Manchester United ended their pre-season tour of the United States with a record of three wins and one defeat. Although the final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain saw the tour finish on a disappointing note, overall it has been a positive experience for Louis van Gaal’s side, on the pitch at least.
The main focus of pre-season is to gain as much fitness as possible for the squad ahead of the new season. The team can build up towards the new campaign and experiment with new formations and try out players in different positions.
van Gaal certainly experimented with the latter as several players were tested out of their usual positions. Daley Blind’s place in the centre of defence caused plenty of eyebrows to be raised with many feeling that the Dutch international, who is adept at playing in central midfield and left back, lacks the presence and speed to be cope with the rigours of the Premier League in a central defensive role. van Gaal is keen on playing out from the back and this requires his defenders being confident in possession. Blind is an intelligent player and his positioning will allow him to make up for his lack of pace and power.
Another factor of the Louis van Gaal philosophy that emerged during pre-season was his desire to partner a right-footed centre back with a left footer. Daley Blind now finds himself, being left-footed, as first choice in the position. Phil Jones appears to be the preferred option on the right side of defence which means that Chris Smalling (rather memorably having been called ‘Mike’ by his manager in a more comical moment of the tour) looks set to miss out despite his impressive form at the end of the season. Defensive frailties were exposed in the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and there doesn’t appear to be too much confidence in the new duo and in van Gaal’s belief in the preferred feet of his defenders.
Another player who found himself occupying a new position was Adnan Januzaj. A somewhat forgotten man under Louis van Gaal, he struggled to force his way into the first team last season, but he seems to have found a new role for himself in a central striking position. With electric speed, acceleration and wonderful skill, Januzaj has looked settled in the role and produced a brilliant performance in the 3-1 defeat of Barcelona. The way he took his goal should allay fears that the side is short of attacking quality following the departures of reputable forwards Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao. Although, Januzaj will be behind Wayne Rooney in the pecking order up front, van Gaal looks set on a 4-3-3 formation with a lone striker, the young Belgian will provide a different and exciting option in attack.
The new signings all made a positive impact during the tour. Matteo Darmian looks an assured and dependable full back, impressing throughout the trip. The 25-year-old, on initial evidence, looks like a bargain at the £13 million that United paid Torino for his services. Morgan Schneiderlin also impressed in pre-season, he settled in quickly and exerted his influence on the centre of midfield. With Premier League experience already under his belt, you’d expect Schneiderlin to be occupying one of the central midfield positions at the start of the new season.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is arguably the biggest arrival of the summer so far and although he has started slowly to life at United, once he gains full fitness there is great promise for what he can achieve in United colours. Memphis Depay has enjoyed a positive start at the club, playing in an unexpected role behind the striker, linking up well with Rooney and opening his scoring account in the win over San Jose Earthquakes. A great season is anticipated from the 21-year-old.
As previously mentioned, the pre-season matches are simply an opportunity to experiment without the pressure of the regular season. However they can be telling on how a team will play and line-up in the forthcoming campaign. Van Gaal has confirmed that he wants to line-up in 4-3-3 formation with a player occupying the number ten role behind a lone centre forward. At present it looks as if Rooney will lead the line with Depay playing in behind him. While many critics and supporters want to see Depay starting out wide it is worth remembering that Juan Mata performed admirably when staring out on the wing last year and continued this form in pre-season.
In the other wide role, van Gaal will have to decide whether to start with Ashley Young, who has enjoyed a renaissance under the manager, or Andreas Pereira, who was excellent on tour and is a fantastic prospect as is Jesse Lingard, and James Wilson showed that he can also perform in that position. In midfield, the manager has a wealth of riches to choose from. In an area where many felt United had been greatly lacking for years, there is now Michael Carrick, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera to pick from. Fellaini barely featured in pre-season, as a result of his sending-off against Hull last season, and Herrera looks to be the odd one out despite a fine debut campaign in 2014/15.
Luke Shaw deserves a special mention; he was arguably the best player of the tour, and a terrific and consistent season appears to be ahead of him. His fitness work prior to returning for training has obviously paid off and he looks like fulfilling the huge promise that he came with last summer.
Louis van Gaal has had to deal with as much off of the pitch in pre-season, as he has on it. The ongoing transfer sagas of David de Gea and Angel Di Maria have unsettled the team and made van Gaal’s job even more difficult. De Gea looks set to remain for another season before joining Real Madrid but we certainly haven’t heard the last of this move. Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero has joined on a free transfer to ensure the side aren’t short of options between the sticks.
Whilst de Gea is likely to stay, the same cannot be said for record signing Angel di Maria who is poised to sign for Paris Saint-Germain. His arrival gives credence to the belief that signing established stars for huge transfer fees isn’t the way United should do their business. Van Gaal’s omission that he has no idea where Di Maria is, has only caused embarrassment and his pending exit could undermine a positive pre-season and the early business United have already done in the market.
Looking back on the tour, with just over a week left to go until United kick-off against Tottenham Hotspur, van Gaal’s side look strong and ready to go ahead of the new season. The potential exits of de Gea and Di Maria have given the side a feeling of being unsettled but the new arrivals have been positive. It is worth remembering that pre-season is about gaining match fitness and testing the group. As we shouldn’t get carried away with beating Barcelona, we need to avoid doing the same after losing to PSG. The first real test of how good Louis van Gaal’s team will be on the 8th August against Spurs.
