Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
Manchester United finished their tour of the United States with a victory over the reigning European Champions Barcelona at a sold out FedEx Arena in Maryland. Of course it’s only a friendly win over our conquerors at Wembley but it’s one that will no doubt give our players a boost even though Lionel Messi and Xavi didn’t figure for Pep Guardiola’s men.
United started brightly and Wayne Rooney missed an excellent chance after good work from Anderson, Rafael, Danny Welbeck and Nani down the right cut up Barca’s defence. It was a good ball into the box by Nani and a chance that come the start of the season Rooney will expect to take.
A good interception by Jonny Evans on the edge of his own box helped put United ahead after 22 minutes. The Northern Irish international saw his interception find Welbeck just outside United’s box. Welbeck’s powerful run continued well into Barca’s half and he picked out Nani brilliantly with a a clever ball. Nani’s run was perfectly timed and after beating the offside trap coolly finished past Victor Valdes for his first goal of pre-season.
Going ahead seemed to make United even more at ease on the ball with Anderson and Tom Cleverley in the middle looking very assured and confident At the back even despite the loss of Rafael (who was replaced by Fabio after coming of worse of a challenge with Abidal) the defence looked solid and strong which is a good sign to see with David De Gea only having one scare in the half when Ibrahim Afellay shot narrowly wide from a tight angle.
To their credit Barca after half time came out brighter and certainly showed alot more intent both on and off the ball. Ryan Giggs, Michael Owen and Chris Smalling were brought on immediately after half for Anderson, Rooney and Evra respectably Good play by David Vila created time and space for Pedro five minutes into the half, but the forward’s side-footed shot was too easy for de Gea who comfortably saved the goal-bound shot.
Soon after United saw a great opportunity to double their lead missed. Nani showed great vision to find Welbeck who skilfully edged away from his marker only to fire straight at Vales. The rebound didn’t quite fall to Owen inside the area and Nani under pressure could only fire the ball high and over the bar.
With Xavi missing for Barca Thiago Alacantara got another chance to show his class and the starlet who caught the eye in Spain’s midfield in the recent European U21 Championships in Denmark certainly showed his class again as he spectacularly equalised with a goal that De Gea in goal could do simply nothing about.
It was a superb strike from 25 yards and again on his performance last night, Thiago certainly looks like a player who as well as being a star of the future could well be someone who has the ability to produce things now rather than 2-3 years down the line. That’s a scary thought regardless of Barca’s pursuit of Cesc Fabregas which in one or another will end with Arsenal’s captain playing at the Nou Camp in the near future.
A rare mistake in midfield for the Catalans allowed Tom Cleverley to nick the ball in the heart of midfield. The youngster continued his run forward, threading a ball through for Owen on goal and the wily forward rolled back the years as he cooly dinked the ball over Valdes to score his third goal of pre-season.
The ex-England international should have put an extra cherry on top of the icing on the cake for United deep into injury time but somehow fired over inside the six-yard box following a good ball into the box from fellow substitute Gabriel Obertan after the French winger had beaten Sergio Busquetts out wide. Obertan’s ball did bobble up but it was a chance Owen would have expected to take.
Star Man:
Due to his all-round play Nani may have probably derserved the man of the match, but Cleverley’s performance was a welcome suprise and impressed playing the full 90. It’s a big season for the young midfielder but if he can build on this performance, he could go onto figure in Sir Alex’s plans alot this seaoson.
So it was a fitting end to United’s pre-season US Tour. 5 wins from 5 games, 18 goals and good performances all round by our squad. Our new signings all impressed as did our younger players out on tour who will need to impress Sir Alex and of course the regulars also did well with everyone looking sharp.
Everyone bar Rafael, Antonio Valencia and Javier Hernandez (all missing through a mixture of injuries) will be available for next weekend’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City where a first trophy of the season awaits. Before that though there’s the small matter of Paul Scholes’ testimonial against Eric Cantona’s New York Cosmos to deal with at Old Trafford on Friday night and that will be an occasion not to miss.
By @ADennehey87
