The pre-season Scout Notes continue as we look back at the first and last friendlies from the last few days.
We start with Manchester United v Everton before how reflecting on how Crystal Palace did in two kickabouts with Augsburg.
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MANCHESTER UNITED 2-2 EVERTON
- Goals: Fernandes pen, Mount | Ndiaye, Heaven own-goal
- Assists: Amad, Fernandes | Gueye
HOW UNITED LINED UP WITH MBEUMO, CUNHA + FERNANDES
We got our first look at Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) in a Manchester United shirt on Sunday evening.
Not only that but fellow summer recruit Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) was back in the team after missing out in midweek due to “fatigue”.
Cunha was the nominal ‘nine’ in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1, with Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) behind him. There was plenty of role-switching going on, however, without a Rasmus Hojlund (£6.5m)-style figurehead.
Amad Diallo (£6.5m) meanwhile lined up at right wing-back.
Above image from Sofascore
It was those four players who combined for an early Cunha chance, some nice, slick interplay possibly boding well for the season ahead. And it was that quartet working in tandem again for the incident that led to United’s 19th-minute penalty, with Amad eventually sent tumbling. In between, Amad and Cunha had teed up a blocked shot for Fernandes.
Mbeumo himself would go on to nearly score twice when following in a saved Fernandes effort, while the Cameroon international saw a direct free-kick parried away.
It wasn’t all perfect: Mbeumo understandably looked short of full sharpness due to his late return to pre-season training and Cunha isn’t really a ‘nine’. Fernandes also called the collective performance “lazy” after the game.
“You can feel the physicality of Bryan is not perfect, that is normal, but the first touch, the way he turns and connects to the other guys, the runs that he made, it is really important. And he is going to be really important to our team.” – Ruben Amorim
But there were some promising glimpses of this new-look attack in the Summer Series finale, and you’d think that understanding would only improve as the season goes on.
FERNANDES STILL ON PENS!
With Mbeumo, Cunha and Fernandes on the field, Manchester United had three of last season’s first-choice penalty takers to call on – not that Cunha got a single chance from 12 yards in 2024/25 with Wolves deprived of spot-kicks.
But it was the tried-and-true Fernandes who stepped up to score when Amad was fouled in the box here.
It was interesting to see the Portuguese playmaker still in the front three despite the inclusion of Mbeumo and Cunha. That, though, will surely change with the arrival of a new number nine.
Fernandes still bagged an assist despite shifting back into central midfield in the second half. He teed up substitute Mason Mount (£6.0m) for a superb strike.
United still clearly need reinforcements in the engine room alongside Fernandes, as they were cut open on several occasions, even by an attack as unremarkable as Everton’s.
BETO OVER BARRY AGAIN
This was another game in which Beto (£5.5m) started over Thierno Barry (£6.0m) for the Toffees.
It’s not a sign of preference yet, as Barry joined up with his new teammates late after signing and is being integrated slowly.
David Moyes also had some lukewarm words on Beto ahead of kick-off, perhaps trying to fire his striker up.
“I’ve been a bit disappointed with Beto, and I’ve told him. We need him doing a bit more, and he can do more and he has done more [in the past]. So, we’re hoping that we can get a bit more from him but he’s a really honest-working lad and I’m sure he’ll try and prove that tonight.
“Because Barry has done very little pre-season, he was with France in the under-21 tournament, he really just joined us when we came out [to the States]. So, we’re just trying to introduce him gently and bring him on. Once we get back home in the next week, we’ll try to see where he is.” – David Moyes on Beto and Thierno Barry, ahead of kick-off
Beto at least responded with his best showing of the summer, albeit still a goalless one. He was denied one strike by an offside, later seeing Charly Alcaraz (£5.5m) nick the ball off his toes with the goal at his mercy.
Iliman Ndiaye (£6.5m) had brought Everton level initially with a well-taken goal, with a comical Ayden Heaven (£4.0m) own-goal restoring parity for a second time.
James Tarkowski (£5.5m) made his first post-injury start and got through an hour, with Jake O’Brien (£5.0m) getting forward plenty from right-back. Twice, O’Brien should have scored from set pieces, hitting the post with one effort.
Tim Iroegbunam (£5.0m) interestingly played the most advanced central midfield role but that may have been just a bit of pre-season experimentation, with Dwight McNeil (£6.0m) to come back in.
Manchester United XI: Bayindir, Yoro (Maguire 57’), De Ligt (Fredricson 88’), Shaw (Heaven 57’), Amad, Ugarte (Casemiro 72’), Mainoo (Mount 57’), Dalot, Fernandes, Mbeumo (Chinazaekpere Dorgu (45’), Cunha (Hojlund 72’).
Everton XI: Pickford, O’Brien, Keane, Tarkowski (Onyango 61′), Garner, Gueye (McNeil 61′), Iroegbunam (Chermiti 84′), Mykolenko, Ndiaye (Armstrong 84′), Alcaraz (Aznou 61′), Beto (Barry 60′).
AUGSBURG 1-3 CRYSTAL PALACE
AUGSBURG 1-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
No splitting-the-first-team mind games from Oliver Glasner in Palace’s two friendlies against Augsburg on Friday: there was a clear first XI and a very obvious second string.
Glasner, in fact, copied his team selection from the FA Cup final in the opening match in Austria.
MATETA BRACE
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) was lively, notching his third and fourth goals of pre-season. Both came from set plays. The first was a beautifully executed free-kick move featuring a disguised pass from Eberechi Eze (£7.5m), the second a rebound from a Chris Richards (£4.5m) header.
Other goals could have come from Mateta, too. There was a one-on-one in which the striker shot (too) early, a header wide from an Eze cross and an off-target poke from a Tyrick Mitchell (£5.0m) delivery. Even for Eze’s goal, Mateta was clean through on goal initially before a tackle robbed him of a shooting chance.
While there are still players clearly getting up to speed – Daniel Munoz (£5.5m) being one – the Eagles at least have some kind of rhythm ahead of next weekend’s Community Shield.
Rarely troubled by Augsburg bar one early Dean Henderson (£5.0m) save, Palace’s clean sheet only went up in smoke thanks to a comical late penalty award for the Bundesliga side, the ball hitting Jefferson Lerma (£5.0m) on the thigh and not, as the referee thought, his hand.
“I’m very satisfied with the first game. It was a very, very good performance, creating lots of chances.
“They had chances and the penalty. Some legs were a bit tired. It was the first time that the team had played [the full] 90 minutes. We have had a few games, we’ve only been in training for 10 days or, like Chris Richards, one week. We had to be a bit considerate.
“But as I said, we had good chances, scored some nice goals. We were dangerous from set pieces and gave away very little defensively.” – Oliver Glasner
We won’t dwell too much on the second friendly, which was effectively a reserve match.
Eddie Nketiah (£5.5m) came off injured early, however, while there was no Borna Sosa (£4.5m) in either game. There are suggestions that the wing-back is training separately from the squad at present. Mitchell was also struggling in the first friendly but carried on until the 69th minute.
Crystal Palace XI for first game: Henderson, Richards (Lerma 69), Lacroix, Guéhi, Muñoz, Kamada, Wharton, Mitchell (Clyne 69), Sarr, Mateta, Eze.
Crystal Palace XI for second game:Â BenÃtez (Matthews, 64), Jemide, Browne, Rodney, Clyne (Ahamada, 71), Hughes, Lerma (Benamar, 71), Cardines, Devenny, Nketiah (Esse, 28), Edouard (Rak-Sakyi, 81).
