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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Samuel Luckhurst & George Smith

Four things spotted in Manchester United training in Bangkok including quadruple injury scare

After two weeks on the training ground, Manchester United's players will put Erik ten Hag's plans and demands into practice when they face Liverpool in their pre-season opener on Tuesday.

The two giants will go head-to-head at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, with the contest marking Ten Hag's first match in charge. Although results are not the main focus of pre-season, with the primary purpose of friendly matches being to build up fitness levels and match sharpness, Ten Hag will be keen to make a strong start to life in charge.

The Dutchman hosted his second press conference since accepting the job on Monday morning (BST time) and then went out onto the Rajamangala National Stadium pitch to conduct another training session ahead of the clash with Jurgen Klopp's side. Almost every member of the 31-man squad that travelled to Thailand participated in the session, but Raphael Varane, Axel Tuanzebe, James Garner and Scott McTominay did not feature.

READ MORE: Erik ten Hag breaks silence on Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United future

Here are a few things we spotted during the session...

Ten Hag's role in proceedings

If the training ground videos released by the club over the last fortnight taught as anything, it was that Ten Hag likes to be involved in the thick of the action. He likes to be at the centre of his side's work and get his ideas across as much as he can.

However, in Monday's latest session, the Dutchman delegated to assistants Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren to set the ball rolling, before becoming more involved in the session as it wore on. Both Van der Gaag and McClaren both showed themselves to be hands-on coaches at Carrington over the last fortnight, with the latter being more involved in proceedings than Mike Phelan ever was.

Fred sets the ball rolling

Although it sounds obvious and it shouldn't be too hard a task for any elite-level footballer, quick passing moves have been a constant theme in Ten Hag's training sessions so far this summer. The players have been filmed participating in countless pass-and-move drills and they were on show again on Monday.

In a new element to this type of drill, Brazilian midfielder Fred, participating in an 8vs6 attacking drill, was spotted sitting deep and setting attacks on their way. He was required to sit deep, get on the ball and then set the ball rolling.

As reported by the Manchester Evening News , United are prepared to go the duration of the transfer window without signing a world-class defensive midfielder, and Fred could be the reason why United don't believe they need one as a necessity.

Iqbal makes his presence known

One of several youngsters included in the squad, midfielder Zidane Iqbal is determined to leave his calling card on this pre-season tour. He made just one senior appearance for United last season and will be determined to increase that tally this term by impressing Ten Hag during pre-season.

He most certainly made his presence known in the latest training session, covering every blade of grass. He pushed himself so hard that he ended up hurting Bruno Fernandes and leaving him reeling. Fortunately, it was nothing too serious for the Portuguese international.

Maguire trains alone as four players miss training altogether

Fresh from it being announced that he will continue as United skipper, Harry Maguire trained on his own away from the rest of the squad in the latest session because he is carrying an injury problem. It isn't thought to be anything too serious, but it forced him to work away from the main bunch in a one-to-one session.

He worked on a series of running drills with one of United's fitness coaches and it remains to be seen if he will be available for the clash with Liverpool. With Varane also missing from the session, Ten Hag may not be able to call upon his most senior centre-backs against Klopp's side.

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