Chapter 478 International Champions Cup
Manchester United has been conducting arduous pre-season training for nearly a month, especially Bruno, who participated in the pre-season training for the first time, and he trained particularly hard.
However, because Bruno's training plan was not synchronized with his teammates, he did not play well in several warm-up matches before the season. Even in the International Champions Cup, Bruno still failed to play in good shape.
This was always expected by the coaching staff and Bruno himself.
On the evening of July 20th, local time in the United States, Manchester United ushered in the first match of the International Champions Cup against Manchester City. This is the first time that the Manchester City derby has been held outside the UK. Although Manchester United easily defeated the opponent 2:0, Bruno, who played half the game, was closely guarded by Manchester City and performed relatively averagely.
In an interview with the media after the game, Bruno said that he was recovering.
"I just participated in the Confederations Cup at the beginning of the month and I am still recovering. I just need some time."
Mourinho also said in an interview with the media that Bruno scored no goals in the warm-up match. An important reason is that he is undergoing pre-season physical reserve training and state adjustment. Everyone should give him more time.
"He doesn't need to prove himself to anyone anymore. He is the best player! I believe that he will still be the best player in the Premier League and even in Europe in the new season."
Manchester United is very supportive of Bruno, and fans are full of confidence in him, believing that his low state is only temporary and he will be able to get out of it soon.
Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand also supported Bruno in his "Must-have" column, believing that it was not easy for him to recover and adjust from the Confederations Cup to the warm-up match with Los Angeles Galaxy in less than three weeks. He also had to do hard physical training for the new season.
"In fact, we can see that many players who performed well last season often performed poorly in the World Cup or Confederations Cup in the summer. This is because every player's state has ups and downs."
"Bruno is undoubtedly in his trough now. Give him some time, I believe he can climb to a higher peak soon."
………………
Two days later, Manchester United's second game in the International Champions Cup will be against Real Madrid. The two sides tied 1:1 in the 90-minute game. Lingard scored a wonderful goal in the first half stoppage time, but Casemiro scored a penalty. Then, the game entered a penalty shootout, Manchester United led the opponent 2:1, and finally won with a score of 3:2.
In this game, Bruno's state obviously recovered a little. Just one minute after the start, he had a wonderful heel pass, but Lingard's follow-up shot failed to score.
On the evening of July 26, Manchester United ushered in the last game of the International Champions Cup, against Barcelona at the FedEx Stadium.
After the game started, De Gea saved shots from Neymar, Yosi and Suarez in succession. In the 13th minute, Yosi made a very threatening shot outside the penalty area, but fortunately, the shot hit the post.
After withstanding the opponent's early offensive pressure, Manchester United began to counterattack. Bruno was not to be outdone. After receiving a pass from his teammate, he made a violent long shot, but was saved by Cillessen. Then Gundogan also tried to score with a long shot, but his shot missed. Similarly, Lingard's long shot also deviated from the position of the goal.
Gradually, the Red Devils played with the confidence they should have. Rashford dribbled into the goal and shot at a small angle, but Barcelona goalkeeper Cillessen did a good job and he once again blocked the goal.
In the 31st minute of the game, Valencia's ball protection error was seized by Neymar, and De Gea was powerless this time. Barcelona led Manchester United 1:0.
After that, Barcelona continued to launch an offensive. Yosi's free kick was slightly higher than the crossbar, and Suarez also made a volley, which was bravely saved by De Gea.
In the counterattack, Bruno hoped to find Rashford through a long pass, but unfortunately the latter did not get the ball. Barcelona returned to the locker room with a 1-goal lead.
After the start of the second half, both sides made large-scale adjustments, but neither made any progress. In the end, Barcelona won the game with Neymar's goal.
………………
Because the Community Shield will be played on August 6, Manchester United ended their warm-up tour after the International Champions Cup and returned to Manchester.
In five warm-up matches, Manchester United had 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and their performance was mixed, which caused great controversy for Manchester United.
Especially in the face of strong opponents such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, Manchester United's forward powerlessness is very serious.
The Manchester Guardian commented that Manchester United's offensive problems have begun to affect the team's new season journey, and Mourinho should solve this problem as soon as possible before the new season officially starts.
Whether it is Mourinho or Bruno, the media and fans will no longer question their coaching level and competition strength, but the problem for Manchester United now is how to solve the team's offense as soon as possible and reactivate Bruno's state.
Not only the media and fans pay attention to it, but even the management also attaches great importance to it.
The head coach's office at the Carrington training base.
Manchester United CEO Cristiano Giaretta, head coach Mourinho, chief assistant coach Faria, chief physical coach Carlos Larin, as well as new captain Michael Carrick as player representative, team members The number one star Bruno was sitting together.
This is the first time Manchester United has invited players to participate in a discussion in the new season. Obviously, the coaching staff also hopes to hear the opinions of the players, especially the opinions from Bruno, who is the team's number one star.
Last season, Manchester United scored 174 goals in all competitions, setting a single-season scoring record in team history. Bruno scored 58 goals and assisted 32 times, creating more than half of Manchester United's goals. Everyone has high hopes for him this season. With high hopes.
But there is also a group of people who are waiting to see Bruno's joke, thinking he will hit the rookie wall.
………………
The coaching staff took the lead in analyzing the team's situation and believed that the current situation was basically not beyond everyone's expectations, including Bruno. It is understandable that his state came relatively slowly.
Carlos Larin said that no one, including Bruno himself, needed to be too anxious. He said: "Before September, you can definitely gradually get into the rhythm and state of the new season."
During this period of time, Bruno has been strictly following his training plan without any compromise. If Bruno is not in good condition, then he, the physical coach, must be responsible.
Bruno himself said that he felt that his condition was gradually returning and he was full of confidence.
Carrick said that there are no problems in the team's locker room. Even the newly introduced Victor Lindelöf gets along well with the team and there are no problems.
Carrick, who just celebrated his 36th birthday, has lost his main position at Manchester United since last season, but everyone believes in his role in the locker room, so after Rooney left Manchester United, Carrick did not have any surprises. Elected as captain by the players.
Mourinho also nodded, then turned to look at Bruno and said: "Bruno, please tell me too."
Everyone immediately looked at Bruno. Although he will only celebrate his 23rd birthday in September, he is already the backbone of the current Manchester United team.
Not to mention anything else, if he says something in front of the media tomorrow, "I am not happy playing football," it will cause an earthquake in the whole of Manchester and even British football. If it is more serious, Mourinho's coaching position will be destroyed. shake.
………………
Because of this, the coaching staff pays special attention to Bruno's opinions. How to make him play comfortably and how to bring out his full strength has become the most important task of the coaching staff at present.
If Bruno is not activated, who will score goals in the new season?
Rooney has left. Although Ibrahimovic has recovered well from his injury, he is a veteran who will celebrate his 36th birthday in October after all. He has just suffered a serious injury. It is difficult to say how he will be in shape after his comeback.
Neither Rashford, nor Lingard, nor McTominay, who performed well during the warm-up match, can afford to take on this role for the time being.
As for signings, neither Harry Kane nor Mbappe have made decisive progress yet. Whether and when these two transfers will be successful is still unknown.
Bruno also thought about it carefully for a while, then looked at the head coach and Faria, and with their encouragement, he said: "I'm just going to talk about some of my personal thoughts and feelings during the game. "
"Well, it's okay. Since it's a symposium, of course it's okay to speak freely." Giaretta said.
The Manchester United CEO knows very well that Bruno's role for the team is not limited to the court. Even on transfer issues, he also has a strong say.
Whether it was during his time at Udinese or at Manchester United, the players he recommended to sign turned out to be value-for-money without exception. And some players he was not very optimistic about eventually proved to have problems.
Mourinho also nodded and said: "It doesn't matter. Even if you think there is a problem with our tactics, just say so. Only by communicating with each other can we reach a consensus, right?"
Bruno smiled politely at Mourinho and said: "José is serious."
This is the respect he has always had for the head coach, and Mourinho responded in kind, smiling and gesturing for him to continue.
Obviously, Bruno's statement made him feel respected. As long as what he said next was not too offensive, Mourinho would listen and even accept it.
But precisely because of this, everyone present felt that what Bruno said next might be quite serious, otherwise he would not be like this.