Anyone know if Matic has ever played at CB before? I don't really know a whole lot about him pre-Chelsea.
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He was an AMF before becoming a DMF. Hard to think any one will put him in CB if he was playing as AMF earlier.
Possibly not, worth mentioning he's more similar to Blind and Carrick than other types of DMs and they both did very well in CB when asked. Not everyone's the same but I wouldn't be against us giving at a go at some point.
He may make the transition to CB as he gets more older and loses more pace but not currently sure.
Can't see Matic dropping into the defence at the moment. Maybe if we don't get our CB signing it's something we might try in an injury crisis, but there is really no need at the moment. Rather he plays the big games and rests against the smaller teams at home when Pereira can take over.
I don't think it's necessity - Jose played him in the #6 In his first pre season with us.
If you don't think he's a #6 What position would you play him in?
Matic will NOT be a CB for us. It's a stupid suggestion
Pereira certainly looks motivated and trying hard to try get in the managers plans since hes come back.Really hope its not a false dawn with him and he can make the step up.
It's crazy we've been going these many years without significant South American players contributions for United. They are some of the best bunch of talents out there with passion, flair for footie unmatched. Hope Pereira and Fred are only a beginning and a lot more will follow them into our club.
Going by pre-season games if this kid was a 50 Million purchase we'd all be praising him enthusiastically. I hope he gets chances to improve further.
Great post
On paper yes and I bloody hope so but it's a team game and you're only as good as your weakest link i.e that could be Darmian AND our poor tactics.
3 good midfield players can't run a game if the whole team isn't in sync on and off the ball. Yes it was pre-season, yes the players were tired, yes it meant nothing but that 2nd half of the game against Madrid is typical Mourinho really. Defend, be compact and let the game peter out.
People always talk about that Barca trio but forget they had options short or into space every single time from world class players. Villa, Spain's all time goalscorer and underrated (imo) striker playing left wing ffs is all you need to know about their adaptability and most importantly coaching.
Love the kid!
I know it is still very early, and it is just preseason, but it is as if United found their own Jorginho. The nimble, skilful passer who initiate the attack from defense. A breath of fresh air from someone like Fellaini and McTominay in midfield.
Imagine future mid 3 of Pogba, Fred and Pereira.
I know it is still very early, and it is just preseason, but it is as if United found their own Jorginho. The nimble, skilful passer who initiate the attack from defense. A breath of fresh air from someone like Fellaini and McTominay in midfield.
Imagine future mid 3 of Pogba, Fred and Pereira.
Love the kid!
I know it is still very early, and it is just preseason, but it is as if United found their own Jorginho. The nimble, skilful passer who initiate the attack from defense. A breath of fresh air from someone like Fellaini and McTominay in midfield.
Imagine future mid 3 of Pogba, Fred and Pereira.
Could be promising.It's not that stupid considering how our biggest problem is our CB's being absolutely clueless with the ball. I can't see it happening under Jose but if Pep was our manager and he had our choice of CB's than he'd definitely consider playing Matic alongside someone like Baily because Smalling has on the ball ability of non-league footballer which isn't a surprise considering the fact that he was at Maidstone before signing for us after having a brief period of success at Fulham.
Absolutely, I’m very pleased with what I have seen so far.
God when will this idiocy end?
CB is an important position. You need actual CBs to play there because the defending actually matters. It's not something to mess around with because mistakes can cost you matches.
Pep is one manager who puts midfielders in there. Who are the others???
Was in the assumption he would be more of a Coutinho player than a Pirlo player. Still think his best position is probably as an attacking midfielder.
Ofcourse Jose knows the best ! Excited to see him in the starting line up.
Ofcourse Jose knows the best ! Excited to see him in the starting line up.
He had the same problems as Gomes coming through. He didn't take games by the scruff of the neck enough to be a #10. Due to adding the bite and steel to his game it's opened up another position for him.
Gomes doesn't have the same option due to being so small, so hopefully he'll start to take control of games a bit more this coming season.
What a bullshit, I swear that with every new comment about Smalling his ability on the ball is worse. He is not a ball playing CB for sure but he can carry the ball from defence quite well if needed and is not our biggest problem. The CB prolem is overstated, WOuld rather have 100 Smallings over someone as shit in the air as Lindelof, our problem is lack of attacking nous in the final third where all our attacking players lack in quality and instructions and slow transition to attack. It has nothing to do with C. Smalling, we are not a possession based team at all, Smalling also shows regularly great reading of the game with which he starts some attacks, not every CB has to know how to pick 50yard pass but by intercepting at the right moment he can start few promising attacks. There is more problems than our best CB in the club now, of all, the biggest one is Mourinho´s approach
Well he's tried Mctominay there, don't see why Matic could do any worse?
