Eric ten Hag transforms Manchester United with his fastidious approach to standards and discipline. Photo: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
To give you an idea of just how finicky Eric ten Hag can be, the Manchester United manager has been known to request that foam covers be removed from microphones before press conferences or interviews. He finds them distracting, and as anyone who has worked with him or met him along the way knows, Ten Hag is no distraction.
United players and staff have no doubts about the club's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia last summer, who was in charge and how demanding the demands of a coach can be, and that hasn't changed in the 12 months in the United States that they've been preparing. for his important second season.
Listening to stories about the level of control that Ten Hag shows about everything from the color of socks to wear on a given day to each person's individual meal plans. a player in America, it's hard not to remember the contrast with their tour here under another Dutch manager in 2014.
Ten Hag tells players what color socks to wear to practice every day. Photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images. the schedule and excess of commercial commitments cannot be further removed from the power and authority that Ten Hag wields.
For example, this tour was originally planned to include three days of commercial activity, but they ended up being cut short up to two after the manager has reviewed all arrangements and concluded that an extra day is too much.
All commercial items must go through and be approved by Ten Hag, and the staff is accustomed to being bombarded with questions about why, where, who, when, and what is happening. For fans who have worried that commercial priorities too often trump pitch issues in the past, this will be music to their ears. «He'll just say no if he doesn't think it's necessary,» one source said.
After a 62-game marathon season that also featured winter world championships for many international stars, » United», Ten Hag didn't want to go on a long tour and that's one of the reasons it was limited to just 11 days.
< p>While acknowledging that there is a brand that needs to be promoted, Ten Hag believes nothing should be a distraction from football, and even the club's co-owner was reminded of this last week in New Jersey during the first leg of the tour. Avram Glaser and his wife, Jill, moved into Pingree School in New Jersey's leafy Basking Ridge neighborhood, where United were based, and had to wait to speak to the manager.
Ten Hag's mandate at Manchester United is big, but perhaps doesn't extend to the median. Credit: ADAM DAVIS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Training was supposed to start shortly after, and Ten Hag wasn't about to delay it, even for the man who owns the club. There was a quick handshake and greeting, and then Ten Hag left to watch the session closely.
Basking Ridge itself was an interesting choice of location. United are usually accustomed to armies of fans camping outside their hotel, but the Somerset Hills hotel in quiet Warren, a good 45-minute drive from Metlife Stadium, where United played Arsenal last Saturday, offers plenty of privacy. and on any given day you had a hard time finding over 50 autograph hunters.
In San Diego, where the United Under-21s played Wrexham at the Snapdragon Stadium early Wednesday morning, the team stayed at the Estancia La Jolla & Spa, luxury getaway in one of the city's chic seaside villages. The hotel consists of several charming garden enclaves, one of which has been converted into an open-air games room where players can play basketball and table tennis.
One of the biggest changes on this tour and was warmly received demanding team is the quality and variety of food. After four or five days of past tours, there have been grumblings about insipid, repetitive menus. No more.
In January, United brought in a new chef, Omar Mezian, and he is a big hit with the players. At Ten Hag's initiative, each player was provided with a customized nutrition strategy tailored to their specific needs. Meziane, who has previously been head chef for the England cricket team, the UK rowing team and the Harlequins and Wasps rugby clubs, insisted on using higher quality ingredients and fresh produce. Live cooking stations have proven to be particularly popular and are used to encourage players to eat certain foods they need to eat properly on certain days of the week.
It was common on this tour to include local dishes and delicacies on the menu to keep them varied and broadening the horizon. For example, on Tuesday lunchtime in San Diego, fresh local fish was in vogue.
United brought two chefs and two nutritionists to the US. Meziane, who wrote Cooking for Fitness: Eat Smarter, Train Better, along with former English rugby union star James Haskell, whom he knew from The Wasps, will always travel a day ahead of the team to make sure the food is of the highest standard. . arrival of the detachment to the next location. Barcelona were forced to cancel their friendly against Juventus in Santa Clara last Saturday after their players fell ill with a stomach upset, and Méziane and Ten Hag are taking every precaution to avoid such problems.
Players and staff are notified by email the day before the dress code and color code down to whether they are required to wear black or white socks along with their training kit or leisure attire. Violations rarely escape Ten Hag's attention, and he will taunt those who break the rules. Despite his disciplining tendencies, the Dutchman has a good sense of humor and the staff know they can laugh and joke around with him. His personal touch was evident when he was the first to welcome newcomer Andre Onan to the team's hotel in New Jersey after the goalkeeper flew to the US following the rest of the team following the completion of his £44m move from Inter Milan. .< /p> 
Eric ten Hag stayed up to welcome Andre Onan to New Jersey when he joined the tour. Photo: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Ten Hag's ban on mobile phones while eating has never stopped and players and staff must eat breakfast together. Late arrivals are not allowed.
The workouts were usually intense. Although there were several double sessions at Carrington before the team flew to America, the only double session on the tour to date was in New Jersey on Friday last week, but Ten Hag is determined to develop United's style of play this season and is considering preseason as an invaluable period to work on tactics, form and systems. United's 2-0 defeat to the impressive Jude Bellingham-inspired Real Madrid in Houston early Thursday morning showed that the gap has yet to be bridged.
United's sports scientists and analysts get huge data about the workloads of individual players. to help determine fitness levels and use muscle sensors to help get accurate fatigue readings by talking to players regularly to get a more human feel of how they're doing.
A big campaign awaits and Ten Hag is determined to deliver to ensure that United jump into action right away, starting with Wolves on 14 August, and not repeat the brutal start of last season when they lost their first two matches and were immediately pushed back.
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