Manchester United have played another pre-season friendly and this time it was against Arsenal at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The Devils won 2-0 thanks to first-half goals Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho, who in the span of seven minutes showed Mikel Arteta why his team is still far from being ready for the Premier League campaign. Here are some key takeaways from this match.
Sancho Shows Signs Of Life
In a summer where United are lacking strikers and still looking to land a new one, such as Rasmus Hojlund of Atalanta, Jadon Sancho got the chance to play against Arsenal in the false nine role. Since arriving from Borussia Dortmund, Sancho has been on and off, plagued by injuries and some poor performances, but also just occasionally showing his talent.
It was this match against Arsenal, however, which proved to offer some encouragement for the player. False nine is not his usual position, but he was giving all sorts of problems to Arsenal. He was coming short, moving wide and even ran in behind their backline. Sancho even scored and showed why he can be such a dangerous player for United. Ten Hag will only want to see Sancho play in such a way more often than he has in the past two years.
A Striker Is Still Needed
Despite such a performance from Sancho, this match still highlighted the need for a proper striker. United clearly lacked a central finisher to complete some of the many attacks they created. Ten Hag might be creative in finding new roles for players, moving them around and trying to confuse the opposition with different solutions, but ultimately, United will have to get that striker soon. It seems Hojlund is going to be that man and Man United fans will want to see what he can bring to the table.
Mainoo Keeps Impressing
Kobbie Mainoo is a youngster who was born in 2005, but the way he already plays at the age of 18 is making many of us feel so much older. This was another pre-season performance from the teenager in which genuine questions of ‘how much could he help United during the campaign?’ are bing asked. He was good and solid in possession, he was able to beat the press and the amount of space he is able to cover without the ball was also commendable. Hopefully his performances will help him get some more chances under Ten Hag, despite his age.
Bailly Thinking About Saudi Arabia
And, apart from the match against Arsenal, there are some news regarding Eric Bailly. The Ivorian defender is in ongiong talks with two Saudi Arabian clubs over a potential three-year deal. Bailly could earn up to 20 million pounds over those three years and Sky Sports report he even spoke directly to Cristiano Ronaldo so he could learn more about the league and lifestyle in Saudi Arabia. Bailly has a contract with Man United until June 2024, so maybe the Devils will also be able to get some decent transfer fee for the player Erik Ten Hag is not counting on.
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