Review – Urawa Reds vs Manchester United

 

URAWA REDS

2-2

United has started their pre season friendly with a draw against Urawa Reds. The result doesn’t concern me much as it is the fitness the players have to improve and be ready to fire on all cylinders starting from the Community Shield. United should have won the match for the number of chances they have created, but got away with a draw. Both the goals conceded were sloppy by United standards, and we expect them to sharpen up before the season started (Well that is what preseason is for right!!).

Uchidate has opened the scoring for the home side with a wickedly swirwing kick, and Van der Sar should have done better. It is not secret that the giant Dutch man is getting old and goal keeping is one area of concern for the Red Devils in the coming season as Ben Foster is injured till March. He has to be given proper rest during the course of the season and hopefully the Polish depty puts in some polished performances.

Before the break Rooney had a breathtaking run, and wearing the number 10 jersey seems to have provided that extra bit of motivation for him.

After the break United has scored two goals in a space of five minutes. The first one involved a lot of team work and credit to Fletcher for staying at the correct place at the correct time. Thankfully this guy unlike Kieran Richardson has stepped up his quality during last season and hopefully improves even more.

United took the lead after 5 minutes with CR7 cutting in from the left and scoring a goal similar to the one he scored against Fulham. Nani will be taking this position in the future and hopefully he can emulate the guy he is being touted as.

As expected the guy to watch out for Ono has created a lot of problems to the defence, and has equalized for the Japanese Reds after turning it round Evans. It would have been very tough to imagine someone taking the ball round Rio or Vidic in a similar fashion, and Evans has to step up his quality and tackling if he has to become a regular member of the squad.

Overall a good match for the Red Devils, although the scoreline doesn’t suggest that. Hopefully they make the scorelines in the matches to come reflect that.

Final Score: 2-2 (0/1 right predictions by your Ed).

Team Line-ups:

United: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand (Evans, 45), Vidic (Simpson, 45), Evra (Silvestre, 45), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Carrick (O’Shea, 69), Giggs (Smith, 69), Scholes, Rooney
Subs: Kuszczak, Heaton, Bardsley

Urawa Red Diamonds: Tsukuki (Yamagishi, 45), Hosogai, Horinouchi, Nene, Yamada, Uchidate (Hiriwaka, 45), Hasebe, Soma (Okano, 91), Ono, Ponte (Koike, 83), Tanaka (Nagai, 75)
Subs: Tsutsumi, Sakai, Nishizawa

Scroll down for videos of the goals

Preview: Urawa Reds vs Manchester United

Preview:

United start their Far East pre season with kick off against the Japanese champions Urawa Reds in Tokyo. The United faithful have to wait for some more time to see their new signings in action as Nani and Hargreaves are still carrying minor knocks and Anderson is yet to join the squad. Sir Alex has stated that he plans to field a strong team, who have to get the required mileage before the season kicks off.

Youngsters Evans and Eagles might get a decent run too (probably as 60th minute substitutes), as they are being considered the replacements for Heinze (who might leave OT soon) and Park (who is out till January/March). Although there is Fletcher ahead of Eagles to be deployed on the wing when required, I hope Evans is groomed as a substitute to Evra as the thought of playing Silvestre sends a chill down the spine. In the striking department Smith is the only recognised striker alongside Wayne Rooney as Rossi is taking a extended holiday, Dong is on international duty, Saha and Ole recovering from injuries.

Kick off time: Tuesday 17th 2007, 11:05 BST

Venue: Urawa Reds Diamonds, Tokyo

Prediction: 3-1 to United.

Player to watch out: Shinji Ono, known as Tensai (Japanese for Genius) is a skillful midfielder and is a big hope of Japan. He has European experience behind him when he played for Feyenoord and was a fan favourite. He can play any position in the midfield and is a constant menace to the defenders.

United squad from: Van der Sar, Kuszcak, Heaton; Evra, Ferdinand, Brown, Vidic, Silvestre, O’Shea, J.Evans, Bardsley, Simpson, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs (c), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Nani, Eagles, Gibson, Martin, Rooney, Smith.

Injury news: Hargreaves and Nani have minor knocks and might not be fielded.