A win's a win. A win's a win.
United's final game of their pre-season tour of America ended in a flat-ish 2-2 draw against former manager David Moyes and his Everton side at the fantastic Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Despite the result though, Ruben Amorim managed to pick up his first (of many 😉) trophies as MUFC boss. The Red Devils finished top of the table in the Premier League Summer Series after wins over West Ham and Bournemouth and this draw giving them 7 points resulting in that triumph.
Not the best of games as after what was an entertaining and inspired performance against Bournemouth in which United scored all 5 goals (one was an OG by De Ligt), it would've given us a lot of hope for the future. However, this draw with the Toffees brought us all back down to the Earth and resembled something more akin to what we've seen from this side in the past.
Lineup
Amorim fielded a starting XI that few were expecting. We finally got to see Bryan Mbeumo play but unlike what most of us thought, it wasn't next to other new boy Matheus Cunha as the two no 10s. Instead the manager opted to start the Brazilian up front as the striker with Mbeumo which was a little surprising considering that that wasn't necessarily what we brought them in for.
The personnel not so much but in terms of how the team was laid out, may have raised a few eyebrows.
While Cunha was more the man up top, it was he and Mbeumo who were the two strikers as Amorim decided to try something new with a 3-4-1-2 formation with skipper Fernandes in behind the two forwards. This meant a midfield of Mainoo and Ugarte which is not what we're used to but is something thatmany believe would be our best midfield pairing.
However, with this formation, it gave people an opportunity to see something that a lot have wanted: a team with all of Mbeumo, Cunha, Bruno in his best position, a midfield duo of Mainoo and Ugarte, and Amad as RWB. Many feel that this is perhaps the best way to go given United's weakness with the striker position and be able to fit all of these attacking players in positions where they can showcase their strongest attributes.
Still no Onana in goal as we saw Bayindir return instead of Heaton. Shaw started along with Yoro and De Ligt in defense with Dalot operating as the LWB over Dorgu.
The United boss did state before the game that he wanted to try soemthing new with this lineup indicating just that.
First Half
Another decent start by United which saw Mbeumo involved with a good attack down the right. After good link up play between him and Bruno, the captain unleashes Amad who played a pass to Cunha in behind. His effort went wide of the mark but another promsiting opening to a game which involved the new boys.
Everton did have a couple chances of their own as old boy James Garner had his free-kick saved before the follow-up hit the post. United survived another scare as Beto was given offside despite putting the ball in the back of the net.
Amad was a constant threat from right wing-back and was involved a few times with the attacks. United's movement from defense to attack was instigated by Amad keeping the width on the right. It was no surprise that in the 19th minute, it was the Ivorian who won the penalty which Fernandes converted from.
Amad again, was key in winning a free-kick on the edge of the box which Mbeumo took. He forced a decent save from Jordan Pickford but displayed signs that he was getting to grips with this United team.
The right flank was United's only outlet as compared to the norm, the left didn't offer much going forward. Understandable considering Dalot was out of position down that side but it isn't as if he is the best in attack whichever side he's playing on.
Mbeumo was showing us even more of the quality of player that was bought as he individually got the ball out of harm's way when he took the ball out of the danger area when Everton were on the attack.
Just before halftime though, Everton struck through Iliman Ndiaye. A poor goal to concede after Ugarte loses the ball in a dangerous area. Ndiaye unmarked at the back post to have a simple finish.
Second Half
Mbeumo was taken off at halftime no doubt due to not being up to the fitness levels required but an encouraging first 45 from the new signing.
The second period saw the Toffees on the attack as a great ball over the top found Beto but a great last-ditch tackle by Yoro prevented the striker from being 1v1 with Bayindir. An important challenge by the ever-impressive Frenchman.
Ugarte, who was having a terrible game almost caused a 2nd for Everton after a poor headed clearance gave Moyes' men the chance to have another opportunity. Once more though, they were offside despite two great stops by Bayindir.
United were looking for another penalty midway through the half after the ball struck Garner's hand when going to ground to make a block. No penalty.
Amorim decided to make changes at random rather than having a set time. Mainoo, Yoro and Shaw off just before the hour mark for Maguire, Heaven and Mount.
The no 7 was involved just 12 minutes after coming on as he scored a goal similar to that of his strike against Athletic Club in the second leg of the semifinal in last season's Europa League.
Some good, intricate play between him and the captain saw the Englishman in a pocket of space in the box before he curled it into the bottom corner giving Pickford no chance.
