Manchester United have finished their mid-season training camp in Spain and the team will now head back to Manchester ahead of the resumption of club football.
Erik ten Hag’s men faced Spanish outfits Cadiz and Real Betis in friendlies, with Ten Hag using a squad made up mostly of fringe and academy players due to senior regulars playing in this winter’s World Cup.
Unfortunately, the Reds were defeated in both games but the double-header did allow Ten Hag to assess some of the options at his disposal, including the younger players.
Speaking after the narrow 1-0 defeat to an experienced Real Betis side, Ten Hag named that as a positive aspect to the week-long stay in Spain.
“We made progression. As you’ve seen, we were again a really young team, they [Real Betis] had an experienced team,” Ten Hag is quoted as saying by the official Manchester United website.
“The first half was okay, I think we had some good attacks. We were better than in the game against Cadiz, also from the intensity, so I was quite happy with that first half.
“I think we had a good week, there was a good spirit The lads worked really well, really hard. Our main objective from the week was better fitness and I think we did it, we made the progress there.
“Also, we integrated some young lads, integrated them in the way of play and the way of playing with intensity so they can step up. With some of them, I was quite happy, so that is a big win for the future.”
United will now begin their preparations for the return of competitive football, with Burnley making the trip to Old Trafford for the fourth round of the Carabao Cup in 10 days, just four days after the World Cup final.
Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are the only United players remaining in the tournament and the pair could face each other in the final.
Martinez’s Argentina will need to surpass Croatia first, however, with Varane’s France tasked with the challenge of eliminating Morocco.
