How Matej Kovar learned lesson to give himself Manchester United chance

Matej Kovar has looked pretty seamless in his ability to stroke a pass with either foot during his two Manchester United friendly outings this summer, including in Wednesday's win over Lyon.

The 23-year-old has been on the books at Carrington since February 2018 but is yet to make his competitive senior debut. Kovar is already relatively experienced as a young back-up goalkeeper with the Czech Republic Under-21 international already enjoying spells at Swindon Town, Burton Albion and most recently Slavia Prague.

Speaking two months into his return to his homeland last October, Prague boss Brian Priske was full of praise for the United shot-stopper. "He shows exactly what we expected from him,” he raved after a 2-1 win over Hradec Kralove.

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“He is a tall young goalkeeper and his performance today was very good. He made a number of excellent saves and has a big part to play in the victory. Although he behaved differently than usual in several situations in the first half, he is the future of Czech football."

High praise indeed. Those said unusual moments were ironed out as his loan spell progressed but he had a wobbly start to his stay, at least in the eyes of the player himself.

Kovar was put straight into the line-up for his debut upon his arrival and showed signs of rustiness. Having picked up a yellow card for a foul, he conceded twice after his team had gone 2-0 up against FK Teplice.

The ‘keeper was the first one to critique his own performance. "That’s not how I imagined the first match,” he admitted post-match. “I take the second goal on myself, it passed between me and Casper [Hojer].

"I was nervous, but the boys helped me. I went to the pitch with a clear head. Seven