Manchester United squad report – Assessing the first three friendlies

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.