Preseason Tour Squad 2013/14
Firstly a quick recap as to the 19 who made the cut:
Goalkeepers: Anders Lindegaard, Ben Amos.
Defenders: Rafael, Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Alexander Büttner, Fabio, Michael Keane.
Midfielders: Michael Carrick, Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Ryan Giggs, Wilfred Zaha, Jesse Lingard, Adnan Januzaj.
Strikers: Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck.
These will be joined by Robin van Persie and David de Gea in Sydney, while Shinji Kagawa will join up with the squad in Japan. Chris Smalling, Ashley Young and Luis Nani were ruled out through injury.
There seemed to be a few surprises with the squad, so I thought I'd jot down my thoughts.
With regards to the goalkeepers, there's no real surprises there.
A few questions arise when looking at the defence.
Firstly - Nemanja Vidić. Vidić wasn't included in the squad without explanation from the club. It was later reported that he stayed behind to receive treatment for his sciatica and that he may join up with the squad at a later date. However, this wasn't confirmed by United until earlier today. While he could very well be suffering from sciatica, if that were the case why didn't the club clarify this at the time of the announcement or prior to it as they did with other players. There will be many, myself included, who would view this as a sign that Vidić is on the way out, as has been widely rumoured.
My second issue is regarding the omission of Marnick Vermijl. Rafael is our only recognised right back. The recently purchased Guillermo Varela is still on international duty with Uruguay at the u-20 World Cup. For me, Vermijl would have been the obvious choice to deputise for Rafael. His consistently good performances for the u-21s last season resulted with him deservedly being nominated for the Reserve Player of the Year award.
On the face of it we've brought 1 right back, 4 central defenders and 3 left backs. Could Vermijl's omission be due to the fact that this is not what Moyes sees? It is quite possible that Moyes could see Fabio's United future being on the right or that he may re-convert Michael Keane into a right back. It's even possible, although less likely (hopefully) that he prefers Jones in that position.
Antonio Valencia and Nick Powell are both missing from the midfield. It's possible that Powell is still recovering from surgery that he had earlier this year, but if that isn't the case then he may be another player set to leave. He has been connected with many clubs so far this transfer window: Norwich, Wigan, Doncaster(loan) and Huddersfield (permanent).
Possibly the most exciting inclusion is that of Adnan Januzaj. Januzaj had a fantastic season last year. His stellar performances at u-21 level meant that he clinched the Reserve Player of the Year award even though he only became a regular midway through the season. The small size of the squad should give him plenty of opportunities to show Moyes exactly what he's capable of. It's quite possible that we could see performances from him that could give Moyes quite a headache when it comes to picking his starting XI when the season kicks off.
The small squad also gives new-boy Zaha and u-21 regular Lingard opportunities to put themselves firmly in Moyes plans.
Central midfield is an area of concern. Carrick is an automatic starter but who should partner him? Anderson, Cleverley and Giggs have not nailed down that role for varying reasons. This preseason may finally give Carrick a steady partnership or may make United fans cry out even more for a central midfielder.
There are no surprise inclusions up front. However the situation with Chicharito may well be seen as worrying. Both he and Kagawa were on international duty at the Confederations Cup, exiting on the same night. However while Kagawa is joining up with the squad Chicharito is not and will instead be returning to Carrington at the end of his summer break. Given that Moyes, unlike Ferguson, is only just getting to know these players as their manager it seems strange to me that he wouldn't want a first team squad player to join up for the tour. Although it is possible that he may join up for our European game, Chicharito is another player who has been heavily linked with a move away from Old Trafford. Another explanation is that Kagawa's tour inclusion could be down to commercial reasons and that if we were touring elsewhere, he would have returned with Chicharito to Manchester.
Macheda and Bébé were also not included in the tour, perhaps signalling the end of their United careers.
There are fewer youth players included this year than last year, although this is most likely due to many players being involved in international competitions over the summer.
UPDATE: Just as I was finally about to publish this, it turns out that Rooney is travelling home to Manchester having pulled a hamstring. It's either a massive coincidence that the player most heavily linked with a move away from United has had to pull out of the tour this early, or Rooney may actually be leaving.
This leaves us with only one striker (for the first match) in Welbeck, whose strike record isn't prolific. Moyes may well bring in another striker in order to be able to rotate them with Welbeck and RVP.
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