Who needs Cristiano Ronaldo after all?Manchester United obviously not, since they managed to comfortably knock their old rivals Liverpool 4-0 without the Portuguese forward in the squad in a friendly tie played on Tuesday in Bangkok.Erik ten Hag’s maiden game in United’s dugout brought nothing but happiness for the Dutch tactician, albeit the game itself was as far away from a genuinely competitive game as possible.Starting #MUTOUR22 with a win! ✔️🔴#MUFC— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 12, 2022 Ice-hokey-like substitutions that were excercised unusually for football provided Man Utd with a stellar first-half that saw them going three up after only 33 minutes.Jadon Sancho broke the deadlock following a meticulous build-up. At least six United players touched the ball ahead of Konate’s unsuccessful clearance, which put Sancho in a perfect position to give his side a 1-0 lead.The calmest man in the house.That’s our @Sanchoooo10! 🥶🤙#MUFC || #MUTOUR22— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 12, 2022 Fred doubled the lead around the 30th-minute mark when the ball reached him on the edge of the box. He spotted his Brazilian teammate Alisson off his line and dinked the ball into the net.An audacious lob from @Fred08Oficial made it 2-0 in Thailand 🤩🇧🇷#MUFC || #MUTOUR22— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 12, 2022 Only three minutes later, Martial killed the match definitely with United’s third goal of the game. He dribbled the ball a good 30 yards under pressure before finishing expertly past Alisson.Martial Goal vs Liverpool #MUNLIV #LIVMUN #ManchesterUnited #united pic.twitter.com/xMWCjMablp— Has_Utd (@has_utd) July 12, 2022 However, it was not the last piece of praiseworthy action coming from the Red Devils this afternoon. Late in the second half, Bailly launched a breathtaking, smooth counter-attack that was picked up by a tiny Pellistri, who finished it perfectly to seal a 4-0 victory.A stunning counterattack involving @EricBailly24 and @AmadDiallo_19, finished in style by @FPellistri07 ⏩😍#MUFC || #MUTOUR22— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 12, 2022 However, such a mind-blowing result shouldn’t worry Liverpool fans that much, bearing in mind Jurgen Klopp experimented a lot on Monday in Bangkok. The German tactician literally divided the game into three-thirds, giving each of his players around half an hour to show what they made of and how fresh they were after a short break.##NAJAVA_MECA_6501837##For instance, his finest gems like Salah, Alcantara, VVD and debutant Darwin Nunez came in after 60 minutes when the final outcome was already decided.Klopp losing 4-0 to trick Ten Haag into thinking United are actually good. pic.twitter.com/m6Ye9u10kt— Red (@TaintlessRed) July 12, 2022 On the other hand, despite a deserved and unexpectedly concrete win, Erik ten Hag has made only the first step towards building both a serious squad and the much-needed victorious DNA that United lack.
