In the early hours of 4 January 2022, United played the first game of the year at home to Old Trafford, where Wolves scored three points with Moutinho's 82nd-minute World Cup goal. United lost 1-0 and lost in the first game of the new year.
The manchester United side of the game appeared several firsts.
The first battle of the new year was defeated,
Cristiano Ronaldo returned as captain for the first time and lost as club captain for the first time in his career.
Phil Jones made his debut on the pitch after many days, and his frontcourt pressing stats are very eye-catching, higher than the total number of midfielders.
Lonnick United lost the first premier league game of their career.
For the first time since the 01/02 season, United have lost six of their first 19 premier league games.
Of course, back to the game to analyze, Manchester United's current problems are still very obvious. The decline in C Ronaldo's running ability is a problem that cannot be ignored, but this is not the main problem, and the lack of running must be found from the annual ball players.
Among them, the two princes of Manchester United are undoubtedly disappointing, and the gap between the top teams and the forwards of the top teams and super teams in the five major leagues is too large.
Manchester United's midfield is not without creativity, B Fei's passing ability can cause more lethality if changed to other teams, but in Manchester United you have to look at the face of the striker.
Perhaps it is a previous view that Manchester United lack a young Cristiano Ronaldo or Rooney.
Secondly, I don't think United's defensive problems are still serious. After the introduction of Varane, Tres, etc., the backcourt has a lot of choices, why is it still under huge defensive pressure? I think the root cause is the lack of pressure on the other side in the front court.
All Premier League teams today know one of United's fatal traits, which is that the striker waits for the midfield to play, and as long as the midfield is fixed, there is enough time to stand in the defensive position. Hasn't there been any change since the wing introduced Sancho? In fact, there is a lot of change, in the game where Sancho runs more, the opponent's defensive pressure is significantly increased, even if it is a counterattack, he does not dare to fully invest in the attack.
It can be seen that If United wants to solve the existing problems of the team, it must also change the forward. Marcus Rashford and Greenwood, the two princes, played completely free of pressure, and the introduced Sancho was a good friend of each other, and these players had no life to play for half a year.
United now have to bring in a winger who can put pressure on youngsters, wingers who can run and have momentum. It's not the key for the wingers to be on the wing, it has to be the wing-back and the winger on the same channel as each other.
Another point worth noting is that United's ability to hold the ball is declining. Especially against strong teams or tough teams, of course, this is also the fatal problem left by Scholes and Carrick after they left, and United have not been able to solve this.
United's current problems boil down to three main points:
First: Insufficient ability to hold the ball in the midfield
Second: Young players are too lazy and too opportunistic
Third: the intensity of training is still not enough, and the results of big tactical training are rarely seen in the game