Earlier on this morning a impressive Man United side beat a MLS All-Stars team 5-2 infront of a 70,728 strong crowd, which is not only fantastic for a pre-season game but it is the largest crowd the Reliant Stadium.

Edwin Van Der Sar returned in goal with Rafael Da Silva, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans and Fabio Da Silva making up the defence. John O’Shea, Gabriel Obertan, Darren Fletcher and Luis Nani made up the midfield with Ryan Giggs and Federico Macheda upfront.

It took all of 23 seconds for Macheda to open up the scoring, the Italian youngster picked up Kevin Alstone’s ball across the back and he was able to put it past keeper Donovan Ricketts.

Man United were looking a lot sharper, the passing was a lot better compared to the game against the Kansas City Wizards. United’s lead was doubled with only 12 minutes on the clock, with Kiko grabbing his second of the game after heading the ball past the keeper.

Midway through the first half Obertan was forced off the field after picking up an injury, which is expected to keep him out for two weeks. Tom Cleverley came on to replace him.

Darren Fletcher came so close to putting the away side 3-0 up after a one-two with Cleverley, Fletcher’s strike hit the crossbar and bounced away. The move from United deserved a goal.

United were much the better team during the first half, a much-improved performance against a MLS side who don’t normally play together and that showed.

The All-Stars made a lot of changes for the second half, they got off to a much brighter start with a few threats at the United goal. With 50 minutes gone Sir Alex decided to take Giggs off, with Darron Gibson coming on as his replacement.

Just after the hour Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez made his debut for United much to the crowds excitement. Danny Welbeck also came on at the same time, Macheda wasn’t going to get his hattrick as he was brought off along with Nani.

Almost immediately after those substitutions the MLS side pulled a goal back through a header from substitute Brian Ching.

Hernandez immediately made an impact; United bagged their third of the night after the Mexican was brought down when it looked like he could be clean through on goal. Gibson scored a beauty from the resulting freekick, nothing the keeper could have done.

Minutes after that goal, United were 4-1 with another quality goal. Cleverley received the ball from a flick by Fletcher, he lifted the ball over the MLS defender, he then turned and volleyed the ball past the keeper. A stunning goal and some fantastic skill shown by Cleverley.

The crowd got what they wanted; they saw Hernandez score on his debut for United. Hernandez latched onto Fletcher’s ball over the defender and lobbed the keeper.

They may have been 5-1 down but there was still time for the All-Stars to grab a consolation goal with Dwayne De Rosario putting the ball in the back of the net in the 90th minute.

A much improved performance from United, a deserved victory and a great game to watch.

Manchester United lost their third pre-season match last night after a 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Wizards, who played with 10 men for just over half the game.

Luis Nani returned to the starting line-up after recovering from a broken collarbone. Youngster Ben Amos started in goal with a young back line of Rafael Da Silva, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Ritchie De Laet. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes provided some experience in midfield with Darron Gibson and Nani also starting. Up front and 22-year old Mame Biram Diouf lined up alongside Dimitar Berbatov.

The first goal of the game only came 11 minutes in, after some poor defending from Rafael, who had been caught napping, Davy Arnaud was clear through on goal and gave the Wizards the lead.

Man United’s defending was awful throughout the game. Rafael was slow, he was being given the run around by Arsenal reject Ryan Smith and his positioning was poor, especially for the first goal. It wasn’t just him, Smalling and De Laet also didn’t have the best of times, the inexperience showed and what they needed was an experienced such as Nemanja Vidic or Rio Ferdinand to take charge.

With four minutes remaining of the first half the wizards were reduced to 10 men and United had an opportunity to grab an equaliser just before halftime. Jimmy Conrad brought Berbatov down in the area, clear penalty but due to the game only being a friendly, the red card for Conrad was very harsh. Berbatov scored the resulting penalty.

Just over a minute later, Kansas City retook the lead, after some more dire defending by United. Kei Kamara’s header hit the crossbar, bounced down and according to the referee it went over the line. Replays didn’t clear up whether or not it was over the line leading for more calls over goal line technology.

Second half and United did have opportunities to equalise for the second time in the game, Gabriel Obertan, Federico Macheda, Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck and Fabio Da Silva were all brought on during the second half.

