Manchester United’s pre-season is officially over, and at the end of the week their Premier League campaign will have gotten underway.
All in all, pre-season was a mixed experience results-wise for the Red Devils, yet for what it taught new manager Erik ten Hag it was invaluable.
United flew out of the blocks with a 4-0 win over Liverpool in Bangkok, then dispatched of Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace 4-1 and 3-1 in Melbourne. They rounded off their tour of the far East with a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa in Perth.
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Since returning, they beat Wrexham 4-1 in a behind closed doors friendly at Carrington, before losing 1-0 to Atlético Madrid in Oslo. Finally, they drew 1-1 against Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford the next day.
Three friendly wins (four including the behind-closed-doors fixture), two draws and a loss contains more good than it does bad, but signals improvement is needed.
This in many ways sums up the shape of Manchester United’s squad heading into the 2022/23 season, and pre-season has told the new boss, the club as a whole and their fans exactly what is needed.
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Firstly, to focus on the good, United have talent in their squad. A lot of it. Much of this talent, however, was being suppressed through poor optimisation of it under previous managers.
Arguably the peak of this talent lies with Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho, who also happen to have been United’s two standout performers in this pre-season period.
Martial burst onto the scene in 2015 as one of the most talented teenagers in world football, scooping up the Golden Boy award and being tipped to conquer world football.
Things have since been up and down for him for a variety of reasons, the last couple of years being the biggest downs of his career. But on this tour, he showed signs he could explode to a level fans have yet to see from him.
Jadon Sancho coming good after his £72 million transfer was always a matter of when, not if. The Englishman had three consecutive years at Dortmund where he racked up 20 assists.
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He also hit double digit goalscoring numbers in all of these seasons, and yet his numbers still do not define his game.
Sancho has already done so much in his career that people sometimes forget he only turned 22 years old at the end of March.
He is arguably England’s biggest talent since Wayne Rooney, and in pre-season took the steps towards getting his United career really up and running.
It was not just Sancho and Martial who impressed. Players who struggled last season such as Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire looked like they were taking steps to finding their form again.
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Fred continued his impressive performances from last season in a new role, Diogo Dalot further dismissed doubts about his ability and Zidane Iqbal emerged as a player who could contribute.
United’s squad contains a lot of talent, that is evident. The same goes for the academy, which is producing its best crop of talent in years.
But the squad still needs further additions, and pre-season also showed that the need for these additions is great.
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In games against Aston Villa away and Rayo Vallecano, United’s (mostly) second string XI simply wasn’t good enough. Against Atlético, the attack struggled without Sancho.
Whilst the teams contained quality in parts, it was made clear that United’s squad depth is lacking in a lot of key areas.
The midfield is still in desperate need of strengthening even for United’s best team, it is understandable why Ten Hag is so persistent on signing Frenkie de Jong.
As well, the offensive line is in need of depth. Should Cristiano Ronaldo depart, United’s fourth best attacker is probably Amad Diallo. Amad scored against Vallecano and assisted in the 4-0 win over Liverpool.
But the Ivorian has not had a lot of time to prove himself at senior level, and whilst he definitely should be given more of a chance having him as the fourth choice forward is not ideal.
After Amad comes 18 year old Alejandro Garnacho, who whilst a supreme talent has played next to no senior minutes. He too shone in the fixture at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Whilst these players will undoubtedly get their chances in what is due to be the busiest football season ever, where frequent rotation will be required from United.
If they want to have a successful season, then greater offensive depth is needed. United have so far made three good signings, but probably require double that before the window shuts.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Manchester United, Premier League, Erik Ten Hag, Football