De Grasse ready Geschke wins to take Pan Am Tour stage sprint spotlight

THURSDAY, JULY 23, 201517 18 Prince Ali backs reforms but not under Blatter Page 19

SAN JOSE: Tommy Thompson (22) of the San Jose Earthquakes (left) battles for possession against Adnan Januzaj (11) of Manchester United at the Avaya Stadium. —AP United ease past Earthquakes

SAN JOSE: criticized new signing “The first half I was satisfied-the players have Munich. “Players can play bad, certainly when you parried clear by San Jose goalkeeper David pulled a back through Fatai Alashe. Bastian Schweinsteiger and his Manchester United performed what we wanted in the defensive organ- have only three days or six days training session in Bingham. Shea Salinas embarrassed Morgan Schneiderlin team mates after the Premier League giants eased ization, and they have created a lot of chances, 10, your legs and you have to play 45 minutes. Four minutes later, United threatened again down the right flank, feinting past the far to a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. and they scored two goals so I was satisfied,” van “Everybody can think it is easy to step in but it is when Luke Shaw powered down the left flank and too easily before picking out Alashe with a low cross United recorded a second straight victory on Gaal said. “But the second half I thought we played not easy. I thought the first match (Schweinsteiger) crossed for Wayne Rooney who was just unable to to finish past United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. their US tour and never really looked troubled very bad-a lot of ball losses, very unnecessary. The played very well and now he played bad but that is make contact. The mass of substitutions at half-time disrupted against their mid-table opponents from Major only highlight was the goal from Pereira. also a process.” United finally broke through on 32 minutes. United’s rhythm but they were soon back in the League Soccer. “We didn’t give many chances away but we gave Van Gaal however would have drawn encour- Ashley Young fed Mata who cut into the penalty goalscoring groove with Pereira making at 3-1 on 61 Juan Mata and man-of-the-match Memphis possibilities away. “It was a threat always and that agement from the display of Depay, who complet- area and chipped across goal to beat Bingham off minutes. England Under-21 international Jesse Depay scored first half goals for United before was not necessary. “Our positions in midfield were ed a $38.9 million move to Old Trafford in June. the far post. Lingard chipped in a pinpoint cross from the right Brazilian youngster Andreas Pereira added a third in not so good as in the first half.” With former United boss amongst Five minutes later United were 2-0 up when flank and Brazilian youngster Pereira lost his marker the second half. Asked to assess the performance of new sign- an 18,000-capacity sell-out at San Jose’s Avaya Depay, by far the sharpest of United’s attackers on to steer home past Bingham. United will play But United boss van Gaal was furious at the per- ing Schweinsteiger, van Gaal didn’t mince his words. Stadium, United eased into their attacking stride display, pounced on a poor back pass by Jean European champions in their match of formance of his team after the break when he made “He was also bad,” the Dutchman said, warning it quickly. They created a promising opening after Baptist Pierazzi to coolly tuck away his finish. the International Champions Cup exhibition tourna- 10 changes, including the introduction of would take time for the German World Cup-winner only four minutes when Depay broke forward men- But a largely trouble-free opening 45 minutes ment on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Schweinsteiger. to settle in at United after arriving from Bayern acingly before whipping in a low shot which was was blotted shortly before half-time as San Jose home of the San Francisco 49ers. —AFP Suarez, Roberto lift Mourinho rules out Barca over Galaxy transfer splurge MONTREAL: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists the Premier League PASADENA: Goals from Luis Suarez and Sergi break, with Suarez among the seven Barcelona champions have no plans to make significant additions to his squad, reveal- Roberto lifted Barcelona to a 2-1 victory over players to depart and Andres Iniesta and Gerard ing that he is relishing the prospect of mounting a title defence with the the Los Angeles Galaxy on Tuesday that manag- Pique entering the game. same set of players. er Luis Enrique called an encouraging start to Galaxy coach Bruce Arena went even fur- the European Champions’ North American tour. ther, but Luis Enrique said such sweeping Apart from the arrival of striker Radamel Falcao and the departure of Uruguay international Suarez came out on changes were “logical” for both teams. His goalkeeper Petr Cech, Chelsea have been largely inactive in the summer top in a clash with former Liverpool team-mate moves allowed him to give more of his men a transfer window while rivals such as Manchester United have spent heavily. Steven Gerrard-the Galaxy’s latest acquisition chance to get back into the