It's probably the only way we get Matic / Fred / Pogba + Lingard/Pereira/Lingard in the team really.
Unless we play a diamond or 4-3-1-2, I suppose - either of which could work well although we cannot then fit Martial, Sanchez and Lukaku in the team (not that Jose would necessarily want to).
He reminds me a bit of Coutinho, but deeper in midfield
We're not going to abandon a CB to fit an extra midfielder. Be realistic
He looked better when playing deeper in midfield as opposed to AM at U23 level too.
It won't happen.
It does remind me of Gary Neville in match commentary last season suggesting Scott might end up being a CB. His rationale being that the player has the physical attributes and the discipline to defend but isn't good enough on the ball to be a good midfielder.
Pereira has played the most minutes so far for pre season.
From Man Utd website
"The aim of any pre-season campaign is for the players to get minutes under their belts and, naturally, this was achieved during Tour 2018, presented by Aon.
Regardless of the results, after the 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the final International Champions Cup match, our research shows Andreas Pereira finished the trip by appearing on the field more than any of his team-mates.
The 22-year-old's performances have been a real positive and he earned the trust of manager Jose Mourinho throughout the tour, operating in the no.6 role in midfield.
With some big-name colleagues still to return to the fold after their World Cup involvement, the Brazil Under-23 international could keep a place in the XI for the friendly against Bayern Munich on Sunday, and will hope for another opportunity to impress ahead of the Premier League opener with Leicester City.
Ander Herrera was a leading figure for the Reds throughout the tour.
Ander Herrera was only 120 seconds behind his fellow member of the engine room, registering 441 minutes, and he is another who came to the fore in the US.
Not only did he take on the captain's armband at times, but he also managed to get forward to claim the eventual winner against Real and will surely benefit in the long run from so much playing time.
Eric Bailly was the only other player to top 400 minutes across the five games, even if he was not originally on the teamsheet for the clash with Liverpool. The Ivory Coast international stepped up to the plate when Chris Smalling was withdrawn due to injury in the warm-up, and he has been a key member of the defence.
Scott McTominay, despite picking up a couple of knocks, was relied upon and even played in a three-man central defence against the European champions.
Matteo Darmian benefited from an injury to Antonio Valencia and Juan Mata also clocked up plenty of mileage, while Alexis Sanchez quickly adapted following his delayed arrival and looked sharp throughout the pre-season tour.
All 25 members of the travelling party managed to get some action and the manager remarked on how much James Garner, for instance, will have learned from competing against Isco, Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio.
Ethan Hamilton's figure is a little misleading, because he also took part in the lengthy penalty shoot-out against AC Milan, and the priority for the youngsters across the Atlantic was to be part of the first-team training sessions before returning to the youth ranks at the Aon Training Complex.
James Garner picked up more valuable experience against Real Madrid.
MINUTES ON TOUR
Every member of the squad received playing time in the USA, as you can see below, yet the countless hours of training and team bonding are arguably just as important ahead of the 2018/19 season."
Player Mins
Andreas Pereira 443
Ander Herrera 441
Eric Bailly 405
Scott McTominay 391
Matteo Darmian 380
Juan Mata 374
Alexis Sanchez 326
Luke Shaw 315
Tim Fosu-Mensah 286
Axel Tuanzebe 241
Chris Smalling 225
Lee Grant 180
Joel Pereira 180
Demi Mitchell 158
Anthony Martial 151
Tahith Chong 93
David De Gea 90
Fred 87
James Garner 53
Antonio Valencia 53
Mason Greenwood 39
Angel Gomes 19
Joshua Bohui 9
Ro-Shaun Williams 9
Ethan Hamilton 1
From Man Utd website
"The aim of any pre-season campaign is for the players to get minutes under their belts and, naturally, this was achieved during Tour 2018, presented by Aon.
Regardless of the results, after the 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the final International Champions Cup match, our research shows Andreas Pereira finished the trip by appearing on the field more than any of his team-mates.
