Why Luke Shaw replaced Alex Telles at half-time against Wolves

An injury-time goal from Marcus Rashford helped Manchester United to pull off a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wolves at Old Trafford on Sunday. Despite another insipid home performance, Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solksjaer can take pride in the fact that his team fought hard and defended well against frequent Wolves’ counter-attacks and were able to find a way to get all 3 points. United climbed to the second position in the Premier League table, two points behind Liverpool.

But there was one strategic move by Solksjaer that became a talking point after the contest. United put on a mediocre performance in the first half, but left-back Alex Telles had done little wrong. He was constantly running up-and-down the ground and had made a couple of good crosses inside the box.

But Ole replaced the Brazilian international with Luke Shaw at half-time, a call that was unexpected at the time. On being asked about the same, the United manager explained his thought process at the post-match press conference.

“It was more of a shift in the positions and a different dynamic again,” Solskjaer said. He also said that Telles is not injured. “Alex should be OK.”

Shaw’s presence at the back helped United in tackling the threat posed by Adama Traore who was looking dangerous in the first half. Shaw made some excellent challenges and gave a boost to United’s back-four. Solkjaer praised the team’s defending and singled out Eric Bailly for his performance at the back.

“We had to defend well because they are so dangerous on the counter-attack. I thought Eric did fantastically well breaking up a few counters, Nemanja [Matic] second half… we adjusted a few positions in the second half to stop their counters and I think it worked, then David had to make a save and he made it. It was a good save and an important one for us as well,” Solskjaer said.

Manchester United will next face off against Aston villa on Friday. “Players deserve at least two days in between games,” Ole said.

“72 hours between kick-offs I think is the minimum they should be allowed. We made six changes from the last game so that’s going to stand us in good stead,” he signed off.