Welbeck and Macheda both had chances for United but the scoreline stayed at 2-1. Man United were poor, it’s only pre-season so the result doesn’t matter too much because it’s all about gaining match fitness and sharpness. Credit to the Wizards, they worked well as a unit and deserved to win.

Manchester United continued their 2010 pre-season tour with a 1-0 win over Philadelphia Union.

Sir Alex Ferguson made six changes to the starting XI who beat Celtic 3-1 a few days ago. Tomasz Kuszczak, John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Tom Cleverley, Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck were all brought into the starting line-up.

A tough match was decided by the only goal of the game, which came in the 76th minute. It wasn’t the best of games, but some of the younger players got some much-needed time on the field. Welbeck stood out after a very hardworking performance and it would have been nice to see him score.

First half and United made a bright start and could have bagged an early goal after a shot from Obertan but it hit the side netting. Obertan was involved in another move from United not long after but again there was no end product.

Philadelphia had a great chance to take the lead not long after the half hour mark, luckily for United Sebastien Le Toux dragged his shot wide.

Sir Alex Ferguson opted to keep the same XI for the start of the second half, Philadelphia on the other hand made seven immediate substitutions.

There had been no changes to the scoreline so just after the hour mark Sir Alex made five changes. Chris Smalling, Rafael Da Silva, Darren Fletcher, Dimitar Berbatov and Corry Evans (who was making his first team debut) were all brought on for Jonny Evans, Fabio Da Silva, Wes Brown, Paul Scholes and Macheda.

United had a penalty shout turned down a few minutes after the substitutions had been made after a great run from Rafael, the move ended with Obertan ending up on the ground in the area. That was quickly followed by a fantastic save from Kuszczak after a freekick was flicked on towards goal.

The goal came with just under 15 minutes remaining, Welbeck picked up the ball down United’s right, he ran into the area, played the ball in to Obertan, who took a touch and then calmly hit the ball past the keeper. Sir Alex immediately made another substitution after the goal with Ritchie De Laet coming on for O’Shea.

Only minutes after the goal United were so close to scoring a second after Berbatov hit the crossbar, with the ball looking very close to going over the line. It was a tough call and obviously ended with more calls for goal line technology.

United had another penalty claim with a few minutes remaining after Ryan Giggs was blocked off in the penalty area after a one-two with Berbatov.

Philadelphia came very close to grabbing a late equaliser but the ball was smashed over from only a few yards out. The game finished 1-0, not the best of performances but it’s only the second game of pre-season.

After Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday that he is ‘comfortable’ with the squad he has, thoughts have turned to whether or not the squad is strong enough to compete for trophies.

"I cannot speak about other clubs. We are comfortable with the squad we have got," Sir Alex said.

"We bought players at the right time of the season and we are happy with what we have."

This summer United have signed two players- defender Chris Smalling from Fulham and striker Javier Hernandez from Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Chivas). As usual Man United has been linked with many top name players, but with the amount of debt the club is in, so signing any of those players has looked unrealistic.

Those two additions to the squad are unlikely to step straight into the first team, so is the squad good enough to do better than last season?

Last season United won the Carling Cup, finished second (one point behind) Chelsea, were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals. They also went out in the third round of the FA Cup to Leeds United.

There is no doubting that United have a good squad, much of next season will depend on factors such as injuries, last season United had a terrible time with injuries, especially in defence.
Players such as Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick will need to hit some form and the younger players who do play more games for the first team will need to slip straight into the team and impress.
United will also need players such as Luis Nani and Wayne Rooney to shine. Sir Alex will also want to keep hold of Nemanja Vidic, who is rumoured to want a move away from Old Trafford.

For me the main contenders for the Premier League title will be United and Chelsea. Arsenal will be there or thereabouts and Man City are spending ridiculous amounts of money and it would be stupid for me to say that they won’t pose a threat to the top spots.

Anything can happen in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup because of the knockout games, they're unpredictable and anything can happen.

The squad is good enough to win a trophy or two but Man United have a tough season ahead of them and will need some luck along the way.

There is no point being all doom and gloom about no more signings, I would have liked to see one or two more but now all we can do is look forward to the season ahead.

