Manchester United fans are, no doubt, eager to put the 2013-14 season behind them, and so it was with a high sense of anticipation that they surely looked forward to seeing their team take the pitch for the friendly match against the L.A. Galaxy at the Rose Bowl Wednesday night.
This match marked United’s first stop on their 2014 US tour, ahead of International Champions Cup play, and it also capped a night of action when other Premiership contenders — Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham — saw action in North America. Liverpool lost 1-0 to Series A runner-up Roma on a late goal in Boston. Manchester City won, courtesy of a generous 4-1 scoreline. Sporting Kansas City was unable to capitalize on several very good opportunities to level the score and make it a closer affair. Finally, the Spurs saw their first team dominate in the first half, but they also watched their second-teamers struggle to contain a spirited Toronto comeback en route to a narrow victory.
In sharp contrast to how the aforementioned 3 Premiership teams performed last night, United thoroughly dominated their match from start to finish. It may be easy to dismiss the result as merely one showing just how dominant English clubs are over MLS teams, but that would be overlooking several key factors:
- This was United’s first preseason tune-up, and it came on the heels of World Cup summers for many of its squad members (and 10 of the 20 players used last night).
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New manager Louis van Gaal had been practicing with the team for less than a week, part of which consisted of travel to the U.S.
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The Galaxy is a team in contention for an MLS playoff position and is in mid-season form.
Van Gaal chose to field an attacking 3-5-2 starting lineup, with new signees Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw starting in midfield, an area that Manchester United’s lack of depth and quality in was sorely exposed last season. It is the engine room of the team that most observers have identified as the biggest area of need for van Gaal to address, and the news last week of Michael Carrick’s long-term injury did not make for an encouraging start to his reign at the helm.
Both the new signings made decent debuts, while Juan Mata looked comfortable in his role in which he struggled at times to impress after joining the club in the middle of last season. Shaw was good if unspectacular, while Herrera’s best for the night was yet to come. United dominated early possession, and it seemed only a matter of time before they would score. By the 13th minute, they did, as Danny Welbeck buried a shot from outside the box beyond the outstretched arm of Galaxy keeper Brian Penedo.
To their credit, the Galaxy held United at bay for most of the remainder of the half, even as the Red Devils seemed happier to focus on maintaining possession and tactical discipline (things they were frankly miserable at last season) than creating goalscoring opportunities. They doubled their lead in the 42nd minute courtesy of a Wayne Rooney penalty.
Los Angeles looked to head into the dressing-rooms for halftime with a flattering 2-0 deficit, but a defensive howler by Tommy Meyer allowed Rooney to literally walk the ball into the net, and the rout was well and truly on as the teams headed for the break.
Nine (NINE! Welcome to the preseason) changes at the half did nothing to stem United’s momentum. Reece James galloped forward from his defensive position and bagged two goals in an impressive outing for the youngster, and the much-maligned Ashley Young also scored a brace as United finally ran out 7-0 winners.
As far as debuts go, few can be much more impressive than Herrera’s on the night, as he turned in a confident display for the entire 90 minutes and was in especially fine form in the second half, playing a role in all 4 goals, with 2 assists and key passes on the other 2 goals. United fans were given ample demonstration of his passing vision and accurate touch, and they will surely have high hopes to see Rooney, Welbeck, and Robin van Persie released on goal with passes like those during the Premiership season.
As the International Champions Cup begins this weekend, van Gaal and the squad will now turn their attention toward what all expect to be tougher tests against the likes of AS Roma, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid. Based on the early returns after last night, Louis van Gaal’s tenure as manager is off to a highly encouraging start, and United fans should have much to look forward to.
Goal highlights (mutv.com):
Other game notes:
- Manchester United scored 7 times out of just 12 shots on target.
- Herrera and the captain on the night Darren Fletcher were the only two United players to play the full 90 minutes.
- Attendance for the night was over 86,000 at the Rose Bowl.
- The Galaxy did, in fact, record shots on target at David de Gea: 2.
(Picture: AFP/Getty Images/Frederic J. Brown )