The United Devils

After a disappointing draw but not a bad performance at the Molineux Stadium, Manchester United will host Crystal Palace in their third game of the season on Saturday. Here's all you need to know:
Teams: Manchester United vs Crystal Palace Date: Saturday 24th August 2019 KO Time: 15:00 GMT Managers: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Roy Hodgeson Referee: Paul Tierney
Team News: Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah remain sidelined and now Diogo Dalot joins them but the young Portugal international will only be out until after next month's international break.  As for Palace, regular defenders James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho remain out with long term injuries for the Eagles which means that Martin Kelly and Scott Dann should remain as the starting centre backs unless Gay Cahill is passed fit for his debut. 
Interesting Facts: Crystal Palace are yet to beat Manchester United in the Premier League after trying and failing 20 times (L16 D4) and have not scored at Old Trafford since Mason Greenwood…

Photo Credit: The Daily Mirror
After the disappointing draw at Molineux it was imperative that United got back to winning ways at home to a team that hadn't beaten them for 28 years. Perhaps surprisingly Solskjaer named an unchanged line-up, especially when you consider Lingard's non-performance against Wolves, along with the host of young attacking players chomping at the bit for a slice of first-team action.

Their was heightened focus on Paul Pogba after the horrific abuse aimed at him on social media so it was great to hear the reception from the Old Trafford faithful when his name was read out. Wan-Bissaka would also be under scrutiny after his £50 million move from the Eagles this summer.

When you look at Palace's attacking options, outside of Zaha it's a veritable who's who of underwhelming, non-prolific strikers, so to concede two goals to them at home is bordering on criminal.

United started really well, keeping possession and probing a nervy looking Palace bac…

I stopped watching the game in the 84th minute and started writing this article. A few moments later, I heard some noise only to check and Daniel James had equalised for us, unfortunately Palace scored almost immediately afterwards to drown any hope United had of a win. We had a very low intensity game and our lack of creativity is screaming in our faces not to mention another penalty miss. 
Here are the player ratings from the game.
De Gea  4 Was pretty much untested through out the game. Made some great one on one saves and had very little to do about the first goal we conceded. Yeah, we just conceded another goal. Absolute shambles. De Gea definitely at fault here. Reason his rating is as low as it is.
Wan Bissaka 6 His side was avoided by Crystal Palace and he had some great additions to the attack. Just not good enough for today.
Lindelof 4 Was at fault for the first goal we conceded,. But was pretty much untested for the rest of the game.
Harry Maguire 6 Added some calmness into ou…

The feel good factor bubble around Manchester United this season was burst as soon as game week three, as Crystal Palace spoiled United's return to Old Trafford on Saturday. After filling the fans with optimism by accumulating four points from the first two challenging fixtures, the one that was supposed to be 'easy' proved to be the first hurdle. United looked toothless going forward for most of the game, and the defensive errors from previous years came back to haunt them once again in a 1-2 loss.

Here is what we learned from the game:

United lacking the creative spark

We all knew that United needed to bring in a midfielder during the summer transfer window, not only because they lost Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini, but also because it was clear as day last season that the team lacked that "it" factor in the creation department. With Juan Mata getting older, and Angel Gomes being on the brink of the first team, but perhaps not quite ready for regular football…

This Friday United U23’s welcome West Ham u23’s to Old Trafford. It is free entry to supporters and United will be hoping for a big turnout for their exciting youngsters. It is another opportunity for some of these players to show what they’re about and prove they deserve to play at Old Trafford on a regular basis, while West Ham’ players should also be up for this knowing they are getting a chance to play at Old Trafford which not many youngsters get to do.
It’s been a great start to the season and a great start under the new management of Neil Wood and Quinton Fortune. It’s been 3 wins out of 3 with a total of 11 goals scored and none conceded so far with the last game, seeing United comfortable 4-0 winners away to Newcastle at St James Park. This game also showed why Tahith Chong and James Garner are well thought of at Old Trafford, with Chong getting off the mark this season and grabbing two goals and Garner continuing his goal-scoring form by grabbing one and making it 4 in 3 game…

Following the end of the summer transfer window, we can now analyse the squad we have left, and it is easy to see that we have huge problems in our midfield.

