Manchester United: how they could line up during pre-season

Pre-season is a time when players and managers have to find the best tactics and formations for their team. Teams who have taken the pre-season lightly could potentially move on to suffer a difficult season.

Jose Mourinho is already under considerable pressure after most of his first-team players have been granted extended holidays due to tiredness from playing in the World Cup. Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Paul Pogba, and Marianne Fellaini could all lack fitness for the first the first week of Premier League.

David De Gea, Fred and Nemanja Matic will join United a week into their tour. Meanwhile, Alexis Sanchez, who was available to start the pre-season with United, has not been able to travel to the US due to visa issues.

This mess leaves Mourinho with huge problems in the all-important pre-season where they will face their arch-rivals Liverpool, AC Milan, and Real Madrid.

However, with all the negatives come a few positives. Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw, two of the players whose future at Manchester United still look to be shaky, will be getting an appropriate amount of time to prove themselves to Jose Mourinho.

Jose has included a number of youngsters in the squad which has traveled to the USA. Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood, Tahith Chong and RoShaun Williams will get some great exposure in the International Champions Cup.

Sergio Romero will fill the boots of David De Gea to defend the post. Joel Pereira should be coming off the bench in the second half. Lee Grant will also be hoping for his debut but his game time in the first team will be very very limited.

Diogo Dalot seems to be an interesting prospect, especially considering the fact that he can operate on both the side of the defense. Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling are the two most experienced centre-backs in the squad.

RoShaun Williams and Axel Tuanzebe will also be a regular feature in these friendlies as Victor Lindelof will be joining late and Phil Jones won't be available until the first week of the Premier League. Axel Tuanzebe can play both as a right-back and centre-back, though Mourinho will prefer to use him at the centre.

Luke Shaw will finally get his chance to prove himself to Jose Mourinho. Demetri Mitchell, who made his debut against Crystal Palace is the only other left-back present in the Manchester United's squad.

Herrera is the senior-most midfielder in the squad in the absence of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba. McTominay can join him in the deeper role. Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who played in the right-back position for Crystal Palace last season, considers midfield his favored position. In the absence of big stars, Jose Mourinho can give him a chance in his preferred position.

Jose Mourinho already stated that Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, and Alexis Sanchez will kick off the Premier League campaign for Manchester United. Mason Greenwood has a golden chance to lead the line in the absence of big stars. He has been a star in the previous campaign as he scored 17 goals in 17 starts for the Under-18s last year.

Anthony Martial also has an amazing chance to rejuvenate his career at Manchester United. He has the whole pre-season and the start of the league matches to stake his claim on the left-wing. His agent said that Martial wants to leave Old Trafford but the chance to become a regular starter for a team like Manchester United is more than enough to persuade him to stay at this moment of time.