3 Hot Takes | Wolves 3-4 Manchester United

VAR fucks up again, poor game management again, $100M Mainoo saves the day

Manchester United beat Wolves 4-3 to pick up much-needed 3 points as 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo turned out to be the hero who saved the day. Here are 3 hot takes…

VAR doesn’t work, again

United were unlucky again as VAR decided that a clear simulation was a penalty and that allowed Wolves to come back into the game at 2-1. Casemiro barely touched his man but the ref decided it was a clear penalty and VAR fucked up, again.

Poor game management, again

For all the good things that we did in the game including being 2-0 up till the 70th minute, poor game management almost fucked it up in the end.

Casemiro was on a yellow yet Ten Hag waited till after the penalty to sub him. We were lucky that VAR decided not to give him a red card. But I guess two wrong red cards in the past were enough to make a point.

Also, why get on Evans for Garnacho in the 92nd minute when getting an extra defender has rarely worked for us?

We conceded shortly after, partly due to Antony losing the ball on the right but the goal came in from the left-hand side. Only Shaw and Dalot somehow tracked back but Neto got his shot away. Evans was not even there to defend.

$100M Mainoo

Mainoo might be only 18 but he understands when to slow the game down and when to increase the pace. That’s maturity beyond his years. He had 53 touches, a pass completion rate of 84%, won 6 of his 13 ground duels, and did not get once dribbled past despite the game being so open in the 2nd half. If he was in any other team, he would be billed as the next $100M player. That winner at the end was all about skill and composure as he beat 3 Wolves players and slotted it in the far right corner.

Amidst all the drama of poor refereeing (Shaw got a yellow in the 100th minute for kicking the ball away), and last-minute winner, we finally got our strongest XI. Shaw, Casemiro, and Martinez bring much-needed stability to the team. Shaw's and Martinez’s ability to bring the ball out from the back means we can play the way Ten Hag wants this team to.

Rashford looked bright too. He scored the 1st goal and teamed up with Shaw on the left which led to the LB assisting Hojlund for the 2nd goal. Will he finally find his form? Time will tell but for now, I’m enjoying the Kobbie Mainoo show.