The Next Big Thing

Manchester United vs Aston Villa.

That was the only thing on David Jones’s mind throughout the night before matchday. He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. It wasn’t an official match, just a friendly, but that didn’t matter to him. The excitement was still there, coursing through his veins, keeping him wide awake.

This match wasn’t just another game—it was a chance. A chance to impress, to prove himself, to cement his place in the squad.

Thanks to Manchester United’s deep run in the Europa League last season, reaching the semifinals, their first Premier League game of the new campaign had been postponed. Erik ten Hag, a meticulous tactician who left nothing to chance, had seen this as an opportunity. He didn’t want to throw his squad straight into the fire without testing them first, so he arranged the only pre-season game for any Premier League team that summer—a final tune-up before the real battles began.

And he picked the perfect moment for it: the same day the new season was kicking off for everyone else. While other clubs were fighting for three points in competitive fixtures, Manchester United would be testing their tactics, their chemistry, their sharpness—preparing themselves in a way no other team was.

But scheduling the game hadn’t been easy. The timing meant they couldn’t just pick any opponent. They had three options.

The first was Burnley, the team United were originally scheduled to face on opening day. It made sense, but Ten Hag dismissed the idea. He wanted stronger opposition, a team that could truly push them, expose weaknesses, and challenge them in every department. That led him to consider Manchester City, their noisy neighbors and direct rivals.

City, too, had their first league match postponed after reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season. It seemed like the perfect matchup—until Pep Guardiola declined. The City manager had his own plans. He wanted time to integrate his new signings, to refine his tactics internally before putting them to the test.

David remembered how Ten Hag had explained all this to them. The Dutchman had compared himself to his also bald Spanish counterpart, pointing out their contrasting philosophies. While Guardiola wanted to forge his team behind closed doors, Ten Hag wanted his squad to be "forged by iron"—tested in the fire of real competition.

David respected both approaches, but he leaned more toward Ten Hag’s philosophy. There was no substitute for playing actual games. You could train all you wanted, but nothing compared to the chemistry built on the pitch in real match situations.

But he wouldn’t say the Spanish coach was wrong