Briliant tactical play by O'Neil and Wolves. As United supporter, even though we won, it still feels like a loss. We were just so bad. At times it felt like a game of 9 v 13.

Another thing I have noticed is that Wolves players are physically more active than Man utd players or man utd players are too afraid to go into tussle

The highlights were so one sided. Onana got me 9 points in FPL though.

Gary O'Neil is managing to squeeze PL-level performances out of teams that two "top" managers in Parker and Lopetegui didn't think had anything in them. Earning himself a lot of admirers.

I don’t agree with everyone saying, “We got the 3 points and that’s what matters.” Yes and no. The problem is we had waaaay too many of those last season. The underlying numbers show it’s not sustainable.

The way Cunha just ran through United felt really strange to see in top flight football. its such a rarity to see someone just torch through the centre of midfield and defence like that. It was even stranger when he did it again in the same game. Wolves aren't far off being a great team.

Wolves's dribbling from deep through the high press was an absolute killer

This is excellent analysis but 'a cross from Wan Bissaka is not really a threat' is a funny line considering he had the winning assist

I find it hilarious that I watch former professional footballers more so for their comedic and downright awful takes on football and random dudes I've grown to trust for the insight that actually matters 😂, thank you Tifo!

Because it doesn’t matter how badly you play against Wolves, everybody gets at least a point from us because we literally never ever score.

Without being a big football knowhow man, to me the GLARING issue was the midfield. As a Chelsea fan I just never got why they signed mason mount. He’s not good enough on the ball to dictate tempo and control possession to free up Bruno. You’ve basically got 2 8’s with poor ball retention who thrive playing transition ball being covered by a single ageing pivot that can still cover ground and win duels but is not good enough on the ball to make up for the deficiencies of the 8’s. He’s also just one guy who will only get less and less mobile. When you have 2 8’s that want to run around high up the pitch in free roles you basically need Rodri. He was left exposed and just run past. It feels like United don’t truly know what they want to be. If they want to be a possession team that plays out the back with players like Onana and Martinez then you don’t buy mount (you basically buy a younger Eriksen). If you want to use Mount Casemiro Bruno as a midfield then you cannot play high possession football. They need to decide on what they actually want to do

Man U doesn't have natural center forwards or central midfielders. They use attacking midfielders on the CM position and a winger as CF. It's really no mystery why it's not working out.

We were equally as bad as the 4-0 defeat to Brentford…Wolves let us off the hook. Alarm bells!

Fascinating seeing Antony going for the pass instead of the shot a couple of times throughout the game, positive signs from him whenever he found himself on the ball. Sancho looked fantastic when he came on, hoping this season can get him back to his best

It had a bit of the tactical stubbornness about it that cost United early last season. It was obvious after the first few minutes that Wolves had come up with a plan to nullify the way United were trying to play, but instead of changing and trying something different (i.e, keeping Mount or Bruno deeper and Shaw staying wide), they persisted with it for far longer than they should have and struggled offensively and defensively as a result. I have no doubt that the system can work in theory, but when the players aren't confident enough to play it properly or the other team is set up perfectly against it, you have to make adjustments.

Playing Mount alongside Fernandes seems not to work. Ik it's just their first game but both are very highly technically good players, so hence both want to attack. If we play them against Tottenham it's suicide. I'd rather have slower but more balanced Christian Ericksen. GGMU!!

Playing a midfield of Mount, Fernandes and Casemiro is insane

Mount and Bruno as Number 8's just doesn't work. Casemiro was left exposed whenever wolves were in transition with both Mount and Bruno pushing up the field. For all Casemiro's defensive strength he is not a technician , Someone who can take the ball off the goalkeeper and carry it further up the field for Bruno or find line breaking passes every time. This is the reason Ten hag persisted so much to sign Frankie de Jong because he is the ideal player for that in his tactical system.

