Manchester Derby in America: Lukaku affirms, Pep worries more

The Manchester derby in the US brought good news for Jose Mourinho and his team, not only in terms of the score, but also in many holes that need to be patched for Pep Guardiola.

Compared to Man City, Jose Mourinho and his team have better conditions to prepare and assemble the squad with two matches against LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. Moreover, Man Utd also has to prepare for the match against Real Madrid, not only in ICC 2017 but more importantly in the European Super Cup before the season takes place. So it is understandable that Jose Mourinho put on the field a squad that is quite strong compared to the opponent.

Positive signs came to Man Utd after winning the Manchester derby at ICC 2017.

In addition to two new players Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku, Mourinho fielded a series of names that regularly played last season such as De Gea, Pogba, Valencia,... Meanwhile, Man City fielded a starting force with three young names including Tosin Adarabioyo, Phil Foden, Patrick Roberts and two new players Ederson and Walker.

Good news from Lukaku

It can be seen that this is a rehearsal of Jose Mourinho when he put on the field almost the best force. Mourinho's purpose in this match is to help the players find a connection with each other, at the same time help the new recruits integrate as quickly as possible, especially the expensive contract Romelu Lukaku.

Thanks to the two previous friendlies, Mourinho had some experience. Therefore, he considered Man City as a high-dose test to test the current squad's level before entering the season. Many people commented that if Smalling was replaced by Eric Bailly in the starting lineup, Mourinho could immediately bring this squad to compete in the Premier League.

And the response from his players to Jose Mourinho was positive. Man Utd won 2-0 on the day the name that received the most attention, Romelu Lukaku, left a strong impression. A run to cut in front of Kompany, a delicate touch to get the goalkeeper Ederson out, a shot from a tight angle that sent the ball flying just past the post and into the net. Lukaku showed that his goal-scoring instinct has not been lost despite changing colors and the £75 million tag.

Scoring in the Manchester derby, even though it was just a friendly, helped Romelu Lukaku relieve a lot of pressure.

"Lukaku's problem is that he has to overcome the pressure of the transfer value" - Gary Neville commented like that before many concerns whether the Belgian striker would drown at Old Trafford. Now Lukaku is partly proving that he is brave enough to step into a new chapter, a higher step in his career. Lukaku's celebration reminds people of his first statements at Old Trafford: "When I was at Chelsea, Mourinho looked down on me and embarrassed me, now I will embarrass him with my performance in a Man Utd shirt".

Mourinho is trying to piece together the attacking trio of Lukaku - Rashford - Pogba as smoothly as possible. With Lukaku attracting the opponent, Rashford will have more space to make his signature sprints. This trio was kept on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. Lukaku's goal was thanks to an assist from Paul Pogba and Rashford's goal was also a quick sneak when Man City's defense paid too much attention to Lukaku.

Pep has a lot of work to do

This summer, Man City spent more than £100 million to welcome Ederson, Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva. In the match against Man Utd, Pep Guardiola let the two new players Ederson and Walker play the full 90 minutes to evaluate. Overall, the performance of both new contracts did not meet Pep's expectations. Ederson has not shown superiority compared to Claudio Bravo, or even Joe Hart. Walker has only done well in defense, but in terms of supporting the attack, the English midfielder has not left much of an impression.

The second thing worth discussing is that Man City need another central defender. Vincent Kompany is undoubtedly a class act, but he is 31 years old and will have difficulty keeping up with the ball situation in the Premier League environment as before. The situation where Kompany let Lukaku accelerate past him said it all.

Pep Guardiola has a lot of work to do after the Manchester derby in the US.

Meanwhile, the remaining center-back, John Stones, continued to make mistakes as often as before. When he came on in the second half, it was John Stones who made the mistake that allowed Lukaku to curl a shot right in front of the penalty area. If the ball had not found the right post, Man City would have lost the third goal.

After all, this is only the first time the whole Man City team has come together after the summer break. Moreover, Pep Guardiola admitted that he will bring 3-4 more new players to Etihad this summer, so surely in the coming time, the appearance of Man City will be completely different.

According to bongda24h