As the arch winner Jose Mourinho will be disappointed with this
defeat, though a game played in stifling heat was never really about the
result.
The Manchester United
manager said beforehand the priority was for his new team to start the
process of gelling, with zero focus on the opposition. This opening
International Champions Cup game was, in part therefore, an exercise in
searching for clues regarding the Portuguese’s thinking.
Was there anything, then, in Antonio Valencia being asked to captain
the side? Or Juan Mata being positioned at No10 and Henrikh Mkhitaryan,
who was in that role against Wigan Athletic, being on the left? Or Daley
Blind, a centre-back for most of last term, playing in midfield? Maybe,
maybe not: to guess would be akin to tea-leaf reading at this nascent
stage of Mourinho’s tenure.
What is clear is the quality Mkhitaryan possesses. It was displayed on Saturday at Wigan and the way the 27-year-old pinged one early pass down his corridor showed again why Mourinho bought him.
This bright start was halted when Thomas Tuchel’s side went ahead.
Sam Johnstone, the goalkeeper, might have done better with the
speculative 30-yard free-kick hit by Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Instead
it was spilled, Ousmane Dembélé hit one follow-up attempt beat out by
the goalkeeper from close in but, when the ball finally fell to Gonzalo
Castro, he finished.
From here the contest meandered for a while on a Shanghai night
becoming ever more sultry. Mourinho had pointed out that Dortmund were
well advanced of United in their preparations, having played four
matches already, and it showed. Tuchel’s men were sharper and stronger
and by the 35th-minute were 2-0 ahead.
As United’s manager said: “At the moment the engines are completely
different. Formula 1 against Formula 3. they are much sharper and you
can see that easily, so it’s difficult to judge my players.”
United were breached down their left and when a cross came in
Aubameyang’s overhead kick was mishit, Valencia handled and the referee,
Wang Di, awarded the penalty. Aubameyang slotted easily past Johnstone,
who went right and saw the ball go past him down the middle.
Aubameyang was running United ragged whenever the ball came near him.
He slipped beyond Phil Jones and chipped Johnstone but the keeper
recovered and made the save. By the end of the half Mourinho had
switched Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard but the Portuguese, standing in
the technical box, was witnessing a mismatch.
“After 10 minutes we know that one team started training 10 days ago
and played one match, and the other team started one month ago and
played already four games,” he said. “It’s so easy to see the difference
of intensity and sharpness. For us it was very difficult.”
For
the second half off went Jones, Lingard, Johnstone and Memphis Depay
while Sergio Romero became the new keeper, and he was joined by Marcos
Rojo, Ashley Young, and Marcus Rashford. The latter’s introduction
received a cheer from the crowd and the young forward was instantly
involved in a United move, turning the ball into Luke Shaw’s path. The
left-back was clear and had Young for support but he overran possession
and the danger fizzled out.
Rojo’s first act before his new manager was hardly impressive, as he was fooled by Dembélé before the Dortmund No7 made it 3-0.
United’s shape had become fluid; Rashford and Mkhitaryan switching at
times between the left forward and No9 berths. It was from through the
middle the Armenia captain pulled one back, tapping home a Mata pass
after lurking near the penalty spot.
By the close Adnan Januzaj and Andreas Pereira were on for Valencia
and Blind. Januzaj sparkled here and there but, as Castro added his
second and Dortmund’s fourth towards the end, the Belgian’s intermittent
threat could be viewed as the United display in microcosm.
Mourinho continues to target Paul Pogba
or another midfielder to complete the four major signings he wants.
“When we sign one that crucial [player] work will be done,” the
53-year-old said. “Then the market will be open until 31 August.
Sometimes things happen that you are not expecting and we have to
react.”
theguardian
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