MAN UNITED CONFIDENTIAL: Erik ten Hag draws up three-pronged plan to get out of the rut, former Red Devils captain risks wrath of club owners and latest on Antony's Old Trafford future

Erik ten Hag is urging his players to be nastier as part of a three-pronged plan to improve Manchester United’s performances this season.

United have got off to a difficult start, suffering back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Liverpool after opening the campaign by beating Fulham at Old Trafford.

It follows a summer in which Ten Hag kept his job despite sweeping changes of the football operation at United, and identified three areas where he wants his team to step up this season.

The United manager has called on the squad to be more aggressive from front to back to avoid conceding any more soft goals. There was a feeling that United weren’t hard enough last season and needed to develop a meaner streak.

They have committed 32 fouls in the opening three Premier League games against Fulham, Brighton and Liverpool compared to 24 in the corresponding three fixtures last season – and that’s before Manuel Ugarte has made his debut.

Erik ten Hag is urging his players to be nastier as part of a three-pronged plan to improve Manchester United’s performances following a disappointing start to the new campaign

The Red Devils, who sit in 14th in the table, suffered a dismal 3-0 loss at the hands of bitter rivals Liverpool before the international break, following a last-gasp defeat against Brighton

Ten Hag claimed that new signing Manuel Ugarte (above) will 'bring fight' to the Red Devils

‘This guy brings the fight,’ Ten Hag declared as he showed Ugarte around Carrington last week and they posed in front of a new sign put up at the training ground underlining the manager’s message to ‘Unite & Fight’.

Secondly, Ten Hag wants United to have more possession, telling his players they need to protect the ball better to control games.

Results haven’t gone United’s way over the last couple of weeks, but it’s notable that they had 52.8 per cent possession against Liverpool compared to 38 per cent in the same fixture last season, and 51.8 per cent against Brighton compared to 45.2 per cent when the teams met at the Amex three months earlier.

United’s share of possession in the win over Fulham was 55.5 per cent, roughly the same as the 56.8 per cent when the Cottagers won at Old Trafford in February.

Thirdly, Ten Hag has been drumming it into his players to be more positionally aware – a problem that resurfaced at Brighton when Joao Pedro was left unmarked at the far post to head a 95th-minute winner.

The United manager has been showing the squad videos to highlight the importance of good positioning in cutting out silly mistakes and unnecessary goals.

United’s early form suggests it remains a work in progress, but it will be interesting to see if the trend continues at Southampton on Saturday.

Ten Hag also wants United to have more possession and control the ball better during games

Thirdly, Ten Hag has been drumming it into his players to be more positionally aware – a problem that resurfaced at Brighton when Joao Pedro was left unmarked to score the winner

Tennis stars head for OT

Tennis is taking over Manchester this week with the start of the Davis Cup at the AO Arena – but football is not far from the players’ thinking.

Argentina’s team are being hosted by United for a tour of Old Trafford on Wednesday, while there is hope that they can welcome the Great Britain team, not least because British No 1 Jack Draper is a big Manchester United fan.

Draper has just enjoyed a career-best run at a Grand Slam by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open in New York. Now United are keen to host him, either at Carrington or Old Trafford, before the Davis Cup leaves town on Monday.

Great Britain play on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and have practice commitments too, but United are hopeful they can toast the success of the 22-year-old before they travel to Southampton on Friday.

Unfortunately for Team Argentina, both Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martinez aren’t back in town in time to show them around Old Trafford, with the busy international break proving a frustrating hurdle for player crossovers.

British No 1 Jack Draper, who made the US Open semi-finals last week, is a huge United fan

Antony’s staying put

The Premier League transfer window may have been closed for 11 days, but speculation over two Manchester United stars has continued thanks to the deadline in Turkey being extended until Friday.

No sooner had Casemiro ruled out a move to Galatasaray and vowed to fight for his place at Old Trafford than Antony was being linked with Fenerbahce, United’s opponents in the Europa League.

The Brazil winger has made only one appearance this season as an 89th-minute substitute at Brighton, with Erik ten Hag preferring Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho on the right wing.

But Confidential understands there is little chance of Antony moving to Turkey after a number of wide players left United this summer including Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood, Facundo Pellistri and Omari Forson.

Antony will stay to compete for a first-team spot with Amad, Garnacho and Marcus Rashford, but still has much to prove at United after struggling since a £86million move from Ajax two years ago.

Confidential understands there is little chance of winger Antony (above) moving to Turkey

Jadon Sancho, pictured signing for Chelsea, is one of the wingers let go by United this summer

Anthony Martial left Old Trafford this summer, calling an end to his nine-year spell at the club

No rest for Rashy

Once again overlooked by England, and after finding himself jeered when Ten Hag chose to substitute Alejandro Garnacho instead of him against Liverpool, Marcus Rashford has been grinding away from the home comforts of Carrington and Old Trafford.

Working with one-to-one coach Ryan Hopper, of RH Elite Coaching, Rashford was putting in extra work at Ashton United’s Hurst Cross stadium in a bid to find form heading into this weekend’s visit to Southampton.

Hopper is a popular figure among a number of United’s first-team stars and youngsters, working with the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.

Rashford has found it tough to rediscover form anywhere close to the 30-goal season he had in Ten Hag’s first season in charge at Old Trafford, failing to score in any of his last nine Premier League games.