I love how you said "It's Wan Bissaka, it's not a threat" about his crossing, and he still managed to get the winning assist

O’Neil has something about him Think Bournemouth might have made a mistake that could prove Wolves savior

I cannot remember how many times cunha ran from his box to our box freely in the centre of the field , I was shocked how we let him make those runs with the ball so many times.

The insistence to play a box midfield meant that United lacked Shaws threat and support down the left on the Overlap. Meant that Garnacho was nullified.

This is exactly the type of match De Gea would have held on to the ball too long and made an error leading to a goal.

Fair tactical analysis, especially on how their midfield setup destroyed Casemiro (get Amrabat in immediately pls), but it really comes down to how the individual players performed. Garnacho was abysmal with everything he did, Rashford was a ghost (tbf, not a striker), I didn't even know Mount was playing, Bruno wasn't creating anything, Antony wasn't doing anything, and our entire defense looked uncharacteristically shaky. When Sancho and Eriksen come on as subs and look like the only bright spots, you know your whole team played terribly. And, also, Wolves looked very solid and played much, much better and as a cohesive unit. If this was City or Arsenal or Liverpool or Newcastle or Brighton, this would've been another 7-0 game. Two things that can't happen/don't work: Rashford as the 9 and Mount/Bruno both trying to do the same thing. Hopefully Hojlund will alleviate the 9 problem, but ETH really needs to figure out the Mount and Bruno situation.

I get the tactical problem but it won’t be this worst if our player can pass a 5 yds ball w/o losing it. Mount need time to adapt with the team but Garnacho is a real disappointment yesterday.

Wolves had 23 shots. The way they easily get past Utd's midfield is kind of a joke tbh.

Thanks for this video! I'm a middle aged Wolves fan in Japan and with the game kicking off at 4am here, which is a struggle for me, watching it felt a bit like a weird dream. The bits where Cunha dribbled through half the Man U team reminded me a bit of Captain Tsubasa. I love Cunha to bits, but that's not normal, is it? Wolves next game is Brighton, and I can't imagine that sort of thing happening next week...

Damn! Wolves already gave the blueprint to beat United to everyone else since the first game. Ten Hag has to react fast

I’ve just realised that Pep’s influence on the game can be used as a weapon. The fact that the top teams now feel they have to play with a box midfield, even if it’s for the worst. Liverpool are doing it with Trent and United tried last night. The insistence to play a box midfield meant that United lacked Shaws threat and support down the left on the Overlap because he was inverting to form the double pivot with Casemiro. Meant that Garnacho was nullified on his own on the left. And you already know that Pep will already be cooking up a new way of playing to counter his own play style.

Man United went with the "What is a midfield" approach

The main problem was the lack of options in the middle of the park. Casemiro was asked to cover too much space with Bruno and Mount not dropping deep to help. With Shaw tucking in this made the left isolated. So the right side was the only option. It's a lazy narrative to put this on Wan Bissaka. He's been much better on the ball. Wolves just knew this was the only area United had to try exploit so was easy to counter this.

Giving casemiro the responsibility to break play from the midfield while being under pressure from wolves mids is a criminal act. A simple way out would be to push casemiro upfield and have mount and Bruno come deep forming almost a double pivot. This way they have more creativity, more options and better passers of the ball. This tactic was used by Zidane several times in Madrid.

Defensively United's problem was that Mount was playing forward. This wasn't fixed until Erikson came in and played back with Casemiro to support the defense. Offensively United was just tactically beat the entire game. I love Basaka he is an amazing defender but if I was Ten Hag after seeing the same thing happen after their first few possessions, I would have put in Dalot. United play two cdm's but Mount was out there with Bruno as a cam the entire time. I'm not sure if this was planned to try and overwhelm the wolves back line but it clearly does not work.

The main problem I saw was a lack of movement off the ball, especially in midfield. Movement and switching positions created the extra space during the 15 minutes that we looked decent, and for the goal.

