Alcohol and personal chefs are prohibited, late comers will be fired, weekly BMI checks will be conducted… and DON’T complain to your agents: Erik ten Hag has revealed his ‘five strict new rules’ for Manchester United‘s stars.
According to reports, Erik ten Hag has delivered a set of five values to his Manchester United players.
The Dutchman, who was appointed manager of United in April, is starting his first season at Old Trafford and getting to know his players.
The club is set to embark on a pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia later this month, ahead of the Premier League season kicking off in August.
Ten Hag has been getting to know his players at the team’s Carrington training base and is beginning to implement his own technics and methods.
A strict disciplinarian, the 52-year-old has now laid down a set of rules he expects each of his players to abide by.
According to the Daily Mirror, they include the mantra that any player late to training or team meetings will be dropped without exception.
Drinking alcohol during a match week is also something that will be banned. This will essentially work as a blanket ban on alcohol across the season, with United regularly set to play twice a week due to European commitment.
One of the biggest changes will be to food. Ten Hag has banned players from adopting their own personal chefs and wants all players to use the canteen at Carrington as their main source for meals.
Ten Hag has sought to overhaul the menu available as one of his first moves, with fish and vegetables now more prominent at meal times.
The likes of Luke Shaw have publicly flaunted their hiring of private chefs in the past, something which has seen players able to commit to their own dietary choices.
However, each player will still receive a unique food plan to meet their individual needs. The only difference is that it will now be controlled by the club.
The Dutchman is also wary of players keeping their weight in check and as a result, BMIs will be checked on a weekly basis.
Finally, he has requested that all player grievances are run by him, instead of going to agents or other sources.
Indeed, dressing room leaks were one of the main bugbears of previous bosses Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim head coach Ralf Rangnick, and they are something Ten Hag is hoping to eradicate from United.
News of dressing room unhappiness reaching the back pages and social media was a regular occurrence last season, which served to undermine those in charge.
According to Richard Arnold, two of the main sources of those leaks have now left the club.
Ten Hag has already been hit with his first major challenge at United, with Cristiano Ronaldo pushing for a move away.
Ronaldo was due to return to training this week but was given a leave of absence on Monday for family reasons.
However, the Portuguese star has still not shown, and it is now unclear if he will even join the squad on their pre-season tour.
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