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Manchester United faced AC Milan in the International Champions Cup 2019 on Saturday for their last pre-season game and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had one last opportunity to test his side before the all-important Chelsea clash next week in the Premier League.
Romelu Lukaku and Matteo Darmain were the only two players unavailable for this match and both of them have been linked with moves away from Old Trafford. Also, Eric Bailly suffered an injury against Tottenham Hotspur and was confirmed by Solskjaer to be unavailable until Christmas. Paul Pogba also didn't travel with the squad with a minor back injury but he is expected to be fit for Chelsea next week.
Coming to the match, it was a closely fought affair as both teams showed potency in front of goal. Rashford fired United into the lead around the 14th minute, while Suso equalized for Milan. Milan then took the lead with a Victor Lindelof own goal and the second half substitute, Jesse Lingard brought United back into the game. The match went all the way to the penalties and the Red Devils won 5-4.
All in all, it was a pretty interesting watch and in this piece, we are going to take a look at the three talking points from the game.
#3 Manchester United's flexible attack
Surprisingly, Solskjaer has preferred a 4-2-3-1 formation throughout the pre-season for Manchester United and the 4 attackers seem to have the license to be fluid and flexible as all of them interchanged positions quite often. Anthony Martial started as the striker and Rashford operated from the left but both of them weren't stuck to their positions and Rashford was upfront when United scored that first goal.
Also, we saw Juan Mata and Andreas Pereira change positions quite often and we even saw Martial on the right on a couple of occasions. This United attack has a lot of pace and if they continue this constant chopping and changing of positions, they can be terrifying for opposition defenses next season.
#2 Manchester United lack creativity in the midfield
With Paul Pogba out due to a back spasm, United started with Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay in the middle. While the latter was playing well, Matic looked very slow on the ball. He was caught in possession many times by the Milan midfielders and whenever he had the ball, he wasn't releasing it quickly.
United lacked that pace and creativity with McTominay and Matic in the middle and this match proved again why Paul Pogba is so indispensable to this team. Also, Juan Mata doesn't suit Solskjaer's pressing style and he isn't very quick in transitions.
With the transfer window still open, United need some creative midfielders in their team and there have been strong links with Bruno Fernandes and Paulo Dybala, and if United can pull off either of those transfers, they would have a look of a brilliant team next season.
#1 AC Milan have a good look about them
Throughout the game, AC Milan looked brilliant in possession. The midfielders finding pockets of spaces, centre-backs joining the midfield and the full-backs nice and high. Samu Castillejo and Suso were the creative force behind everything that was good for Milan.
If Krzysztof Piątek would have taken the two simple chances that he got in both the halves, Milan would have won more comfortably. The equalizer in the first half from Suso came from Milan's high pressing and winning the ball higher up the middle and the Spaniard then finding half a yard to curl it past de Gea into the goal.
The second goal from Milan came from a corner played short and Suso swung it into the middle, guided on by Castillejo and deflected off Victor Lindelof into the back of the net. Milan looked really comfortable throughout the game and were dominating United both in terms of possession and chances created. All these are positives for Milan ahead of the new season.