We should have used some tactical pinning where Antony drops deep near bissaka. If he's followed by his marker deep into our half then bisakka overlaps Antony to receive a long ball from Onana to start the counter. If the marker doesn't track Antony then we have numerical superiority in that area and then able to build up. I have always seen man city use Bernardo to pin markers to create overloads and make buildup easy

Wolves did exactly the same at st James park last season interestingly with a different coach. They pressed Dan Burn after marking Trips out. We played quite a lot of king balls consequently and lost possession. It was only a bit of Miggy magic that prevailed.

This channel is the best of its kind, I love your content! Another hugely interesting video. Thank you

All we (wolves) need to do is play well against a top 6 team and we finally get a video on Tifo! I look forward to seeing you 11 more times this season.

To say they don’t need to worry about wan bisaka putting in a cross when he assisted with a lovely cross

Based on the eye test, the back four amd Onana are still not used to each other, Mount is new, Ganacho just broke through. That's 3-4 half hearted passes right there

They will learn and improve as the season goes on

Wanbisaka is the weak link but the only assist of the game came from him making a clever run. I guess once you have been given a tag it sticks even if it's not true. Wanbisaka was not the worst player in that match by a huge mile.

Great anlysis, But Tenhag said when you can't do the basics like passing, hustle, defense and decision making, any plan he has prepared will never work.

Players like Gernacho and Antony(who are inverted wingers and can finish) would be more affective if we play with narrow wingers, the closer they are to goal the more shots they'll take and more chances of scoring.

Brilliant analysis, but it is hilarious that AWB was made to be the "weak man" for United but it was ultimately his passing and his 1v1 defending that won the game haha

All time JJ tactics breakdown. What gem.

During the match, I knew the half space near the box was key, I wanted mount to link up with antony and awb over there in possession... I kept on telling my brother who was watching the match with me that was the way we would score.... Reasons... 1. They were making progression though the middle of the pitch, hard for us, so it's important for us to drag a body out of middle... So Bruno and mount shouldn't play close... Both or them should occupy half space regards of the flank the ball is in... 2. Mount plays ball faster than Bruno... Bruno checks assist first then the simple pass... Mound first goes for simple pass then tries to create in space only. So mount should link up with antony and awb who takes time on the ball. And late run into space at half space can create goal. But thankfully awb got it right in the half space.

When I heard the commentator talk about Gary O’Neill I had this image of old Martin O’Neill on the touch line

It's painful to watch Antony. Also Rashford without a goal looks like a mid-table striker. Our problem last season was lack of goals, which I don't think has been sorted. This will haunt us the whole season.

Wasn't the main problem that United players were so static and not creating passing opportunities for each other...the commentator said numerous times that the players were not moving...you can't play Ten Hag football if you don't create space for each other ...ETH has had over a year and a full preseason to drill his players and if they still aren't doing what he wants then that's on him

Hi, appreciate your work and analysis and it could look even much better if the wide shot has your closeup blocked on the side instead of the Lowerthird. That way we can still follow the pitch graphic and still see you. 👍🏾 ⚽️

This is incredible work. Keep up the videos!

I remember last season this guy made a similar video on the Man United vs Newcastle game (0-0). He said Newcastle are so much better than Man United and are playing with a clear identity and Man United looked clueless. Fair play Newcastle were really good last season but United still finished above them. That is why one game really doesn't matter a lot but if this becomes a pattern, thats a problem.

I think it looked like United were not fit. Kind of mirrors last years start. Wonder if Ten Hag's training methods exhaust players at this period of them? So many of the issues you cited come down to being too slow. United were also harmed by Garnacho turning over possession every time he got it in the first half.

Great analysis as usual. Also, there's a weird amount of silence at the end (I didn't see another comment mention it)

Thank you for breaking down the tactics. Its interesting to see it from the overhead and learn some tactics

WOW 13:00 Manchester United spends money in a very inflated market.

