The All star game preview: A US insight

Of course, there are other quality players for the MLS side, this is after all an all-star game but some of the guys are given a spot on the team simply because of great careers and not for their current form.

The weakness for the MLS side will most likely be the defence. There is some talent present, but the youth and inexperience could easily be exploited (much like Berbatov did to Celtic). Wilman Conde is a 6’2” physical force similar to Oguchi Onyewu, but he loves to take chances in the back and often finds himself beaten after overly aggressive challenges.

Another factor that United should be able to capitalise on is the lack of team cohesion. Many of these guys have never played on the same 11 with the others so I expect some mistakes based on the different styles of play each all-star is used to with their own club.

A final factor in this match might just be Colombian pride. It will be interesting to see if the 5 MLS reps from Columbia will all get to be on the pitch at the same time. If so, I look for them to play with a little extra for the sake of proudly representing their country.

In the U.S all-star games in other sports are typically high scoring affairs marked by little defensive effort. I don’t expect this to be the case since the opportunity to play Manchester United will motivate many players to give a little extra in this exhibition match. That being said, I still wouldn’t be surprised to see a 3-2 final score in favour of the Red Devils.”

United will be looking to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat against the Kansas City Wizards and with Javier Hernandez being touted as a second half sub, the match will have an extra spin. It will be interesting to see what team Sir Alex goes with for the game and who will be dropped after Sunday night’s game.