Erik ten Hag lifts the lid on next season’s planning in strongest hint yet that he’ll stay – Man United News And Transfer News

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The strongest hint yet that Erik ten Hag is going nowhere, at least to start the next season, has arrived from the most reliable source.

It’s Ten Hag himself who has spoken to Manchester United’s official website and detailed the plans for the pre-season.

While it is generally not unexpected that a manager/player appears in promotion material or club communications and then leaves, it is seldom this detailed.

Ten Hag revealed his plans for the players, the squad he intends to take on the tour as well the changes from last year that he is hoping will bear fruit later on.

On the squad, he said that unlike last season, where there were two different units- first-team and academy, this time, there will be one group with a mix of both.

There is Copa America as well as Euros in the summer so some players’ participation will be taken out of the manager’s hands which is where the academy youngsters will fill in.

He said: “We have a strong first-team squad there with players that can present themselves to the fans, but especially to us. They have the levels to play in our team for next season.

“There will be a mix, with experienced players together with some young players.

“[The squad will be] as strong as possible, but of course the players who go far in the Copa America and the Euros will not be involved.”

On the plans for the tour, Ten Hag revealed that there will be less travelling and more focus on preparations by staying at one base.

He said: “We had a good time there [in the US last year]. [This time] we will do things slightly different. We will stay longer in the base camp and not so much travelling any more. We will play again against strong opponents.”

Five pre-season tours have been finalised so far by United as California has been designated as the main base for the activities.

He said that the primary focus will be on training structures, patterns of play and enforcing certain standards on the team.

The manager also said that he is excited for foreign supporters to have a glimpse of players like Kobbie Mainoo, who wasn’t a household name in the summer of last year.

The hope is that another Mainoo emerges from an encouraging pre-season and Ten Hag’s detailed comments clearly point to the fact that he believes he will be in the dugout when that player comes, something which Fabrizio Romano also alluded to recently.

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