Manchester United suffered a late defeat in their first pre-season match, with Norwegian hosts Rosenborg losing 1-0 after scoring the winning goal in the 93rd minute.
Erik ten Hag with several players who could be hoping to feature in the season-opening Community Shield against Manchester City on August 10. Marcus Rashford, Casemiro and Mason Mount were in the starting XI but were dropped at the coaching break. . made significant changes.
Only goalkeeper Radek Vitek played the full 90 minutes, but United had the 20-year-old to thank for keeping them in the game, making several saves against a Rosenborg team already halfway through its own domestic season.
You can never read too much in the pre-season, let’s leave aside the first forty-five minutes of the first friendly match. That’s all the top names in United’s squad have had, however, to lay the foundations for what will be a vital crusade for all of them.
Rashford earned the strongest reaction from the home team when his call was read out before kick-off, but they had little else to celebrate as the 26-year-old’s relentless run went largely unrewarded.
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A promising dart in defence disappointed early on with a weak throw-in, but Rashford showed a preference for chasing the ball and winning it back. A shot also blocked shortly before the break, with a clever pass from Casemiro.
It is the first time the Brazilian foreigner has worn a United shirt since before the FA Cup final and, apart from that pass to Rashford, he arrived a little late, perhaps understandably so, especially after a dull challenge from Tomas Nemcik I will leave it on the bridge for a few minutes. minutes.
This has to be a great season for Mount after last season’s false start. The player who joined Chelsea in a deal valued at £60m ($75. 7m) was full of life with the ball and attempted some ambitious passes to break the line, but struggled to make a consistent impact.
United’s most impressive player of the day, and especially of the first half, is young goalkeeper Vitek, fresh from a successful loan spell at Accrington Stanley last season.
The 20-year-old, part of the 2022 FA Youth Cup winning class, had to make several acrobatic and reactive saves, none greater than when he deflected Tobias Borkeeiet’s shot over the post and wide.
Jelle ten Rouwelaar, United’s new goalkeeping coach, admired Vitek’s performance from his seat in the stands among United’s research team, and returned to the dugout when young foreigners from the Czech Republic made an effort to send off Magnus Holte.
Such is the strength of Noah Holm’s winner that there is little Vitek can do to protect the blank sheet of paper that its functionality deserved. After Tom Heaton signed a new one-year contract and Altay Bayindir is still around, some other loan period wouldn’t come as a surprise. . With this evidence he will have many suitors.
When United showed Ten Rouwelaar’s appointment before kick-off, he had already spent a few minutes on the pitch with goalkeepers Vitek, Dermot and Elyh Harrison to test them.
He was joined by other newcomers to the Ten Hag team, Rene Hake and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who spent a few moments in the shooting drills sharing a word with Rashford. The former United striker was equally happy to give advice to defenders, shouting out to United’s youngsters. baseline from the edge of technical dominance in the second half.
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It’s the first glimpse of behind-the-scenes tweaks that United hope will serve to solve last season’s problems, while also giving Ten Hag a chance to set things right. Have there been any signs that a new technique is having an effect on the ground?
Perhaps only in United’s calm and measured play, specifically in the first half with Jonny Evans and Will Fish in front of Vitek, and in their willingness to stay still with the ball, inviting Rosenborg to continue. It didn’t work out and was perhaps to be expected in a low-key pre-season friendly, but it was a refreshing replacement for the frenetic, frenetic speed that occasionally burned Ten Hag’s side last season.
Saturday, July 20: Rangers (A), friendly, 4 p. m. m. BST, 11am m. E. T.