This will be our third match of this run of pre-season friendlies. After beating Wayne Rooney’s Derby County 2-1 and losing 4-2 against QPR, hopefully we can have a more assured performance and result.
There are never masses to be gained from over-analysing results in pre-season matches. Rather it is important to look at how players perform. We can’t even learn too much from this aspect about our upcoming season, since a lot of the players getting starts in these two matches so far are most likely going to be fringe players in the coming season. This is obviously because those players who went to the Euros or had international football to play in the summer are getting a rest before being brought back into the fold later. With them not being brought back to training two weeks before the start of the season most likely featuring in the final pre-season friendly against Everton.
The way in which our previous campaign ended with such disappointment of losing the Europa League final in the way that we did. Combine that with the disappointing international campaign that many of our England players had, and we cannot go forth with that level of negativity into next season. We know how much mindset and mentality can take a toll on performances and results and that level of negativity needs to change. On the other hand, with those disappointments of the previous season, I’m sure Ole and the rest of the motivators in that dressing room will be using that as a push to prove something, to prove that these players are better than losing a final on penalties.
The newly promoted side could pose an interesting challenge for United. With their blend of aggressive football and playing attacking through balls in the centre up to the likes of Ivan Toney. This could cause some problems for what could be an unsettled and unexperienced defence. With that feeling of being newly promoted they will feel like there is a point to be made here. They will feel up for this game coming to Old Trafford and want to make a point to the rest of the league.
Hopefully we can see a strong performance from The Red Devils and an improvement on the previous match. I’d like to see how someone like James Garner would do from the start perhaps, as well as seeing more of Anthony Elanga would be great. He was one of the few players who shone for United in the last game. If these players can step up and put in an impressive performance hopefully, they can improve their standings in the manager’s opinion.