Given that Philadelphia Union have only been in existence for six months, most people were expecting something of a massacre in this game but it was nothing of the sort as Philly gave us a very serious test and were unfortunate to run out losers in the end.

Fergie’s starting line-up was interesting in a “we’ll probably never see this line-up ever again” kind of way as he went with:-

Kuszczak, O’Shea, Brown, Evans, Fabio, Obertan, Scholes, Cleverley, Giggs, Macheda and Welbeck.

That this team has never actually played together really did show and the first half was largely a frustrating affair as the play was scrappy and disjointed with no United player particularly catching the eye.

Philly, on the other hand, were giving a fairly decent account of themselves and whilst rarely giving Kuszczak much to do, they did give the defence a few things to worry about.

Fergie, sat in the dugout, was not looking very impressed by his players’ performance.

I expected a lot of changes for the second half but they didn’t materialise until around the 60th minute when Fergie brought on Berbatov, Fletcher, Smalling, Rafael and Corry Evans for Macheda, Scholes, Brown, Fabio and Cleverley.

The difference Fletcher made in the centre of midfield was quite noticable and Berbatov was again pulling the string up front.

Obertan remained lively and should have had a penalty around the 66th minute mark but ten minutes later, he received his reward when he got on the end on of a neat Welbeck pass to slot under the keeper.

A little while later, Berbatov hit the bar and Philly should have equalised right at the death but the ball went high.

And so 1-0 was how it ended.

All in all, this wasn’t the best game you’ll ever see and some of the United performances left a bit to be desired although Welbeck and Obertan came out of this with reputations enhanced.

Obertan is similar to the “old Nani” in that you can see that it is there but he is not always able to produce it but he keeps plugging away without letting his head drop and it was good to see him get a reward in this game.

Welbeck looks ready to make the step up now but I’m afraid Macheda looks as far away as ever to me. He’s a lot younger than the others though so time is still on his side.

You do have to keep reminding yourself though that this is still pre-season, everyone is going to be a bit rusty and the whole point of these games is to build up match time and fitness.

United kick-off the second game of their USA Tour tonight when they take on Philadelphia Union.

I think most of us want to see Nani take some part in this one now that he has apparently recovered from the collarbone injury which kept him out of the World Cup.

I also hope to see Berbatov given a good 45 minutes at least to see if he can kick on from his superb performance against Celtic.

I’ll do a report on the match tomorrow.

Well, I watched the match against Celtic last night and whilst I am fully aware that it was just a meaningless friendly with the sole objective being to get players match-fit, I must say that it left me very excited for the coming season.

Fergie went with almost exactly the line-up I wished for:-

VDS

Rafael – Evans – Smalling – Fabio

Obertan – Scholes – Fletcher – Giggs

Berbatov – Diouf

If I could have swapped one of those players then I would have had Nani on the right (I believe he is still recovering from injury, however) and switched Obertan over to the left in place of Giggs but the overall fact that Fergie was willing to give these exciting young prospects a chance was great to see.

Even better was that none of them disappointed.

Smalling got caught out and gave away a penalty which led to Celtic’s goal and he will surely learn from that but overall, he didn’t look out of place at all. I really didn’t expect much from him this season but I think we could be seeing a lot more of him in first-team action this season than we initially thought.

Obertan remains a bit raw but he is a threat with pace to burn and the confidence to take a player on. He was one of the better players on the night.

Diouf didn’t get a goal but showed that he can be a handful for defences and did his case no harm. I expect to see more of him this coming season.

Scholes only played the first half but was fantastic and the difference he makes was apparent in the second half when the play seemed a bit disjointed. This, of course, is a good and a bad thing. Good because we have his services for the next 12 months at least. Bad because there was no one else coming on who could come anywhere near matching what he does for the team.

Man of the match by a country mile, however, was Dimitar Berbatov. He was simply head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch and I really do think that he has finally had a word with himself and he is now determined to go into this season with a “to hell with it” kind of attitude.

He played with a confidence and a “who dares wins” attitude that is perhaps easy in a meaningless friendly but by doing that, he showed what he is capable of and I only hope that he takes it through into the new season proper.

He scored a blinder, set up Welbeck for the second and had a hand in Cleverley’s deflected third.

That United were able to brush Celtic aside so convincingly and several of the really big players weren’t even on show just shows how much quality we have in depth at the moment.

Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for us almost upon us. Yes, tonight, Manchester United will take to the pitch once more as they take on Celtic in Toronto as part of our pre-season preparations.

