Manchester United’s pre-season tour of the United States ended in defeat, losing 3-0 at the hands of Liverpool overnight.
The Premier League season is fast approaching and Erik ten Hag watched his Manchester United players go through a tough outing against Liverpool in the early hours of Sunday morning.
United have been out in the United States recently, losing 2-1 to Arsenal – albeit then winning a penalty shootout against the Gunners – before beating Real Betis 3-2.
The clash with Liverpool brought the curtain down on this pre-season tour and it all ended in defeat for United.
Fabio Carvalho, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas found the net for Liverpool as United came up short in South Carolina.
United will now head back to England ahead of the Community Shield final and the start of the Premier League season.
Erik ten Hag on Harry Amass
The United squad to face Liverpool was full of young players.
Just look down the bench and you will see Ethan Wheatley, Will Fish, Rhys Bennett, Sam Mather, Maxi Oyedele, Sam Murray, James Scanlon and Jack Fletcher.
Ten Hag even handed starts to Toby Collyer and Harry Amass with United still a little depleted following Euro 2024.
The likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw are still missing, so Collyer and Amass were given chances to shine.
Amass lined up at left back and that meant coming up against Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah.
Amass had a somewhat up and down game, which was to be expected, but the 17-year-old still came out with credit given his lack of experience.
The teenager – signed from Watford in 2023 – has shown real promise in pre-season with Shaw and Tyrell Malacia unavailable.
This is all a big learning experience for Amass and boss Ten Hag was quick to point that out after the final whistle in California.
Speaking to United’s official website, Ten Hag noted that Amass has potential but ‘has to improve’.
Ten Hag noted that Amass has made ‘big steps’ on tour with United and has made a ‘step forward’ having faced some tough tests defensively.
Ten Hag feels that Amass still has a ‘long way to go’ though, which is absolutely normal for a 17-year-old.
“I said already the other day: there is a potential, but he [Amass] has to improve. But I think in the last 12 days here in the tour, he has made big steps. He was really tested in defending, and he made a step forward, but there is still a long way to go.”
Amass set to see new competition arrive
Amass may only be a teenager, but he will have seen Kobbie Mainoo become a fan favourite and England international last season.
Few could blame him for believing that he can go on a similar path to stardom, especially at left back.
Shaw is still missing after his Euro 2024 commitments and has struggled with injuries in recent times whilst Malacia hasn’t kicked a ball for more than a year.
Amass may quietly feel that he can play some senior action this season, especially having shown promise on tour.
The problem for Amass is that United are closing in on signing a new full back.
Noussair Mazraoui is set for a medical with United pushing to sign the Bayern Munich defender in the coming days.
Mazraoui is a right back by trade but can play on the left side, just like Diogo Dalot.
That means United may not need to call on Amass in competitive games just yet, but this summer has shown that his time should come at Old Trafford.
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