Wolves 1-4 Man Utd: Are Reds on the up or is a bad result around the corner?
In the one step forward, one step back world that Manchester United currently live in, they took a step in the right direction against Wolves at Molineux.
Whether it matters or not remains to be seen.
After all, a big win at Crystal Palace nine days ago was followed by a tough draw against third-placed West Ham.
Before that, a three-game winning streak was followed by three games without a win, which ended with Everton being reduced to 10 men after less than 15 minutes at home.
Monday night’s 4-1 defeat against hapless Wolves was United’s biggest win this season and Ruben Amorim’s side have failed to progress in the Premier League since arriving at the club 13 months ago.
United had 27 shots; This was his highest goal in the Premier League under the Portuguese manager. They are now leading games for longer periods of time this season than they did in the entire 2024-25 season.
But Amorim felt compelled to issue a warning, citing Wolves’ lack of points on the pitch and the rebellious atmosphere off the pitch.
“This is a special case,” he said. “We faced a team that really struggled.
“You can feel it at every moment of the game.
“This moment is really difficult for Wolves as a team and as a club. We took advantage of it.”
Therefore, Amorim felt that United were in danger of missing out on the chance to break into the top six and stay behind the sides competing for Champions League qualification.
New Wolves boss Rob Edwards felt his side played to their liking in the final 15 minutes of the opening period. This included scoring his first goal in 540 minutes through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
This was not the scenario Amorim had envisioned. He certainly didn’t want that on a night when Sir Jim Ratcliffe came to watch and was pictured having an animated conversation in the directors’ box with director of football Jason Wilcox.
He told his players before leaving to sit alone in the visiting dugout with his thoughts, before United reemerged at the start of the second half.
“We should have finished this half differently,” he said. “In the first half they realized we had everything to win the game.
“If you really need to be distracted, when you look at Everton that means three points. We could have got two more points against West Ham. Look at the table. Look at the environment. Look at everything.
“We needed to win the second half. The result didn’t matter.”
Analyzing the match for Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher praised the performance but said: “We assume a bad result is coming.”
He is not alone in this opinion. United kept just one clean sheet in the Premier League against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 4 October. Do they suffer one defeat in nine or two wins in six?
The team, which failed to take advantage of the opportunities to place second, twice and fifth, is now in sixth place. If results go their way, they could finish fourth when they play Bournemouth on 15 December. Likewise, they can appear in the lower half of the table.
Andoni Iraola’s men have taken two points from their last six games but have won 3-0 in each of their last two visits to Old Trafford.
It seems like nothing is certain at Manchester United these days, and that includes player availability.
Amorim had thought that Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt would be available for Monday’s game after missing the West Ham game with a minor injury. He was wrong. Now the manager says he cannot be sure when De Ligt will be ready.
United are in talks with the relevant national associations of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Amorim said it was a “good sign” but that he “didn’t know” whether Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo would be allowed to play against Bournemouth before leaving for Africa Cup of Nations duty.
“Let’s wait until midweek,” Amorim said.
Asked what it meant to rise to sixth place, he added: “Nothing. It’s always the same feeling. We need to get more points. But that’s in the past, let’s focus on the future.”
