Manchester United head coach, Erik ten Hag has already established his rules as he has dismissed a player for arriving late twice to team meetings.
The Dutchman was given the responsibility at Old Trafford this summer and is now trying to turn around the club’s fortunes after a truly terrible season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick last year.
Before his first training with the players, he subjected the team to harsh discipline protocols as part of the rebuilding process, and so far, it seems that most players have adapted to the new guidelines. Having said that, not everyone is yet to catch up with the new era.
According to The Athletic, During the Red Devils’ pre-season visit to Asia and Australia, one unnamed player violated the new punctuality guidelines. He appeared to have missed two team meetings, and as a result, he was benched for a game during the tour. The report revealed that Erik Ten Hag had intended to play the player during the game but decided to prioritize the rules because being late was seen as a sign that standards were starting to fall among the group.
However, this strategy isn’t all that different from the sanctions imposed by United managers in the past; Ten Hag’s fellow countryman Louis van Gaal likewise handed out harsh sanctions for a delay of just a few seconds. The former Ajax manager is not strict but he has great regard for punctuality.
🔴❌ Erik ten Hag dropped a Manchester United star from his plans on the club’s pre-season tour after he twice turned up late to team meetings.
— FIVE (@FIVEUK) July 25, 2022
Ten Hag had been planning to use the player but he was punished by being left out completely. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/OAXYvqMRrh
Although people are watching to see if the new harsh rules will bring them back to winning ways when the season kicks off next month, Man United enjoyed a great pre-season tour as they won against Liverpool, Melbourne Victory, and Crystal Palace. But they failed to make it four wins from four games after they drew against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
During the game, United were 2-0 up in the first half but threw the lead away and also allowed Leon Bailey’s stoppage-time equalizer which left them frustrated.
Erik ten Hag has stated that his players will learn from what happened in the game before the next campaign starts. Speaking during an interview after the match he said that the first half was a decent performance but they ended up with a poor performance.
According to him, he believes that the team is making a lot of progress as they look to get back to winning ways and playing attacking football. Man United will play their first game for the new English Premier League season against Brighton. The Red Devils are already looking like title challengers even though they have not played a game with their star player Cristiano Ronaldo.
