The reporter reported coldly Community Shield Manchester United lost to Manchester City on penalties, although in terms of game data, it seems that Manchester United has made a lot of progress compared to last season's FA Cup final, but after all, Guardiola only started with 4 main players, and 4 second-team newcomers started, and the game itself does not have full reference value. After Manchester City's four consecutive Premier League titles, ending Manchester City's monopoly must be the theme of the Premier League, and the probability of winning the Premier League in the new season Manchester City and Arsenal are still ahead, and Liverpool is not far behind, but Chelsea, Tottenham, and Manchester United are basically accompanying the role.

In particular, Manchester United, which has changed the entire sports affairs management, as well as the grand software and hardware, is still not favored, and it is necessary to find the reason from the team itself and even Ten Hag. Compared with the previous pre-season in North America, the Community Shield of the semi-official competition has not only given Manchester United fans a vague hope, but also made them still lack confidence. The specific goal for Manchester City in the new season is to be able to become an opponent who can play against each other over two legs of the league, which is a more realistic goal for Manchester United.

After losing three in a row, Manchester United is still not strong enough

The new season has seen a major shake-up in Manchester United's sporting management team, including a new look for the medical, scouting and assistant management teams. Except, of course, for Ten Hag. After losing to Manchester City on penalties in the Community Shield, Manchester United officially ended their pre-season campaign. With a total of 2 wins and 4 defeats in 6 preseason games, only wins over Rangers and Betis, and consecutive defeats to the top three of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, Manchester United fans' expectations for the new season have dropped game by game. When it comes to winning the title, Manchester United has no hope, and when it comes to the actual fourth, it will not be easy. In fact, against their neighbours Manchester City, who have won four consecutive Premier League titles, Manchester United have an additional goal - how to earn enough dignity for themselves in the two-legged derby.

The Community Shield is the equivalent of the Super Cup in the English league, but it has never been considered an official competition in English football due to substitutions and other reasons. On the surface, Manchester United can drag Manchester City until a penalty shoot-out, but in fact, Manchester United's 1.5 team is evenly matched with Manchester City, who started four rookie starters, which is frustrating enough. The quality of the game itself was modest, with both teams having zero shots on target in the first half, the first of the Community Shield since 2016. It is understandable that only Haaland and Doku are two newcomers in Manchester City's midfield, and Manchester United, where Rashford, B Fee, and Mount are all present, is also a bit unspeakable.

In the rating of the Daily Mail, Diallo (7 points), who started on the right flank, was the highest in the team, the strikers Rashford (5 points) and Mason Mount (5.5 points) were not up to par, and the defensive Evans (5 points), Dalot and Lisandro (5.5 points) who had just finished his vacation were not up to par, indicating that Manchester United's problems are all-round. As for the so-called "defensive progress" of being shot 8 times in a single game, it largely stems from the opposite "Manchester City II team". Ten Hag could use the serious injuries of new signing Joro and centre-forward Hojlen, as well as the recent return of some of the main players as an excuse, but the opposite Manchester City is not a complete lineup?

People are tired of Ten Hag's 'press conference victory', but where is United's progress? In fact, it is only Casemiro who has returned to a near-normal level, more players are still lost, and Garnacho, who came off the bench, is the only bright spot. Three consecutive pre-season defeats to the Premier League's top three have proven that Ten Hag has not learned the lessons of last season's defeats. Manchester United in the preseason and Community Shield is still lacking in defensive strength, attacking opportunities, and losing three games against the top three of the Premier League, Manchester United still has no tactics, no defense, and no core players to stand up for the "three no teams".

The only thing Ten Hag can be thankful for is that Casemiro has returned to most of his form, and the Brazil midfielder, who could have been swept away by Manchester United, now seems more likely to stay. Perhaps, as Ten Hag has said, Manchester United are not as bad as the results suggest. However, Manchester United's top three Premier League players are not all the main lineup, and whether the tactical formation is clear and reasonable in the context of uneven personnel is often the best reflection of coaching skills.

It's more realistic to be a "noisy" neighbor first

At the beginning of the Abu Dhabi Chieftain's acquisition of Manchester City, they bought stars on a large scale, including the "noisy neighbor" dispute caused by the poaching of Tevez from Manchester United, which gradually made the Manchester derby one of the most watched city derbies in the five major leagues. But time has passed, and it was Manchester United who was at the top of the table looking down on the "noisy neighbor", and now it has long been replaced by Manchester City.

Wembley Stadium's Community Shield, with a capacity of 90,000, attracted just under 78,000 spectators. The absence of a large number of main stars on both sides is the main reason, and it also shows the psychological expectations of the audience for the strength of the two teams.

Despite the start of a new era for Manchester United's management, the enthusiasm generated by the club's personnel changes was quickly extinguished by Ten Hag's pre-season record. United's immediate priority is not to sign better players and fill the positions that are needed most, but rather to have a clear tactical mindset and an attacking and defensive focus. Defence can still rely on new signings, and does the attack still count on Zirkze, a newcomer to the Premier League? The most important thing is that Manchester United has never had the same well-formed and diversified tactics as Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal in attack, which is equivalent to a fatal crisis for a team whose main players need another month to get into form.

Much to Ten Hag's dismay, he hopes to have a full squad in place as soon as possible to hone in on his tactical intentions. However, Manchester United are now injured in the new signings, and it will be difficult to clear the redundancies. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has left, and Scott McTominay, Casemiro and Harry Maguire were not originally in the new season plans, but now it seems that they will have to stay. On the rookie side, Ivory Coast winger Diallo has been ahead of Antony, but how to deal with Antony has also caused Ten Hag a headache. During Hojlen's injury, Marcus Rashford had to play as a central striker to compete with Zilkze for the main team, and such a staffing configuration naturally did not allow Manchester United fans to expect too much.

The defeat in the Community Shield is already a wake-up call for Manchester United before the start of the new season. There is not much time left for Ten Hag, with the Reds facing four tough teams ahead of the October international break, namely Brighton, Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa. How many points can you score in the first 7 rounds? If Ten Hag doesn't have the luck of last season, I'm afraid the new assistant coach on the bench, Ruud van Nistelrooy, will have to start preparing to warm up. The first leg of this season's Manchester derby is scheduled for rounds 16 and 31, scheduled for mid-December and early April, regardless of who the United manager is, playing at a real level will be the inevitable mission of Manchester United under the management of INEOS.