[funkdoctorspock]

All preseason discussion goes in here.

Schedule

Tues. July 17th - Urawa Red Diamonds (Away)
Fri. July 20th - FC Seoul (Away)
Mon. July 23rd - Shenzhen Jianlibao (Away)
Wed. July 25th - Port Vale (Away)
Wed. Aug. 1st - Inter (Home)
Fri. Aug. 3rd - Doncaster (Away)
Sat. Aug. 4th - Peterborough (Away)
*Times will be added shortly*

Reds head to Tokyo

Sir Alex Ferguson has taken a 24-man squad to the Far East for United's pre-season tour of Asia.

Gary Neville, Louis Saha, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ji-sung Park, Anderson, Gabriel Heinze, Dong Fangzhuo, Ben Foster and Kieran Richardson were not included in the squad due to injury or international commitments. But new signings Owen Hargreaves and Nani were both named among the list of travelling players.

The squad departed Manchester Airport on Sunday afternoon destined for Japan where the Reds kick-off the tour on Tuesday against Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium in Tokyo.

After a three-day stay in the Japanese capital, the party head to Korea to take on FC Seoul at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Friday 20 July.

Next up is a match with Shenzhen FC at Macau's National Stadium on Monday 23 July, before the final game in China where the Reds will play Guangzhou Pharmaceutical FC at the Guangdong Olymipic Stadium in Guangzhou on Friday 27 July.

ManUtd.com is travelling with the team to bring you daily news from inside the United camp. All matches are live on MUTV Online and MUTV (UK and Eire only).

Travelling Squad: Van der Sar, Kuszcak, Heaton; Evra, Ferdinand, Brown, Vidic, Silvestre, O'Shea, J.Evans, Bardsley, Simpson; Carrick, Scholes, Giggs (c), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Nani, Eagles, Gibson, Martin; Rooney, Smith.
Here

Should we read into the fact that Smith has been named into the traveling squad?

[Dirtycheat]

i think smith's inclusion is a suprise, but i suppose if he left him out it would mean that he would have to sell him, where as now, he can still sell him, but he can also still keep him, should he not be able to buy a replacement.

all in all, i am really looking forward to tomorows game. i cant wait to see owen in our shirt, and nani do that crazy celebration of his for us.

should be a good watch

[GocartMozart]

is anyone capping it. limited release on unitedzone I assume?

[GocartMozart]

well i haven't seen the port vale match, but i must say after the shenzhen a few things are clear.

1) Darren Fletcher is a monster. I don't know if you've seen the lad these few games, but he looks so big. Has he grown a fooot in two months! Quality passes, knows when to move forward, and very much in control. We really might see owen and carrick pressured but Darren.

2) Giggs has been amazing. Really fantastic and usual he looks to be really strong early on.

3) Ronaldo has been crap. The old Ronaldo is back and in full force. Hopefully he rights the ship because he was massively wasteful.

4) Nani looks quite good. I'll reserve judgement to see him a few more times, but he really has looked to move into good spaces, and have been creative when necessary.

[funkdoctorspock]

The Port Vale friendly was for the reserves. The score and match report can be found Here

[dimz]

We also play Peterborough on the 4th i believe.

[funkdoctorspock]

Correct. Here's a news piece on Anderson starting training. He should be playing in one of the last two games of preseason

Anderson begins training

Brazilian midfielder Anderson could make his United debut this weekend after starting training with his new team-mates on Monday.

The former Porto midfielder, who missed the Asia Tour due to his involvement in the Copa America tournament, could play either against Doncaster Rovers on Friday or Peterborough United on Saturday, according to Sir Alex Ferguson.

If selected against Darren Ferguson's team, Anderson is likely to be joined by Owen Hargreaves in his first run-out of the summer, provided he continues the good progress he has made in training this week.

For many fans, and indeed the players, little is known about Anderson. But United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saw enough of the skilful 19-year-old during last summer's Amsterdam tournament match against Porto to know that he has significant potential.

"I saw a bit of Anderson last summer when we played in the Amsterdam Tournament," said Edwi. "From what I saw he looks very gifted, has great quality and is a good striker of the ball.

"Like Nani and Owen Hargreaves, it will be interesting to see how all the new players fit in because we have a lot of good options in midfield and attack now.

"A lot of fans will already know about Owen Hargreaves having watched him for England. He’s an excellent holding player who protects the back four, passes the ball well and can score goals. As for Nani, he's very quick and has lots of potential. I’m sure he’ll learn a lot in his first season with the club and that will stand him in good stead for the future."
Here