TOTTENHAM vs MANCHESTER UNITED
- Romelu Lukaku misses fourth pre-season fixture amid transfer speculation
- Manchester United recorded three wins out of three in Australia and Singapore
- Tottenham got their pre-season campaign off to great start with a 3-2 win over Juventus
- Harry Kane and Paul Pogba set to start with 16 days until Premier League opener
Manchester United XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Smalling, Rojo, Young, McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Pogba, Greenwood, James, Martial
Tottenham XI: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Tanganga, Vertonghen, Georgiou, Winks, Sissoko, Ndombele, Dele, Parrott, Kane.
MUTV
12:15: Anyone watching the coverage on MUTV? Agony. It’s absolute agony.
They’ve done one of those ‘out and about’ pieces where a reporter seeks to find a large group of Manchester United fans in the middle of Shanghai.
He did. But we all wish he didn’t.
The reporter shoves a microphone to one bloke and asks them all to sing a song. It ended up with a gentleman signing by himself for a good three minutes. Painful.
One Twitter user provided an insightful analogy, he wrote: “MUTV makes me want to drink a pint of battery acid.”
Fan reaction
12:10: I’ll be interested to see what kind of reaction Paul Pogba gets today.
Pogba admitted over the summer that he was open to “a new challenge somewhere else” – an admission compounded by his outspoken agent Mino Raiola’s public statements.
But the World Cup winner has knuckled down and impressed during United’s tour of Australia and Asia, with Solskjaer certain United fans will turn on him.
“No (concerns about the reaction),” Solskjaer said next to a nodding Scott McTominay. “I think our fans know what Paul has given the club and what he can give us.”
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No stick please
12:05: Mauricio Pochettino believes he cops unwarranted flak when Tottenham signings do not work out.
“I think when you say I am very successful with signings, I think it’s not true,” he said. “Always the club sign players, not Mauricio.
“Of course, in that structure sometimes you have more important parts in your opinion or the club take more important percentage than your opinion and sometimes no.
“That is why I think that when successful when someone signs for the club we share in between all, but when the player fails always it’s accuse the manager. I am responsible.”
So… who’s getting the blame for Vincent Janssen?
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Team News
12:00: Manchester United make six changes to their starting line up for their International Champions Cup match against Tottenham in Shanghai.
David De Gea returned in goal with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial also back for Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side.
Harry Kane was named in the starting line-up for Spurs with Moussa Sissoko and Troy Parrott also coming into the side.
Paulo Gazzaniga starts between the sticks with Hugo Lloris back in London recovering from tonsillitis. I’m sure that 15 hour flight would have helped with that.
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好姿態
11:55: Manchester United have printed the names of their players in Chinese on the back of the shirts today. Not sure that’s worthy of a mention in this blog but It gave me a chance to use Google translate to dust off my Cantonese.
好姿態 means nice gesture… I think!
Where’s Lukaku?
11:45: I think we all know the answer to that question.
Romelu Lukaku is wanted by Inter Milan and has not featured in any of Manchester United’s pre-season fixtures.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, quite pointlessly, still insists the Belgian international sustained an ankle injury during training.
What do you think, he’s off right?
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Twitter reaction
Tosin: Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes MUST join this team before August 8. Fact.
McCarthy: Why wouldn’t you start with your best players against Tottenham? That is a shocking line-up.
Ruff: Troy Parrott starting against Manchester United. That’s two pre-season games in a row, the first being against Juventus. Would be amazing if Mauricio Pochettino had him as Harry Kane’s back up this season.
Whoops…
11:35: Don’t ask me why the top picture is Paul Pogba and Gareth Bale.
Something must have gone wrong in the system because it couldn’t possibly be a mistake that I’ve made after a nine-day stint…
#THFC: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Tanganga, Vertonghen, Georgiou, Winks, Sissoko, Ndombele, Dele, Parrott, Kane (C)#SpursTour2019 ⚪️ #ICC2019 pic.twitter.com/wR2Mk12WEe
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 25, 2019
Tottenham XI
11:30: Spurs adhering to standard Premier League protocol of announcing their side exactly one hour before kick off. I like your style, lads.
