On the evening of July 15 (Hanoi time), Erik ten Hag and his team lost 0-1 when facing Rosenborg in the first friendly match, kicking off the 2024/25 season.
Man Utd suffered an embarrassing defeat thanks to Noah Holm’s goal in the 90+3 minute. The “Red Devils” were lucky when their opponent hit the woodwork three times, otherwise they would have suffered a heavier defeat in this match.
MU’s opponent, Rosenborg, is a little-known club in Norway. Rosenborg’s total squad value is only about 30 million euros. With home advantage and high spirits, the Norwegian team dominated the “Red Devils” for most of the time. They had 55% possession, had 22 shots (compared to 5 situations) of MU, so deserved to win this match.
MU was without most of its key players when facing Rosenborg. However, with coach Ten Hag starting Jonny Evans, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Mason Mount and Marcus Rashford , MU’s performance in the first half was worse than expected. The “Red Devils” did not have a single dangerous attack or shot on Rosenborg’s goal.
The central midfield duo, Casemiro and Mount, were out of place, preventing United from getting the ball up. United’s attacks in the first half mostly relied on Rashford’s individual dribbling efforts. United’s promising youngsters like Hannibal Mejbri, Ethan Williams and Athan Wheatley failed to make an impact in the first half.
In the second half, coach Ten Hag changed the entire starting lineup. All 11 players on the field for MU in the second half were young players and could not help the “Red Devils” improve the game.
The performance against Rosenborg will limit the chances of many young MU players playing in the next important friendlies. Meanwhile, Casemiro and Rashford have not shown that they are ready to start the new season.
Coach Ten Hag has four more friendly matches to assemble the squad, before meeting Man City in the 2024/25 English Super Cup. In the next match, the focus of the MU squad is the return of Jadon Sancho. New signing Joshua Zirkzee can integrate with his new teammates from the next match, against Rangers on July 20.
