gutted I missed Lee God’s debut tho. How did he do?
Preseason Tour Game 1: Man Utd vs Club America (Friendly, Friday 20th July 03:00 BST)
- Thread starter Damien
- Start date
It isn't an awful result at all. We have loads of starters missing and are just at the start of getting both physical and match fitness. Some people on here really need to wind their necks in a bit.
I really liked the crispness of the passing and speed on the break in the first 30 minutes.
Think pre-season fitness and the heat began to make that tempo hard to maintain though. A good work out and nice to see some young players get minutes.
Think pre-season fitness and the heat began to make that tempo hard to maintain though. A good work out and nice to see some young players get minutes.
Watched the game, blurry eyed. The first half was ok we moved the ball quicker than at times last season but the opposition were clearly ahead in their fitness. Honest appraisal considering the lack of first teamers a good workout with no one really standing out apart from Chong's cameo. In the second half, the heat affected the game for United and the Mexican side were superior for the first 30 minutes with United playing ok in the last 15.
No real need to panic, A Pereira was neat and tidy, Greenwood and Gomez needed a bit more time, Shaw ok going forward but still gets caught out with defensive positioning similar to Bailey and Fosu Mensah. Mata is still class on the ball but as a United Fan you seriously have to worry about his engine and stamina in the intensity of the PL to be our first option down the right wing with Valencia who was average as well.
I think this first pre season friendly just emphasised what Mourinho and most United Fans already knew;
1. We need another Left side wing back option as a priority.
2. We really need a dominant experienced Centre Back that can lead .
3. Impossible to judge this team with so many players away.
4. Martial struggles as an out and out 9 to lead the line!
5. We have some great young players from 16 to 19 coming through but probably
not ready for a couple more years yet.
6. Midfield looks pretty well stacked but wouldn't mind another quality addition like Vidal or Tiago meaning McTominay could go on loan.
No real need to panic, A Pereira was neat and tidy, Greenwood and Gomez needed a bit more time, Shaw ok going forward but still gets caught out with defensive positioning similar to Bailey and Fosu Mensah. Mata is still class on the ball but as a United Fan you seriously have to worry about his engine and stamina in the intensity of the PL to be our first option down the right wing with Valencia who was average as well.
I think this first pre season friendly just emphasised what Mourinho and most United Fans already knew;
1. We need another Left side wing back option as a priority.
2. We really need a dominant experienced Centre Back that can lead .
3. Impossible to judge this team with so many players away.
4. Martial struggles as an out and out 9 to lead the line!
5. We have some great young players from 16 to 19 coming through but probably
not ready for a couple more years yet.
6. Midfield looks pretty well stacked but wouldn't mind another quality addition like Vidal or Tiago meaning McTominay could go on loan.
I just watched it now and I must say I didn't think we did too badly, I've certainly seen worse first pre season matches.
I thought Shaw, Mitchell, Mata, Pereira, McTominay all did well.
Chong really impressed me, as it stands he should be starting for us on the right since he's the only player we have who looks natural there. He's also very very quick, his turn of pace if fantastic and he looks to have a good cross on him.
I thought Shaw, Mitchell, Mata, Pereira, McTominay all did well.
Chong really impressed me, as it stands he should be starting for us on the right since he's the only player we have who looks natural there. He's also very very quick, his turn of pace if fantastic and he looks to have a good cross on him.
Totally agree on Chong but he is still developing physically and probably needs nursing after already having a serious injury in his career. He was fantastic yesterday against a small technical Mexican side, the PL physicality will be a completley different test but he should be used in Cup Games and as part of the Squad in PL matches early season, his pace and movement is frightening.
Played the 1st half and looked good.
Never really take much from pre-season. I remember in LVG's first pre-season we looked incredible and fans were claiming how we haven't moved the ball like that a lot.
Take it there will be no "post match" threads for pre-season games.
Just seen Jose's post match presser on United's YT … could he be any less enthusiastic? He's like a sulky kid - doesn't he realise he's representing the most popular club in the world? If he gives the fans nothing to be happy about is it any wonder the players keep turning in uninspiring performances (not that I was that unhappy with this morning's match).
What do you think of Chong?
"He's a kid." "He needs to play at his level in the academy." "He's not for today."
Will Sanchez play the next game?
"I hope so." "We have no players." "Only kids."
Who will be captain next season?
"Valencia was captain last season and today." "He will be captain next season."
Admittedly Jose spent longer complimenting Chong and I've concentrated on the negatives but I'm pretty sure "the kid" will too! At the end of all that he simply dismissed him as a kid who couldn't possibly figure in his plans for the forthcoming season. I'm pretty sure Pogba would have left sooner under Jose than he did under SAF!
It's the sulky, I'm hard done by, attitude that I find hard to deal with.
Just seen Jose's post match presser on United's YT … could he be any less enthusiastic? He's like a sulky kid - doesn't he realise he's representing the most popular club in the world? If he gives the fans nothing to be happy about is it any wonder the players keep turning in uninspiring performances (not that I was that unhappy with this morning's match).
What do you think of Chong?
