Noussair Mazraoui reveals Man United’s mantra that has worked wonders in pre-season | OneFootball

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Manchester United won their penultimate pre-season friendly against Leeds United 5-4 on penalties after the game in Dublin ended 1-1 at the end of normal time.

Joshua Zirkzee scored a stunning opener after some great work by Bryan Mbeumo, and even though the Whites equalised, the Red Devils deserved the win in the end.

Michael Carrick’s squad has been strengthened following the return of their World Cup heroes, with Noussair Mazraoui slotting home the winning penalty.

The Moroccan made it clear after the game that the 20-time English league champions were hellbent on winning against their arch-rivals, despite the game at Croke Park being classed as a friendly.

Noussair Mazraoui delighted to score the winning penalty

This is the mentality that Carrick has built within the group, and it has been on full display during pre-season this summer.

“It’s nice to score the winning penalty, but even in friendlies, the aim is to win the game,” he told MUTV. “I think the best way to prepare for the full season is to go into every game to win.

“Because if you want to win, the tackles are 100%, the runs are 100%, and the football you play is not nonchalant. So, yeah, that’s of course the whole idea. Even here [in Dublin], you can feel the rivalry of this game. It was an amazing atmosphere.”

The former Bayern Munich man has only been back in training for two weeks now, but he feels ready to contribute once the real action starts.

Noussair Mazraoui praised the squad harmony

“I don’t think you lose too much in three weeks off. I’ve played a lot of games at the World Cup, so physically, I’m not too far off from being at my top level. I feel fresh and I’m ready to begin the new season.”

The 28-year-old lauded the group’s camaraderie, which he feels has helped summer recruits Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans to settle quickly. That, in turn, has helped the duo perform to a high level this pre-season.

“They’ve settled in really well,” he added. “We have a good group of guys – very easy going, and I think we have players who give this feeling to the new signings. You can see that straight away in the quality they show in games.”

Lots of youngsters have got chances to impress in pre-season, with Tynan Thompson earning his debut against Daniel Farke’s men on Wednesday.

Youngsters lauded

Noussair Mazraoui was full of praise for all the starlets, and he urged them to use these minutes to fuel their desire to earn competitive minutes once the season kicks off.

“Amazing – they did really good. I gave them a compliment in my last interview, so I’m not going to say any names, it’s going to be too much! The experience they’ll get from these kind of games will really help them in the future, and I hope it gives them more hunger to show that they belong here.”

United have one last outing coming up, a blockbuster encounter against AC Milan, coached by former boss Ruben Amorim.

While the likes of Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo will be eager to prove a point, Mazraoui is keen to end on a winning note and he is looking forward to meeting the Portuguese tactician.

“It’s a big game against a big team. Of course, we all know Ruben [Amorim], so it’ll be good to see each other again.”