A stagnant senior squad falters against Wrexham, but Andrey Santos’s dominant debut and Leny Yoro’s tactical versatility offer a promising glimpse into Michael Carrick's system.
Manchester United were defeated 1-0 against Wrexham in the first game of the Red Devil's European pre-season tour.
Like every pre-season, this first game was largely used as an opportunity to build up the match fitness as opposed to major tactical changes, although some tweaks can be seen.
Michael Carrick fielded a senior side in the first half who, despite looking tidy at times on the ball, failed to threaten the Wrexham goal.
Sam Smith scored the only goal of the game for Wrexham after he escaped from Ayden Heaven and was found with a ball across goal by Lewis O'Brien and he tapped it in from close-range.
The second-half was alot more exciting by the Red Devils with an entirely rotated and youthful side. Harry Amass created the clubs best opportunity with a brilliant cross for Ethan Wheatley who was unable to get the ball past Danny Ward.
Here are five things we learnt.
#1: Santos impressed
There has been a lot of talk about what Andrey Santos could bring to the club, but today we saw a glimpse of the talent the Brazilian has.
His intelligence and defensive awareness were there for all to see as he was effective at sniffing out danger whenever Wrexham tried to advance through the team with four duels won (stat via Statman Dave)
On the ball and going forward, he was very comfortable and easily United's best player. This was evident with his ten carries with the ball and three passes into the final third (stats via Statman Dave).
Of course there is still a while to go as he builds up fitness but when the club need to rotate this season he could prove to be such a shrewd addition.
#2: Slight change to the midfield system
There were not much tactical that you could take from this game, but the one small tweak was clearly how the midfield operated and more specifically in the ten.
The pivot operated very similarly to the way it did last season, but the change was clearly in the role of the ten.
Jack Fletcher and Toby Colleyer were not natural tens, but often they would drop deeper than the pivot to pick up the ball from the defence or the goalkeeper to lead the build-up from the back.
There was a lot more fluidity with members of the pivot often swapping with whoever was in the ten to open up more space for other players around them. Whether this stays when Bruno Fernandes is back, you could easily envisage times when Youri Tielemans at times swaps with the Portuguese to take the creative burden away from him.
#3: Versatility from Yoro
This might only be because both senior right-backs were not available for the club, but Leny Yoro is beginning to show some versatility as he played the first half at right-back. He also filled in this position against Brighton in the final game of last season.
He did not set the world alight there but was comfortable for most of the game when combining with Mason Mount or Bryan Mbeumo when trying to go forward.
With Noussair Mazraoui being prone to injuries, it could be that Yoro may be called upon to fill in at full-back if and when Diogo Dalot needs a rest or is ever injured.
#4: Need a back-up striker
Ultimately, it is harsh on Joshua Zirkzee to say this was a very poor game, as this is the first game of pre-season and no one truly stood out bar Santos. However, in terms of slow performances, this was probably closer to his normal United displays than the likes of Bryan Mbeumo or Ayden Heaven.
It would be worrying next season if Benjamin Sesko were to sustain a major injury or suffer a loss of form, as having Zirkzee as the rotational option does offer a lot of risk given what we have seen in the last two seasons.
Matheus Cunha, Mbeumo and Marcus Rashford can all fill in there, but it might be worthwhile to bring an out-and-out striker like Danny Welbeck if he is available.
#5: The youth impressed
The senior side that played was quite flat and lacked too much cohesiveness. However, the youth side that played in the second half had an extra spring in their step, urgency and directness that might offer hope.
Shea Lacey and Harry Amass, the two most well-known names, both put in brilliant displays as the Red Devils tried to score an equaliser.
However, the likes of Dan Gore, Jacob Devaney and Dan Armer also put in confident displays which could earn them more spots in future squads.