"He's a kid." "He needs to play at his level in the academy." "He's not for today."
Will Sanchez play the next game?
"I hope so." "We have no players." "Only kids."
Who will be captain next season?
"Valencia was captain last season and today." "He will be captain next season."
Admittedly Jose spent longer complimenting Chong and I've concentrated on the negatives but I'm pretty sure "the kid" will too! At the end of all that he simply dismissed him as a kid who couldn't possibly figure in his plans for the forthcoming season. I'm pretty sure Pogba would have left sooner under Jose than he did under SAF!
It's the sulky, I'm hard done by, attitude that I find hard to deal with.
We're missing an entire team of players. Of course he's going to be upset.
Also we looked a bit shit and Club America were terrible, have seen them play much better.
Me! Pereira was our best midfielder he retained the ball well and at times made some lovely passes.
Herrara and McTominay were both poor they gave the ball away too much and gave very little support to those up top. Valencia has lost his legs, he looks a lot slower now which is worrying if he's our first choice RB. Shaw did quite as did Mitchell. Chong was really good our goal came through him, he put in a lovely curving cross from the RW!
Hopefully we'll see more of him on the tour.
Backpacking through Thailand so couldn't see the match despite the time ironically being better than usual. Tried streaming on mobile but wouldn't work. 1-1 against Club America is fine for our 1st pre-season match. Their fitness levels should be miles ahead of ours atm and the heat would suit them more.
Great to hear Chong did well. Great talent though quite physically weak atm. Would love to see him as an option for our awful rw position even though Jose's comments suggest he thinks it's too early. Shame Gomes didn't get more time. I'm very pessimistic for this coming season atm but not sure this match should really serve as a point of panic. Not like we lost 4-0 afterall.
What was Pereira like? Hearing mixed reports on him. We really need him to perform this season with our options in midfield
Great to hear Chong did well. Great talent though quite physically weak atm. Would love to see him as an option for our awful rw position even though Jose's comments suggest he thinks it's too early. Shame Gomes didn't get more time. I'm very pessimistic for this coming season atm but not sure this match should really serve as a point of panic. Not like we lost 4-0 afterall.
What was Pereira like? Hearing mixed reports on him. We really need him to perform this season with our options in midfield
Greenwood has a silky touch, really good close control. I will be excited to watch his progress over the next couple of years. He's one that could be ready to make the step up at a young age, especially since he's already been noticed enough to go on tour this year.
We're missing players because they are at the top of their game and were involved in the latter stages of international tournament, A club of our profile should be experiencing this every two years.*
SAF was happy enough to accept it and represent the club like an adult, why can't Jose? My inner demon tells me because, to Jose … it's all about Jose, not the club.
The worrying thing is that I'm pro Jose
*the fallout from players who go all the way in the next world cup (the Winter Olympics in 2022) will be interesting though.
What the heck, I thought this was supposed to be later this afternoon.
Matic is a good player but he isn't our best midfielder.
Unlikely, but I will promise you I'll think about maybe trying, eventually.
I've watched Timbo a bucket load since he was in the U18's. Man Utd's (and every clubs) experts get it wrong very frequently, it's just part of the job. You also shouldn't confuse business decisions with footballing ones, why would they put in a clause? They'd just be tying their own hands when they don't need to. I watched lots of his time at Palace actually, he played so much because Joel Ward was injured and then lost his place to another 20 year old Wan-Bissaka. Oh and have you seen the current Dutch squad by the way?
Jose is a huge cnut. Most of us are just pretending otherwise because he's currently our cnut.
It's great that we have those players and all but the manager is concerned about pre-season preparations. All of his best players are still on vacation and the league starts in a short time. De Gea, Rojo, Lindelof, Jones, Young, Lingard, Rashford, Fellaini, Lukaku, Matic, Fred, Pogba. So many I don't even know if I'm missing any. Lots of starters in that list, too. It's a hindrance and Jose's frustration is understandable.We're missing players because they are at the top of their game and were involved in the latter stages of international tournament, A club of our profile should be experiencing this every two years.*
SAF was happy enough to accept it and represent the club like an adult, why can't Jose? My inner demon tells me because, to Jose … it's all about Jose, not the club.
The worrying thing is that I'm pro Jose
*the fallout from players who go all the way in the next world cup (the Winter Olympics in 2022) will be interesting though.
Most big clubs I'd imagine
Yeah, I thought it was a good session. Our attack and midfield didn’t link up well so Martial was bit isolated. I think if Pereira had played in more advanced position with Herrera playing deeper, it would have been better. And Chong was really good. Excited for the next game to see how things work out.
Here's a more balanced view re Chong from Jose. Nothing here that anyone can disagree with.
“Tahith was good,” Jose said. “He came with the intention to show himself and in a moment when we had no strikers on the pitch, after Anthony Martial had left, we needed people to create and have some initiative, which he did.
“The action for the cross which led to the goal was beautiful. He was enthusiastic and he had the confidence to play. Of course, physically he has limitations and when he has one more touch, and that body contact, he loses for everyone. But when he makes the ball move and when he attacks people one against one he has quality. He is a good kid.”
