Manchester United vs. San Jose: Lessons Learned from International Champions Cup
Manchester United made it two wins from two in the International Champions Cup on Tuesday evening as they defeated San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 at the Avaya Stadium.
Juan Mata opened the scoring midway through the first half with a hopeful prod toward goal, then Memphis Depay doubled the advantage minutes later, pouncing on a hospital pass and sliding home an easy finish.
Fatai Alashe pulled one back for San Jose right before the break, but Andreas Pereira headed a Jesse Lingard cross into the far corner soon after the restart to seal the victory.
Here, B/R takes a look at some lessons learned from the tournament match.
Luke Shaw-Matteo Darmian the Ideal Full-Back Combo
1 of 4
It's pre-season and expectations must be tempered, but Manchester United fans could be forgiven for getting overly excited about certain aspects of their team's play. Chiefly, in this match against San Jose, the stellar full-back performances stood out for all the right reasons.
Luke Shaw, fit and firing, impressed greatly as he tore down the left time and time again. His interlinking with Ashley Young was superb, and Matteo Darmian, on the opposite side, held the width well, gave United a back-post presence and kept his winger eerily quiet in the final third.
As Sky Sports' Peter Hall noted on Twitter, Shaw was perhaps the pick of the two, and although he could have defended better for Fatai Alashe's goal, big things will be expected this season.
It's almost been forgotten in some quarters that he cost close to £30 million 12 months ago, but after essentially redshirting his first year at Old Trafford, he's ready to make an impact.
Feisty Phil Jones Won't Lie Down
2 of 4
Phil Jones is a man under serious pressure this summer; although Manchester United awarded him with a brand new contract just weeks ago, he faces a real fight to play football next season.
Matteo Darmian bolsters the right-back position so he likely won't deputise (and find minutes) there, while the pursuit of a high-profile centre-back—be it Sergio Ramos, per El Pais (h/t Metro), or Nicolas Otamendi, per Fichajes.net (h/t the Mirror)—means Jones could be relegated to the bench by Chris Smalling, who put together a very good 2014-15 season.
That makes this pre-season tournament vital for him, and his 45-minute display was pretty decent. He made two vital interventions, taking control of dangerous situations and guiding United away from danger, and while it wasn't a perfect expose, it serves as a positive page in Louis van Gaal's notebook.
Andreas Pereira Pushing for First-Team Role
3 of 4
As Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News noted on Twitter, few, if any, of Manchester United's attacking players have looked better than Andreas Pereira on tour so far.
The Belgian-Brazilian, a recent runner-up at the FIFA U20 World Cup, has seized his chance to impress alongside senior colleagues and built himself a bridge to cross into the first-team setup. He was excellent against Club America and excellent here against San Jose, scoring the third and final goal with a good header after Jesse Lingard's pinpoint cross.
He looked good on the ball and in space, and in the second half became the fulcrum of United's attacking play; his performances will have forced Louis van Gaal to consider a first-team role for him if he hadn't already.
Per Dawson, Van Gaal admitted to journalists post-match that "we played very badly in the second half," and cited Pereira as the only highlight to speak of.
United could end up short an attacking outlet by the time the Premier League season rolls around, with Angel Di Maria reportedly close to leaving Old Trafford, as Bleacher Report's French football expert Jonathan Johnson told talkSPORT (h/t the Daily Star).
Pereira should be banging on the manager's door and asking for a fair shot as a replacement; he's shown nothing but promise so far.
Morgan Schneiderlin Can Be Controller or Box-to-Box for United
4 of 4
What we've seen over the course of 90 cumulative Morgan Schneiderlin minutes this summer is a player who can, and will, grasp Louis van Gaal's philosophy in full. He proved his tactical intelligence and near-world-class prowess at Southampton for two years prior to the move, and now he looks at home.
He and Michael Carrick interacted superbly in the first half during their time together, measuring and balancing the midfield as one went forward and the other stayed. Schneiderlin pushed on more often than not, and it's clear LVG fancies him as a box-to-box threat as well as a potential successor to Carrick in the controller role.
There's a spot there for the taking for the Frenchman if he performs well in this tournament, and he's made a very good start.
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
