Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
The Premier League season is still days away but the traditional curtain raiser – the Community Shield – has given us a bit of an insight into what we can expect from Manchester City and Manchester United.
With several players still missing, following international action this summer, the match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, before City eventually won 7-6 on penalties.
We had to wait until the last eight minutes for the deadlock to be broken, United’s Alejandro Garnacho driving a low shot into the bottom corner beyond Ederson. Bernardo Silva then headed in the equaliser at the far post with just a minute to go.
Silva missed his penalty kick before Ederson saved Jadon Sancho’s effort and Jonny Evans fired over, allowing Manuel Akanji to secure the victory.
But what did we learn from the curtain-raiser?
Pep is ready to trust his youngsters
We know age is just a number for Pep Guardiola who is ready to play anyone he believes is good enough and we could be set to see some new faces this season.
Both James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly started the Community Shield and have featured heavily during pre-season – largely down to circumstances as some players are still yet to return following Euro 2024.
But the City boss has been impressed with the pair and has already revealed that after spending the last two seasons on loan at Sheffield United McAtee is going nowhere this season – so can he force his way into the starting XI?
Do City already have a ready-made replacement for Alvarez?
Another player who could have a bigger opportunity to impress this season is young Norwegian striker Oscar Bobb, following Julian Alvarez’s impending move to Atletico Madrid.
The 21-year-old made 26 appearances for City last season, scoring twice against Red Star and Newcastle United. With Bobb starting regularly for his country alongside Erling Haaland, could we soon see the pair also lining up for their club side?
Spain midfielder Rodri, plus England trio Phil Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker, only return to training today so when we will see them for City remains to be seen, but they are unlikely to feature in the opener at Chelsea on Sunday.
Could Sancho be in from the cold?
Jadon Sancho made a cameo appearance at Wembley, replacing Marcus Rashford for the last seven minutes, but it was his first appearance for the club since he fell out with manager Erik ten Hag in September.
Following United’s 3-1 defeat at Arsenal the manager claimed Sancho was absent because he had not trained to the standard required. Sancho took exception to the criticism and responded on social media.
He then didn’t make another appearance before rejoining Borussia Dortmund in January. Despite missing his kick in the penalty shootout, the 24-year-old, who cost United £73m in July 2021, appears to be out of exile with Ten Hag backing him after the game.
“He’s a very good penalty taker and I had — and have — no doubts to let him score a penalty. Also in the future, he will take penalties.”
United still need options at the back
It’s no surprise to see United stepping up their efforts to get deals for Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui over the line to give an injection of energy and quality to the defence.
With Aaron Wan-Bissaka set to move to West Ham and new signing Leny Yoro facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Ten Hag was forced to play Evans and Harry Maguire at the back before the latter was forced off just before the hour mark with a knock.
It remains to be seen if he will be fit for Friday’s home match with Fulham and there are also doubts over Victor Lindelof (injured) and Luke Shaw, who has only just returned to training after the Euros.
More missed chances
With Rasmus Hojlund set to miss the start of the season, due to a hamstring injury suffered on the preseason tour of the US, goals could still be a problem for United.
Marcus Rashford was handed a starting place up front and again struggled to show the form that saw him a regular for England. He missed one chance when it seemed easier to score and hit the woodwork, as he was preferred to £36.5m new signing Joshua Zirkzee.
The 23-year-old scored 12 goals and managed seven assists in 37 outings during the 2023-24 campaign and United could do with him hitting the ground running when he finally makes his first appearance for the club.