”We have plans to make him [Chong] train the most possible times with us because that increases his evolution. He has to play where he belongs, he has to play in the Academy and he has to work physically because physically is where he’s not ready. Technically he’s very good, tactically he understands the game. He understands his position. From the physical point of view, when the game gets into important situations, he’s in trouble, he’s fragile. He’s a kid, he’s still a kid, the talent is there, the personality is there, the passion, the desire to play, the humility to learn, so it’s a fantastic experience for him if he can play like today 20-25 minutes in every one of these five matches. If during the season, he trains with us and if during the season, he has a couple of occasions to play minutes with us, I don’t know, it depends, especially some cup matches. Of course he’s a good kid and it’s not for today, but for sure, he’s a good kid.”
It's amazing how when you just lift one or two quotes here and there it can come across so negative.
“Tahith was good,” Jose said. “He came with the intention to show himself and in a moment when we had no strikers on the pitch, after Anthony Martial had left, we needed people to create and have some initiative, which he did.
“The action for the cross which led to the goal was beautiful. He was enthusiastic and he had the confidence to play. Of course, physically he has limitations and when he has one more touch, and that body contact, he loses for everyone. But when he makes the ball move and when he attacks people one against one he has quality. He is a good kid.”
”We have plans to make him [Chong] train the most possible times with us because that increases his evolution. He has to play where he belongs, he has to play in the Academy and he has to work physically because physically is where he’s not ready. Technically he’s very good, tactically he understands the game. He understands his position. From the physical point of view, when the game gets into important situations, he’s in trouble, he’s fragile. He’s a kid, he’s still a kid, the talent is there, the personality is there, the passion, the desire to play, the humility to learn, so it’s a fantastic experience for him if he can play like today 20-25 minutes in every one of these five matches. If during the season, he trains with us and if during the season, he has a couple of occasions to play minutes with us, I don’t know, it depends, especially some cup matches. Of course he’s a good kid and it’s not for today, but for sure, he’s a good kid.”
It's amazing how when you just lift one or two quotes here and there it can come across so negative.
arent they (club America) in exactly opposite shape? 3 days before they start their campaign?
Probably. That's why I went to bed and watched the highlights this morning.
It's great staying up and watching us win 4-0 but I would have been pretty sour with the 1-1 draw and 4 hrs sleep.
I dunno. This isn't a sudden blow, out of the blue. It's something he's known about for months. Rocking up to all his interviews with a face like a slapped arse, sulking about a situation he's been preparing for all summer just comes across unnecessarily sour and petulant. The absence of these senior pros is a great opportunity for fringe/young players and it wouldn't kill him to spin it that way and at least try to put a brave face on the situation. It would certainly be music to the ears of the likes of Shaw and Martial.
I hope to God he's a completely different character away from the cameras and he's deliberately being as grumpy as possible on television as some sort of performance art piece because if he's that sullen all the time it's got to be uninspiring/intimidating for the players and would explain why they often play as though paralysed by fear and indecision.
Last edited:
Pereira played a similar deep role last preseason as well. He did well for the most part.
Are you going to say Pogba? Not having that at all, sorry...
The game looked unsurprisingly low quality, but from the highlights it's clear some young players got a good chance to play some minutes and Mata's goal was well taken.
I also think the kit looked good as well, although it at times looks like they're wearing their shorts up round their navels.
I also think the kit looked good as well, although it at times looks like they're wearing their shorts up round their navels.
Valencia captain, we're doomed.
Mourinho being Mourinho.... Why fans still lament about his demeanor when he's been this way for years, I do not know.
It's a fair point, maybe he was hoping most everyone would go out in the group stages.
Wait, he called Chong a kid?
Yeah, that’s a fair point. Fairly sure I’ve made it myself loads of times already. Don’t you find yourself being worn down by it, gradually, over time? I made the mistake of clicking on the post-match interview on the caf twitter feed first things this morning to see how the match went. Within seconds, I was right back there in the doldrums of the closing weeks of last season. Listening to him piss and moan through a series of painfully dull and unenjoyable games of football. Like a cold shower after all World Cup got me all excited about football, all over again.
My main worry right now is which player, in his right mind, would choose to enter the sort of atmosphere he’s giving off over other, more upbeat managers in charge of our rivals? I know that we reassure ourselves that the massive salaries on offer will trump any other factor for most footballers but it is starting to bother me that a) there might be cracking players out there who care about more than just a pay cheque and b) we end up with a squad full of players who are primarily motivate by money.
I think you have fair points but I remember SAF being a scary miserable old scot who only mellowed in his late years, but you'd hear that he was a different character off camera and depending on who he was interacting with.
Regardless, I get your point but I have only been dippng in and out of all things United this summer so I've been immune to the negativity gripping the caf... So far. So can't relate right now
How can anyone moan about these quotes ?
I guess he doesn't smile enough while speaking.
Valuable minutes for those involved. Club America fit and pacey, so got the lungs wide open on our lads. First game will always be rusty for a good few so won't judge too much. Delighted for Chong, done great.
But a worry that squad depth is still awful.
But a worry that squad depth is still awful.