Following the January departure of Fellaini and the summer departure of Ander Herrera, we have been left thin on the ground in terms of midfield reinforcements. Both the positions of attacking midfield and defensive midfield are lacking depth and good options for Solskjaer to use. These is leaving the team with a lack of creativity and defensive solidity in midfield.

The current options for Solskjaer in the centre of the park are Pogba, Scott McTominay Fred and Matic. These options show a real lack of strength in depth and quality. Pogba is clearly the best of these midfielders but even he is inconsistent and needs other members of the midfield to help him out. Even with Pogba's quality, we need more from him as on his day he can control the game on his own. Another useful player is Scott McTominay, he might not be technical…

Manchester United’s U23 side gained more valuable experience on Friday night as they came up against French side Paris Saint-Germain in the Premier League International cup. The Red Devils came out comfortable winners, beating the French side 3-0 in what was a very cold and frosty night at the Leigh Sports Village.
This victory has meant Ricky Sbragia’s side have booked a place in the knockout stages of the Premier League International Cup and for the 1,019 fans that were there it increases the level of anticipation for what is to come when the two teams meet at competitive senior level for the first-time next month.
When the team sheets were made available on Friday night there was a notable surprise inclusion in the form of Scott McTominay, a player who had just signed a new long-term contract a couple of days beforehand. It would have been expected that he would be 200-miles away in London with the first team squad preparing for the FA Cup against Arsenal, but obviously first team …

It seems that every transfer window since 2015, James Rodriguez has been linked with a move to Manchester United after the rises of Isco and Asensio have pushed the Colombian away from the starting XI. In a search for consistent first team football, he sealed a two-year loan deal to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2017 and gave Munich the option to purchase him from Los Blancos for a fee of around £36m. However, Rodriguez requested for Bayern not to exercise this clause and has returned to Real Madrid, seeking other options. While reports indicate PSG, Napoli and Chinese clubs are all interested in the World Cup 2014 Golden Boot winner, Manchester United may reignite their long-term interest in the Colombian in their aim to rebuild the squad after such an awful season. Here's all you need to know about Rodriguez:

Fact File: Name: James Rodriguez DOB: 12/07/1991 (27 years old) Nationality: Colombian Current Club: Real Madrid
Stats in all competitions (from transfermarkt.co.uk): Porto: 2010…

Manchester United were left with a sour taste in their mouth as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after a quite dominant display away at Wolves on Monday night. 
Despite coming away with a point from a ground in which United faced many problems over the last year, the result felt much like a defeat for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men who put in another solid performance, particularly in the first half, and were a Paul Pogba spot kick away from securing all three points at the Molineux. 
There were a lot of questions about how United will approach this game. Will the Reds sit back and hit Wolves on the counter, or will the team utilise the effective high press in order to retain the ball and take control of the game? 
For the best part of the 90 minutes, it was the latter. United looked very comfortable for most of the game, enjoying a lot of the possession and creating some promising half chances. In minute 26, the best chance of the first half was buried by United’s new (old) No.…

Manchester United are set to take on Leeds United in their second preparation fixture tomorrow in what could become a pre-season grudge match between two old rivals. 
United got their tour off to a successful start on Saturday after a solid 2-0 victory against Perth Glory with the goals coming from Marcus Rashford and James Garner. The Red Devils put themselves through their paces, showing off their already impressive fitness levels in the tour opener. 
Leeds have just arrived in Australia for a double header against United and Western Sydney Wanderers. Their head coach, Marcelo Bielsa, elected to take half of his squad to Australia and leave the other half behind in England for extra fitness training. The Whites have already got two pre-season games under their belt, albeit against low-level opposition, meaning they could prove a good test to a United side that is still largely out of rhythm. 
Teams: Manchester United vs Leeds United  KO: 17th July 2019 12:00pm GMT Location: Optus Stadium…