were bad under Ten Hag last season and the Dutchman should not have made it to this term as their manager. Instead, INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe gave him a new deal, sacked him and then handed the job to Amorim who is being asked to perform miracles with a poorly built squad full of players who either aren’t performing, or are so low on confidence they can’t.
Is it any wonder why United look like they’re actually getting worse?