There were some moments in this game where Ten hag had Martinez and varane push into the midfield during buildup keeping Shaw and Aron at the corner of the box. Thought that was an interesting tactic

The problem was that neither Bruno or Mount helped in build-up. It was left to the centre-backs and Casemiro whilst every other player was so far up the pitch. The very few times one of Bruno/Mount dropped deep we successfully shifted the ball forward, even the goal came from Bruno staying in the middle third with Casemiro and Mount in the box. Playing Bruno and Mount together can work but there needs to be more structure in possession, with one dropping whilst the other runs in behind, it could potentially be very effective. The problem right now though is that both of them seem to have complete freedom in possession and having not played with each other a lot end up drifting into the same positions and this also becomes a problem in the defensive transitions with both of them caught upfield and Casemiro expected to defend against the entire opposition midfield/forward lines. I think the other problem was also how deep Onana stayed throughout the game. Probably because he was a bit nervous with it being his debut, it meant we just weren't compact at all with the back line deep but the front players much further up the pitch leaving massive gaps in midfield like JJ showed. If Onana has a much higher starting position everyone can push up and it'll be much harder to play through us. But then obviously we have to protect the space in behind.

Love this breakdown. No time to watch the game but the detail and insight keep me up on this new season

You know, i'd love to see these guys play Football manager... There technical analysis is fascinating.

JJ dropping some shade on this one. "Wan-Bisaka isn't going to run the overlap anyway." "Not a brave pass." "What's he going to do? Probably go inside." Great analysis with a lot of humor that highlights how Manchester United may struggle this season.

I have a strong gut feeling that some teams have and/or will try and tweak their in-game strategy following the news of ‘more added/injury time’ this season. Especially those clubs involved in European football, who have the added pressure of playing that many more games over the course of the season. Whether it’s slowing down the play more often, not pressing as high or as intense, not forcing the play, trying to counter at 100kmh etc I saw glimpses of it during Arsenal v Bournemouth. Arsenal consistently slowing down the game making short passes around the background for minutes on end, not worried about getting a goal or forcing anything. Same with United against Wolves here to a similar degree. It’s as if they have the end in mind and know that come February/March time, they might be dropping like flies due to injuries, exhaustion etc I could be completely wrong though. Anyone else thinking the same thing, or picked up on any of this?

This video was much better. Very good breakdown and JJ Bull is actually able to breath with this pace. For a second there I though all of the videos were now just going to be incredibly rushed and with the presenters just speaking way too fast.

Excellent breakdown

We lost our first two games last season, not worried at all. Ten Hag will adjust and we will improve. Having a proper CF alone will make a world of difference as Rashford is a better outlet on the left. Mount I think has to learn to play deeper, which I think is the plan. He has the attributes for it, just needs time and practice.

the moment i saw the mount in the first 11 i was a little bit scared and when the game started it was exactly what i was fearing of... the moment they start playing with one 6 and two 8s or 10s, however you wanna call it, they play like its their first game in their life... clubs that play like that either have a fast and agile nr 6 or the players that play 8s or 10s are actually doing their defensive part... you can go back and watch every game they were positioned like that, they sucked.... the problem is just continuing to happen, when you watch the game you see 5 or sometimes even 6 players (when they are attacking) squashed in the oppositions back line... they tried it like that before and it didnt work... ever, even against "easy, bottom of the league" teams... its just a frustration because you see casemiro trying his best and none of the front 5 is coming back to help bring the ball out the defence, and get it through the lines... the moment they start looking less at actual positions they are at, and start passing the ball and moving around (not always pushing to the oppositions defence and staying there), something is gonna change and i think the confidence problem is gonna start to fade away... they need to be more fluid with their positions imo

One little thing, I liked Fabio Silva’s cameo for Wolves. Hope he steps up this season and can find some goals after being out on loan last season.

Given they were pressing wan bissaka so hard I find it very harsh to be so critical of him. He played very well through the pressure and was the catalyst for the few chances we had. The disrespect is crazy.

De Jong would have been a perfect fit for this game.

