David De Gea and Bruno Fernandes have been challenging each other at table tennis on the Melbourne leg of Manchester United's pre-season tour.
A games room has been set up on one of the floors United have taken over at Melbourne's W Hotel with goalkeeper De Gea insisting he has the edge over Fernandes when it comes to table tennis. “To be honest, I'm much better than him,” said De Gea. “He's good, but I'm a bit better than him.”
New United boss Erik ten Hag revealed the tour had opened his eyes to the scale of the support United have all around the world. “I never had the experience to do a tour and now I have it,” said Ten Hag.
“We're busy with the development of the team, so we don’t have much time to get around, to look around, to see what is the culture, what is in the country, what are the people like in the country. All the time we use and spend on the team. You hear of it [the global popularity of United], but now I have to experience if it’s right and you know, you have that feeling that you have coming across.
“All the people, every time again when you enter the hotel, when you leave the hotel, every hour of the day. It’s unbelievable, incredible. It's a good feeling that we are Manchester United and have so many fans who support us.”
Ten Hag is hoping the prospect of winning back their England places for the World Cup this winter can see Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho rediscover their best form. “I think every player wants to be at the World Cup - it's once in four years,” said Ten Hag.
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“The moment is not that often, so the players will know that. They have to have that in their minds and they will respond to that fact.”
With so many fans camped outside United's base in Melbourne for the past week, Ten Hag arranged for players to go and reward the supporters for their patience and loyalty. In an echo of Sir Alex Ferguson – who used to make his players sign autographs and acknowledge their obligation to fans – ten Hag arranged for the squad to come out of the hotel to meet supporters.
United players signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans outside the hotel on Tuesday morning, ahead of the game against Crystal Palace at the MCG. Players have stopped to engage regularly throughout the tour, but this morning each member of the squad spent 20 minutes outside, ensuring every fan, in four different holding areas, got something signed.
De Gea said: “The fans were incredible in Bangkok and I didn't expect the love from Australia, it's been unbelievable. It's great, because it's been tough, tough times with Covid, so now, to be able to be with the fans, is great for us and we're enjoying it.”
