Ruling The Squad To Run 14 Km In The Hot Sun And Threaten To Remove Maguire's Captain's Armband, Erik Ten Hag Leads Manchester United To Change
JAKARTA - The Manchester United players pay respect to their coach, Erik Ten Hag, for being willing to run with the team in the hot sun.
The order to run in the hot weather was actually a punishment from the Ten Hag for the players. However, the Dutch coach's decision to give the punishment was sweet, as it could unite the team and trigger a big change with a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday.
Quoted from The Sun, Wednesday, Ten Hag had ordered his players to gather at the Carrington training center. Under the hot weather, Ten Hag asked the Red Devils squad to run more than 13.8 km.
Ten Hag's decision initially made many players angry. But, then the players were surprised because not only ordering, Teh Hag also joined the ranks.
The attitude of the coach shows that no one gets special treatment in the team. Moreover, Ten Hag had previously warned four of his players, including Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo.
To Maguire, Ten Hag emphasized that there was no guarantee for him to be the first choice. Moreover, his status as captain is also in danger of being removed if he cannot prove himself in the field.
Ahead of the game, Ten Hag had also informed Maguire that there would be rotation between centre-backs during the season and he could not confirm that Maguire would secure his place on a weekly basis.
Ten Hag even gave the captain's armband to Bruno Fernandes, who according to him is growing rapidly with extra responsibility.
Maguire has recently been attracted by Barcelona and Chelsea, but United are adamant not to let the 29-year-old go. However, the chances for Maguire are getting smaller if the central defender pair Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez continue to show good performances like they did against Liverpool.
Ten Hag said he had made changes at the back by replacing Maguire and left-back Luke Shaw by Tyrell Malacia. The change was deliberately made by Ten Hag to make his squad more mobile.
Ten Hag also rotated Ronaldo's position, which was in an uncertain situation because the player wanted to leave Old Trafford.