Erik ten Hag has not been in charge of Manchester United for long, but he has already made quite the impression on the players.
While the attention of United fans is focused on the club’s efforts in the summer transfer window, Ten Hag is working hard on the training ground. The Dutchman only had his first training session on June 27, but he is not wasting any time in drilling his players on the way he wants them to play in the 2022/23 season.
Understandably, most of the coverage of Ten Hag’s early training sessions has revolved around Cristiano Ronaldo, who is yet to show up at Carrington amid uncertainty about his future at the club. Ten Hag is getting on with things in the 37-year-old’s absence and footage from the club’s training ground provides a clear picture of his work ethic.
Supporters have already spotted a drill which Ten Hag has brought with him from Ajax. The session, which was shared by MUTV, sees players interchanging with each other via short and sharp one-touch passing. Ten Hag and his coaches, Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag, can be heard shouting instructions, praise and criticism from the sidelines.
The idea of the drill is to encourage quick decision making and a pass-and-move style, with midfielders used as link players. Balls are fired into the feet of players in the middle, Anthony Elanga and Scott McTominay, and the passer then runs past to receive a return ball.
Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Marcus Rashford can all be seen performing the runner roles to varying degrees of success.
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One coach can be heard shouting at Fernandes to use his right foot instead of his left at one point, while McTominay takes a few slightly heavy touches to slow down the moves. Ten Hag can be heard shouting “making too many mistakes” to his players – a fact which is underlined by the example of his Ajax squad performing the same drill flawlessly.
Ten Hag still has a long time until United begin their Premier League campaign against Brighton at Old Trafford on August 7, but he will soon be heading off on the club’s pre-season tour. United fly off to Thailand on Friday and will play Liverpool in Bangkok next Tuesday before moving onto Australia for further fixtures against Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Ten Hag wants to give as many players as possible the chance to impress in pre-season. He has therefore included first teamers, loanees, academy prospects and under-18 players in training this week, with the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri, Hannibal Mejbri, Ethan Laird and James Garner all in the frame to travel this weekend.
