Coaching career started as a college team coach

Wolves' starting lineup is an unusual 4-1-4-1.

Jota is the striker, and Trossard and Bowen are the wingers on both sides. Almiron's main problem now is that he is relatively thin, and there are not many ways to face the tough Premier League full-backs, so Bowen can still get more playing opportunities.

In the midfield, De Paul and Rodri partnered as central midfielders, Dendoncker stayed in the back midfielder, and the back line was no different from before, with Maguire and Ruben Dias, Tierney as the left back, and Doherty as the right back.

The goalkeeper is undoubtedly Martinez.

At the beginning of the game, the audience who came to Old Trafford to watch the game felt something was wrong.

No matter who you are, get off Wolves!

Who is this team that is firmly defensive and all players are in the midfield?

They bought tickets to watch a wonderful offensive battle, not to watch Manchester United frequently pass the ball in the backcourt!

Manchester United tried to attack Wolves from the beginning, but most of the attacks were resolved in the midfield stage. The three players arranged by Wolves in the midfield are either tall and strong, or brave and good at defense.

Compared with Van der Beck, De Paul may not be so creative when organizing the attack, but when pressing, his tough defense makes it difficult for Pogba to pass the ball well.

Not to mention passing the ball, it is difficult for him to receive the ball!

Until the 20th minute, Manchester United only had two shots on the field, and they were long shots outside the penalty area, and they missed the goal without exception.

"Fuck, why?" After Phil Jones's straight pass to Pogba was poked away by De Paul, Pogba couldn't stand it. He opened his arms and yelled at the backcourt, "Pass it better!"

Phil Jones raised his hand to apologize.

Pogba forced himself to calm down, he smoothed the texture of his hair, looked at De Paul who was very close to him, and sighed. He was really inseparable from him in this game. No matter where he went, there was a yellow figure following him within two meters.

Mourinho looked solemn on the sidelines. He knew that Wolves' offense was strong and their defense was not weak either, but he didn't expect that Wolves had improved so much this season.

Faria came up and brought Mourinho the latest data: "Our possession rate reached 60%, but the expected goals so far are less than 0.4."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Mourinho turned around and asked. Faria looked at the field and shook his head. He tentatively asked, "Maybe we should play from the wing?"

Mourinho heard his assistant's words, pursed his lips and thought about it, and gave Faria an affirmative look: "Then try it."

Soon, Manchester United's two full-backs began to press forward. When the players gathered on one side, the full-back on the other side would even press directly across the half court.

But Blind is not Luke Shaw or Ashley Young after all.

Although Ashley Young's crossing level is well known - not very good, at least he can break through the opportunity to cross. Blind couldn't even outrun Doherty in this game.

Ruben Dias swapped positions with Maguire directly. He is now on the right, assisting the full-back in defense. In addition, Dendoncker's wide coverage was also demonstrated. He was like a ball-grabbing machine running all over the field, completing positions in various places.

In this game, Wei Le required Wolves to lock down Manchester United's organizational core, Pogba. De Paul had to take on the task of defending all the time, and Pogba had to hand over the organizational work to Matic.

Matic had relatively few options. Wolves did not impose close defense on Matic, but paid attention to the defense in the backcourt area to prevent missing people. Even if Matic took the ball to the frontcourt, they would not send too many troops to press.

Of course, just like Mourinho's adjustments, they began to try to turn the battlefield to the wing.

This can't break through the Wolves' defense

The Wolves' midfield and back lines are very close, and the two wingers are very far back in this game. They can often combine with the full-backs to siege the wing players and create more robbing and less robbing in some places.

Wei Le's goal in this game is to use low-position pressing to not give opportunities to players who are good at breaking through and need to break through space. This effectively cuts off Manchester United's front and back fields, and Pogba, who was originally able to create connections, is completely silent.

Pogba has tried to retreat to receive the ball, but even if he returns to the penalty area, De Paul has been following him.

De Paul does not belong to the back line or the midfield line. He is the most flexible one among them. Once Pogba tries to retreat to receive the ball, Jota and other midfielders will immediately adjustThe shape of the whole "line" is extended with a protruding part to help press Pogba.

After losing the ball in the backcourt several times, the back line is not too brave to force the pass to Pogba.

The Wolves' defense is really solid, but there are certainly other ways to break the dense defense.

You can also rely on the center forward.

But Lukaku's performance today is maddening.

The Lukaku of 2017 has not yet become the short-haired and beer-bellied Lukaku of 2023. The record of Everton in the previous seasons is like a god descending from heaven. Lukaku at this time is one of the best center forwards in the world.

However, Lukaku was really irritable in this game.

The big head of the guy next to him, Maguire, always hits him, making him unable to receive the ball. Lukaku's not-so-excellent basic skills can't get the ball comfortably in front of two excellent defenders.

There was even a time when he had a chance to face the goalkeeper, but Lukaku was confused and he kicked the ball with his left foot, and then the ball bounced to the back of his right foot for some reason, and he gave the ball back to his opponent.

Lukaku's signature body did not have an advantage, and he could not beat Maguire with his header. Several attempts to cross the ball did not create a chance to score.

Mourinho was a little annoyed by the slump of the center forward. If Ibrahimovic was there, he would have wanted to replace Ibrahimovic in the midfield. But looking back at the bench, there were only Martial and Lingard in the forward position.

You can't let Fellaini play as a center forward!

This idea made Mourinho laugh.

The most threatening opportunity came in the 27th minute, when Pogba finally got the ball. After shaking off De Paul, he passed the ball directly to Mata who cut inside.

Mata passed the ball directly into the penalty area without stopping. Maguire made a mistake in clearing the ball. The ball was high but not far. Lukaku stood in advance and passed the ball back to Mkhitaryan.

Mkhitaryan's shot outside the penalty area was of very high quality.

But Martinez had already prepared. Although his vision was blocked, he could see the moment when the opponent's front midfielder swung his leg. He was sure that it must be a shot towards the far corner, so he moved in advance and then jumped to save it.

Mkhitaryan's shot was almost enough to score, but Martinez lifted the ball out of the top of the goal with one hand.

Wei Le was shocked and broke into a cold sweat. If he lost the ball in the first half, he would be finished!

But in the next corner kick opportunity, Uncle Mata's corner kick was directly cleared by Ruben Dias, and Wolves escaped danger.