Manchester United’s post-season tour followed their late-season form as Ruben Amorim’s team lost 1-0 to a scratch team of Asean All-Stars in Kuala Lumpur.
United’s latest defeat, part of a lucrative end-of-season tour in the wake of their 15th-placed finish in the Premier League, came after the players had been paraded through the streets of the Malaysian capital.
Three days after closing out their Premier League campaign with a controversial victory against Aston Villa, a much-changed United team faced a side pulled together for a one-off occasion. Harry Maguire led the side. Casemiro, Patrick Dorgu, André Onana, Ayden Heaven, Diogo Dalot, Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Højlund started while Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes, both linked with summer moves, played from the bench as part of 11 half-time changes.
It was Maung Maung Lwin, a Burmese winger for Thai League 1 club Lamphun Warriors, who netted a 71st-minute winner for the south-east Asian team. United could not shake off their season’s travails, including last week’s loss in the Europa League final, and played disjointedly. Several youth products were given their turn, which heartened Amorim amid his disappointment at the result.
He said: “No injuries and a tough pitch. We don’t have it in us not to choke in every exercise, in every game – that is what happened. We should win these kind of games, no matter what. We need to bring that inside of us in every game.
“The important thing is no injuries with this weather and to arrive here in this day. It is not an excuse, we should perform better. I liked the young kids, they try. That’s enough for me in the moment. They want to play more but we have to rotate everybody to play. They did well.”
United play another friendly in Hong Kong on Friday to end a tour reportedly set to earn the club £8m. Before Wednesday’s opening game, the club’s chief executive, Omar Berrada, had put a positive spin on United’s end to the season and what lies ahead in the transfer window.
“I can’t talk about specifics, but I can say that we’ve been planning for many months now,” Berrarda told MUTV. “We were ready for all the different scenarios, so now we know what we need to do.
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“We have a very clear idea of where we need to invest in the squad to improve, so [technical director] Jason [Wilcox], his team, Ruben, have been in talks for many months. Now it’s a question of executing that plan and doing it in a way that is prudent but at the same time with ambition.”
