Good to be doing these again as it signals the start of a new campaign and one that is all important for everyone associated with MUFC.
INEOS have pumped £200m into the transfer window on three top signings (with possibly more to come) indicating their firm stance on being behind manager Ruben Amorim. The new training ground also suggests their ambition for the future by giving the players a state-of-the-art facility in which to train.
There is still loads to be done but it's a decent start by the co-owners for their manager.
Ruben Amorim's first pre-season as United boss taught us many things most of which were a bit concerning, with the odd bits of positivity and hope for the future.
It wasn't an utter disaster nor was it a resounding success but more something in-between, which is perhaps perfect for where this team is under this manager who will take charge of his first full season.
We knew that it was going to be difficult to see stark improvements from last season (although that bar wasn't set very high), yet we were still left somewhat disappointed by what we saw and I've no doubt Amorim was as well.
But here's 5 things learned from what was an interesting pre-season.
1. Lack of fluidity
We saw a team struggling to get to grips with the 3-4-3 formation as well as exactly what the manager wants from them. The defense was probably the area of the team that seemed to be relatively solid although there were moments where they too, found things a little tough.
United didn't display any patterns of play that would suggest players starting to understand what they are supposed to do in this system and in certain situations.
As they have been so used to playing with a four at the back for so long, it makes sense that that adjustment period would take time but almost a season with Amorim and now a full pre-season well, I think we should have expected more.
It's at a point where people are starting to discuss whether a formation change is required or that Amorim HAS to change his formation as this 3-4-3 won't work in the Premier League.
I don't understand that because we used four at the back under Erik ten Hag and that wasn't going as well either. Poor performances under the Dutchman led to his sacking. These players have also questioned several managers' tactics and formations before. Some reports suggested they even questioned Amorim's back in February.
To be honest, simply put, I didn't see much difference to our style in pre-season to how we were playing last season. That probably has to do with the personnel, most of whom were here during the worst season we've ever witnessed. Perhaps removing them and bringing in more players the manager wants like Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko, and we'll start to see real change.
2. Old Habits
This is what I mean by not seeing real change. A lot of old habits were evident and were from some of the same players as before.
Something that we need to be rid off is the long ball. At times, they are necessary but most of the time? And when we don't have that focal point of a striker up front to hold the ball, bring others into play or relief pressure, it makes little sense to hit it long.
This is why I feel it's more the players doing it out of their own accord rather than the manager telling them to. This isn't even the way Amorim wants to play so that suggests to me that this instruction isn't coming from him. That's why getting the right players is necessary.
United also appeared to be more of a transitional team or at least one that was more comfortable in transition rather than in control of possession.
Playing in transition or on the counter is a trademark of the Solskjaer days. Even under ten Hag, we looked a much better outfit playing this type of football than not. Weirdly though, I don't think we're as good as we were a few years ago. I don't think we're as incisive and precise with our passing and movement as at some point, something goes wrong.
When Solksjaer was manager, counters were at it's free-flowing best which is why we had some good games under the legend. Then, the players seemed to be more in tuned with each other almost like they had this connection to know where their teammate was going to be and moves often felt instinctive rather than one that was indecisive.
This type of football will only work against the sides who are better than us and control more of the possession. We might have been closer to a relegation battle last season but we're still Man Utd. Clubs will expect a certain level of quality and dominance from us which means coming up against low blocks more often than not. That has been an achilles heel of ours for many a year and I still didn't see a side that displays the wherewithal to overcome such oppositions.
There were very few clear-cut chances created throughout the pre-season even with the additions of Cunha and Mbeumo, two of the more creative players in the league last season. With a new striker coming in, we definitely need to be making more opportunities for a top quality forward like Sesko otherwise, what was the point?
There were still occasions where we took the shot on when there were better options on the cards. Not marking the back post and conceding from set-pieces was evident once more. These two issues were a major reason as to why we failed last season.
Amorim has to sort that selfishness out fast and why has being poor at marking at set-pieces not been rectified? This was a problem from years gone by and even not defending crosses was not improved upon in pre-season.
What the fuck have we actually done?
3. Positions
Some areas of the team are more of a concern than others.
Before the start of pre-season, I don't think many of us would've put a new midfielder at the top of the list in terms of a priority. It was needed but striker and goalkeeper were probably higher.
However, after seeing what we've seen, midfielder HAS to be right up there. It is almost a red flag in our team because a problem that has been evident in years gone by is the ability for opposition's to play right through us.
That happened once more as United struggled to keep up with the likes of Bournemouth, West Ham and Everton. Even against Fiorentina, their midfield controled the game more than ours.
Amorim has been wont to use Bruno as his no 8 along with Casemiro, who's been his partner more oft than not. That pairing simply doesn't work. Casemiro is too slow and sluggish at times and nor does he have the ability to cover ground as quickly as he once did.