groove, while he felt And although Chelsea continue to be linked to a move for Everton’s from Europe. his opposite number Bruce Arena was wise to English defender John Stones, Mourinho is adamant there is no chance of His 45th-minute strike and Roberto’s 56th- avoid excessive wear and tear on key players the club making a major splurge in the transfer market. minute goal ensured that even without such like Gerrard and Keane with his team in the “In this moment we don’t want players,” Mourinho said. “Of course we stars as Argentina’s and Brazilian midst of their MLS title defence. must be ready because the market is open and if someone comes for one of -let off the pre-season tour after Copa Arena was delighted to give his younger our players with a bid, we must be ready to act.” Mourinho confirmed the America duty-Barcelona got the win their domi- players-many of them second-teamers-the club was likely to offload defender Filipe Luis and would seek a replacement. nant performance deserved in front of 93,226 experience. “I don’t think Keane and Gerrard “We need a left back because I think we will sell Filipe Luis, so we need to go fans at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. It was the largest need these games as much as the young kids to the market. But other positions we have no space.” crowd ever to watch a match featuring a Major need the experience,” Arena said. “You can tell While the likes of Manchester United have bolstered their squad with an League Soccer club. them a lot of things, but until they actually step array of high-calibre signings including German World Cup-winner Bastian “Based on what a first game of the pre-sea- on the field and experience it against quality Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin, Mourinho insists he is happy with son looks like, considering we’ve only had players, they don’t fully comprehend. Tonight what he has. about seven days of practice, a lot of traveling, for our young players it was an invaluable expe- Asked if he was targeting the Champions League this season, he replied: overall I feel very positive,” the coach said. rience.” “It’s not my main objective. I have only one objective-to win tomorrow. “I “Overall, our players look good.” Barcelona, The changes didn’t slow Barca, with Douglas have no other objectives other than to improve, improve and improve. preparing to defend their , Copa Del Rey going close in the 47th minute and Pique test- “It’s a nice challenge to improve with no new players. I think the players and Champions League treble, effectively neu- ing substitute Galaxy keeper Andrew Wolverton we have are happy because the club trusts them. “We are saying ‘You are the tralized any threat from Gerrard and Galaxy in the 53rd after a pass from Munir. champions, we trust you, we believe in you.’” Mourinho revealed Chelsea’s teammate Robbie Keane, while pressing relent- Munir also helped set up Roberto’s 56th- coaching staff were focusing instead on trying to make the team more lessly themselves. minute strike from the edge of the box-which “unpredictable”. “We have exactly the same players, the squad and the team They were finally rewarded in the 45th brought joyous cheers of “Barca! Barca!” from is basically the same,” Mourinho said. “We are just going to try and add some minute when Suarez fired a left-footed shot the crowd. things we are competing against teams who are going to be better because past Galaxy keeper Brian Rowe after Rafinha’s The minority of Galaxy fans in the stands, on of the money they’ve spent. A team that buys one, two, three or four players deflected cross was moved on by . a balmy night in the foothills northeast of Los and spends 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 million is going to improve. Suarez had been off-target from the center Angeles, had few real scoring chance to cheer, “So we have to improve what we have already. We are trying to give them of the area in the 11th and from long range in although Tommy Meyer grabbed a consolation some new qualities, try to be a little bit more unpredictable and go through the 23rd, while Rowe made a diving save of goal in the first minute of injury time, heading the season with high motivation.” Roberto’s attempt from outside the box in the in from close range. The Galaxy now head back Chelsea, who are basing themselves in Montreal for the duration of their 35th. into MLS action, visiting the Dynamo in pre-season tour, play their opening game against the New York Red Bulls in “I’m happy with the way the team played, Houston on Sunday. Barcelona next travel up with the level, the intensity,” Luis Enrique said, the coast to take on Manchester United on New Jersey yesterday. while stressing that “everything can be better.” Saturday at Levi’s Stadium, home of the NFL’s PASADENA: LA Galaxy’s goalkeeper Brian Rowe punches through the players dur- They play Paris Saint-Germain in Charlotte on Saturday before winding Both teams made wholesale changes at the San Francisco 49ers.—-AFP ing the FC Barcelona vs. LA Galaxy soccer match at the Rose Bowl. —AP up the tour against Barcelona next week in Washington.—AFP