Erik ten Hag blocked his Manchester United squad from wearing their club-sponsored suits ahead of their Carabao Cup win at Wembley.
Teams traditionally wear suits to cup finals held at the national stadium, with United facing Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday. But the Red Devils opted to wear their club tracksuits to Wembley, a decision that was made by Ten Hag.
The Dutchman has ruled United with an iron fist since taking charge in the summer, with his power at the club demonstrated by the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo in November. And he continued to stamp his authority on every aspect of the club this weekend.
Ten Hag ordered that the United squad ditch wearing their Paul Smith-sponsored suits for the final, according to The Sun. The Red Devils boss was unhappy with the tight pre-match schedule being impacted by the time it would take for his side to get changed.
If they had worn the suits for their journey to Wembley, the team would then need to get changed for their pre-match walk around the pitch. The decision to not wear the suits was a surprise.
With Paul Smith being a sponsor, they would have wanted the chance to have their outfits shown off as the team disembarked from the bus. Ten Hag disagreed though and is reported to have called a club official to discuss the matter.
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The United boss insisted that wearing the suits would have added an extra 10 minutes to their schedule. The Dutchman had planned his side's pre-match preparations to the minute, with time also being needed to change into the training gear and the match kit.
The club official agreed with Ten Hag and allowed the team to ditch their suits in favour of their training kit. Ten Hag proceeded to mastermind United's first trophy win for six years in the final.
First-half goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford were enough for the Red Devils to defeat Newcastle. And Ten Hag was delighted his side had succeeded in ending their long trophy drought.
"It was definitely the right spirit, there is very good spirit in the team. We act as a team and fight for everything. We beat them, it was not always the best football but I think it was effective," he said.
"What you see is they are really well connected with each other - also they challenge each other and, in moments, they help each other when it's difficult. It's great to see. I think it's the best a manager can get.
"We invested from the start of the season with the staff. I want to say the staff did an incredibly good job with the players but also the staff and players are together. Also, you see the fans, they stay, and it was really harmonious and the desire is for trophies.
"It shows something, silverware, that you are on a good pathway, a good direction. It's one cup, it's February, but it shows we are on the right path. This has to be the motivation to continue on this pathway. Be happy for 24 hours but not satisfied."