But just a few minutes later and another disaster from United saw the ball being put in his own net by Heaven. A second OG of the tour after De Ligt against the Cherries.
Captain magnifico wasn't so magnificent in this passage of play as a sloppy giveaway resulted in him displaying unnecessary (but not unsurprising) petulance from the man that Amorim holds as central to his future as manager. A late swipe on Ndiaye caused a bit of pushing and shoving between the two only for a bit of unfortunate circumstances with the ball ending up in the back of the net.
An onrushing Amad tried to clear the ball only for it to hit an unaware Heaven with it eventually making it's way into the goal.
Silly goal to concede.
The United captain picked up a yellow card but didn't cover himself in glory in a moment that shows the other side of Bruno. He might not be so lucky in the league with such a challenge.
The game wasn't done there as two substitutes in Mount and Dorgu combined only for the Dane's shot to be saved from a tight angle. This instance showed why we don't score many because it was actually a great pass by Mount to get the defender in on goal. He shouldn't be shooting from there and rather should be playing the square pass to Hojlund who would've had a tap-in. The striker was visibly upset and in such a case, it doesn't matter who the no 9 is as if his teammate doesn't make the right decision, we may as well have no one up front.
In stoppage time though, the Toffees were awarded a penalty after another ex-player in Ashley Young went down after challenges from both De Ligt and Maguire. The Englishman appeared to tug at Young's shirt while De Ligt looked to have taken the player.
The decision was then taken to VAR and was overturned. David Moyes and co feeling hard done by even though there was minimal contact.
The game ended 2-2 but with United lifting their first piece of silverware under Amorim.
Verdict on Amorim
I think he would be relatively pleased with the performance both as a team and with some individuals. To win the Summer Series could also be of big benefit as it may lift team spirits and morale.
But overall, he would be slightly disappointed to go from what we saw against Bournemouth (who I think are better than Everton) to this somewhat flat display against the Toffees.
The manager spoke about work still needing to be done as he acknowledged consistent issues in the performance with warnings to players that preparations for the new campaign are far from complete:
"We need to do a lot of work still."
There were times when his players did things that aren't necesssarily associated with 'Amorim ball' as we saw a lot of long balls. United also had issues with some of their build-up play even with decent chances created.
Skipper Bruno Fernandes had an indifferent performance himself and branded United "lazy" after this draw. The manager said he is "happy for the players to have that feeling. It's saying they understand the situation."
That wasn't the only thing the skipper said as Fernandes claimed that more business needed to be done:
“I don't want to take a dig at anyone but the club is doing the best they can in terms of the financial situation they talk about.
But it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here, more quality to get everyone to step up a little bit more, and I think that is what the club are trying to do.
Hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that.”
Very honest from the captain but not entirely false.
Final Thoughts
Not the best, not the worst from United. Good to see Mbeumo play and some of the link up between him, Cunha, Bruno and Amad gave us a glimpse of what this quartet can do.
Nice to see Mount get a goal and have a good game when he came on. We were also quite solid in defense as those two goals came from mistakes by midfielders with that second being extremely unlucky.
But I don't think this experiment by Amorim worked. This formation change with Cunha and Mbeumo up top never gave me the feeling that this has a chance of being the way we should lineup moving forward. I believe this system suits a striker or at least a false 9 and with the likes of Hojlund and Zirkzee, we have that so no need to play this formation.
I also don't think it's time to be trying new things. United still haven't indicated that they fully understand the manager's actual formation of 3-4-3 and what he expects from them in that. Why then try something else?
Maybe fatigue did come into this performance but that shouldn't be an excuse. We should be expecting more from these players.
Bruno doing what he did with that challenge was silly and not something you want to see from such a senior player who is also a leader (officially as per Amorim's new leadership group) and the captain. The fact that Everton scored from his giveaway just rubbed salt into the wound.
As for his comments about needing reinforcements, he's right. We do still need more players and needed them before the tour. The fact that we're still here saying the same things as seasons gone by is a problem and to hear the captain talk about it is both refreshing and worrying.
I like this honesty but I feel like there's too much business to do and not enough time to do it in as we've taken too long on deals. We move too slow and end up risking not just the start but the season overall with not the best squad.
Winning the tournament though, could be a big boost moving forward. With a lot of these players ,we know how easily they can drop their heads so a trophy early on may help keep team morale high.
With just one more pre-season game to go, it will be interesting to see how we lineup and perform ahead of what is going to be a MASSIVE season.
Man Utd end pre-season tour of America with 2-2 draw against Everton | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)