The training session on the evening of July 11 at Man United's Rajamangala Stadium opened for about 10,000 fans to watch, who have bought tickets to watch the match. With only 15 minutes of opening practice, fans saw how strict Ten Hag was on the training ground with his new students.
The first exercise Ten Hag gave reporters and fans to admire was the familiar "ghost" game but was raised to a higher level. Not 1 or 2 players chasing the ball in the middle of the round, each group of 3 people, combined into a triangle will do that task. All are allowed to play with one touch, which is an absolute requirement.
The next exercise is to coordinate within a small square. Like many other coaches, there are only about 3 people practicing in each square like that. Ten Hag has expanded the space and asked a group of 8 players to take turns. The attack team is tasked with making 5 passes. Meanwhile, the defensive team was assigned to closely follow, try to counterattack and score against a small net on the field.
Each group was overseen by a Ten Hag assistant, Van der Gaag and McClaren. Ten Hag observed very carefully how his assistants guided the players. At one point, the 52-year-old strategist was upset when Van der Gaag's team arranged a messy arrangement, unable to separate the strikers and midfielders.
"Another person coming up, there must be 2 people in the middle. Create a triangle, that's football, everything has to follow the principle" - Ten Hag's screams on the practice field were recorded very clearly.
Solskjaer and Rangnick have never been this harsh on the training ground before. It is clear that Ten Hag's current influence is stronger than his two predecessors.
Van der Gaag reminded the players that in each match, they have to determine their own number of passes. With Fletcher, he demanded that the attacking players continuously put pressure on the defense. Although not Ten Hag's official assistant, Fletcher is responsible for providing training support and being a bridge between young players in the academy and seniors in the first team. In the near future, Fletchet may still work at Carrington.
"This season with a coach and new rules, we will find a way to unite and stick together more because that is the only way Man United should do it at the moment" - Fred shared.
The next exercise is a competition between a group of 8 defensive players facing 7 attacking players. All the stars who carried this task last season such as Rashford, Sancho, Martial were given the responsibility.
Meanwhile, in the defensive team, Lindelof and Bailly were present. In the end, Sancho assisted Rashford and Bruno to score. Wan-Bissaka also received attention from Ten Hag but with a not-so- harsh attitude.
After the training session, Maguire only suffered minor injuries while the other players were sweating from fatigue, only a few stayed in the stadium to sign for fans.
