Bruno Fornaroli – For a couple of seasons the Uruguayan was the most dangerous player in the A-League. A strong squat centre-forward with a low centre of gravity and an eye for goal El Tuna (the prickly pear) was frozen out of Melbourne City last season by former United staffer Warren Joyce. Fornaroli has been cooling his jets for a number of months and will be eager to remind the world of his talents.
Exiles – Glory’s squad contains a number of players with English football experience and in Neil Kilkenny a man who knows what it feels like to beat Man Utd from his time at Leeds. Shane Lowry was a United fan growing up while Jake Brimmer was on the books at Liverpool.
Kids – Perth’s starting XI is full of senior bodies but the bench is an eye to the future. Tony Popovic has a reputation for being reluctant to blood younger players so it will be instructive who he trusts to appear tonight.
Popa – Speaking of the coach it would be no surprise to see arguably the brightest managerial prospect in the Australian game handed a profile-raising appointment in the near future. A Socceroos coach in waiting Popovic has already attracted the attention of former club Crystal Palace and a good showing tonight would do his reputation no harm at all.
Optus Stadium – Australia has an abundance of state of the art multi-purpose arenas and this 60,000 seat belter in Perth is one of them. Home of Western Australia’s Ashes Test, Australian Rules football and the recent A-League grand final, United will be delighted with the facility after suffering some uneven surfaces on previous overseas adventures.
Five things to look out for – Man Utd:
New signings – Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James are not the galactico recruits United fans have become accustomed to but that may be no bad thing. The Glazer family’s failure to appoint an empowered director of football with long-term ownership of squad development has led to a succession of missteps since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. Wan-Bissaka and James point to Solksjaer putting the club’s longer-term interests beyond his own immediate ambitions.
Pogba – United’s record signing may yet be the transfer saga of the summer but while he remains at the club, and among the tour party, he’ll be expected to put in a shift. Whether he does or not, and how he’s received by coaches and teammates along the way, will be closely scrutinised.
Kids – Tahith Chong, Mason Greenwood, James Garner and Angel Gomes have all been tipped for the top for some time. Their chances of regular game time increased with the dismissal of Jose Mourinho and matches like tonight’s offer the chance to catch Solksjaer’s eye.
Solskjaer – Caretaker Ole was straight out of a Roy of the Rovers cartoon strip but once he was awarded the gig full-time the magic soon wore off. At the start of his first preseason at the helm it will be fascinating to chart his progress. Will he look to make any big statements from the outset? How will he handle Pogba and Lukaku? Are there any tactical tweaks to identify?
Intent – This is the first of five preseason fixtures for United and arrives following a week of heavy training and a near 24-hour flight. Consequently they could be forgiven for taking things easy, but after finishing last season so disappointingly nobody will want to risk a rot setting in.
Tony Popovic is not going to die wondering. His starting XI is as mature as you could expect for this stage of preseason featuring nine regulars from the recent A-League premiership campaign as well as new signings Jacob Tratt and, most notably, Bruno Fornaroli. The bench is packed with kids, and we’re sure to see them at some point during the night, possibly even the coach’s sons, Kristian and Gabriel.
The headline news is no Lukaku, while Pogba starts on the bench. According to United Lukaku is carrying a knock and is expected to appear against Leeds on Wednesday.
There are starts for the returning Axel Tuanzebe, new signing Daniel James and promising youngster Tahith Chong.
Hello and welcome to a special preseason minute-by-minute to keep an eye on the action from the opening match of Manchester United’s preseason tour. Preparations for the new campaign begin against A-League outfit Perth Glory with kick-off at Optus Stadium around 7pm local time (9pm on Australia’s east coast or noon in the UK).
Not for the first time in recent years United are enduring a turbulent preseason. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s first transfer window in the hot seat has already seen fevered speculation over the future of record signing Paul Pogba, question marks over whether Romelu Lukaku will begin the season at Old Trafford, and renewed supporter discontent with the club’s ownership. All of this unrest is magnified by a trophy cabinet that went unfurnished last season while fierce rivals Manchester City and Liverpool went from strength to strength.
In better news a couple of new faces have arrived to brighten the place up. Aaron Wan-Bissaka didn’t come cheap but should provide the dynamic right-back United have lacked since Antonio Valencia decided he no longer fancied getting to the byline while Daniel James offers searing pace. Both are expected to feature tonight along with a smattering of the club’s most promising youngsters as Solskjær remodels his inheritance.
There’s a while until kick-off so if you want to get in touch with any pre-match thoughts feel free to drop me an email or send a tweet to @JPHowcroft. You can try your luck during the 90 minutes as well but best to stick to Twitter once we’re underway.