Manchester United travel to Molineux to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday.
The legendary Soviet coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi used to preach that the connection between a team’s players was more important than the actual quality of the 11 individuals.
Erik ten Hag echoed that sentiment earlier this season when he wrote in his programme notes: “There is a growing bond between these players and the stronger that becomes, the harder it will be for our opponents.”
Here’s the inter-connected XI Ten Hag may deploy to make life harder for Wolves.
GK: David de Gea – “Missed these winning feelings at Old Trafford,” De Gea tweeted after claiming three points in his first home game since Halloween against Nottingham Forest in midweek.
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka – The former Crystal Palace full-back has the chance to start consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since March.
CB: Raphael Varane – The World Cup runner-up became the first starter from the Qatar final to play for their club when he trotted out against Forest.
CB: Harry Maguire – Illness has hampered Maguire’s reintegration after a personal World Cup performance he has struggled to replicate in red recently.
LB: Luke Shaw – Despite enjoying an impressively error-free display in his first outing as a centre-back in a back-four, Shaw may well be grateful for a return to fullback.
CM: Casemiro – The 2002 Brazilian World Cup winner Gilberto Silva described Casemiro as “the Invisible Man”. Yet, it was hard to miss his influence in a Player of the Match-winning outing upon his return to Premier League football.
CM: Christian Eriksen – Despite the fame and fortune Eriksen’s playing career has afforded him, he remains thoroughly down to Earth. “Maybe the presents are a bit bigger now,” his sister Louise has said, “but the biggest present he has bought for me is my car, a tiny Volkswagen Up.”
AM: Bruno Fernandes – “I play against Wolves and there are many Portuguese players [in their squad],” Fernandes told The Athletic, “but if I have to kick them, I will kick them. If I have to moan at them, I will.” Wolves, you’ve been warned.
RW: Antony – The footballer enclave in Cheshire which Antony now calls home is very different to the Sao Paulo streets he grew up in. “We were so used to seeing guns that it was not even scary,” Antony has reflected.
ST: Anthony Martial – Having outlasted Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo, Martial didn’t have to wait long to fend off the holographic challenge posed by the glitch that is the mysterious Betinho.
LW: Marcus Rashford – With ten goals to his name already this term, Rashford’s scoring target for the end of the season is to better his career-best of 22 across all competitions from the 2019/20 campaign.
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