Wolves coach Bruno Lage casually and clinically detailed how his team exploited Manchester United's incoherent pressing to outsmart them in Monday's 1-0 win.
United were dominated for large periods by Lage's visitors on Monday, before 35-year-old Joao Moutinho became the oldest visiting player to score a winning Premier League goal at Old Trafford to condemn Ralf Rangnick to the first loss of his reign.
But from United's perspective, it was the manner of the defeat that was so perplexing – while the Red Devils were only marginally beaten in terms of expected goals (0.83 to 0.79), Wolves' greater control and incisiveness allowed them 19 shots to nine, their six on target being three times as many as Rangnick's team.
Arguably just as important as United's ineffectiveness in attack was their lack of cohesion off the ball, with Lage seemingly predicting how the hosts would try to press.
Since Rangnick's appointment there has been much focus on United's style of play when not in possession, though prior to Monday's defeat their high turnover frequency has remained practically the same as it was under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick, improving fractionally to 7.75 per game from 7.57.
Generally they are no more effective in this regard than before and, against Wolves, there was precious little coordination from those in attack when looking to win the ball back, with Mason Greenwood, Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho engaging in just three tackle attempts between them.
Wolves' setup seemed to play into that.
"It's not about [exploiting] weakness," Lage told Sky Sports. "We try to understand the spaces they will give. The way they press, we prepared to try and understand, when we have the ball we try to understand which men will be free.
"It can be whoever is free, one of the centre-backs free, or if they come and press three against three like they did with Cavani, the spaces will be outside.
"That's why today we try to find Nelson Semedo and Marcal, and they come inside to play and then we play against six men: the defensive line and the two midfielders.
"When we arrive there it's important to keep the ball, get the opponent running. Top teams, sometimes they have more problems when they don't have the ball. If you spend more time with the ball, we will find our space and create chances.
"Manchester United changed their system a bit, but when you look in the end the way we pressed, controlled the game, the chances we created, we deserved the three points.
"When you are in the game you don't think about [conceding], we had that chance with [Romain] Saiss when he hit the bar, it was balanced.
"This is football, sometimes we have games like the first Manchester United game at home we create a lot of chances, we had one chance with Saiss in the corner and we miss and after that they score.
"I'm thinking of trying to win the game, that's why I put Fabio Silva in the game because at that moment I felt we could win the game. We played with a big personality, we created more chances than them, we had more of the ball than them, we deserved to win."
Leicester's Fatawu ruled out for rest of season with ACL injury
Leicester City manager Steve Cooper confirmed Abdul Fatawu will miss the rest of the season.
The 20-year-old sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) while playing for Ghana against Angola during the international break.
Fatawu has featured in all 11 of Leicester's Premier League matches so far this season and has registered two assists.
No Leicester player has attempted (61) or completed (29) more dribbles than him, while his 30 crosses is also a team-high in the top-flight this season.
"It's not good, it's a serious injury," said Cooper ahead of their match against Chelsea on Saturday.
"It's a real blow, first and foremost for him, being a young player and having an injury as serious as what an ACL is.
"Albeit, it can be quite common in sport, and in particular football, but it's still a serious injury.
"For it to happen at a young age is a blow for him and a blow for us as well.
"He's obviously a big talent and a young player, as exciting as he can be at his age, with lots to learn.
"It's only a pause, and we will make sure, as difficult as it is at the moment for him, that he comes back being a stronger player and person, which, with the mentality and character that he has, I think will be the case."
Arsenal qualifying for Champions League quarter-finals feels 'surreal', says Slegers
Renee Slegers says it feels "surreal" that Arsenal have secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare.
The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.
What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.
Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.
Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.
"It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.
"I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.
"I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.
"It's the visualisation of how much everyone contributes in the team. I think that's what it means for us."
Slegers took over as interim manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.
They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.
"It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.
"The players have been stepping up big time, they've been owning this; we tried to relay it back to them all the time, so giving them the ownership.
"I'm just very happy with how the block has been, different challenges along the way, so all games have asked something different from us. We've responded to that really well, sticking to our identity but also playing the game that's ahead of us."
Arsenal qualifying for Champions League quarter-finals feel surreal, says Slegers
Renee Slegers says it feels "surreal" that Arsenal have secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare.
The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.
What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.
Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.
Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.
"It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.
"I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.
"I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.
"It's the visualisation of how much everyone contributes in the team. I think that's what it means for us."
Slegers took over as interim manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.
They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.
"It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.
"The players have been stepping up big time, they've been owning this; we tried to relay it back to them all the time, so giving them the ownership.
"I'm just very happy with how the block has been, different challenges along the way, so all games have asked something different from us. We've responded to that really well, sticking to our identity but also playing the game that's ahead of us."
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