Can you believe it that it's already pre-season?!
Yeah, neither can I. When people were saying that United's pre-season was starting this past Saturday I was like 'which Saturday?!'
Didn't realize they meant the 18th!
Yet here we are.
And our first fixture was in Helsinki as Michael Carrick led his Red Devils out for the first time as official Head Coach as we took on Deadpool's Wrexham.
But before we get into what I would like to see come the end of pre-season, imma be honest, I don't care much for it. It's great to have United back in action but we know that this isn't the real thing.
I know that regardless of what happens it will always be dubbed as 'just pre-season' which to an extent, is true.
However, it's not entirely a waste because there are certain aspects of our game that need to be addressed and it can make something that is usually unimportant seem very much so heading into the new campaign.
These are the things that I feel we cannot ignore even in 'just pre-season' and need to be resolved as we don't want to be heading into 26/27 not knowing who we are.
1. Identity
I think this is a fairly simple one.
Well, when I say simple, I mean it's simple for us to point out.
We know that United don't necessarily have an identity, a style of play that we can say 'that's Man Utd.' This has been the case for a long time and now it's up to Carrick to try to succeed where others failed.
Most would say that we are more of a counter-attacking team but there are times when we are more defensive, or do like to play with possession (Cunha -> Bruno -> Cunha -> Luke Shaw), and sometimes we look to get the ball out wide and isolate wingers against full-backs.
But when you look at the average possession under Carrick as interim, United had less than 50% possession (49.1%). That gets overlooked because we won a lot of games but unless we're winning week-after-week again next season, this will need to change.
Set-pieces also play a big part in our style. We were one of the best at these last season but that too was heavily reliant on a great delivery by Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro getting on the end of it.
Others need to step up to the plate when we have corners or free-kicks because this is where we also see just how influential unc really was.
So the style or identity, has a bit of everything.
But because of this, it feels like there's... nothing.
Ideally, I'd love to be saying that before a match I know United will have majority of the ball, control the game, create chances and score goals. Whether that be through sheer possession or, and this is my preferred option, play some heavy metal football, remains to be seen.
The latter for me is the style when it comes to United and is the style that I most enjoy watching.
To see your team work extremely hard with and without the ball, to out-run the opponent - which we know is something we are pretty poor at - have overlapping full-backs, to work the ball out wide and put some crosses in and use the aerial strength of Benjamin Sesko - that for me is the United Way.
That is a term that is constantly mentioned yet no one has ever really explained what 'the United way' truly is.
But I've just done it for you.
That is my own version, at least.
As Carrick was a former player during the glory days and having worked under Sir Alex Ferguson, if anyone is going to know what the United way is, it's him. He's also got Jonny Evans on his coaching staff and he too knows what it's like to play through that great era.
Carrick has also mentioned on a couple of occasions that it's not just about winning but it's about winning and playing 'exciting football'. That's what he wants to bring.
And that does get me excited.
But I don't think we've seen anything different from his approach so far to some of our previous managers. It has been very counter-attack-y.
However, that was him as interim. We are now seeing him as Head Coach. Those are two different roles.
As the interim, he did what he could to sort of survive. He played the type of football he felt was best suited to the players he had. He knew that we wanted to qualify for the Champions League and so did what he could with what he had to get back into Europe's elite club competition.
Other than the wins over the big clubs, I didn't find this style particularly entertaining. It was one more of 'getting the job done.' And that's exactly what it did.
That type of football won him favours with players and fans alike, and got him the permanent job.
The expectaion now though, is much higher.
This identity will also give us a chance to see the manager's vision in terms of what he's trying to build and why we signed the players that we signed.
If we're still saying 'we don't know what Carrick is trying to do and what he's trying to build' by the end of pre-season, then we have a real problem.
I don't mean that we need to see the finished article after pre-season - which is six matches long btw - but all I want to see is the blueprint, the idea of what Carrick wants, a clear identity and one that we can be proud of.
2. Purpose of the new Signings
Youri Tielemans and Karl Darlow didn't feature against Wrexham. Tielemans is on holiday after being eliminated from the World Cup at the quarter final stage and had a bit of an injury which kept him out of that defeat to Spain. Darlow also had a slight problem.
But Andrey Santos was with the squad.
The Brazilian impressed with his 45-minute display before he and the entire starting lineup were rotated for the second half.
But in that time, we saw a glimpse of what the 21-year-old is all about.
He regularly dropped between defenders, showed for the ball at every occasion and got stuck in with a couple of challenges, which is always something you like to see.