It might seem like a long way to travel just to play a team from Scotland and you might think I’m getting a little bit over-excited about a meaningless pre-season friendly but I’ve been looking forward to this day for all kinds of reasons.

As the World Cup players are absent, we should be able to see some of the fringe players in action. I’m hoping to see Obertan, Cleverley and Diouf, in particular but whoever Sir Alex chooses to play (and he is bound to make plenty of changes as the match goes along) will be fine by me.

The only slight snag is that, as the game is taking place in America, the kick-off time will be midnight (UK Time) and the match is only available on MUTV. Still, I’ll be tuning in and I’ll report on it tomorrow.

See you then!

Tuck Your Shirt In Gabby!

The worst kept secret on the internet was finally made official today when United unveiled their new Nike shirt (the reserves actually wore the kit two days ago when they played Curzon Ashton).

As always with a new kit, it has received a mixed reception. Personally, I like it. If you look really closely you will also spot the AON logo on the front.

Nike are certainly very pleased with it.

“The improved Nike ‘Dri-Fit’ fabric, now 13 per cent lighter than previous kits, helps to quickly evaporate moisture by drawing through the fabric to the surface and to keep players dry.

Innovative ventilation zones are placed along each side of the jersey to enhance breathability, by up to 7 per cent compared to previous kits, and allow air to pass across the whole torso. These zones have up to 200 tiny laser-cut holes, backed by Nike’s innovative halo application which prevents ripping without reducing air flow. An additional ventilation zone is placed below the waistband on the shorts at the base of the spine.

The jersey’s new double-knit structure gives it a sleeker appearance, while offering 10 per cent more stretch, and also boasts a new dynamic fit, cut to follow the natural contours of the body while allowing for maximum airflow and movement.”

Woohoo… exciting stuff.

Nani says, “I think it looks really good and it feels nice.“

Where's David?

Speculation as to whether or not we will be making any further signings this summer has been a massive talking point for weeks now and some United fans are starting to wonder if Fergie has completed his transfer dealing already.

Several names continue to be mentioned with Balotelli the lastest big name, big money target linked with Manchester United.

There just appears to be absolutely nothing coming from the club itself apart from comments made by Fergie a few days ago where he categorically denied making a bid for Wesley Sneijder.

As the team jetted off for the USA on Monday with only Smalling representing Fergie’s transfer dealings so far, the chances of any new additions looked as remote as ever. I personally thought that Fergie would have done something before setting off on the pre-season tour.

The only reason why this might not be the case, as far as I could see, is that the player he perhaps wants has been involved in the World Cup and perhaps made it through to the latter stages of the competition. If indeed it is someone who played in the World Cup then the player wouldn’t be going on the USA Tour anyway – he would be given a month off along with the others who played in the competition such as Rooney and Evra etc.

However, as the players and staff boarded the plane for the USA the other day, there was one other noticable absentee – David Gill.

David Gill always goes on the pre-season tours and so this is highly unusual for him. Am I clutching at straws when I suggest that the reason he didn’t go out with the others on Monday is because he has business to attend to somewhere else?

I hope so. We’ll see…

A Lesson In Class

And so another World Cup has come to an end and whilst most people seem to agree that the competition wasn’t quite the festival of football we had all hoped to see, that may just be the English amongst us who have rarely left a tournament with such a feeling of intense disappointment and disillusionment with our national side.

As we watched Germany not just beat us but completely humiliate us 4-1 there was one good thing that came from that defeat and it came about because of Frank Lampard’s “goal”.

In English minds, at least, we were beaten 4-2, not 4-1. Beaten as much by a stubborn old fossil who just happens to be the President of FIFA, as we were the Germans.

That Sepp Blatter has promised to look into the use of goal-line technology again after that incident is an encouraging sign and I only hope that something positive in that direction will ensue.

However, I think there’s something else that needs to be looked at and this won’t cost football any money and it is something that can be adapted from the grassroots level all the way to the very top with minimal effort.

It is a little thing that has been bugging me for quite some time now but watching the World Cup Final last night reminded me just how ridiculous a rule it is.

I am, of course, talking about booking players for removing their shirt following a goal.

Last night was always going to be historic whichever team won the game because neither nation had ever won the World Cup in their history.

The game was hard fought and goalless as extra-time ticked away and it was starting to look like history would be decided from the penalty spot. Then, up popped Andres Iniesta to bang in a superb winner with just a few minutes remaining.

It is one of those moments in life that the vast, vast majority of people will never experience. This was the World Cup Final and you have just scored the winner to make history for your nation. Just what, exactly, goes through a players’ head at that moment in time?

