1. Make no mistake, this is the type of result that can get us in the Champions League spots come the end of the season, or even better. Scoring at the dead end of games is synonymous with the United teams of the Ferguson era. Wolves offered a stern test for United at Old Trafford and everything pointed towards another stalemate, before Rashford stepped up and scored via a deflection. We did not create many open chances as in previous matches, predominantly due to the way how Wolves defended their goal with eight players behind the ball at all times. United however kept plugging away and were finally rewarded as the Wolves players tired out. These two extra points gained have now put us within touching distance from Liverpool who are just two points adrift having played the same amount of matches. It certainly puts pressure on the leaders and will give United a further boost to keep the momentum going.
2. A clean sheet is most welcome in a season where we have suffered several goals from individual errors and our defence has received huge criticism. Maguire has been improving from one game to the other, following the shaky start to the season he has had. I cannot not mention Eric Bailly however. This was his third match on the trot and based on this performance alone, I cannot see him losing his place to Lindelof when the latter is fit again. Eric is an excellent defender when he’s on top of his game and this we’ve known for long. He needs to keep the consistency though and stay fit. United’s defence has more pace with him in the team and is clearly better. Sir Alex once said that attack wins you games while defence wins you leagues. Our defence has to achieve some form of consistency and more clean sheets on a regular basis if we hope to be able to challenge for the top honours.
3. It is probably not a coincidence that on the day that Bruno failed to impose himself on the match, with the usual defence-splitting passes to teammates or by stealing in the box to score himself – he missed the best chance we created in the whole match in the first half – United failed to create as much clear chances as usual. At the end, he still managed to register an assist with the cross-pitch pass to Rashford for the goal but the extent this United team depends on Bruno is concerning. Rather than a defender or a left-sided midfielder, United should spend money on a player that can replace Bruno in some of the matches and have the same nous to make the team tick. Christian Eriksen comes to mind. He has rarely played for Inter this season and is certainly not in the good books of Conte. He could come on the cheap, knows the Premiership with his eyes closed, uses both feet, is a dead-ball specialist and can dictate play from midfield. In my opinion, getting him to Old Trafford is a no brainer, if he can be convinced to join that is.
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Article contributed by Contributor Roderick. Comments are appreciated on our Facebook page.