£65million summer signing Tanguy Ndombele makes his first start for the club. Harry Kane also leads the line.
Spurs XI: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Tanganga, Vertonghen, Georgiou, Winks, Sissoko, Ndombele, Dele, Parrott, Kane.
Manchester United XI
11:27: Manchester United have made six changes to the side who beat Inter Milan on Saturday. Headline snippets are that Mason Greenwood and Paul Pogba start.
Manchester United XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Smalling, Rojo, Young, McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Pogba, Greenwood, James, Martial.
Subs: Pereira, Romero, Bailly, Dalot, Lindelof, Shaw, Tuanzebe, Fred, Garner, Gomes, Lingard, Mata, Matic, Chong, Rashford.
������ Today’s team news is in — and there are six changes from our previous #ICC2019 game…#MUFC #MUTOUR ������������
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 25, 2019
Wow. Really?!
11:25: Why the exaggerated surprise? Well for starters I wrote it in a transfer blog earlier but mainly It’s because Tottenham are reportedly in talks to sign Juventus star Paulo Dybala!
Yep – the one that plays alongside Lionel Messi for the Argentina national side.
The Evening Standard claim Mauricio Pochettino’s side could break their transfer record, which currently stands at £65million for Tanguy Ndombele, to sign the Argentine.
It’s claimed Juventus value Dybala, 25, at £80million.
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Pleasantries
11:20: Solskjaer was impressed by Tottenham during their 3-2 win over Juventus and expects Mauricio Pochettino’s side to challenge for trophies this season.
“I thought they played really well,” Solskjaer said. “They looked strong. Of course, it must have been a difficult summer for some of them as well after losing out in the Champions League final but I’m sure they came back with the same hunger as we do to win trophies.”
Funny how the hostilities between Premier League managers has lessened without Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce in the division.
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Bruno Fernandes latest
11:15: While we wait for the sides to be revealed – let’s talk about the longest running transfer saga in history – Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese midfielder scored against Liverpool last night. It was a decent hit but Simon Mignolet made Loris Karius look like a world-beater with the spillage.
A goal against United’s Premier League rivals obviously intensified speculation.
But Sky Sports are claiming that a deal for the 24-year-old is unlikely with the gossip being driven from Portugal rather than Old Trafford.
Shang-hot
11:10: I don’t want to keep banging on about the weather – but I will anyway.
It’s 33 degrees in Shanghai, where the time is 6pm. The match will kick off at 7.30pm local time and I’m reliably informed it will be extremely humid and muggy.
Not ideal conditions – never is out there – but a little sticky weather never stopped a football club’s commercial interests…
Tottenham vs Man Utd LIVE: International Champions Cup latest
Hello folks!
11:00: Welcome to our LIVE coverage of the International Champions Cup clash between Manchester United vs Tottenham.
Before I start – I’d like to wish everyone in London good luck today.
And for those suffering without Air Conditioning – I’d like to say goodbye, it was nice knowing you.
Boiling hot temperatures throughout the country today and things are starting to sizzle (see what I did there) for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United.
The Red Devils have won three on the bounce against Perth Glory, Leeds and Inter Milan. Looking very positive indeed.
Spurs have also started with a bang when beating Juventus without a host of first-team stars.
Today should be a good BAROMETER of how the duo are progressing before Premier League season.
Tottenham vs Man Utd LIVE: International Champions Cup latest
TRANSFER HEADLINES
- Manchester United are ‘unlikely’ to sign Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes
- Tottenham have made contact with Juventus over a deal for forward Paulo Dybala
- Spurs could make club-record £80million bid for the Argentine international
- Real Madrid will accelerate their pursuit of Manchester United star Paul Pogba
- Mauricio Pochettino believes he cops unwarranted flak when Tottenham signings do not work out