This Week in Wrexham: We Beat Man United, But the Real News Is Six Days Away

A WrexPat's look at Wrexham AFC

Preseason results usually don't mean much and I try not to get carried away by them. But Saturday's 1-0 win over Manchester United in Helsinki is one of those ones worth sitting with for a minute, especially with what's coming for us in the States in less than a week.

Smith gets the winner, O'Brien pulls the strings

Wrexham's second preseason match of the summer, after a scoreless draw with Wisła Kraków the weekend before, ended with Sam Smith converting a well-worked move down the left just before halftime to beat a Manchester United side that included Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Bryan Mbeumo, plus a debut for new signing Andrey Santos. Lewis O'Brien squared the ball through Maguire's legs to set Smith up at the back post, per ESPN's recap of the match.

The fairest caveat, and it's a real one, is that United fielded a weakened squad missing everyone away at the World Cup this summer plus Benjamin Sesko, and used a youth-heavy second-half lineup once the game was in hand. Phil Parkinson rotated hard too, playing 22 of his own players across the two halves, according to Sports Illustrated's breakdown. So don't put too much stock in the scoreline itself.

What I'd put stock in is O'Brien. He was excellent in a deeper midfield role next to Matty James, completing 93% of his passes for the match and winning every tackle he attempted, per that same SI report. He never quite nailed down a regular starting spot in his first season at the club, and performances like this are exactly how that changes.

The academy boys, and a defense that held

There's a nice bit of symmetry to this one too. Smith, along with Ollie Rathbone and Matty James, all came up through Manchester United's academy before finding their way to North Wales. Smith was let go by United at 16, and here he is scoring the winner against them a decade-plus later. That's the sort of story this club seems to collect without even trying.

Just as encouraging: Wrexham held United scoreless across both halves, a second straight clean sheet after Arthur Okonkwo's penalty save preserved the draw against Wisła Kraków. That matters more than it might sound like for a side that conceded 65 league goals last season, its worst defensive return since dropping out of the Football League back in 2008. If Parkinson's group can actually tighten up at the back this year, another playoff push isn't a stretch.

Why I care more about six days from now than Saturday

Here's the actual point of this post. Wrexham's three-match US tour kicks off on July 25th against Leeds at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, then Liverpool at Yankee Stadium on the 29th, then Sunderland at Subaru Park in Philadelphia on August 2nd, per the official tour page. Every one of those is a Premier League opponent. If Saturday's performance is anything to go by, this isn't a team that's going to show up overwhelmed. For those of us running this business off the back of American interest in this club, that's the story that actually matters this week, not a July friendly in Finland.

Sources: ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and the official Wrexham AFC tour page.

Header photo: the Kop at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, by Rhyswynne / Wikimedia Commons (CC0).