Manchester United began their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in front of 20,000 supporters in Helsinki on Saturday. Andrey Santos made his first appearance for the club, impressing in midfield, but five players were rated 5/10 in a performance that lacked sharpness.
First Half Performance
United's first half was largely uneventful until a defensive lapse allowed Wrexham to score. George Thomason ran unchecked into the box, and Sam Smith had the freedom of the six-yard area to turn the cross home. Manager Michael Carrick made 11 changes at halftime, bringing on a youthful side.
Player Ratings: First Half
Tom Heaton (6/10): Felt he was fouled early on when he lost the ball. Made a good save from Smith before an offside flag, but had a quiet game overall.
Leny Yoro (6/10): Showed a good run down the right after a combination with Mount, but was turned by Thomason and not great defensively.
Harry Maguire (7/10): Received the biggest reception when on the ball. Solid enough at the back, though the cross for the goal went through his legs.
Ayden Heaven (6/10): Made a great recovery tackle on Cadamarteri after being dispossessed in a dangerous area, but shouldn't have lost the ball initially.
Luke Shaw (5/10): Made the wrong decision for the goal, leaving Smith to follow a runner in the middle. Not his most convincing 45 minutes.
Andrey Santos (7/10): Certainly not faultless, but combative and spiky. Worked hard to get on the ball and tried to find forward passes.
Mason Mount (5/10): Caught on the ball a couple of times, passing radar was off, and lost Thomason in the build-up to the goal. A day to forget.
Bryan Mbeumo (5/10): Left a pass short for Fletcher and just couldn't get into the game at all.
Jack Fletcher (6/10): Played in the No.10 role and pressed well to win the ball on a couple of occasions, but often failed to make it stick.
Patrick Dorgu (5/10): Only got on the ball in the middle with United's left-hand side non-existent. A quiet 45 minutes.
Joshua Zirkzee (5/10): Casual as usual. One snapshot that went wide but didn't give enough of an out ball and not a performance to convince.
Second Half Performance
The second half saw United field a much younger side, with Tyler Fletcher taking the captain's armband. The team struggled to create clear chances against a more experienced Wrexham side.
Player Ratings: Second Half
Radek Vitek (6/10): Saved with his feet from Keillor-Dunn after Wrexham found space in behind the United defence.
Jaydan Kamason (6/10): Picked up a yellow card after a heavy touch from a Lacey pass saw him go clattering into George Dobson.
Dan Armer (6/10): Couple of nice passes out from defence and looked happy to engage with the giant Kieffer Moore, but was relatively untested.
Jacob Devaney (6/10): Played the unusual position of centre-back and was giving away plenty in height to Moore, but showed intelligence to handle him. Sucked up the pitch on one occasion.
Harry Amass (7/10): Linked up with Williams down the left but went sliding into one challenge to try and beat Barnett to the ball, only to see it whipped away. Made one strong tackle just after that.
Tyler Fletcher (7/10): Wanted to get on the ball as often as he could. Didn't drop as deep as Santos but dictated the tempo in a similar way. Captain for the second half.
Dan Gore (7/10): Tiger-ish in his duels as he tries to build on an excellent loan at Rotherham and used the ball nicely enough. One driving run down the inside-right channel.
Shea Lacey (6/10): Didn't see a lot of the ball, one excellent touch to control a pass out to him. Would have liked the chance to get at his man more often.
Toby Collyer (6/10): Played in the advanced role but struggled to make an impact against experienced opponents.
Ethan Williams (6/10): One clever pass back to Amass as he took the challenge but found the right pass. No real opportunities to run at his man.
Ethan Wheatley (6/10): Worked hard but just didn't have any real service and lacked the experience to find a way around Conor Coady.
