Erik ten Hag conducted his first Manchester United training session yesterday.
Arriving at Carrington alongside his assistants Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag, the Dutchman had his first chance to assess his new squad.
The players arrived at around 10am, although there have been reports that some arrived much earlier – including youngster Alejandro Garnacho, who waived his holiday time to report for pre-season duty.
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Erik ten Hag had already decided to move the start date for pre-season forwards, as he wants maximum possible time with the players before jetting off to Bangkok to face Liverpool on 8 July.
Manchester United then plans to fly to Australia to face Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Finally, 'Tour 2022' will end in Europe, with the club facing Atletico Madrid in Oslo on July 30 before heading back to Manchester to play Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford on 32 June – a match that some fans are planning to stage a protest during.
Erik ten Hag then takes charge of his first Premier League fixture the following weekend, against Brighton & Hove Albion.
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The tone has already been set for this pre-season, and there are three things we've learnt from Ten Hag's first training in charge:
Ten Hag takes authority
According to reports, Erik ten Hag spent the first few minutes of yesterday's training to address those who were there.
Manchester United have suffered reports in recent times of players not respecting the coaching staff and management; this will be something the new boss will want to be rid of as soon as possible.
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By addressing the players through gathering them round, he gets the chance to properly introduce himself and his assistants.
During the first training session, it has been mentioned that the initial training session lasted over two hours and was very drill-heavy.
Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag were both pictured getting heavily involved in training under instruction from Ten Hag.
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The Dutchman also held meetings with many of the players and staff throughout the day.
Players keen to impress
Several of the Manchester United squad reportedly stayed on for training well past 4pm of their own volition, showing a clear willingness to get a head start with the new manager before the rest of the squad arrive back for pre-season.
Multiple players also arrived well before their allotted time in order to complete medical tests and get training as soon as possible.
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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.
Youth getting involved
The sessions are said to have involved members of the youth squad for "several minutes" throughout the day, with the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Alvaro Fernandez spotted among the rest of the squad.
This is incredibly promising, as it proves Erik ten Hag will be looking towards the Under 21 squad during pre-season, and potentially throughout the 2022/23 campaign as well.
Manchester United has a long famous tradition of 'giving youth a chance', and this is an early sign that Ten Hag will be looking to continue this mantra.
Only time will tell how Erik ten Hag’s pre-season will unfold and how his first season in English football will pan out; however one thing is for sure – his first training session could not have gone better and it has set him up brilliantly to continue taking charge of a club that needs a strong figurehead back in the dugout.
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag
Dylan Penketh