Manchester United squad report – Assessing the first three friendlies

Manchester United

Two losses out of three – not very good showing by Manchester United in their ongoing pre-season tour. Whether it’s down to a lack of match fitness or a lack of communication between the (new) manager and the players, only time will tell.

But the pre-season results do not matter as much as the amount of playing time youngsters and first-team regulars get, and that has been aplenty.

David Moyes is bound to try new things in these games, primarily because these matches are inconsequential – if he doesn’t try them here, where will he?

For the Youth squad, these friendlies are the only opportunity during the season to showcase their talent, and they have not disappointed. Among the players that have started these games, three Man United youngsters have caught the eye – Jesse Lingard, Adnan Januzaj and Wilfried Zaha.

Lingard has scored three goals and assisted one in three matches, and Januzaj has been influential in his attacking MF role, albeit with a single assist to his name. Technically, Zaha is still a youngster (at 20), but his experience with Crystal Palace means he’ll by competing for a first-team place this season with the likes of Ashley Young and Nani.

Youngsters

Jesse Lingard

While Lingard is physically apt for the Premier League, I doubt he’ll be a starter in this season. He has the ability to run, beat players and score goals, but his short-passing game needs improvement. However, the major factor denying him a place in the first team is that United already have a wealth of attacking options to choose from.

He should probably go out on loan to a Championship side this season as he has outgrown his playing time in the U-21 League, and needs a change.

Januzaj is technically brilliant and has the potential to become a real star for United in the future, but he needs to beef up. The physicality of the Premier League makes it nearly impossible for Januzaj to succeed, and if he is to do so, he needs to get stronger. The technical aspect of his game is already at an evolved stage, and he looks the most promising youngster of the lot we have right now. He might get a couple of first-team opportunities under Moyes this season.

Zaha has also shown sparks of brilliance in these games – his assist for Lingard’s goal last night was pure class, as he beat the defender and whipped the cross in. He has already proven himself at the Championship level, and his game feels evolved enough for him to be used in the Premier League this season. He’ll be giving our regular wingers a thing or two to worry about this season.

Attack

Danny Welbeck

Among the regulars, the standout attacker has been Danny Welbeck. Welbeck scored twice in the match in Sydney and has always been good with the ball at his feet – it is only the sheer weakness of his final touch and finishing that have really come to light in these matches. He could have scored at least four more goals had his first-touches been better.

Robin van Persie has already scored and assisted in two outings, and with Lingard and Januzaj providing attacking flair, things look good on the attacking front for United.

Wingers

Wilfried Zaha

United’s best winger in these games has been none other than Ryan Giggs! In his new role as player-coach, the 39-year-old has flourished and already has three assists to his name. Ashley Young got his first opportunity to play last night in Japan – however, it was too short an appearance to gauge his form.

The form of Antonio Valencia and Nani will be critical to this season’s title defence – sadly, they aren’t a part of the tour, and we will have to wait for the season to start to see if they can turn around last year’s horrendous showing.

The addition of Wilfried Zaha to the squad was brilliantly thought-out by Sir Alex – seeing the declining form of his current triplet of wingers (Young, Valencia and Nani), he decided to rope in a youngster looking for first-team opportunities in the hope that it will give his experienced wingers a reason to perform better. Amidst this (healthy) internal competition, United’s attack will be the ultimate winner.

Central Midfield

Tom Cleverley

In the midfield, United have allotted playing time to all of its central midfielders – Carrick, Cleverley and Anderson – yes, the list is only three names long! Darren Fletcher is yet to recover from his injury, and United are yet to confirm interest in any CM other than Cesc Fabregas.

Tom Cleverley has played all three games from the start and has impressed tremendously in his defensive work-rate – while his passing may not be as sharp as Scholes, his defensive capabilities are certainly better.

Michael Carrick has been as sharp as ever – he really has showcased his midfield class for the past two seasons. The case of Anderson is a truly peculiar one – one can see that he was brought in for his physical strength, and he showcases his ability to hold the ball on occasions.

The problem is these occasions do not occur that frequently, and his stamina is a real issue. Central midfield is one area United really need to strengthen – they need to buy a CM now.

Defence

Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand

United’s defence is following last year’s pattern – they are yet to keep a clean sheet. The central defensive duo of Evans-Jones has now conceded 8 goals in its last two outings (5 against West Brom in the last match last season, and 3 last night against the Yokohama F-Marinos) – it seems the presence of one of Ferdinand or Vidic is imperative if United are to stop leaking goals. This is particularly worrying, considering that Ferdinand is 34 and Vidic is 32.

Unconfirmed sources report that United are very close to signing 26-year-old Argentine Ezequiel Garay – a defender that is nearing his prime. He will be a very good addition to a very leaky defence – the aura of a solid defence is just not there at the moment, be it defending high balls or simple wide crosses.

It is my strong belief that if United are to defend their title this season, our captain Nemanja Vidic has to play at least 25 out of the 38 games. His mere presence beefs up our defence – this was evident when he played 8 games last season, and United kept 7 clean sheets.

The fullbacks are doing their job well – all of Rafael, Fabio, Evra and Buttner have no particular technical weaknesses or form lapses that are of great concern to United at the moment – it is the central defence that needs to get its act straight.

Goalkeepers

David de Gea

United have utilized all three of their keepers in the pre-season games – Amos took the gloves in the first match (conceded 1), Lindegaard was between the sticks in the second match (conceded 1) and de Gea was the goalkeeper for the third match (conceded 3). This is not necessarily a measure of their abilities – the Yokohama F-Marinos were the most capable team of the three, and they were in mid-season and fully fit.

David de Gea cannot be completely blamed for United’s leaky defence last season – the goals that we conceded were more due to defensive errors than goalkeeping errors. Even in last night’s match, the first goal was not de Gea’s fault – in fact, he had just made a brilliant save to deny a goal before the ball went in off the rebound. His shot-stopping looks as good as it has been, and his ability to deal with crosses is a work-in-progress – results will appear, but it will take time.

THE VERDICT

United’s pre-season showing still leaves much to be desired, though more from the defence than the attack.