Manchester United’s players will be dealing with a perfectionist in every sense of the word as they meet Erik ten Hag for the first time this week.
A number of United’s senior squad will be making their return to training this week as the club begins its pre-season preparations. 15 players, including the likes of David de Gea, Luke Shaw, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford are expected to report back to Carrington on Monday morning.
There, they will train for the first time under their new manager, with Ten Hag beginning his tenure in earnest. It will be an opportunity for some of United’s players to catch the eye of the Dutchman early, and put what was a disastrous season behind them.
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While it’s the first training session of the summer, it will be anything but easy for United’s players. Ten Hag is not one to do things by half, as made evident from his time at his previous clubs.
One of his former players, Sjoerd Overgoor, filled Sky Sports in on what life was like playing under Ten Hag at Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles – the 52-year-old’s first job as a manager. It sounds like United’s players won’t be taking it easy in their first week back.
"We did a lot of ball work, but a few times in the afternoon we would have to run in the woods in groups,” Overgoor said earlier this year. “He would say that we had to run a certain distance in two minutes. We wanted to prove ourselves to him so our group did it in one minute and 50 seconds.
"He said, 'No. If I tell you to run for two minutes I don't want you to take two minutes and 10 seconds but I also don't want you to run for one minute and 50 seconds. Two minutes is two minutes. He was like that. If you did not stick to the plan you had a problem."
It’s not just with his players where Ten Hag demands the best. Every aspect of life at United will come under scrutiny under his watch.
Another of his former players, Bart Vriends, remembers just how fastidious Ten Hag was. Every minute detail analysed, including how the woman in charge of the kits at Go Ahead Eagles brought out drinks for the players.
"She would put the drinks there just randomly," Vriends said. "He wanted the drinks put out in straight lines. Everything had to be perfect in his eyes. People needed time to get used to that."
Overgroor added: "We had one man whose job it was to look after the pitch. Every day Erik would be coming to him and saying that the grass had to be two millimetres or something like that. That was a big difference for everyone at the club. He changed everything.
"Remember, this is not a big club in Holland. We did not have the best facilities but he made them the best. A lot of coaches come to clubs like Eagles and have the attitude that they have to deal with it. He did not deal with it. Instead, he made it better and better."
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