But away from prying eyes and working with a specialist coach, the hope is he will see an uptick like fellow clients Dalot and Fernandes.

Marcus Rashford is putting in extra work in a bid to reclaim his first-team spot at Man United

Alejandro Garnacho (left) was preferred over Rashford in United's defeat against Liverpool

Reds face Fenerbahce dash

United have been dealt another poor hand by the authorities as they face a tight turnaround between their Europa League clash at Fenerbahce and the Premier League trip to West Ham next month.

Ten Hag’s side travel to Turkey for a 10pm local time kick-off on Thursday, October 24 before playing the Hammers away at 2pm three days later. United typically travel straight back to Manchester after European matches, but they are not expected to land in the UK until the early hours of Friday morning as England is a four-hour flight from Turkey.

The short time between games will surely be of concern to Ten Hag, who may be left questioning why there is not a similar rule in place for the Europa League as there is for Champions League clubs.

Premier League teams in the Champions League cannot be scheduled in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off after playing away in Europe three days’ earlier on the Wednesday.

Super Scanlon ready to make next step

Last month, Confidential shed light on rising star James Scanlon after he was crowned striker of the tournament having impressed at the Otten Innovation Cup in the Netherlands.

Well, Scanlon is not showing any signs of slowing down after the 17-year-old scored his first senior international goal for Gibraltar against Lichtenstein.

Scanlon was used in a wholly different role by Erik ten Hag than in attack on this summer’s pre-season tour of the United States but it is undeniable that, like many of his peers, he has benefitted massively from being routinely promoted to train with the men’s first team.

Manchester United starlet James Scanlon (right) is not showing any signs of slowing down

The 17-year-old scored his first senior international goal for Gibraltar against Lichtenstein

Scanlon played a key role for United’s U18s last season en route to winning three trophies. But with a lack of full-back options during the summer, he had to fill in at right-back, further enhancing his reading of the game.

Last season Scanlon scored eight goals and added three assists in 12 league games and he will be looking to better that this season as he aims to become more involved in first-team training and then squads.

Having made the step forward with his international team, the onus is now to give Ten Hag a headache, perhaps in the Europa League, as he seeks a senior United debut.

Utd seek first-team physio

United are continuing the overhaul of their medical department as part of the revamp of Carrington by recruiting for a new first-team physio, just two months after the club parted company with the long-serving Richard Merron and John Davin.

Among the duties required of the new physio will be to ‘work daily with the first-team players to limit time loss through injury’ and to ‘develop, deliver, monitor and track strategies and interventions that mitigate the risk of injury’. Merron had been with the club for 23 years, while Davin joined in 1997.

Theatre of Dreams finds its voice

Fans of The Voice will have noticed that the ITV show kicked off its new series with a judges’ song performed on the pitch at Old Trafford.

Former Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am poses with his No 1 Manchester United jersey

Stars will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones, LeAnn Rimes and McFly duo Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones sang a version of the Miley Cyrus hit song Edge of Midnight against a backdrop of flashing lights and fireworks.

Producers wanted to film the segment in the middle of winter but were prepared to wait until May 16 – the day after the final home game of the season – to stage it at Old Trafford with will.i.am said to be particularly keen on using the Theatre of Dreams despite ITV holding talks with other Premier League clubs.

The former Black Eyed Peas singer, who was presented with a United shirt when he attended the Manchester derby in October, began the song in the tunnel before handing on to Sir Tom and the other judges in turn.

As well as the fireworks, lights show and dancers, ITV also brought a crowd of 1,000 fans to Old Trafford to make it feel as though the stars and their support band were playing to a full stadium thanks to some clever camera work.

Men united for mental health

To mark Suicide Prevention Day on Tuesday, United and Andy’s Man Club are raising awareness of the free weekly mental health support sessions being held at Old Trafford and around the country.

The club was set up by the family of Andy Roberts in memory of the passionate United fan who sadly died by suicide in 2016. The charity, which aims to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health, now has over 200 groups supporting more than 4,800 men nationwide who attend weekly sessions to open up about their experiences.

Since July, Old Trafford has hosted weekly sessions for men over the age of 18, which are free to attend and require no pre-registration. They take place on Monday evenings at 7pm in the Salford Bar & Kitchen at the stadium.

All attendees should enter via the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand entrance where they will be directed to the fully accessible suite.

Joanna Madyarchyk, head of safeguarding and wellbeing at United, said: ‘As a leading cause of death for men in the UK, it’s important to provide opportunities for men to open up and talk about the challenges they face in their lives to address the issue at hand.’

Legend Valencia goes green

Antonio Valencia was back at Old Trafford at the weekend to play for United Legends against Celtic in a match that raised nearly £1m for the Manchester United Foundation. However, the Ecuador winger has risked getting a frosty reception from co-owners Ineos in future after putting his name to an open letter from Greenpeace calling on world leaders to support the Global Plastics Treaty.

Antonio Valencia (above) was back at Old Trafford at the weekend to play for United Legends

He risked getting a frosty reception from co-owners Ineos in future after putting his name to an open letter from Greenpeace calling on world leaders to support the Global Plastics Treaty

Greenpeace have criticised Ineos, led by United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right), in the past

Valencia has joined stars of screen and sport such as Bette Middler, William Shatner, