Which Red played every pre-season game?
Manchester United’s pre-season campaign drew to a close on Sunday, as the Reds were held 1-1 by Rayo Vallecano during Erik ten Hag’s first Old Trafford match in charge.
Preparations for 2022/23 have seen us play six games in 20 days, with fixtures in Bangkok, Melbourne, Perth, Oslo and Manchester requiring over 22,000 miles in travel.
As thoughts now turn to our Premier League opener with Brighton on Sunday, it’s a great time to look back at some of the best numbers from this summer…
All The Goals: Tour 2022
All The Goals | As United prepare to face Leeds in Oslo, watch the 13 strikes from Erik ten Hag’s first pre-season tour…
HOW MANY GOALS DID WE SCORE?
United scored 14 goals across the half-dozen matches and Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho topped the charts with three strikes apiece. Marcus Rashford netted twice, while Amad, Fred, Scott McTominay and Facundo Pellistri also made it on to the scoresheet. Two own goals, by Melbourne Victory’s Edmond Lupancu and Aston Villa’s Matty Cash, brought us to our final total.
Eight of our goals came during the first half of games, with six in the second. The Reds conceded six times in pre-season and five of these goals came after the interval. The exception was Christopher Ikonomidis’ opener for Victory, in an eventual 4-1 win for Ten Hag’s men.
WHO PLAYED THE MOST?
Ten Hag handed appearances to 34 different players during pre-season, although only Donny van de Beek was involved in all six games – the Dutchman came off the bench in Oslo against Atletico before playing the full 90 against Rayo the following day.
David De Gea racked up the most time on the pitch, as his four appearances involved 338 minutes of action, while Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Fred, van de Beek, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford also topped the 300-minute barrier. All six managed 313 out of a possible 540 minutes, as Erik sought to give opportunities to a wide range of players, while also working out his likely XI for the Brighton opener.
Of our three new signings, Tyrell Malacia was seen most often as he played for 280 minutes in our opening five games before being given a rest against Rayo. Christian Eriksen joined van de Beek in appearing versus both of the Spanish sides, while Lisandro Martinez played for just over an hour on Sunday.
Our top 10 minute-makers were as follows...
Eriksen's highlights are a satisfying watch
Make time for Christian Eriksen's best bits against Rayo: there are some gorgeous contributions…
| PLAYER | GAMES | MINUTES |
|---|---|---|
| David De Gea | 4 | 338 |
| Donny van de Beek | 6 | 313 |
| Diogo Dalot | 5 | 313 |
| Victor Lindelof | 5 | 313 |
| Bruno Fernandes | 5 | 313 |
| Fred | 5 | 313 |
| Marcus Rashford | 5 | 313 |
| Anthony Martial | 5 | 292 |
| Tyrell Malacia | 5 | 280 |
| Harry Maguire | 4 | 267 |
Action from Martinez's first match
See how Lisandro Martinez impressed the fans and his new team-mates at Old Trafford...
ANY OTHER STATS TO NOTE?
Opta data covered all six pre-season games and it tells us a little bit more about how our friendlies took shape:
United shots (on target): 77 (27)
Opposition shots (on target) 63 (19)
United average possession: 59%
Opposition average possession: 41%
United passes completed: 3,386
Opposition passes completed: 2,196
United yellows/reds: 5/2
Opposition yellows/reds: 10/0
Why Garnacho was Man of the Match
Alejandro Garnacho entertained the fans with his dribbling, but also earned applause for his committed defensive work...
HOW MANY PEOPLE WATCHED?
All in all, over 350,000 people took in a live United pre-season friendly this summer, with our 3-1 win over Palace at the Melbourne Cricket Ground seeing the highest attendance. Games in Bangkok, Perth and Oslo saw stadiums close to capacity, while the Rayo Vallecano game was the best-attended friendly played all summer in the United Kingdom.
Liverpool: 50,248 spectators
Melbourne Victory: 74,157
Crystal Palace: 76,499
Aston Villa: 58,228
Atletico Madrid: 26,129
Rayo Vallecano: 68,663
Of course, those numbers don’t include everyone who watched the football via the United App, ManUtd.com and MUTV.
We covered every minute of pre-season and you can relive the full games below, in reverse order.