Sir Alex Ferguson expects the MLS All-Stars to provide a much sterner challenge than they did against his Manchester United side this time last year.
As part of Tour 2011 the Reds take on the cream of Major League Soccer at New Jersey's Red Bull Arena on Wednesday, almost a year to the day since beating a representative team 5-2 in Houston. United dominated that game but Sir Alex believes the meeting with this year's All-Stars outfit will be a different prospect.
"We're at the stage where the games are a bit more serious," the United manager told a press conference in New York. "The MLS team is much stronger than the team we played last year, with players like David Beckham and Thierry Henry. Both are fantastic footballers with a great profile."
United have won all three games on the US tour so far but Chicago Fire gave the English champions a thorough workout in testing conditions on Saturday, taking a shock early lead before eventually succumbing 3-1. Also David de Gea debut in that game made it more significant.
"The last game in Chicago was in tremendous heat," Sir Alex admitted. "We felt it in the first half but fortunately managed to turn the game around. In the first half, Chicago Fire were the better side and created the better chances. In the second half, we had to step up the performance level and we brought on a few substitutes, which helped us. The temperature went down a bit and we got the result we wanted.
"It was warm in Chicago but it'll be cooler in New Jersey on Wednesday and we look forward to the match."
MLS All-Stars vs Manchester United kicks off at 21:00 local time (EDT, five hours behind UK) on Wednesday 27 July. The match will be shown live in the UK and Ireland on MUTV and MUTV Online.
As part of Tour 2011 the Reds take on the cream of Major League Soccer at New Jersey's Red Bull Arena on Wednesday, almost a year to the day since beating a representative team 5-2 in Houston. United dominated that game but Sir Alex believes the meeting with this year's All-Stars outfit will be a different prospect.
"We're at the stage where the games are a bit more serious," the United manager told a press conference in New York. "The MLS team is much stronger than the team we played last year, with players like David Beckham and Thierry Henry. Both are fantastic footballers with a great profile."
United have won all three games on the US tour so far but Chicago Fire gave the English champions a thorough workout in testing conditions on Saturday, taking a shock early lead before eventually succumbing 3-1. Also David de Gea debut in that game made it more significant.
"The last game in Chicago was in tremendous heat," Sir Alex admitted. "We felt it in the first half but fortunately managed to turn the game around. In the first half, Chicago Fire were the better side and created the better chances. In the second half, we had to step up the performance level and we brought on a few substitutes, which helped us. The temperature went down a bit and we got the result we wanted.
"It was warm in Chicago but it'll be cooler in New Jersey on Wednesday and we look forward to the match."
MLS All-Stars vs Manchester United kicks off at 21:00 local time (EDT, five hours behind UK) on Wednesday 27 July. The match will be shown live in the UK and Ireland on MUTV and MUTV Online.
