From an admittedly small sample size of only three tour matches, Erik ten Hag appears to be improving Manchester United. Each of the goals scored in their 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, by Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, was a function of slick and cute play that crowned United’s most impressive performance of their pre-season tour of the far east and Australia, following the wins over Liverpool (4-0) and Melbourne Victory (4-1).
“We are happy with the improvement we see – we score some wonderful goals,” said Ten Hag. “That is also the demand [press high]. We press all day, high on the pitch and if we can’t we do it on a low block. [We can still improve] the timing, when we start it, and also our quality on the ball. We play well, but you see when two, three-nil up the belief is increasing.”