Man United kicked off pre-season with a 3-1 victory over Celtic at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Man of the match Dimitar Berbatov finished the game with one goal and two assists to his name.

United took the lead during the first half after great goal by Dimitar Berbatov. That was cancelled out after Celtic were awarded a penalty after a foul in the area from new signing Chris Smalling, the penalty was coolly hit past Edwin Van Der Sar by Georgios Samaras.

United went on to get a second with just over 10 minutes remaining, after Berbatov squared the ball to Danny Welbeck, who stuck the ball past Celtic keeper Lukasz Zaluska..

With four minutes remaining, Berbatov fed the ball to Tom Cleverley, his strike at goal was deflected in off Andreas Hinkel.

The first half was fairly easy for United, they went into halftime with a slender but deserved 1-0 lead. Samaras was brought on for the Scottish side for the second half and he made a big difference to the game. Celtic became more threatening for the first 20 or so minutes of the second half  and they did get a goal during that period. United continued to attack and scored two late goals and overall, deserved the victory.

Considering it was only the first game of pre-season, United were impressive and I’m looking forward to the start of the new season. Next up on the 2010 tour is a match against Philadelphia Union at the Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.

Manchester United  has officially unveiled the new home strip for the next season. Ryan Giggs, Gabriel Obertan, Wes Brown, John O’Shea and Dimitar Berbatov all displayed the new kit, in the press conference out in Chicago.

Manchester United fans have to decide whether or not they are going to buy the shirt. Some believe that hitting the Glazers in their pockets (by not buying tickets or merchandise) will eventually force them to sell, others believe that buying the new shirt or tickets will not make any difference.

A MUST spokesman has recently said: “From reading a lot of the supporters’ forums, it is very apparent that many United supporters now see the new Aon shirt as a symbol of the Glazer family’s ownership rather than a symbol of the Manchester United we historically know and love.

“It’s important that all American Reds understand the necessity to remove the Glazers from our club to improve our future chances of success and survival.

“It’s now clear the huge effect the debt burden inflicted on us by the Glazer family is having.”

The choice is a personal one, loads of fans are choosing not to buy the new shirt, others have decided that they will. My choice is not to buy the shirt.

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has yet another injury setback, which today has been confirmed by manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

United were hoping that the 29-year old could join the squad for the summer tour, that now won’t happen and instead he will be receiving more treatment on his persistent knee problems.

Hargreaves only managed to make one substitute appearance for the first team last season, after coming through 45 minutes for the reserves.

Sir Alex told MUTV: "The bad news is that Owen Hargreaves is back in America seeing a specialist.

"He will not be ready for the start of the season. I do not know when he will be back."

I'm gutted for Hargreaves, he is a descent player who United have missed at some points during last season but is it now time to say enough is enough. Bring in a new player, who can do the same job as Hargreaves but is not constantly out injured.

Former Man United striker Diego Forlan has so far been impressive in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, after a few quotes from a United coach, he is now being linked with a move back to Old Trafford.

Forlan has so far has netted three goals in five matches for Uruguay, helping them to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

The 31-year old was at Manchester United for two years (2002-2004) and it’s fair to say that during that period, he was a flop. During those two years, he only scored 10 league goals for United.

He left United for Villarreal, staying there until 2007 when he signed for Atletico Madrid, who he still currently plays for. He has now managed to re-ignite his form and career.

Meulensteen told Voetbal International: “Diego was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But we had some individual training with Diego, for months we worked hard.

“I told him, ‘what you learn here, you will take with you’. You are a player who adds something to every squad.

“He has developed fantastically, so complete – a top athlete. I really would welcome him back to Manchester United.”

United’s coach has also revealed that he sent Forlan a text message after scoring both goals in Atletico’s 2-1 win over Fulham in the Europa Cup final back in May.

The text from Meulensteen apparently read: "Top class, if it's up to me you will return to us."

It is thought that Forlan’s reply said: "I am ready for it."

My gut feeling is that this move probably won’t happen. His performances in the World Cup will have added a few extra million on his price tag, which United probably can’t afford. Not only that but if Sir Alex Ferguson is going to buy another striker, he is more likely to go for a younger one.