I think the reason their was such a lack in the middle of the pitch is that Mount, who made some really good runs in behind, and is really good at that, didn't show short often enough. And when he did show short, he played it safe. But, I think Bruno should have been the one to drop deep instead and play that Eriksen role when Mount is on the pitch. Because, Mount does give you lovely runs from the midfield. That's what he's really good at. Bruno, even tho he's a little higgledy-piggledy with the ball at times, he's also really decisive and is always looking for a progressive pass. Plus Bruno is better defensively than I think most people give him credit for and he plays on the right hand side with Wan-Bissaka, so if he drops to receive the ball Bissaka now has someone to play a one touch game with, nullifying Wolves pressure, and allowing Varane to become a defensive outlet and security, which gives Bissaka more license to get forward and gives Onana more options in the center of the pitch, if Bruno drags Nunes with him. This takes away Wolves midfield advantage and stretches Wolves back line as Man U. (supposing Bissaka plays further up the pitch) now have a consistent 2 on 1 against Ait-Noure on the right side of the pitch. But that didn't happen and that is ten Hag's fault for failing to make that adjustment. Rashford Garnacho Anthony Mount Shaw Casemiro Wan-Bissaka Bruno Martinez Varane Onana

Love your content mate! Great analysis, thorough explanation & a little bit of comedy to boot. Quality!

Garnacho getting a lot of stick for his performance. But hes a 19 year old making one of his first starts in the senior team. The majority of his career growing up he would have had a full back near him or overlapping creating soace for him and decoys. By shaw tucking in that left him isolated. I think there is still no pattern of play and United are still relying on moments

Tifo is high level analysis.

what program do you use on the table? 🤔

Happy for 3 points

We also need to know why the referees were so bad

Few years ago in the Europa League Final, Unai Emery done the same thing. He also set-up his team in a such a way that united players who are good on the ball are not allowed time & space to pass the ball or move forward. They are also forced to pass the ball to McTominay & AWB because Emery let them free because he knew they are not a threat on the ball and let them have it. If Man Utd want to be successful with ETH, then they have to sell AWB & McTominay. AWB has a lot of fans, so they will say bro he is a world class defender, bro best in the world in one on one's etc. These people forgot that he plays for a team that dominates ball in most of the games. If his on ball qualities are not good enough, then he is a liability in possession. We had the same issue with DeGea for years. Opponents are looking for the best weak spots, after DDG, AWB is the next big weak spot. After him Varane & Casemiro. If Dalot played instead of AWB, then opponents will target Varane. This cycle will continue till we have players who are brilliant on the ball in all positions.

What application do uou use to do these animations and graphics where u can move ur 11

varane was supposedly the only positive in this game, also awb and onana, but varane is a class defender

This is great analysis and so well explained. It’s such a shame for wolves to not get a result from this match but with this level of performance against other teams they will get points and they’d deserve to stay in the PL.

This whole thing ten Hag wants to do requires players of very high physical, tactical AND tactical abilities to execute and do it consistently as well. The keeper must be good at sweeping up the space behind the defensive line and must be an accomplished passer of the ball with a varied pass selection and an extensive range. They must also be good as saving the ball obvs, esp from long range. Thecentre backs have to be great at defending space in wide areas, the full backs have to be able to defend the middle of the pitch and both groups should be excellent at progressing the ball through midfield. The advanced midfielders must be able to receive the ball on the half-turn and quickly play a creative and, most importantly, accurate pass forward and the forwards should be able to attack the space off the ball to receive forward passes or drop deep and link up play or retain possession briefly to pace themselves between fast bursts forward. The attacking players must be close enough without the ball to press aggressively and recover and wide enough on the ball to receive the pass. All the players must be able to rotate positions within the game, so a full back could end up in the center forward position, and change to the setup continuously to catch the opps out or to react to the opps tactics. They must also be willing to press intensely, intelligently and consistently so the opposition don't have enough time on the ball to exploit spaces. With this picture in mind as a checkpoint of sorts, run all the current United players through and see how many make it through as capable of this system. One key thing to remember is that this is very similar to peak Liverpool under Klopp and see how often they burned out or had to deal with numerous injuries.

