As the arch winner José Mourinho will be disappointed with this defeat,
though a game played in stifling heat was never really about the result.
The Manchester United manager said beforehand the priority was for his
new team to start the process of gelling, with zero focus on the
opposition. This opening International Champions Cup game was in part,
therefore, an exercise in searching for clues regarding the Portuguese's
thinking.
Was there anything, then, in Antonio
Valencia being asked to captain the side?
Or Juan Mata being positioned at No10 and
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was in that role
against Wigan Athletic, being on the left?
Or Daley Blind, a centre-back for most of
last term, playing in midfield? Maybe,
maybe not: to guess would be akin to tea-leaf reading at this nascent
stage of Mourinho's tenure.
What is clear is the quality Mkhitaryan possesses. It was displayed on
Saturday at Wigan and the way the 27-year-old pinged one early pass
down his corridor showed again why Mourinho bought him.
This bright start was halted when Thomas Tuchel's side went ahead. Sam
Johnstone, the goalkeeper, might have done better with the speculative
30-yard free-kick hit by Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Instead it was
spilled, Ousmane Dembélé hit one follow-up attempt beaten out by the
goalkeeper from close in but, when the ball finally fell to Gonzalo
Castro, he finished.
From here the contest meandered for a while on a Shanghai night
becoming ever more sultry. Mourinho had pointed out that Dortmund
were well advanced of United in their preparations, having played four
matches already, and it showed. Tuchel's men were sharper and stronger
and by the 35th minute were 2-0 ahead.
As United's manager said: "At the moment the engines are completely
different. Formula 1 against Formula 3. They are much sharper and you
can see that easily, so it's difficult to judge my players."
United were breached down their left and, when a cross came in,
Aubameyang's overhead kick was mishit, Valencia handled and the
referee, Wang Di, awarded the penalty. Aubameyang slotted easily past
Johnstone, who went right and saw the ball go past him down the middle.
Aubameyang was running United ragged whenever the ball came near
him. He slipped beyond Phil Jones and chipped Johnstone but the keeper
recovered and made the save. By the end of the half Mourinho had
switched Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard but the Portuguese, standing in
the technical box, was witnessing a mismatch.
"After 10 minutes we know that one team started training 10 days ago
and played one match, and the other team started one month ago and
played already four games," he said. "It's so easy to see the difference of
intensity and sharpness. For us it was very difficult."
For the second half Jones, Lingard, Johnstone and Memphis Depay went
off and Sergio Romero became the new keeper, joined by Marcos Rojo,
Ashley Young and Marcus Rashford. The latter's introduction received a
cheer from the crowd and the young forward was instantly involved in a
United move, turning the ball into Luke Shaw's path. The left-back was
clear and had Young for support but he overran possession and the danger
fizzled out.
Rojo's first act before his new manager was hardly impressive, as he was
fooled by Dembélé before the Dortmund No7 made it 3-0.
United's shape had become fluid; Rashford and Mkhitaryan switching at
times between the left forward and No9 berths. It was from a ball through
the middle the Armenia captain pulled one back, tapping home a Mata
pass after lurking near the penalty spot.
By the close Adnan Januzaj and Andreas Pereira were on for Valencia
and Blind. Januzaj sparkled here and there but, as Castro added his
second and Dortmund's fourth towards the end, the Belgian's
intermittent threat could be viewed as the United display in microcosm.
Mourinho continues to target Paul Pogba or another midfielder to
complete the four major signings he wants. "When we sign one, that
crucial [player] work will be done," the 53-year-old said. "Then the
market will be open until 31 August. Sometimes things happen that you
are not expecting and we have to
No comments:
Post a Comment