FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED from Wrexham's 3-1 win over Man United
Erik ten Hag wants to control everything, Jonny Evans must do more to get a longer contract and Wrexham are starting to draw a global audience… FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED from Man United’s 3-1 defeat
- Wrexham beat Manchester United 3-1 at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego
- Erik ten Hag attended even though none of United’s first-team stars featured
- The game was played in front of a capacity crowd, showing Wrexham’s appeal
Manchester United suffered their first pre-season defeat as a youthful side were beaten 3-1 by League Two side Wrexham.
Erik ten Hag’s team started sloppily and fell two goals behind in the first half as Elliot Lee and Aaron Hayden netted for Wrexham.
Teenager Marc Jurado pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, but United’s hopes of a comeback were dealt a major blow when captain Dan Gore was sent off just after the break.
Wrexham restored their two-goal cushion through Sam Dalby midway through the second half, and the Hollywood-owned club cruised to victory from there.
Mail Sport’s Chris Wheeler has picked out five things we learned from the latest match of United’s pre-season tour of the US.
Wrexham beat Man United 3-1 at a sold-out Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego
Bishop lucky to escape red card
United’s game against Wrexham in San Diego was a chance for the club’s youngsters to shine on the big stage, but goalkeeper Nathan Bishop was incredibly fortunate to stay on the pitch after he pole-axed striker Paul Mullin in the 12th minute.
Bishop rushed out of his goal when Mullin raced clear of Jonny Evans and made little attempt to get the ball as Wrexham’s No.10 nodded it past him.
There was a sickening collision as Bishop slammed into Mullin’s chest and he crumpled to the floor. The referee immediately reached for a yellow card, but it would surely have been a straight red if this was a competitive fixture. If the referee hadn’t spotted it, then VAR certainly would.
Maybe the mistake was on the referee’s mind when he sent off United captain Dan Gore early in the second half for a late challenge on Wrexham substitute Andy Cannon.
The referee realised the severity of Mullin’s condition and urgently called for medical attention. The Wrexham medics rushed onto the pitch to treat the club’s 47-goal top scorer last season, and were soon joined by their United counterparts as concern grew over Mullin and a medical cart drove onto the pitch.
There was light applause when the stretcher was loaded back onto the cart, and the noise increased as Mullin rose unsteadily to his feet. He was helped off the pitch flanked by two medics, grimacing as he breathed gas and air through a mask. Wrexham boss Phil Parkison later revealed Mullin had suffered a punctured lung.
There was a pantomime atmosphere after that as Bishop was loudly booed by Wrexham fans and locals every time he touched the ball, and the 23-year-old was replaced by Radek Vitek at half-time – even though some fans didn’t realise and continued to boo the Czech keeper.
Nathan Bishop was very lucky to avoid a straight red card for his challenge on Paul Mullin
Mullin suffered a punctured lung after Bishop’s heavy challenge early on in the first half
Ten Hag takes hands-on approach
Erik ten Hag is putting his players through their paces in pre-season and the United manager isn’t inclined to giving himself much of a break either.
It would have been easy for the Dutchman to leave members of the academy coaching staff to oversee a predominantly young team take on Wrexham in San Diego, but that’s not Ten Hag’s way. This is a man who likes to control every aspect of football affairs at United.
So when the first-team flew to Houston on Tuesday for the game against Real Madrid in the NRG Stadium on Wednesday night, Ten Hag stayed in San Diego to monitor the Wrexham game from the bench – although Travis Binnion, head of the academy’s player development and coaching, gave most of the orders from the touchline.
Ten Hag will fly on to Texas on Thursday to oversee his second game in 24 hours. He won’t have much chance to experience much of the place during his short stay. ‘I’ve never been to Houston, I only know it from the westerns!’ said Ten Hag at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Erik ten Hag attended the match despite none of United’s first-team being involved
Sell-out crowd shows Wrexham’s appeal
It’s a measure of how Wrexham’s profile has exploded, particularly on this side of the Atlantic, that a year after kicking off pre-season with a 5-2 win over Nantwich Town, Phil Parkinson’s side met Manchester United in front of a sold-out crowd of 34,248 at the Snapdragon Stadium. It followed last week’s friendly against Chelsea at the Kenan Memorial Stadium in North Carolina which drew a crowd of 50,596.
Of course the majority of the crowd were there to see the Premier League clubs in action, but the League Two newcomers are a big draw these days thanks to the ownership of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and the popular documentary Welcome to Wrexham.
There was a huge queue for Wrexham merchandise beforehand, even though their fans were outnumbered by United supporters.
Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham have been regularly attracting large crowds on their pre-season tour
Locals expected United first-team stars
This was never going to be the real Manchester United from the moment it was announced that the first-team would be playing a game in Houston 24 hours later.
It didn’t look like the real United either as the team on show at the Snapdragon Stadium wore the peculiar new green and white striped away kit – even more so because Wrexham played in United’s traditional red and white.
Under any other circumstances, losing to a League Two side would be a huge shock, but United’s young team fought back from two goals down and pulled one back but were sunk by Sam Dalby’s header after going down to 10 men.
Not all the local supporters seemed to be aware that it would be a weakened United team, though.
One young girl could be seen holding a placard that read. ‘Harry Maguire, can I have your shirt please?’ even though he was 1,500 miles away in Texas.
Locals wanted to see first-team stars like Harry Maguire (pictured), but they were never going to be involved in this match
Evans will need to do more to impress Ten Hag
The last time Jonny Evans was on tour with United in the US, it was the summer of 2015 and Louis van Gaal was in charge.
Evans was 27 then and about to depart his boyhood club for West Brom. The Northern Irishman has had an excellent career but he’s 35 now and looked a little slow in his second game for United since returning on a short-term contract.
The arrangement has allowed Evans to keep fit while he assesses his options. It has also provided United an extra defender while Tyrell Malacia and Rhys Bennett are injured, while giving the Under-21s the benefit of Evans’ experience.
There is a chance that he could earn a longer deal if he continues to impress in pre-season. However, Evans was well beaten by Ollie Palmer even before being left trailing by Paul Mullin in the incident that led to the Wrexham No.10 going off injured.
United struggled with Ben Tozer’s long throws which led to the second goal by Aaron Hayden, and by the end of the first half, Evans was so rattled that he headed a high ball out for a corner even though there was a Wrexham player within 30 yards of him.
Jonny Evans showed he is still lacking sharpness after signing a short-term deal with United
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