Manchester United continued their fine form in preseason as they beat Crystal Palace in Melbourne, Australia to make it three wins from three for Erik ten Hag.
[ MORE: Preseason scores in Premier League ]
Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were all on the scoresheet for United as their attacking unit continues to look slick and a few unexpected stars are emerging from their tour of Asia and Australia. Joel Ward scored Palace’s lone goal late on
The 3-1 win over Palace follows a 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory and 4-0 victory against bitter rivals Liverpool, as Erik ten Hag’s playing philosophy is slowly but surely bedding in.
[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]
Below is reaction from Bruno Fernandes, plus the Manchester City vs Crystal Palace video highlights.
United feeling confident after another comfortable win
Bruno Fernandes spoke to MUTV after the game and revealed that Manchester United are feeling confident after three wins from three in preseason, as he lined up in the No. 10 role behind a flowing front three of Sancho, Martial and Rashford.
“We are feeling good, obviously the results help with that but we are playing good football,” Fernandes said. “Lot of things to improve yet but we have time for that and we will be ready for the first game of the season... We are being really aggressive. Firstly the three guys up front they have been really aggressive. When they press, they press really strong. That makes the last line squeeze, the midfield go higher and when we recover the ball we are closer to the goal too. We are fresh to do that and have freedom when we recover the ball because there is a lot of space wide and in the middle. We are playing much better on the ball too.”
Donny van de Beek spoke to reporters after the game as he also showed some nice touches and set up Rashford’s goal, as the Dutchman and former Ajax star is full of confidence after his former manager Erik ten Hag took charge of United.
“We made some good goals and showed some good things. There is still a lot of space for improvement but we should keep going and train hard,” Van de Beek said. “He [Erik ten Hag] likes the details, he asked a lot from you as a player and you have to be fit to play his football. We have the right players for that and we just have to keep going.”
Van de Beek added “you have to play good to play with this manager, like every manager and that is it” and said he’s been thinking about his game a lot but trying to stay true to his strengths, as he revealed that pressing, lots of off-the-ball movements and playing out from the back are key to ETH’s philosophy.
What we learned from Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
Yes, this latest victory was against an understrength Crystal Palace side, but the main positive to take from this win is that a clear playing style is being ushered in and it is high-pressing, possession-based, attractive and incisive. That is exactly what United wanted and the movement and creativity in all three of United’s goals was a mouthwatering example of what can be achieved under ETH if their star players stay fit and in-form.
Erik ten Hag applauded the hard work of his team for pressing high, especially the defensive work of his forwards, but demanded the entire team to be better at timing when to press and when to hold back. That will come in time, but the signs are positive as Diogo Dalot was once again causing problems high up the pitch, Tyrell Malacia was very adventurous from the opposite full back position, while Martial, Sancho, Rashford and Donny van de Beek all look sharp, clinical and on the same page in the final third.
Video of Erik ten Hag yelling at David de Gea for playing a long ball forward instead of playing out of the back when United were 3-1 up late on tells you all you need to know about the levels the Dutch coach is expecting day in, day out.
Perhaps the only real negative from this game was the fact that Harry Maguire received boos from the Manchester United fans who made up the majority of the 80,000 crowd in Melbourne. The Manchester United captain struggled with his form last season and that kind of reaction will not help him.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace video highlights
🌟 Touch & finish 🌟
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 19, 2022
Here's how @AnthonyMartial opened the scoring at the @MCG 👇#MUFC || #MUTOUR22
A lovely team move to double our lead 😍
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 19, 2022
⚽️ @MarcusRashford#MUFC || #MUTOUR22
Another lightning counterattack made it 3-0 in Melbourne ⚡️🌪
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 19, 2022
🏴 @Sanchooo10#MUFC || #MUTOUR22
