Erik ten Hag will be hoping his first pre-season tour with Manchester United is not as testing as those endured by his predecessors.
After the pandemic halted United’s lucrative global pre-season trip for two years, the world’s biggest club are back on the money-spinning commercial jaunt.
But as those who have gone before Ten Hag will testify, the tour can prove a challenging experience, although there is a tangible sense of positivity around the squad after the shambles of last season's sixth placed finish, with United's worst points total of the Premier League era.
Cristiano Ronaldo ’s absence from the tour is likely to dominate the agenda throughout the two-and-a-half-week trip, with his future uncertain after his camp let it be known he wants to leave this summer. Although Ronaldo has been granted extra time off by United due to “family issues”, the revelation he wants out has added an extra layer of scrutiny and intrigue to his absence the club - and ten Hag in particular - could have done without.
But any sense Ronaldo's absence has affected United's pull in Bangkok -or their pre-season preparation - was dispelled by the hundreds of fans who flocked to the opulent five-star Athenee Hotel, the squad's base for their four-day stay in the Thai capital. United have taken over three floors of the luxury hotel, with ten Hag insisting all of the players and staff eat together in the same room at the same time, three times a day, to foster team unity and bonding.
A games room has been set up for United's players to use during their down-time, with the squad not permitted to leave the hotel for walkabouts, because of the risk of Covid and the likelihood of getting mobbed by fans. After arriving on Saturday, United headed to the purpose-built STB Arena for a light training session and were there again yesterday morning, with the afternoon given over to commercial activities and free time for the squad.
Those who watched both behind-closed doors sessions observed how ten Hag was “front and centre” throughout, taking a more hands-on role to training that previous United bosses. Ten Hag has made it clear that football is the priority on the tour, with other obligations needing to be fitted in around training sessions, team meetings and matches. As one United source said: “For Erik, it's football, football, football.”
Pre-season tours in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era have often been trying affairs for United managers, in terms of preparation and personnel, but ten Hag has sought to assert his authority and control immediately, in a manner reminiscent of the club's most successful boss.
The 52-year-old may have wanted more signings on board for the tour, with defender Tyrell Malacia the only arrival so far, but his immediate focus is on getting the players to buy into his approach and develop an understanding with those who will form the core of his squad for the upcoming season.
“What I want to see is that they learn, but also they show themselves, because they have to deserve a position in top football," said ten Hag. You have to deserve your position. It means you have to deliver every day, that demands a certain style, a certain way of life that they have to adapt to, that they probably don’t know yet.
"But I'm really looking forward to seeing if they can do it. I hope one or two, they can prove themselves and they come into the squad but, if they want to enter the dressing room, they have to deserve it. We will spend a lot of time together, with a lot of football, but there will also be time in locations not directly in connection with football, to learn about each other in a personal way as well.”
Tomorrow's tour opener against United's old foes Liverpool, in front of a sell-out crowd of 60,000 at Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium, will be an early indicator of how successful ten Hag has been in that regard, with a positive start crucial to setting the tone of the major challenge that lies ahead.
