After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, Alex Ferguson saw the Asia tour as a chance to see how best to deploy new signing Michael Owen and Federico Macheda along with Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.
Starting with a different strike partnership in each of the four matches in Malaysia, Korea and China, he was rewarded with 16 goals with all four forwards getting on the scoresheet.
"I think it gives us very strong options," Ferguson told reporters after the 8-2 thrashing of Hangzhou Greentown that ended the tour.
"Macheda's development is good for a 17-year-old boy and he's got the physical attributes to go with it. And with the experience of Berbatov and Owen, and we all know the great expectations we have of Wayne Rooney, I think we're not too bad."
Ferguson's praise for Macheda, the Italian teenager who burst into the spotlight last season with a goal against Aston Villa, is unusual in that the Scot tends not to talk up young players for fear of putting to much pressure on them.
"I think his contribution and overall play of a game is definitely suited to us," said Ferguson. "He's very cool in the last third of the field. He knows when to run and when to hold his run .... he'll get us goals."
On Sunday, the England striker started alongside Berbatov and their interplay was encouraging, not least when they combined for Owen's volleyed second goal.
"Last season was a strange one for him and we maybe didn't use him in the right way, but we know exactly how to use him now, further up the pitch, playing as a centre forward," the manager said.