Well, for the classy Iniesta, his first thoughts appeared to go to compatriot, friend and fellow footballer who played alongside him as the two were coming up through the Spanish International ranks, Dani Jarque, who tragically died last year at the age of just 26.

As Iniesta wheeled away, he removed his shirt to reveal a shirt underneath with the words: “DANI JARQUE SIEMPRE CON NOSOTROS” printed on it which I believe translates as “Dani Jarque always with us”.

It was a magnificent gesture by a magnificent player and clearly a truly great man.

How does the game view such beautiful moments? Iniesta was given a yellow card for removing his shirt.

Sort it out Blatter, for pity’s sake!

USA Tour 2010

The squad heading out for the pre-season tour of the USA has been announced and there are a few interesting inclusions.

Here’s the list in full:

I must admit that I was hoping to see Eikrem in there but the inclusion of Cory Evans, De Laet and Cleverley is good to see.

I’m also hoping that Diouf will get the opportunity to show a bit more of what he has been doing in the reserves because he hasn’t really done himself justice when playing in the first team.

Obertan is another who I hope can really make the step up this season and a couple of starts while in the USA won’t do him any harm at all.

Smalling was really only expected to play in the reserves this season but his inclusion here clearly shows that Fergie rates him higher than that.

The likes of Rooney, Evra, Vidic etc are not in there because they are on holiday following the World Cup whilst Ferdinand and Hargreaves are injured.

Neville & Owen are not quite fit to travel out and so are staying behind in order to work on fitness prior to the new season.

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that the injured Owen Hargreaves has suffered another injury and will now miss out on pre-season training and the start of the 2010/11 season saying, “I don’t know when he will be back”.

I hate to say it but the word that springs immediately to mind is “never”.

Hargreaves has had terrible bad luck with injuries for several years now and has pretty much been absent for two years now.

With the 25 man squad limit coming into effect next season, Fergie appears to have a massive decision to make as to whether or not to include him.

I am not sure when the squad has to be named but it is going to be very interesting to see if Hargreaves is included.

Out! Back home and already on vacation is what the English team is currently experiencing. I did say in my last post that England would not progress past the last 16, and that with or without Joe Cole, the right side was their weakest link. Germany destroyed England along this right flank. But what impressed me most about this foolish lot was my underestimation of their pathetic mentality.

Any coaching staff should prepare players for officiating controversy during any game, leave alone only at a world cup. Controversy is part of a game, though its range varies. Controversy is part of life for God’s or Pete’s sake! If these fools were any smarter, they would have self prepared themselves for controversial circumstances, as it looked like the coaching staff had failed to do so. At club level many of them have faced controversy. So after Frank Lampard’s missed goal, the playing staff should have remained focused. To blame their pathetic performance on this instance is an idiotic attempt to fool a loving public.

But forget that missed goal or free-kick. Germany’s 2nd goal showed the vulnerability of England’s right with Podolski left completely unmarked. The 3rd goal was hilarious. 23 minutes to go and England were attacking with 9 men. This was mission suicide. How do you leave yourself so exposed at such a crucial time. Again the break came down the right. Fourth goal was a replica of the third.

Now back to MU….

On the flip side, are Man Utd fans in for a treat or what this coming season.  Hernandez sure looks an awesome prospect. His vision and placement are almost perfect for his age. Looks like he is one player who could have gone into the WC as an unknown and come out as a $15M prospect. Definitely a top 3 performer for his age bracket at this world cup. Well done Man Utd scouts for snapping him early

I am beginning to doubt that we really need to strengthen much further. We have a team which is going to move a step higher this coming season. The youth and reserves look ready for a big step up. There is something about this team that is very satisfying, and when I say team, you’ve got to look from the backroom footballing staff to the players. One thing though I’ve been wondering about is that with this age and squad restriction limits – will the real signing battles be fought for the talented under 21′s who can be part of your squad but don’t need to be registered. This is the only way clubs can have squad sizes greater than 25. And when you challenge on 4-5 fronts, you’d need such a squad. So personally, I don’t expect any more major signings.

If we rolled back a couple of years a major policy shift in Europe took place. If one was as highly placed as Gill is, you’d have input and access to certain dwellings regarding coming rule changes. So MU’s emphasis of the last few years on youth has certainly been more forward looking than most would like to admit.

A player I’d like to see grow leaps this year is Possebon. Will it happen is what I don’t know? He has the talent, but the mentality may be lacking.