Manchester United are continuing their preparations for Brentford on Saturday as they look to kick-start their season.
Following the disappointing opening day defeat to Brighton, United will be aiming to pick up their first points of the 2022/23 campaign as they head to London this weekend. Perhaps even more importantly, they’ll be looking to banish some of the issues that have plagued them over the past year.
Erik ten Hag put his players through their paces again at Carrington on Wednesday. Here are some of the things we learned from United’s latest training session.
ALSO READ: Rio Ferdinand explains what Adrien Rabiot would add to Manchester United team
Putting in the hard yards
The weather may be heating up in the UK this week, but Ten Hag clearly wasn’t in the mood to let his players take it easy in training on Wednesday. The majority of the pictures from Carrington showed the players running and putting in the hard yards following their defeat to Brighton.
Whether this was a punishment or not after Sunday’s performance isn’t known. But while there may be question marks over their displays on the pitch, there should at least be no doubt over the players’ fitness.
Garner and Van de Beek with point to prove
James Garner and Donny van de Beek would have both been heading into the new season hoping they could force their way into Ten Hag’s plans. Unfortunately for the pair, they were named on the bench for Sunday’s opener, with only Van de Beek making a cameo in the second half.
Given United problems in midfield against the Seagulls though, they may be in with a shout for this weekend’s trip to Brentford. The pair were seen sticking close together during training, perhaps in an effort to catch their manager’s eye.
McTominay gets advice from McClaren
Scott McTominay, along with Fred, came in for plenty of heavy criticism following his performance on Sunday. United legends Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were particularly scathing in their assessments of the Scotland international.
The midfielder was pictured being spoken to by Steve McClaren as the players made their way onto the training pitch on Wednesday. What the pair may have been discussing could well be revealed when United return to action on Saturday.
Youngsters eyeing up a place
Plenty of the club’s youngsters were involved in the latest training session. Zidane Iqbal, Shola Shoretire and Alejandro Garnacho were among those running in the heat at Carrington.
Ten Hag of course has a penchant for giving young players their opportunity to impress. Following a disappointing opening to the season, some of the club’s prospects may well be eyeing up a chance to force their way into the manager’s thoughts.
READ NEXT:
