Manchester United began their preparations for the third season under Erik ten Hag with a friendly against Rosenberg.
With Manchester United’s Premier League campaign kicking off in around a month’s time, Erik ten Hag’s side will be preparing for a key season.
After the poor campaign under the Dutchman last season, which culminated in that FA Cup victory against Manchester City, Ten Hag’s side began what promises to be another gruelling season against Rosenberg.
Here are five things we learned from United’s 1-0 defeat against the Norwegian side thanks to a late Noah Jean Holm goal.
Goalkeeper Radek Vitek impresses
Throughout the last couple of years, pre-season friendlies have been a chance to impress for some of the academy players in the squad.
Teenage goalkeeper Radek Vitek looks set to have one of those pre-seasons for the Red Devils as the Czech Republic international looked impressive against the Norwegian side.
He made three saves from inside the penalty box and completed a high percentage of his passes. He could be set for an important role if he carries on these performances.
Toby Collyer makes promising impact at captain
What United have done in recent seasons, and look set to do during this pre-season, is rotate the majority of the XI at half-time.
Ten Hag chose to do this and that meant a chance for midfielder Toby Collyer, who was also given the captain’s armband.
The former Ajax manager is seemingly already a big fan of the teenage midfielder and, like Kobbie Mainoo last season, Collyer could be the next player to make a key impact in midfield for the Red Devils.
Mount looks impressive as a number eight
Last season was a very frustrating one for 2023 summer signing Mason Mount, who had an injury hit season for the Red Devils.
After Ten Hag insisted on the signing of the Englishman last summer, Mount struggled but his second season provides a chance for the midfielder to make an impact.
Mount featured for the first half in Norway and he looked impressive with a 95% pass completion and played two key passes in the first half.
Next season will be an important one for the 25-year-old.
Casemiro looked leggy for the Red Devils
The future of Brazilian midfielder Casemiro remains unclear with teams from the Saudi Pro League reportedly interested.
Last season was not a good one for the Real Madrid midfielder as his poor campaign reached it’s nadir when he missed out on the FA Cup final victory.
He played the first 45 minutes against Rosenberg but seemingly struggled as he completed just 74% of his passes and nearly suffered a serious injury.
United target shows moments of promise against Red Devils
Whilst the Red Devils are expected to be busy in the transfer market with potentially a couple of new defenders being brought in, left-field signings will be key.
With the new recruitment team at Old Trafford, discovering gems on the cheap will be key and it seems one of them is staring the Red Devils in the face.
Rosenberg’s highly rated midfielder Sverre Halseth Nypan, 17, started against the Red Devils and made a serious impact.
Nypan played 46 minutes of the game before being substituted, he completed 6/7 of his dribbles and completed 80% of his passes.
He has already spoken of moving to Old Trafford being a dream for him and performances like that may make his dreams a reality.