Manchester United pre-season update
What have we learned so far?
Transcript
00:00 Obviously, United are away at their pre-season tour, they are halfway through the games they're playing out there now.
00:05 What have we learned from these few games out there that they've played already?
00:12 Yes, I said to you that they're halfway through.
00:15 I mean, that was me being a bit loose with that phrase.
00:19 I mean, they've got eight pre-season friendlies this summer, they've played three.
00:23 But the way I view it almost is that two of those friendlies are almost going to be either an under-21
00:28 or a kind of a backup squad.
00:31 I almost view it as six first-team friendlies, if that makes sense, to play three.
00:35 So they're technically kind of halfway through.
00:37 But, yeah, I mean, look, the first thing to say is that they've only had the full squad for the last game of that.
00:43 So, again, it's still difficult to make too many, you know, draw too many conclusions and make too many observations in pre-season friendlies.
00:50 But I think that the encouraging thing for Ten Hag will be so far this summer that just how quickly they've got back to,
00:57 you know, playing at the levels that they did last season.
01:00 It all looks very natural.
01:01 They all look like they know what they're doing on the pits.
01:04 They all have sunk back immediately into those roles.
01:07 I mean, the first two games have been interesting because they played a strong start in 11 and haven't scored a goal in either of those halves.
01:14 And, you know, the Chien has topped 10 out three players at halftime in both those games.
01:18 But that involved Varane, Martinez, Sancho, Wan-Bissaka, a couple of other senior players.
01:25 And they played really well in both those halves, but didn't score a goal, dominated possession, just couldn't find a way through.
01:30 So I think that highlights one of the problems is that they need a centre forward.
01:33 It comes back to what we've just discussed about Rasmus Hoyland and the need to bring in a new number nine.
01:39 So I think that's one of the interesting things.
01:41 But I think by and large that you'll be quite pleased, Ten Hag, with how the patterns of play that they've had and just how quickly, as I say, they've settled back into it.
01:50 I thought they played well against Arsenal, by and large, on Saturday night.
01:54 But again, there's only so much you can draw from these things.
01:58 I mean, three wins from three is something, you know, I mean, look, again, don't want to blow this out of proportion, I think.
02:04 But you'd rather have three wins than three defeats, obviously.
02:07 And I think that the one thing that stood out for me, and it does stand out very often in Man United pre-season tours, is just the impact of the young players.
02:15 It just is always a reminder that just the quality that United have in their youth ranks.
02:20 I know it's the same as City. I suspect it's the same with Arsenal, Chelsea, all these kind of top clubs.
02:25 But they really do have some fantastic young players who just come in straight away, look so good.
02:30 And I think the fact that they're a little bit younger helps in terms of fitness levels.
02:33 They can probably regain that a little bit quicker. And they just look really good in pre-season.
02:36 I mean, the big one who stood out, I think, is Kobe Maneau, a player who Manchester United offered a new contract to at the start of the season.
02:43 I think he is going to be involved in the first team picture going forward this campaign.
02:47 I mean, it looks as if they've essentially dislodged Danny van de Beek from that first team group.
02:53 Scott McTominay, Fred, could be leaving as well. So I think that's a really interesting one going forward.
02:57 But yeah, by and large, I think there's an incentive and encouragement how quickly they've got back to those levels compared to how they played out last season.
03:05 And I think the encouraging thing for Ten Hag is, you know, we're talking now, all right, last week of July.
03:10 He's got his whole squad together, bar a couple of transfers here and there.
03:14 He can really start to formulate a plan here. He can really start putting things together.
03:17 Whereas last summer, it was so chaotic in his first summer as manager.
03:21 The transfers, well, it's not been perfect this season.
03:24 I think that this summer has been a lot more, he's seen a lot more on the ball.
03:27 He seems to have a lot more of a plan of exactly what's going on.
03:29 So yeah, I think by and large, there's actually some really early signs of encouragement.
03:34 But again, to repeat, it's only pre-season. Let's not go too crazy on him.