Patrick Rees
After a positive result in their opening friendly match against Wigan Athletic, Mourinho’s men, the Devils, will now be travelling to Asia to begin their 2016 friendly tour, which includes the International Champions Cup match against Borussia Dortmund (22 July) and against the city rivals Manchester City (25 July).
It was the 23-year-old striker Will Keane, who opened the scoring for the Reds followed by the strike from Andreas Pereira, and the most ironic incident was the assist from Juan Mata, who was left out by the manager from the starting spot.
The pre-season friendlies are usually the perfect tour for the new managers as this is the time, he gets to know the players better. Though United will be missing some top names in the tour, this tour will demonstrate how Mourinho will be lining his team for the rest of the season. In a recent interview with MUTV, the Portuguese tactician stated:
“I hope to see a group, from an emotional point of view, coming together and getting to know each other better and understanding each other better. It’s important from a football point of view, but also from a human qualities point of view, that’s very important.”
Besides all of it, these pre-season friendlies are the perfect place for the youngster of the team to demonstrate their skills in front of the manager and we may actually see some graduates in the first team in the Premier league as we all are aware of the fact that United regularly use their youth at the top level.
Here is the predicted Manchester United lineup that could face Borussia Dortmund at Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai in China next Friday:
Goalkeeper: Sam Johnstone-
The 23-year-old English goalkeeper featured in the last game for United and thanks to the team’s rock-solid defensive line, he had no serious work to do. It is understood that United’s first two goalkeepers; De Gea and Romero might miss the opening two games for the side, hence Johnstone might get his chance to start the game yet again.
Defenders: Fosu-Mensah; Eric Bailly; Phil Jones; Luke Shaw-
The 18-year-old Dutch defender gave a standout performance against Wigan and was a solid presence at the back. There is no doubt that the Dutch star has a lot of potential in him and he might get a chance to feature yet again. The centre back pairing is likely to be Eric Baily and Phil Jones.
Bailly started the game nervously, but eventually he gained the command over the back line and gave a pretty good display in his first game for the reds. Phil Jones, who came on as a substitute against Wigan might start after a long-long time. On the left, the 21-year-old Luke Shaw is likely to featured yet again.
Holding Midfield: Michael Carrick; Ander Herrera-
With the players who featured in Euro are likely to miss the first game, Mourinho will have to go with Carrick and Herrera yet again. Carrick, who captained the side was a composed figure for United last time out and as always, he controlled the rhythm of the game. On the other hand, Herrera was given the license to drive forward, but was not very dangerous, but he did give a promising performance.
Attacking Trio: Henrikh Mkhitaryan; Juan Mata; Andreas Pereira-
The former Borussia Dortmund attacker will face his old club for the very first time and will be hoping to give a performance he is known for. Unarguably, he was the finest performers for the side last time out. Mata, on the other hand, could finally be used as an attacking midfielder. The Spaniard came on as a substitute last time and bagged an assist. On the left side, the Brazilian attacker Andreas Pereira could get his chance after a long time. Pereira scored the second goal for United against Wigan, and he will hope to replicate the same form against Dortmund.
Striker: Will Keane-
The 23-year-old English striker scored the opener for the Reds. He may start again with many big names expected to miss the game against men in yellow.
