Erik ten Hag took charge of his first training session as Manchester United manager today and it went exactly how many thought it would, consisting of long and technical sessions.
Erik ten Hag was finally able to get his hands on some of the United players at Carrington today but only had access to 15 first team players.
David de Gea, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Ajax old boy Donny van de Beek, Tom Heaton, Phil Jones, Jadon Sancho, Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams all took part in the training today.
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The rest of the more senior members at the club are set to join training in staggered intervals as they took part in international matches this month.
The players were told to arrive at 10am with the new manager seen entering the training complex at 8am, shortly followed by his assistants Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag.
When the squad members did arrive they went under routine medical checks which began on Friday prior to the official start.
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Erik ten Hag had several meetings with players and staff throughout the day and addressed the players that were present before the training commenced.
The Dutchman certainly did not go easy on his new squad as the sessions had Ten Hag’s trademark on them of being skills concentrated over a long period of time.
The on pitch sessions have been reported to have lost over two hours with the majority of the drills being centred around a football, which is the 52-year-old’s approach to training sessions.
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The sessions combined first team members with the youth squad for "several minutes" according to club sources and this seems promising if Ten Hag is viewing some of the Under 21s as viable and competitive options.
An impressive work ethic was on display as multiple players who arrived at 9:30am at the earliest were seen staying well beyond 4pm, eager to impress the new man in charge.
Manchester United are to fly to Bangkok in Thailand in preparation of the start of the pre-season tour with the first game being against Domestic Cup double winners Liverpool.
United then head to Australia where they will play, Melbourne victory, then back to back Premier League opposition, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
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United will play once in Norway after Australia against Cristiano Ronaldo’s old city rivals, Atletico Madrid The final destination of the tour is back in Manchester where United will face one last Spanish opponent in the form of Rayo Vallecano, ending on the 31st of July.
If the first session is an insight into what is ahead for the Manchester United players then physically they will be up there with the best and technically they should be near autonomous in the match as it should mimic their training.
The changes will both hopefully be visible in the first game against Liverpool and this looks like positive times for the club.
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag
Tom Horn