Manchester United completed their three-match tour of the United States with a resounding 3-0 defeat to old rivals Liverpool.
That meant Erik ten Hag’s side returned home with a single victory, against Spanish side Real Betis.
On both sides there have been defeats against Premier League opponents Arsenal and Liverpool, who will be keen to ensure that superiority is repeated when the 2024-25 Premier League season begins in two weeks’ time.
BBC Sport has been following United on their trip. Here’s what we learned and what’s next for the Old Trafford club, starting with the Community Shield game against Manchester City on August 10.
Ten Hag emphasizes unity
Ten Hag didn’t seem too worried about United ending their American tour with defeat to Liverpool in South Carolina.
There was certainly none of the air of chaos that surrounded the 2018 tour, which also included a huge defeat to Liverpool but which was made more notable by strong public criticism of then-executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward by manager José Mourinho.
Five months after United returned to England from that trip, Mourinho was gone.
This time, Ten Hag did everything he could to emphasize unity on the Old Trafford pitch. After the defeat to Arne Slot’s team, he described to reporters how interested the new executive structure is in building a team capable of transforming United into contenders again.
But Ten Hag understands, as would any big club manager in his position, that if United look like they will not improve on last season’s eighth-placed Premier League finish, he will suffer the same fate as Mourinho. .
His first task now will be to assess which member of his late-returned squad after long campaigns at Euro 2024 and the Copa América will be fit enough to play a significant role in the Community Shield against a Manchester City team still reeling from it. unexpected defeat in the FA Cup final at the same stadium at the end of last season.
But there are also other issues to be addressed.
United’s stunning dilemma
The tendon injury suffered by Rasmus Hojlund shortly after he scored a superb opening goal against Arsenal at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the start of the trip was poorly timed.
Newcomer Joshua Zirkzee, who played for the Netherlands at Euro 2024, is one of the players who has not yet trained in the main group, so Ten Hag is once again experimenting with a wide player in the central area.
He all but admitted he had given up on last season’s idea of pushing Marcus Rashford into the middle, stating he preferred the Englishman on the left intervening.
Jadon Sancho, back from the cold, was used in the role. He’s not entirely convinced, however.
After flattering deception with two excellent pre-season campaigns that dissolved into little substance when the real one began, perhaps the situation will be reversed this season.
The most likely, however, is that Ten Hag will once again use captain Bruno Fernandes in the role of false nine, especially as two of the players who caught the eye on this trip, Mason Mount and Scott McTominay, did so in the number 10 position.
Amass advances, but Shaw needed an adjustment
Of all the clashes that would have been most instructive for Ten Hag at Columbia’s brilliantly atmospheric Williams-Brice Stadium was the performance of teenager Harry Amass at left-back when facing Mo Salah.
The Dutchman’s admission to newspaper colleagues on Thursday that Tyrell Malacia, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, was away from full fitness for another two months, brings the focus to the full-back position. left.
Over the next week we will find out the extent to which Gareth Southgate pushed Luke Shaw to get involved in the latter stages of the Euros.
England’s struggles without an orthodox left-back in Germany were a microcosm of the problem with which Ten Hag spent virtually the entire season grappling.
Seventeen-year-old Amass could be the answer for United, especially if Shaw needs to return to the rigors of a packed club calendar.
Amass did well against Salah. You wouldn’t expect the former Watford youngster to win every battle against such an experienced, world-class star, but he has done enough to show that he can step in occasionally and not look out of place.
In reality, though, United – and Ten Hag – need Shaw fit and to stay fit.
Will Onana improve this season?
Liverpool’s third goal on Saturday night would be a concern for United fans because it involved another handling error by goalkeeper Andre Onana, the kind that occurred all too often in his debut campaign.
But the game against Liverpool also involved glimpses of the distribution under which he was brought in to replace David de Gea.
Two long throws to the left for Amass were almost Peter Schmeichel-like in the way they were delivered. With almost no effort, Onana sent the ball 50 meters from the touchline straight to the feet of the young left-back.
It’s the type of maneuver that turns defense into attack very quickly.
Injuries to defenders last season meant Onana never had a consistent run of games behind an intended centre-back, which would have built partnerships and allowed his talent to be seen to greater effect.
If that changes this season, United’s results and performances will improve.
Transfer plans and the men ‘up there’
Sir Dave Brailsford, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox will not kick the ball for Manchester United this season.
But this quartet will be at the heart of how the 2024-25 campaign unfolds for the club and Ten Hag.
In a sense, they are dealing with some fundamental problems and a legacy of poor recruiting.
They haven’t bought Casemiro, but they have to deal with the financial reality of the Brazilian receiving a huge salary for another two years while putting in the kind of flawed performance that allowed Fabio Carvalho to ghost him inside the box to Liverpool’s debut goal on Saturday.
A ‘tight’ Profit and Sustainability situation is the result of correct checks and balances that were not previously implemented to avoid the kind of overspending that saw £81.3m committed to sign Brazilian winger Antony from Ajax two years ago when The reality is that he’s probably not worth half that.
It was desperate luck for Leny Yoro to suffer a serious injury a fortnight after his £52m arrival from Lille, but at 18 the defender was never going to be the answer alone.
United need to sign another central defender. But to do that, they need to sell Victor Lindelof, and perhaps Harry Maguire, and that’s not easy.
The same happens at right-back, where Aaron Wan-Bissaka could make way for Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui.
The problem at United is that throughout the squad there are players with huge contracts who will have difficulty getting elsewhere and who simply haven’t put in the performances that would make them profitable.
Ask any manager what the key to success is, at any level, and they will say recruitment.
United’s new structure features board members supported by Ineos and a new chief executive, sporting director and technical director.
It is your collective job to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.