Bruno is erratic and all over the place. He can still produce quality from a deeper position but as he loves to roam, he leaves his partner isolated. When that player is Casemiro, he gets easily overrun. Tbh, any midfielder gets overrun as they cannot handle two or three opposition midfielders on their own thanks to the skipper being everywhere and nowhere.
The manager wants Carlos Baleba and it looks like there's a chance we could get him and he would definitely revolutionize our midfield. I understand why Amorim wants him but again, if he is going to use Bruno next to him, I still don't think that such a pairing will work.
I would go with Ugarte and Baleba as the perfect pivot but I doubt that that will happen.
Wing-backs are also a worrying position in my opinion because we don't have any and when looking at how important they are to the 3-4-3 formation, it would make you think why haven't we gone all in for one or two?
In fact, you can read how important they are here.
Amad seems to be the one for the right with Dorgu on the left. The Dane displays solid defensive qualities but does lack it in the final third. He is improving with every game though, and that is a positive.
With Amad, he has loads going forward but isn't the best going backwards. He is NOT a defensive player and nor do you want one as creative and threatening as him more in defense than attack. With a slender build, he isn't the strongest either which can be a disadvantage as well.
I also find that Amad can sometimes be a little out of the game out wide. As a no 10, he is more involved whereas as the RWB, not so much and when you have a player with such quality, you want him on the ball as much as possible and in areas where he can punish the opposition.
Then there is the false 9 thing. I'm not sure why Amorim used false 9s so often throughout the pre-season. We saw the likes of Cunha, Mbeumo and Mount all feature up front.
I understand that the manager may want to send a message to Hojlund in that he doesn't want him by not playing him, but we still had Chido Obi. The youngster has a lot of talent and was hardly used by a manager who generally prefers a proper striker as his no 9.
None of the false 9s actually worked and were out of the game as well. At the risk of repeating myself, we don't necessarily want the likes of Cunha and Mbeumo out of their best positions as we won't get the best out of them.
However, with Sesko signing, I do believe we won't see much of the false 9 in attack for United. Whenever we do go with this though, I don't have much confidence that it will work as per pre-season. Zirkzee is the only one who truly understands that role yet he has been injured and didn't feature at all so he is unknown.
4. New signings
I think the new recruits looked decent. Cunha and Leon were some of the better performers as they showcased the qualities we can look forward to seeing at Old Trafford. While neither may have been involved in much going forward and creating chances, their overall game's were not too bad.
Cunha was particularly good when given the ball quickly and into feet with space and time. These are the type of situations where you want a player like him to have possession as it is what made him so good at Wolves.
Leon had some bright moments but was less favoured by Amorim compared to Dorgu. Even Dalot got more of an opportunity than the promising Paraguayan which was a little disappointing to see if I'm being completely honest although I understand it as Amorim will want to use a player who is most likely going to be his starter (Dorgu).
We didn't see much of Mbeumo due to him joining late in the window. What we did see was a player who needs more game time.
While the Cameroonian wasn't awful, he didn't display any of what we saw at Brentford either. He looks off the pace and a bit sluggish but that is to be expected when you haven't played much football.
This is part of the reason as to why I think the manager will bench him on Sunday.
5. Reality Check
With a new season comes new leases of life. There's a buzz with everyone because we move on from the past and considering our recent past, moving on was a positive in itself.
Expectations increase and we believe once again that no 21 is coming especially when looking at the business done.
However, even with new players, we can see that things will take time and that this season won't be as smooth sailing as we might have hoped for.
This pre-season showed us more of what we really are: inconsistent.
It wasn't all terrible as there were some bright moments. Cunha looked good, Dorgu was perhaps one of the best players which is a positive for him specifically given all the criticism he was receiving early doors, another youngster in Yoro was a standout as well with the defense in general looking relatively solid.
But we can see that there is still soooooo much work that needs to be done in order to truly see improvement. Even with the new signings, they will take time to embed into the team, get used to their new teammates, the manager's system, and for Sesko, the Premier League which we know is a different beast.
We shouldn't be aiming too high in terms of expectations as it will be unnecessary pressure on all but nor should we be expecting too little of the team either. Having finished so low in the league last season, surely we won't be as awful once again? With no Europe, asking for consistently good football shouldn't be out of the question. Amorim stated many times last season that having a week off to train can be beneficial to him in terms of trying to get his players to play the way he wants.
There's no excuses why that shouldn't be the case this campaign.
All-in-all, I liked the fact that this pre-season was hit and miss. Some positives, some negatives but not too many in favour of the other. Something like this was needed because if we had won every game, people would believe us to win the league and anything below that is a failure.
Had United had lost more than they won, then we need to sack Amorim now.
We can be too impatient as a fan base and too strong in our feelings when something suits the agenda.
We need to be calm. We need to give Amorim and some of these players (especially the new ones) time.
But what did you make of pre-season? Does it make you feel more or less confident heading into the new campaign?
Ruben Amorim and Bruno Fernandes | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)