Manchester United’s pre-season tour is over and there were positives on display throughout. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will still want to improve this team before Premier League starts, but here are some things we could say we learned from the friendly matches this season.
Signings Are Necessary
This is not news. We all know this. But we cannot stress this out enough. Manchester United need new players. One or two signings are realistic, but if we were honest, maybe three would be something from an ideal world that we would be satisfied with. Harry Maguire is reportedly close to joining, whilst many media are claiming Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Bruno Fernandes are not far either.
All three of them are too much to expect, but Man United need to get the players that will improve the backbone of the squad.
James Could Surprise Many
Daniel James joined the club from Swansea and many thought how much time will he need to accommodate to Premier League. While this will be his only second professional season, James showed throughout the pre-season tour – and he played a lot – that he might not be out of his depth. Many Premier League sides do not seem to be that tough anymore, with the lower echelon of the league getting further away from those on the other side of the spectrum.
James’ pace and confidence could even get him in the starting lineup early on in the season. From there on, anything could happen.
Martial Can Be The #9
Solskjaer tried using Anthony Martial as a number nine and that might just be something we could be seeing a lot next season. With James expected to challenge for the right wing and Marcus Rashford for the opposite flank, Martial could stay in the middle, especially now when we do not know what will happen with Romelu Lukaku.
Martial could be in a position where he would be running slightly less, but also where he could get into better shooting positions, something he lacked in previous season when he played on the flank.
Lingard Important Pressing-Wise
We all knew Jesse Lingard could become a very important part of Man United now that the manager and staff are trying to instill a more modern, high-pressing game. If the Devils are to suffocate teams from the forward line, then Jesse Lingard will be there to do much of that job. His running, energy and off-the-ball movements are very important for such type of football and we have seen during the tour how much he can offer in that specific role.
Questions To Answer In Midfield
There are questions to be answered when the season starts in regards to midfield. Will the team play in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3? Therefore, will the team play with a single or a double pivot in central midfield and who will those players be? If Man United start with only Nemanja Matic in front of the defence, could that leave a lot of space in behind with the team’s aggressive press? And also, who will be the midfield options when the season starts?
Solskjaer will be looking to answer these without making mistakes once the matches start. It will be quite interesting to see how will things turn out.
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