So, I was watching the first game of Manchester United's preseason tour and I was disappointed.
It's no secret that I'm a hardcore Red Devil and a football enthusiast. What I saw today is a team far from being match ready.
Lets start with the starting line-up:
I respected Fergie for his choices. I like the balance of new players from the reserve team with the far more experienced players from the first team. Lindegaard does have a lot to prove and fight for, pity his season was cut short though. Rio, in the center surrounded by the reserve players who had a stellar season. I was particularly looking for a great performance from Veseli as we really do need a right back! In the middle; Lingard, Scholes and Carrick and up at attack; Berbatov, Macheda and Hernandez.
My only criticism at this point was the pairing of Macheda and Chicha! They are both "poachers"so to speak and have the same mentality which is destructive more than constructive if you're going to pair them. You need a number 10 and a number 9 not two number 9's! I was right to be skeptical because these players totally didn't link in this game!
THE GAME
Macheda had more than a dozen chances in the first half but only managed to net one! Of which, the one he did score was lucky to meet the back of the net! It was a terrible strike! I don't know where we went wrong with this kid. He just doesn't seem to be getting things right! I don't know why we haven't sold him already! Chicha was just as bad! He missed a lot of changes throughout the game and when will he get it in his head that a striker who has more offside offences than shots on target is as good as playing with ten men on the field! All you do is weaken your team and bring the morale of your peers down!
Paul Scholes controlled the midfield beautifully and you could see both Carrick and Lingard feed off his experience. Carrick though, for a veteran player, should have made his presence known on the pitch. He was simply chasing shadows for me.
Rio didn't have a good game for me. I sensed an ego complex on the pitch. Since when does a full-back dribble with the ball, lose it, and not run back and try recover but simply watch the ball and your teammates scrambling over your mistake. Lindegaard was absolutely solid between the poles! Very good performance but communication with his defense on set pieces was poor! Brady played well but didn't live up to full expectation this game; but you can't take anything away from performance. He really did play well. I love his deliveries off the corners! He could very well be an asset for United in the future!
Berbatov, to me, was man of the match! He did everything he had to do and needed to do. His fitness is looking promising and his creativity hasn't lost a beat.
Now we look at the substitutes. Anderson was more than dismal! I acknowledge the amount of miles he put on the pitch off the bench, but that's pretty much all he did. None of his switch crosses made it to the man. His defending was not convincing at all. His creativity was FAR below par. Had he been a bit better and considering the break-away chances he fluffed up for us, there would be more goals on the scoreboard!
Captain Petrucci really did live up to his billing! He was unfortunate to hit the woodwork! That shot of his had venom behind it! I loved his agility and confidence behind the ball.
Tunniclife was pretty much silent but a solid off the bench performance none-the-less. Brady's replacement, Blackett, played quite well. Very confident with ball and his positioning is very good. He is very fast as well! His main flaw was his crossing! It was more than poor! He just couldn't pick anyone in the box! It was terrible man!
Shinji made an appearance but unfortunately it was only for 5mins. Looking forward to seeing more of him though!
I know this is only preseason and I know the team has only been training together for the last 6 or so days but I really did expect a stronger performance than this. Come on United! We need to get our form quicker than this! Looking forward to Saturday!
