Erik ten Hag had much to ponder on Manchester United’s 14-hour flight to Bangkok for the first leg of their pre-season tour.
Ten Hag’s in-tray was already full, before star player Cristiano Ronaldo dropped the bombshell that he wants out of United this summer, to join a club that can offer him Champions League football. While United’s public stance remains that Ronaldo is under contract and not for sale, privately ten Hag may be relieved the club’s most high-profile player is not part of the travelling party to Thailand and Australia.
The circus that would have ensured, following Ronaldo’s revelation he wants out, would have overshadowed ten Hag’s debut tour and first games in charge of United, had the club’s iconic No.7 been on the plane for yesterday’s flight. It is inevitable ten Hag will be quizzed on Ronaldo’s future when he faces the media in Bangkok on Monday, but with the forward absent for family reasons, the United boss can point to that as a legitimate reason for his absence, without adding to the fervour surrounding the issue.
In that sense, Ronaldo’s absence from the tour may ultimately be a blessing in disguise for ten Hag, allowing him to focus on getting to know his squad, work on tactics and fitness, without having to deal with the furore surrounding the future of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Ideally, ten Hag would have wanted more new signings on board yesterday’s flight, with left-back Tyrell Malacia, signed from Feyenoord for £12.9million, the only addition to United’s squad so far this summer. One player who will be under pressure following Malacia’s arrival is England defender Luke Shaw, who endured a difficult time last season and whose previous status as United’s first-choice left-back is no longer guaranteed.
Shaw missed the final six weeks of last season through injury, and will have a point to prove to ten Hag, whose recruitment of Malacia shows the Dutchman was not convinced by the left-back situation he inherited. Many of United’s younger players will be looking to impress ten Hag on the two-and-a-half week tour, and push their claim to be permanent members of his first-team squad this season.
Ten Hag showed a commitment to youth and bringing players through the ranks at Ajax, nurturing the likes of Donny van de Beek - back at United after a loan spell at Everton - and Frenkie De Jong, whom he still hopes to sign from Barcelona.
In the absence of any further signings, United youngsters like midfielder James Garner - back from a successful loan spell at newly-promoted Nottingham Forest - and 17-year-old attacker Alejandro Garnacho will have the chance to show ten Hag they are ready to stay with the first-team squad.
Other challenges for ten Hag include getting the best out of key players who dramatically under-performed last season, in particular skipper Harry Maguire and forward Marcus Rashford, both of whom had their worst seasons for United. Maguire lacked confidence and got worse as the season progressed, culminating in being booed on England duty, which prompted interim boss Ralf Rangnick to drop him towards the end of the campaign, an act of mercy rather than punishment for poor form.
Ten Hag must help Maguire rediscover the form and belief that made him one of England's best performers at Euro 2020, while the United boss must do the same for Rashford, who lost his place in Gareth Southgate's squad and is struggling to make the World Cup later this year.
With Ronaldo's future uncertain and the 37-year-old absent from the tour, Rashford will have the chance to lead United's attack, though ten Hag must decide upon the 24-year old's best position – through the middle or on the left of a front three. Ten Hag's biggest task is restoring the broken confidence of a squad that endured United's worst season of the Premier League era and ensuring his players buy into his philosophy and way of playing.
It will be a slow process, given how far United have fallen behind the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, but time is on his side as he seeks to haul them back from their lowest point in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
