Five things learned as Fellaini’s role in Pogba’s future becomes clear in Utd’s draw with Wolves

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Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by a brilliant performance from Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford on Saturday.

United took the lead through Fred after 18 minutes, with the Brazilian scoring his first goal for the club, after a neat pass from Paul Pogba.

But just after half-time Wolves levelled with Joao Moutinho capping off a good break from the away side.

And that would be it as neither side could find the winning goal.

Here are five things we learned.

1. Mourinho’s use of Fellaini will make or break Pogba

After United beat Watford last weekend, a lot was made on Marouane Fellaini’s impressive performance in front of the Red Devils’ defence, providing a shield the club have not had for some time.

And in the first half against Wolves this came into play again, with the Belgian often dropping back to be a third centre-back when required.

When Fellaini was doing this, Paul Pogba thrived.

The French midfielder receives a lot of criticism when things go wrong for him, whether rightly or wrongly, with his critics drawing on his £89m transfer fee as well as more trivial aspects including his hairstyles and happiness.

But when things go right, Pogba still seems to go under the radar, with United’s other players getting the plaudits despite the Frenchman being the glue which holds United together.

Fred may have received a lot of the attention for his goal, but it would not have been possible without the beautiful, deft touch from Pogba to play the Brazilian in, bringing the ball down and moving it into his path with the tiniest of pokes.

When Cesc Fabregas provided a similar assist for Andre Schurrle at Chelsea at the start of the 2014/15 season, the Spaniard was hailed – though his pass was slightly longer than Pogba’s. But the United man barely had a whisper on his part past the initially moment.

Yet that touch was forgotten less than 10 minutes after half-time as Pogba was tackled inside his own half in the build up to Wolves equaliser, the vultures circling on that half-second for the Frenchman.

But the reason Pogba found himself in that situation to begin with was due to Fellaini becoming more attacking in the second half, pushing on to be an extra attacking midfielder, rather than the defensive man he had started the game as.

And it appeared this continued to have a negative affect on Pogba’s match, with the Frenchman having to try and influence the game from deep with very little avail against a well set-up Wolves defence.

2. Wolves will claim some scalps this season

In their first six Premier League games this season, Wolves have faced Manchester City and Manchester United. And from those games, last year’s Championship winners have won two points.

That is perhaps two points more than they would have expected to win, and it is down to the philosophy of Nuno Espirito Santo.

Last season Wolves were an extremely exciting, attacking side and many had hoped they would have continued in that way in the Premier League.

Though they would have been forgiven for playing defensively against the biggest teams, Wolves had no intention and took the game to United from early on with only good saves from David de Gea stopping them from taking the lead.

Even when United did go ahead, Wolves never faltered from their gameplan and continued to cause the home side problems, pushing high – which ultimately saw them draw level in the second half.

Winning the ball midway though United’s half after not giving Pogba any time on the ball, Wolves pushed and thanks to good work from Helder Costa and Raul Jimenez, Moutinho equalised.

If they continue to stick to the roots Espirito Santo has instilled in them, Wolves will claim some scalps this year to prove they are not in the Premier League just to fight for survival.

3. No Matic, no problem

Manchester United are fortunate to have an array of talent among their Premier League squad but fans will have undoubtedly been wary going into the match given the absence of Nemanja Matic.

The Serbian was sent off in last week’s win over Watford for two yellow cards and was subsequently banned for the visit of Wolves.

As a result, United started with a midfield trio of Fellaini, Pogba and Fred, with the latter impressing in his hour on the pitch.

With Fellaini holding the lines and Pogba the face of the attack, Fred was able to quietly impose himself on the match and gave United the lead in the first half with a well-taken effort after linking up with Pogba.

The goal made Fred just the fifth Brazilian to score for United in the Premier League, joining the illustrious list including Kleberson, Anderson, Rafael and Fabio.

Fred could have had a second before half-time but his effort from a free-kick was saved well by Rui Patricio.

Taken off with United level, after some minor tactical changes, Fred exited having completed 94% of his passes and winning three tackles – the joint most of any player during his time on the pitch.

4. Joao Moutinho, Wolves’ main man

Fans of football in general were excited to hear about the summer arrival of Joao Moutinho to the Premier League, with Wolves the team fortunate enough to call him their own.

The Portuguese has had a good start to life in England, but enjoyed arguably his best performance to date as Wolves went head-to-head with United at Old Trafford.

A marshal in the midfield, Moutinho had a tough battle on against the likes of Pogba, Fellaini and Fred but did more than enough to help his side earn their draw.

Moutinho completed 84% of his passes while also creating two chances – the most of any Wolves player during his time on the pitch.

Then there was the goal, as the midfielder intelligently moved his way to the edge of the box before curling in a beautiful shot past de Gea at a time where United were starting to put the pressure on Wolves.

5. United’s left still needs working on

Luke Shaw has been very good at the start of the season, well deserving of his place in United’s starting XI and recent call-up for England, but the 23-year-old still has a lot of work to do to become one of the best left-backs.

(Photo credit ALAIN GROSCLAUDE/AFP/Getty Images)

As a result of United’s forward line – which consisted of Jesse Lingard, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez – becoming narrow when their team was on the ball, Shaw often found himself playing as a winger to try and give his side some width.

But because of this, when Wolves broke, United had a gaping hole on the left for the visitors to exploit, something Helder Costa welcomed on occasion.

And even when Shaw did manage to get himself back alongside his defence, the Englishman was far too narrow, looking similar to a left-sided centre-back in a back three, rather than a full-back.

Though that is not necessarily Shaw’s problem alone. The former Southampton man rarely got defensive support from his United team-mates on the wing, with neither Sanchez or Lingard fancying themselves to track back and Fellaini busy adding strength in the middle.

Shaw did improve as the match went on but was caught out just before half-time for a foul on Costa as the Portuguese had once again got the better of him. And once again, he was beaten by Costa in the build up to Wolves’ equaliser.

The post Five things learned as Fellaini’s role in Pogba’s future becomes clear in Utd’s draw with Wolves appeared first on Squawka News.



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