With the help of Bebe’s 90th minute goal, United have managed to salvage a draw against Ajax Capetown. It also marked the full match debut of Shinji Kagawa and substitute appearance of Nick Powell. Both the new signings showed good promise but the heart shown by the home team was enough to keep United away from goals and a victory.
Performance Rating – 6/10
Best player – Bebe (Just cause he scored the equalizer and the none of the players really had a great evening)
Positive Points
For all the criticism thrown at him, Bebe showed he is not all washed up and is ready to fight for a place at United. His finish was top class and the expensive so called flop is showing signs of promise at last.
Shinji Kagawa seems to be a bargain signing already. His runs and passes were flawless but the open goal he missed would have been punished badly in the Premier league. Still for a newcomer this was a great performance from the lad.
The future looks bright for United. It was again an assured performance from the youngsters who are going to be the future of the club. Nick Powell impressed on his debut, almost scoring a goal while lads like Tunnicliffe, Lingaard were again lively just like the previous match.
Defensively Tyler Blackett looks like a able deputy to Evra after a solid performance throughout the match and just like the last match Rio Ferdinand looked to be composed and seems to be getting back to his best.
Ben Amos would be fighting for a first team spot in any mid table team but seems to be suffering from the quality performances of David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard. Again in this match he showed promise between the sticks behind the inexperienced backline.
All the other players played their part with the new no.7, Luis Antonio Valencia not showing any rustiness after the holiday and Paul Scholes along with Carrick made sure United had a solid first half from the midfield.
Negative Points
United did not really create much chances as Sir Alex would have liked. It can be accepted that the young team still needs to adjust but there was a spark that was missing which would have made the difference.
Anderson was disappointing. He is surely not what United need and will need replacing. Lucas Moura or even a much more experienced midfield signing should be United’s priority.
Chicharito was inconsistent for the second match in a row and his replacement Bebe scored the goal adds to the fact that he was not at his best today.
Also it can be clearly seen Berbatov is not really happy at United and sooner they sell him, the better for the team.
Overall Verdict
This United side cannot be assessed for the season until it begins but the future seems to be promising with the youngsters performing admirably. As far as this match goes, it was a little disappointing.