Four positives for Manchester United from Cadiz friendly defeat

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Manchester United lost a friendly. From the reaction of some media outlets, it’s a crisis. Do us a favour.

Erik ten Hag clearly wasn’t happy with the performance in the 4-2 loss to Cadiz. He made this clear after the game on MUTV, blasting the poor defending.

But let’s dust off a result which does not matter one iota, and look for the positives from the defeat in Spain.

Here’s a look at reasons for Erik ten Hag to be positive…

Extra minutes in the tank

Let’s look at the main objective of the friendly, it was to build up fitness. Erik ten Hag explained this before the game, and from this perspective, it was a success regardless of the result.

21 different players saw action, including players making returns from injury. Teden Mengi played his first senior minutes since a friendly in March, Brandon Williams since April, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka since September. With that rusty defence in mind, was it any surprise United took a while to get going?

This was a chance for players to rebuild their fitness and sharpness, building to another friendly this weekend, and the resumption of competitive football later this month.

Anthony Martial scored

Anthony Martial is a confidence player and needs goals. He scored one. That’s pretty much all there is to this one.

His panenka penalty was expertly executed, and signified a striker who feels he has a special touch right now. That’s exactly what United need from him.

Zidane Iqbal’s display

Young talent Zidane Iqbal hasn’t had the chances over the first part of the season he hoped he might, after an impressive pre-season. Now there is a brief pathway opening for him.

Iqbal took his opportunity, playing a one-two with Martial which saw him earn a penalty. He showed positive intent to pick the pass and then see the space to run into.

The rest of Iqbal’s game was very tidy, picking up where he left off in the summer. This was what Erik ten Hag wanted to see.

Youngsters held their own

Manchester United played an under-21 side in the second half against a senior Cadiz team, and they held their own, briefly tying the game.

This was great experience for them, with Marc Jurado, Tyler Fredricson, and Kobbie Mainoo the pick of the bunch.

There will be further chances against Real Betis at the weekend. Ten Hag will have been encouraged by what he saw. He has some real talent to work with in the academy, and having thrown the youngsters in at the deep end, he can be content with how they competed.