
Pre-season Report
Hello and welcome to the first of many reports about Manchester United’s adventures this season. Here we will be reporting on each game, giving our verdict and singling out a player who impressed us that game. United travelled to America for their short pre-season tour, giving the squad a chance to gel and prepare for the new season ahead. The Red Devils faced Colorado and Chivas whilst they stopped over in America.
Game 1; Colorado vs Manchester United

What a poor performance this was. Our first game of our pre-season saw Colorado destroy our make-shift defence which is simply not good enough considering that we’re going to be heading to Stamford Bridge in a few weeks time. Just three minutes into the game, Danny Tiedt found himself in some space and won a free-kick after a poor tackle from Blackett. Mari swung in the free-kick which De Gea superbly saved but our defenders were sleeping as Tiedt was first to the ball and dinked it over De Gea to make it 1-0 Colorado.
And just five minutes later, they were in again with Mari, Kamler and Tiedt all forward against our four defenders. Some simple but effective passing move saw them open up our back four and Kamler laid it off to Mari who curled the ball past De Gea to put Colorado 2-0 up within the first eight minutes of the game. Louis van Gaal looked frustrated and confused as his team were getting destroyed by a MLS team (no disrespect to all you MLS fans!)
But finally, a moment of sheer brilliance as our new signing, Angel Di Mari, picked up the ball on the half way line and advanced forward, shifting the ball past two of Colorado’s midfielders and he soon enough found himself 25 yards from goal. The Argentine measured up his angles and curled a delightful ball around Kelly and into the top corner of the net. What a great start from our new number seven! A superb finish.

Di Maria got us back into the game when he found himself 25 yards from goal to which he curled the ball around Kelly and into the back of the net.
However, just two minutes later, Colorado got their third of the game when Blackett’s poor touch allowed Tudela to advance through on goal, and the midfielder passed it past De Gea to Tiedt who got his second of the game and restored Colorado’s two goal margin just 10 minutes into the game. Van Gaal showed his frustration at the defending by throwing a water bottle on the ground, it was not a great day for the new Manchester United manager.
United continued to push and had many opportunities to get back into the game, with van Persie hitting the post twice in a space of 5 minutes and Di Maria causing all sorts of problems on the wings but failed to convert an easy chance. The game finally ended with Manchester United losing the game 3-1 despite dominating the majority of the game but failing to convert their chances.
Overall, we weren’t impressed with the defending by our team, however we had a catalogue of injuries and had to resort playing Phil Jones at right back, Marcos Rojo as our left back and calling up Tyler Blackett to the first team. Our attackers were relatively good, but their failure to convert some simple chances frustrated us a lot. Di Maria was outstanding and looks like a great buy.
Game 2; Chivas vs Manchester United

A good solid win here. We bounced back after our shock victory against Colorado with a solid 2-0 win which shows what our squad is capable of when they start to gel together more. We went with a slightly stronger team, bringing in Chris Smalling for Tyler Blackett to sure up the defence. We got off to a decent start, keeping good possession, with Di Maria and Valencia being real threats on both wings.
We gave away a cheap penalty however within the first ten minutes after a lazy challenge from Rojo brought down Fleet. Erick Torres stepped up and forced a remarkable save from David De Gea, who reached up high to his right hand side to push away a fiercely struck penalty. De Gea didn’t have the best of games against Colorado and that save could be the confidence boost he needs to get back into his form of last season.
We finally took the lead 23 minutes in, with good attacking play from Di Maria forcing a corner, which he swung into the far post and caused confusion in the Chivas defence. They managed to hook it away as far as Herrera on the left, who played in a delightful ball towards fellow Spaniard Juan Mata, who struck a wonderful control volley around Brown and into the bottom left corner to put us 1-0 ahead and showed our fans how threatening we can be from those positions.

Ander Herrera played in a perfectly executed pass towards Juan Mata, who controlled the ball into the bottom left hand corner to put us 1-0 ahead.
After Mata’s goal, we started to really control the game, passing easily around the Chivas midfield and looking comfortable in possession. We came close again as Di Maria picked out Rooney but the Manchester United skipper couldn’t get his angles right as his shot flew just over the crossbar. Di Maria was outstanding in our build up play, again finding Rooney a few minutes later, which forced a smart low save from Brown otherwise it would have been 2-0 to us.
However, we managed to double our lead soon after, with Di Maria again swinging in a dangerous corner which met the head of new signing Marcos Rojo, who confidently diverted the ball away from Brown and into the back of the net. Rojo went over to celebrate with his fellow countryman Di Maria after his superb assist. We really saw how dangerous Di Maria can be when delivering set pieces, having a powerful and accurate left foot.
Chivas offered no real threat for the remainder of the game and it finished 2-0 to us. Overall it was a much improved performance from the Colorado game and we look like a proper team now after our pass accuracy was at a much higher percentage. Again Di Maria was our best player on the pitch, but Herrera really impressed me with not just his assist, but his work rate and determination in midfield, tracking back to help his defence when there was any danger.
Player of Pre-season
Angel Di Maria

No surprises here that I’ve chosen our new signing Angel Di Maria as my ‘Player of Pre-season’! He was by far our best player throughout our short American tour, with his dribbling and positioning really standing out, but also his vision and passing accuracy were key to us defeating Chivas in our final game. He looks to be paying off his price tag already and with Chelsea to come, he will be relishing the chance to finally play in the Premier League against one of the best clubs in the World. Good luck to you and the team Angel!