Manchester United have travelled to Trondheim, Norway, to take on Rosenborg BK in their second pre-season match. United will be hoping to secure their first win of pre-season after suffering a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Wrexham last Saturday in Finland.
The Red Devils have a huge following in Norway and will be hoping to put on a show for their loyal fans against one of the country’s most famous clubs. This is how United can win the tactical battle against Troillongan.
Speed in attack
Whilst United are missing key attackers such as Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Sesko, and Bruno Fernandes, they should have performed much better than they did against Wrexham.
The senior side, especially in the first half, rarely threatened to get into the Wrexham box, and Bryan Mbeumo did not threaten the Welsh side enough. In fact, United only managed two shots on target in the whole game, which is far from good enough or what we have come to expect from a United side.
The Red Devils did improve when Shea Lacey came on in the second half, as he proved to be more direct, and they will need more of this later on today. Rosenborg tend to prioritise defensive solidity and central compactness, so United will want to disrupt this with faster and more direct movement in the attacking phase.
Brave passing
United are missing their key midfielders Kobbie Mainoo and Fernandes, as they are still on holiday after the World Cup.
New signing Youri Tielemans is also still on a break.
Therefore, as United’s midfield options are weakened, a lot of responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Andrey Santos and Mason Mount.
If they play the ball conservatively, this will allow the Norwegians to get back into their defensive shape, and it is vital United try to learn from their errors versus Wrexham.
Santos and Mount are both very capable passers into forward areas, so they must not fall into the trap of moving the ball from side to side too much and should favour riskier, more progressive passing.
United could also play in a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-2-3-1, owing to the fact there is probably no need for two deeper midfielders against the Norwegian side.
Wide support
Finally, another issue versus Wrexham was the lack of attacking support from the full-backs.
Luke Shaw only really found himself in one decent attacking spot in the first half, and United improved as Harry Amass showed more attacking verve in the second half.
Leny Yoro was asked to slot into the right-back spot as both Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot are still on holiday.
The Frenchman tried his best but is far from a natural full-back option, and this was clear during the first half.
Therefore, Shaw and Amass must attack at will down the left-hand side to provide support for Patrick Dorgu.
Featured image by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.
