Harry Maguire was booed by fans at Manchester United vs Crystal Palace. The boos were heard when his named was called out on the PA system and in the earlier stages of the match whenever the centre-back touched the ball.
Even though it is believed to be a minority in the crowd, it was still heard and the only word I can use to describe it is pathetic.
Fans in attendance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground booed Maguire (via Daily Mail) without any good reasons for doing so.
Maguire, like many players at Manchester United, endured an underwhelming campaign last season. Do we just write off the entire squad ahead of a new season rather than admire Erik ten Hag’s willingness to try get the best out of these players?
I mean, this is not FIFA or Football Manager, and he was also hired to work with the current players in the squad.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace 3:1
Manchester United made it three wins from three on Tour 2022, with a convincing 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Anthony Martial scored again, while Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford netted in the second half to add to their burgeoning pre-season tallies, while, despite a late concession to Joel Ward and red card for Will Fish, it was a team performance that will no doubt please Erik ten Hag, against an admittedly depleted Palace side.
Here are eight things which caught the eye of our reporter at the stadium…
IT’S COLD IN MELBOURNE
While those back in Manchester bask in record-breaking heat, it’s winter in Australia and Tuesday saw the city set its lowest morning temperatures in almost four years. Despite experiencing sun and blue skies all day, the mercury had barely risen by the time the game kicked off, with the players walking out when it was around seven-degrees Celsius – something you’d think you’re more likely to get at Selhurst Park in December than on a pre-season tour! It was all a far cry from last Tuesday in Bangkok, anyway, but fingers crossed for warmer climes when we get to Perth…
A DEBUT FOR OUR NEW KIT
The adidas 2022/23 away kit was unveiled at 09:00 BST on Saturday and it’s certainly gone down a storm with fans here in Melbourne – the city which held the shirt launch event at the weekend. This was the first match in which it was sported and it looked as good on the pitch as it did in all of our glossy marketing snaps.
MALACIA MAKES FIRST START
Our first summer signing had been a half-time substitute in each of United’s previous two friendlies and the Dutchman impressed against both Liverpool and Melbourne Victory, with the Reds not conceding a goal in the 90 minutes he was on the pitch in those games. This time he was given the nod from the off by Ten Hag and he was arguably our standout player in the opening half, proving vital in the build-up to Martial’s opener…
A much-discussed element of Ten Hag’s tactic is his preference for attacking full-backs. At Ajax last season, Noussair Mazraoui and Nicolas Tagliafico weighed in with 11 goal contributions between them in 34 Eredivisie games and they were a vital channel through which the team played. Erik was presumably delighted then by how Martial’s 17th-minute strike came about, with Malacia switching the ball across the pitch for Diogo Dalot. The Portuguese right-back’s excellent reverse pass then found Anthony, who poked the ball home for his third goal in as many pre-season games.