Thanks for your videos.

They sucked at the start of last season to I think they will be fine

Ten Haag was tactically outclassed here. Also, no way mount plays in that team as a 8. Worrying signs these.

I honestly don't understand why the same people who wanted David De Gea gone, now try to shift the blame on Varane and Casemiro's ball-playing abilities which is factually incorrect - but then say AWB is better than Dalot. Dalot is so much better for the system in the inverted role next to Casemiro. He helps us control the midfield better and you see that difference when he doesn't play but people don't realise it's him who makes that difference because they look at his game on an individual level which is scrutinised anyway on a macro level because the fanbase is so flippant from hating AWB, to now hating Dalot, instead of from a birds-eye view.

The problem United have and will continue to have is that they actually did not identify and address the two biggest issues from last season. we dont know how to control the tempo of games against good quality teams (that can hold possesion), which is why we struggled against the top 10 teams particularly away. When playing away controlling the tempo (winning the midfield battle) is crucial to winning and if you do that the chances of winning are really high. The second issue is that we dont have a reliable striker who we know can get us 20 goals minimum. Eriksen can actually control the tempo of games against lower oppositions, but I noticed that he cant do it against the big teams because he no longer has the legs to do the defensive work necessary to win such games. Instead of getting a midfielder in the ilk of verrati or rabiot, who are really good at dictating play and to a certain extent breaking up opposition play, we got a watered down version of bruno in mount. instead of getting harry kane, we got an unproven young player who cannot be expected to contribute right away. if we had resigned de gea, bought verratti for 50m, signed rabiot for free and bought kane, we would be in much better shape than the players we bought (while spending less money).

Antony is one of the worst signings in premier league history

Mount, Bruno and Casemiro treat the ball like its a grenade. I seriously doubt Ten Hag's game plan here

As we progress through the season we'll see Rashford on the left where he's better and Højlund/Martial at CF. I'm confident ETH will figure something out to make Mount-Bruno-Casemiro-Eriksen work together in some kinda rotation to fix the midfield.

My prediction: Mount will continue to not quite work however Ten Haag plays him *and* people will spend all season making excuses for him.

Do you plan to make 38 episodes of this?

It’s not unusual for a team to enter the season unable to execute perfectly on a tactical plan. There are three issues: 1. Tactics - perhaps ETH predicted Wolves lining up a different way. The second half subs briefly showed a path through Wolves before settling into a low block. 2. Execution - key players here are Mount, Garnacho, and Antony. Mount is new so it can be excused, Garnacho is probably not 1st team ready (Rashford would be playing that side with a CF), and Antony is underwhelming. Overall, execution comes with repetition so this should improve. 3. Personnel - Wolves always left a man open in space. If AWB can’t play through, maybe Dalot can. On both sides, United were unable to get past the first line, but there were no options bc Garnacho and Antony were bottled up. If a team does this again United need to able to win 1-on-1 with better personnel or just fizz it to a deep playmaker like Bruno. I’m not that concerned. Even as a layman watching the game, it was obvious where the problems were and how they could be fixed.

cool to see these things during the game and you explain it perfectly. great video. as a United video, not happy at all with the performance!

This was the analysis I’ve been waiting for after watching my club play so bad against a mediocre team like wolves last night…thanks for another great piece of review guys🤝🏼🔥

I didn't watch the match, but the title is suggesting that Man Utd didn't play so well. It feels funny because, in pre season they were so much better than us (Arsenal), they looked far better prepared for the season too, sharper in every way. But it seems like we had a better start to our season than United did. So strange.

I can listen to JJ do tactical analysis all day!

I saw the game. Tactically superb. Players also did very well to follow orders. I would love to see brentford / brighton even forrest play United with similar tactics.

United have no press resistant Midfielders.

They need hojlund back