31/07/2025
Manchester United beat Bournemouth 4-1 in the preseason game that saw a high energy approach from the team.
When Amorim stated that we need to attack and defend as a unit, I saw more of it today than I had seen in other games. The general play was beautiful sometimes but what was most impressive was the press and this was led by Amad, Mount and Hojlund.
But press doesn’t work if the rest of the team doesn’t commit and Dorgu, Bruno and Dalot often joined in sync, leaving Bournemouth with the only choice of hoofing the ball upfield which our defenders stepped up to recycle.
The best money we have spent in a long while was signing Yoro. The defender always looked majestic off the ball but on the ball, he was imperious. Patrick Dorgu keeps shutting the voices of his detractors, some of who are Manchester United fans who badly wants their new trinkets. The wing back scored one goal and assisted another.
There was a glint in Hojlund’s eyes today. While his final ball let him down a couple of times, his deft touches constantly brought others into play. He did not start this today. He added a goal today but his all round play was positive.
On Tom Heaton; I have never hidden my love for mature, over 30 goalkeepers and Tom Heaton keeps showing why. He always kept his head, was quick to release the ball when recycling possession and was made a couple of good saves. He gives me the kind of confidence I never felt with Onana. No Drama.
Accurate passing is the team’s weakness, especially in transition. Bruno, Casemiro, Hojlund and Amad were guilty sometimes of misplacing the simplest passing and this raises the turnover rate, meaning that very often, the team has to switch quickly between attacking and defending. While the energy is held up in this preseason game, we need to fix the passing, especially when it is really simple.