The 22-year-old's performances have been a real positive and he earned the trust of manager Jose Mourinho throughout the tour, operating in the no.6 role in midfield.
With some big-name colleagues still to return to the fold after their World Cup involvement, the Brazil Under-23 international could keep a place in the XI for the friendly against Bayern Munich on Sunday, and will hope for another opportunity to impress ahead of the Premier League opener with Leicester City.
Ander Herrera was a leading figure for the Reds throughout the tour.
Ander Herrera was only 120 seconds behind his fellow member of the engine room, registering 441 minutes, and he is another who came to the fore in the US.
Not only did he take on the captain's armband at times, but he also managed to get forward to claim the eventual winner against Real and will surely benefit in the long run from so much playing time.
Eric Bailly was the only other player to top 400 minutes across the five games, even if he was not originally on the teamsheet for the clash with Liverpool. The Ivory Coast international stepped up to the plate when Chris Smalling was withdrawn due to injury in the warm-up, and he has been a key member of the defence.
Scott McTominay, despite picking up a couple of knocks, was relied upon and even played in a three-man central defence against the European champions.
Matteo Darmian benefited from an injury to Antonio Valencia and Juan Mata also clocked up plenty of mileage, while Alexis Sanchez quickly adapted following his delayed arrival and looked sharp throughout the pre-season tour.
All 25 members of the travelling party managed to get some action and the manager remarked on how much James Garner, for instance, will have learned from competing against Isco, Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio.
Ethan Hamilton's figure is a little misleading, because he also took part in the lengthy penalty shoot-out against AC Milan, and the priority for the youngsters across the Atlantic was to be part of the first-team training sessions before returning to the youth ranks at the Aon Training Complex.
James Garner picked up more valuable experience against Real Madrid.
MINUTES ON TOUR
Every member of the squad received playing time in the USA, as you can see below, yet the countless hours of training and team bonding are arguably just as important ahead of the 2018/19 season."
Player Mins
Andreas Pereira 443
Ander Herrera 441
Eric Bailly 405
Scott McTominay 391
Matteo Darmian 380
Juan Mata 374
Alexis Sanchez 326
Luke Shaw 315
Tim Fosu-Mensah 286
Axel Tuanzebe 241
Chris Smalling 225
Lee Grant 180
Joel Pereira 180
Demi Mitchell 158
Anthony Martial 151
Tahith Chong 93
David De Gea 90
Fred 87
James Garner 53
Antonio Valencia 53
Mason Greenwood 39
Angel Gomes 19
Joshua Bohui 9
Ro-Shaun Williams 9
Ethan Hamilton 1
Please give him a chance Jose. A real, decent chance to stake a claim in the first team and not 3 mins at the end of a League Cup match.
Best player on the full tour and deserves a chance. My only issue with him is where do you play him? In principle he's a bit like Fred.....
Fred-Pereira-Herrera is more than defensive enough to cope with Leicester at Old Trafford. Fred didn't play one minute in Pereira's no. 6 role during the tour, and I haven't heard of him playing there before either.
He'd start first few games, do well and then get replaced by Matic when he gets fit. Going to be Martial MkII in here 
He'd start first few games, do well and then get replaced by Matic when he gets fit. Going to be Martial MkII in here
Well Matic is one of our best players.
I don't disagree. But may god give us strength if Matic had a bad game.
Enjoy this little highlight package from the tour.
Yes, you did just see "passing between the lines".
Having Pereira and Matic both available for the same position presents, at the very least, a tactical alternative. If a team just sits back, then it makes sense to have someone who can pass the way he does with the balls through the lines and diagonally; if a team is strong, then Matic makes sense. They both have different skillsets that give us tactical options. We never had this last season. Herrera, Matic, McTominay and Fellaini cannot do what Pereira can, or what Carrick could.
Just wait until you see what Pereira, Fred and Pogba looks like in terms of being able to pass out of a high press. We're in for a treat.
Carrick as a coach is going to do wonders I would imagine. This kid looks great. Our most impressive player on tour for sure.
Agreed. Pereira can even play the No.8 role if needed. McTominay should be sent out on loan so that he continue with his progress. We have six excellent midfield options now with everyone offering something different. It will be fun to watch how the various combinations work out.
Yes, already so many players have picked out Carrick for special praise for his insight. He can be an excellent coach for our midfielders especially. Jose has done well keeping the legend at the club.
Sanchez must love him for sure!
Is he going to start the first few games for us?
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