Pre-season tour

United’s initial squad for the pre-season tour flies to South Africa in the morning. Three matches will be played before United return to England and welcome back players from the Euros. They will then continue the tour with an updated squad, starting in Oslo. Last season’s tour saw the beginning of a new-look United that poured into the start of the season, including the emergence of Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck as real first team players. What can we expect from this year’s tour?

Fixtures

Wed 18^th July vs AmaZuluFC                    

Sat 21^st July vs Ajax Cape Town                             

Wed 25^th July vs Shanghai Shenhua   

                     

Fixtures for part II

Sun 5^th August vs Vaelerenga 

Wed 8^th August vs Barcelona    

Sat 11^th August vs Hanover 96                    

Initial Squad

Lindegaard, Amos, Johnstone, Ferdinand, Veseli, Vermijl, Wootton, Blackett; Valencia, Anderson, Carrick, Scholes, Powell, Kagawa, Bebe, Tunnicliffe, Lingard, Brady, Petrucci; Berbatov, Chicharito, Macheda.

Expectations

Young Players

We can expect to see the blooding of youngsters on the tour which will provide them with valuable experience. Davide Petrucci in midfield and Tylor Blackett at left-back are two exciting prospects to look out for.

New First Team Players

In addition to the new purchases of Powell and Kagawa, there may be one or two reserve players who make the step up to the first team this year. One of those may be the tough-tackling midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe. Look out for how he progresses alongside the experience and nouse of Scholes and Carrick.

Make or break

This is a big season for several players. Anderson must stay injury-free, Chicharito needs to build on his first two seasons and Macheda needs to show potential. And maybe Bebe can finally show why we bought him? Ok maybe not. But for these players it is essential they have a good pre-season in order to make their mark in 2012/2013.

Positioning

Baring in mind the lack of depth in defence, we can expect Valencia to appear at right-back. This may indeed become a more regular position for the Ecuadorian if he struggles to make a mark in a more fluid attacking system. After the first three games when we can expect lots of changes to the squad, we can also then look to what Sir Alex’s preferred style of play might be for this season.

Absentees

It is worth noting the absentees from the squad. Players selected for the Olympics aren’t included, and players selected for the Euros (bar Lindegaard) don’t begin their pre-season until 26^th July. Below are some possible explanations for the other absentees:

Chris Smalling-Injury

Nemanja Vidic-Recovery from injury

Jonny Evans-Possible operation

Larnell Cole-Possible loan

Joshua King-Possible loan


Follow @nickcoppack and @gem7thompson on Twitter for regular updates of the tour, and @ithinkunited for regular opinion.