Tomorrow is officially the first unofficial game of the Erik ten Hag era at Manchester United, and who better to face than bitter arch rivals Liverpool.
Today, Manchester United had an open training session at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
The Telegraph’s James Ducker was present at the training session to observe proceedings. Fans in the stadium showed great excitement at seeing the players up close and personal.
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Whilst observing the session, Ducker noticed one line-up used in a drill that could very realistically be United’s line-up against Liverpool at some point.
Often in pre season friendlies, the team is changed at half time so it could be seen in either the first or second half.
The goalkeepers will almost certainly be David de Gea in one half and Tom Heaton in the other.
At full back, it is likely that Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw will be the pairing. Nominally, many will expect this to be Ten Hag’s go to pairing throughout the season.
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At centre half, Victor Lindelöf and Eric Bailly are likely to be seen together, especially given Maguire training separately in the afternoon session and Varane not sighted during that session, both likely due to slight knocks.
The line-up observed was a 4-3-3 formation, and Fred was operating as the lone six. He was seen starting off attacks from deep and will likely be collecting the ball from his centre-backs.
Whilst not his best position, with United’s lack of a defensive midfielder he could be used here throughout the season quite often.
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Ahead of him as two quite offensive number eights were United’s new bearer of that number, Bruno Fernandes, and Donny van de Beek who looks to revive his United career under his former manager.
The front three is one that United fans have been waiting since 2020 to see, and part of the team that could be most exciting to see.
On the left wing, Marcus Rashford could return to his favoured position as he looked to return to his best form.
On the right wing, 72 million pound Jadon Sancho is likely to be the player lining up. Sancho played there throughout the drills today, and produced an exciting assist for Rashford with a well-weighted cross.
Through the middle, United’s number nine Anthony Martial looks to return to his best self. Martial has had a rough couple of years, but as Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly looks to exit the club he could be handed a lifeline.
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This pre-season friendly, whilst just a friendly, will be a good chance to experiment with things tactically and there are certainly interesting parts of this team worth looking out for.
Undoubtedly, the eyes will be on the front three. But do not sleep on the midfield trio, particularly Fred as the six.
Also worth watching is how the full backs operate, and whether or not Diogo Dalot continues to play his ‘inverted’ full back role.
Topics: Manchester United, Fred, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek, Liverpool, Erik Ten Hag
Yusuf Haq