Yes he was rusty at times and still needs to get to grips with his new teammates, but in this cameo, we had an idea of why we paid £50m for a Chelsea bench option.
The expectation after this is quite high.
Whether he can truly replace Casemiro remains to be seen but he does possess some of his idol's attributes.
However, something that is very difficult to do but was something that Casemiro did really well, was elevate the quality of the players around him.
I'm not sure whether Santos has this in his locker (yet) but if he does, then that is a big tick in his box.
Replacing Casemiro was the top priority and at this point, I won't say we've properly addressed this but let's seewhat Santos can do.
However, pre-season gives us a chance to see what he is about and how Carrick wants to use him.
This is going to be particularly hard because ideally, you'd want the player he would partner during the season to be playing alongside him as this will help them build that understanding and partnership which is so important in football.
With no Kobbie Mainoo and Tielemans to only join a little later (if he has recovered from his injury), this means that it will have to be youngsters or Mason Mount next to Santos.
Two ex-Chelsea players potentially running our midfield for pre-season.
Crazy.
Why this role of Santos is interesting is because Casemiro was more than a CDM. He scored a lot of goals - and important ones too - but also had a really great character, was experienced, a leader, and had a bond with us fans that was truly special.
That is also what we have to replace and at this moment, is what Santos will have to replace.
I know Casemiro is his idol but that is a tough ask for a young player.
When it comes to Tielemans we do have an idea of what he's like, but that was for Villa. Doing it for United is completely different and how he will be used will be very interesting to see.
3. Fixing Problems
Similar to the identity, I don't expect us to solve whatever problems we had from last season or indeed, previous seasons, in pre-season.
But I would like to see us attempt to.
The number one concern is breaking down low blocks. That is a stumbling block for most teams but as it has been a massive Achilles heel of ours for so many years, we always head into the new season thinking whether the current boss can finally break that barrier.
What patterns of play can we look forward to? What has Carrick implemented to potentially help us through these stubborn defenses?
United usually come up against teams that sit back and defend deep. That is literally all an opponent has to do to frustrate us as we more often than not, have no answers. We then wait for individual brilliance or a moment to bail us out, but that can only work for so long.
Speaking of moments, that is something else that needs to be addressed.
Just like playing a more counter-attacking style or struggling to breakdown low blocks, depending on certain players or a moment of magic to get us over the line is something we need to eradicate from our game.
On the odd occasion, in a tight match or against a tough opponent, then it is acceptable to hope that captain magnifico pulls a rabbit out of the hat.
But for that to be your style, that's when we have problems.
I actually think this whole moments thing has hindered United without us knowing it because Bruno in particular is super influential and the main player when it comes to this. He was our player of the season (which he's now won more than any other player) and was PL player of the season. But if you take him out of that team or keep him quiet, we got next to nothing. Now that Casemiro is gone too, that's two big players who had a massive influence on the team.
Without them, what do we do?
So while it might be difficult in pre-season, I would like to see Carrick try and move away from the overrealiance on certain individuals.
This brings me on to an observation for the season proper:
Stop using Bruno.
Not entirely of course, but sub him around an hour in certain games. If we are comfortable with 30 minutes to go, take him off. I want to see us start to play without him because at some point he will leave and we don't want to be scrambling to find a replacement like what we're doing with Casemiro.
But I don't think we'll need to scramble for a replacement. I already believe we have him in Matheus Cunha.
The Brazilian may not be the same type of player as the captain but I believe we see the best version of him more centrally. We saw for Brazil as well that as the false 9 in a more central position, he was one of their best attackers scoring 3 goals. Out wide though, he can be a bit of a waste.
Pre-season is also an opportunity for some of the current squad to showcase why they should stay at the club and how they can be useful.
The likes of Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount have a big pre-season ahead of them. They are two players who come under more scrutiny than any other as we don't really know what their value in this squad is.
With Benjamin Sesko injured and our only striker besides, this is a chance for Zirkzee to display a level of quality that he's lacked in his now two years at the club.
We just need to see something that would make a doubtful fan like myself feel okay with the Dutchman remaining. The same goes for Mount.
So these are my sort of 'non-negotiables' for the upcoming season. Regardless of how the tour goes, these are aspects of our game that needs improving otherwise we'll go into the new campaign with the same problems.
But what would you like to see improve or change from Carrick and United during pre-season? What are the non-negotiables for you?
Manchester United in pre-season training | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)