The Red Devils drew 0-0 with MLS side San Jose Earthquakes just days after a 1-1 draw with Club America. The likes of Anthony Martial, Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata featured as United struggled in the California heat. Mourinho has previously lamented the struggles he faces as a large portion of his squad are still on their summer break following the World Cup.
Alexis Sánchez offered an eye-catching 65-minute cameo but Manchester United drew a disappointing crowd of 32, 549 for this second tour outing, against San Jose Earthquakes. These were the headlines from a game that took four minutes for Sánchez to make an impact. His free-kick was fired in from the left, Eric Bailly found space and a stooping header pinged off JT Marcinkowksi’s bar. The defender should have scored and United came close seconds later. This time Sánchez strolled through the middle and fed Tahith Chong but the 18-year-old’s back-heel was cleared.
And the Portuguese boss was at it again after the goalless draw which also saw Antonio Valencia go off injured. “We are not a team, we are a group of players from different teams,” Mourinho told MUTV. “Some are from our from our first team, some are Under-23, some are from loans and going on loans, some are the Under-18s. “We don’t have a team to play much better than we did but its one more training session.” Eric Bailly should have opened the scoring for Manchester United but could only header against the bar. San Jose also hit the woodwork as they threatened late on while Timothy Fosu-Mensah had to clear an Earthquakes effort off the line.
While Sánchez was finally starting his pre-season following a visa issue, Antonio Valencia’s afternoon lasted six minutes, the captain being removed for Matteo Darmian with what looked to be a calf problem. As Sánchez continued to buzz around, all of this meant a bright start for those inside Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers. The problem was the empty seats. A venue that holds up to 75,000 appeared around only a quarter full despite the official number given. This followed the half-filled University of Phoenix Stadium for Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Club America. When United played Real Madrid here last year and Barcelona three years ago the venue was a virtual sell-out.
United now prepare to begin their International Champions Cup campaign. The Red Devils face AC Milan on Thursday before a meeting with Liverpool next weekend.
