Michael Carrick’s full-time tenure as Manchester United head coach started with a thud. Wrexham beat the Red Devils 1-0 in Helsinki on Saturday, and the scoreline flattered United more than it probably should have.
Sam Smith tapped in the winner just before halftime, ghosting past Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven to finish off a low cross from Lewis O’Brien. It was the kind of goal that makes a preseason friendly feel a little too real. Tom Heaton had no chance.
Carrick, who took over on an interim basis last season and led United to a third-place Premier League finish before getting the permanent job this summer, ran out two completely different XIs over the course of the game. The first half featured the recognizable names: Luke Shaw, Maguire, Mason Mount, Bryan Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu. The second half was all kids from the U21 and U18 sides.
Neither group looked particularly sharp.
Andrey Santos Debuts Quietly
The big story coming in was Andrey Santos, United’s $48 million summer signing from Chelsea, getting his first start. He lined up next to Mount in Carrick’s 4-2-3-1 double pivot and spent most of the first 45 minutes looking like a guy still learning where his teammates like the ball. Not bad, not great. Just quiet. That’s about what you’d expect from a first runout in a new system.
United were without a bunch of key guys. Bruno Fernandes wasn’t in the squad at all, still recovering from World Cup duty. Youri Tielemans, whose signing was announced earlier this week for $35 million, also got extra time off. Karl Darlow, the other new arrival, stayed home after a minor surgery on an undisclosed injury. Benjamin Sesko didn’t travel either, still dealing with a shin issue that bothered him at the end of last season.
The club insists both Darlow and Sesko will be ready for the start of the league campaign. We’ll see.
Preseason Reality Check
Look, nobody’s hitting the panic button over a friendly in July. United didn’t create much of anything in either half, and Carrick will want to see more urgency as the team moves through its preseason schedule. But Wrexham came to play. They pressed hard, moved the ball quickly, and didn’t look intimidated by the name on the other shirt.
For a team that finished third in the Premier League last season, this was a reminder that reps matter. Carrick has a lot of new pieces to fit together, and a bunch of his best players haven’t even joined the tour yet. The next few weeks will tell us more than this one result ever could.
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