Manchester United got their tour of the United States off to a winning start by beating West Ham United 2-1 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Bruno Fernandes scored twice with Jarrod Bowen replying for Graham Potter’s side as Ruben Amorim declared himself pleased at performances by Kobbie Mainoo, in a deeper midfield position, and striker Rasmus Hojlund.
New signing Matheus Cunha caught the eye, linking up particularly well with captain Fernandes, and Amorim has clearly been working his players hard in preparation for the new campaign.
The Athletic was in the ground to pick out five talking points.
Mbeumo missing as he steps up fitness
Mbeumo was left out of the squad entirely as he works his way to match fitness having not trained on the pitch with Brentford while his move to United was being negotiated.
The 25-year-old forward was in the gym during the week that led to his arrival at Old Trafford, but stayed away from intense sessions, and staff believe he needs to up his sharpness. Amorim said he will also miss the Bournemouth game in Chicago on Wednesday, as he is effectively a fortnight behind most of United’s squad given their first day back was on July 7, a week before Brentford. The friendly against Everton in Atlanta is a target. “We hope to have Bryan in the last game,” Amorim said.
Mbeumo, along with the other players in the travelling party who did not feature, took part in a full training session on the MetLife Stadium pitch after the game. Amorim had to be quick with his post-match press conference to get back out to oversee the drills.
He had done a pre-match interview with host broadcasters NBC and spoke to them at half-time, as part of new coverage this season — this friendly being part of the Premier League Summer Series.
Amorim said he would play his starting XI for 70 minutes to build their fitness then change the whole team. NBC cameras were briefly allowed into the dressing room for the first time in another example of what will come when the competitive action starts.
Physical and on front foot
Amorim made big play of United’s physicality being an issue last season, but they were sharp and strong against West Ham.
They started fast, creating a sequence of chances and going ahead inside 10 minutes when Fernandes converted a penalty won by Ayden Heaven, who was brought down by Alphonse Areola after the West Ham goalkeeper had flapped at a free-kick.
The more eye-catching moments came in open play though. Hojlund showed a reminder of his acceleration to reach a ball ahead of Maximilian Kilman despite setting off behind him, and he then outmuscled the defender to get a shot away that clipped the post. It was strikingly similar to Hojlund’s goal on the same patch of grass in this stadium two years against Arsenal, when Heaven was the defender.
Patrick Dorgu had the beating of Jean-Clair Todibo, twice beating him for speed to win free-kicks.
Manuel Ugarte looked more athletic than he did last season, seizing on loose balls and bustling through crowds in midfield. On one such occasion he teed up Amad, who put the ball in the net but the offside flag was raised.
On Ugarte’s status after a modest first season, Amorim said: “First thing is adaptation to a new team, a new country. Sometimes we just look inside the pitch, off the pitch you have some troubles sometimes. He’s more adapted. Then I think he needs more confidence. That is also my job.”
In the second half, Fernandes pounced on Kilman to stride clear, but his low shot was saved by Areola. Then Mainoo, playing deeper, showed excellent anticipation and drive to intercept Areola’s pass and slide to Fernandes, who curled in United’s second beautifully.
Cunha thriving already
Amorim spoke warmly of Matheus Cunha before the game. “He is a great player and he can play in different positions, he is really loud in the dressing room,” said Amorim. “He is Brazilian. I love that from him.”
Cunha had 24 hours earlier insisted he will revel in the United spotlight. “The pressure of this club is not really pressure, it’s a privilege, because this is one of the biggest clubs in the world,” he said. “When Ruben comes to me and shows all the pressure to put the club in perfect times again, I feel it’s a challenge I want to do for my career.”
Cunha translated that positivity onto the pitch, enjoying himself with a flourish of the kind of actions that convinced United to pay £62.5million for him.
Early on, Cunha won possession off Bowen and burst forward, giving the ball to Fernandes, who set up Hojlund. He slipped a nice pass to Dorgu in the final third, and bullied his way onto the ball around the box to give Hojlund a good chance that he hit over.
Cunha seems to have established a good understanding with Fernandes already, with the pair exchanging a series of pass and flicks. They were playing the two No 10 roles, an interesting aspect given it meant Mainoo was mainly in a No 6 position — a day after Amorim had said he does his best work higher up the pitch.
More pitch issues at MetLife
The 2024-25 season ended only two weeks ago at MetLife stadium when Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain to win the Club World Cup. Two of the major plotlines surrounding the Club World Cup related to the quality of the playing fields and the attendances in American stadiums.
During the Club World Cup, the MetLife Stadium received substantial criticism for the quality of the field. Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said the pitch laid out by FIFA was so short it could be a putting green, while Chelsea captain Reece James said the turf during the tournament was not the best for “joints and muscles”, with grass often laid over turf. Several coaches and players highlighted the dryness of the field at MetLife and the need for better watering of the pitch.
For the Premier League Summer Series, a new field was laid down after FIFA took out their pitch at the end of the Club World Cup, but the venue that will host next year’s World Cup final still received underwhelming appraisals by the coaches.
Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola, whose team beat Everton 3-0, said: “The pitch is probably something we have to discuss. The stadium is amazing. But the grass is over the turf and the bounce is not the same. You have to adapt because it’s not the same as a (conventional) grass stadium where the ball goes more quickly. I don’t know if they will change everything or keep it like this. It changes the conditions a little bit.”
Moyes added: “It’s not the Premier League. It’s American grass. You come here and you get used to it. The ball was a bit slow. The turf is different to what most clubs would have back in the Premier League.”
Two games were played back-to-back with United and West Ham playing the second game. Amorim said: “It was OK. It can be better. Everybody is talking about that, even for the World Cup. The pitch is really important to have really good games. I know they are going to improve in the future. My concern is more with injuries. If you cannot play (the pitch) well, it’s OK but injuries is my concern.”
Fans flock for United
When United previously visited MetLife in 2023, a capacity crowd of 82,262 filled the venue for their victory over Arsenal. This time, however, their opponents were less illustrious by name, although all three teams did finish higher than United in the Premier League table last season.
The Premier League did not announce an attendance but officials indicated that they sold close to 50,000 tickets in the 82,500 stadium for the double header — the two games kicking off at 4pm and 7pm local time.
While a dynamic ticket pricing was in place, the tickets did not tumble down to the kind of prices FIFA reached during the latter stages of the Club World Cup, when the organisation sold tickets for Fluminense against Chelsea for $13.40. The average attendance for 63 matches during the Club World Cup was 39,557.
The next double-header on Wednesday at Soldier Field in Chicago is available for $60.60 while the final round of the series at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has a cheapest price of $55.90.
The organisers have placed the Manchester United game as the second fixture in all three venues. While the stadium was sparsely populated for the early parts of the Bournemouth win over Everton, it filled up with largely United red.
(Top photo: Fernandes celebrates with Cunha. Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
