Sir Alex Ferguson welcomed his side's 2-1 win over Boca Juniors
in Munich, but admitted he saw plenty of room for improvement in
his side.
Anderson and Antonio Valencia both scored their first goals for
the Red Devils in a strong first-half performance but, as United
tired in the second half, Boca reduced the arrears and had several
good chances to level.
And Ferguson acknowledged his side had been slightly fortunate
to get away with the win.
"I am satisfied with winning, which is always the main aim, but
I didn't think we played particularly well,'' he said. "Maybe it's
a realisation that we are coming into a better standard of football
after being in the Far East where the games were obviously not as
competitive as today.
"But hopefully it brings us on. Boca were the better team in the
second half and probably deserved something out of the game.''
Summer signing Valencia made his debut for United in front of
61,000 fans in Munich's Allianz Arena and, after a slow start, he
showed glimpses of why Ferguson chose him as the man to replace
Cristiano Ronaldo.
And the United manager predicted a bright future for the
23-year-old.
"I think he will figure in many games,'' said the Scot. "It was
his first game today. He missed pre-season because he had to go
back to Ecuador for a work permit so therefore, for his first game,
we are very satisfied.
"He is a good athlete, has good power and running ability, as we
saw today with the way he created a good goal. Maybe it was a
mistake by the goalkeeper, but he created the opportunity and
opened up spaces for himself.''
It took Valencia only 42 minutes of his debut to find the back
of the net for the first time.
His goalscoring record for Wigan read just seven goals in 83
games, but Ferguson believes this is something he can and will
improve on for the Red Devils.
"We know that when you look at his record at Wigan it is not
good in terms of goals,'' added Ferguson. "He knows that too, but
when we assess the individual parts of his game, his athleticism
and the power in his shooting, then why should he not score more
goals?
"Maybe the way we play will give him more opportunities to score
so therefore we expect more goals [from him].''
The only sour note for United was the sight of Wes Brown limping
off after just 35 minutes, but Ferguson insisted he was only
removed as a precaution.
"He felt a little pull on his thigh and there is no point
carrying on in a pre-season game,'' he said.
United return to the Allianz Arena tomorrow for the final
against either Bayern Munich or AC Milan, and Ferguson claims he
has no preference.
He said: "I think all the Germans will want Bayern Munich, but
it doesn't matter if we play Bayern, who we have played many times
and they were always fascinating games.
"Or there is Milan. We look forward to them.''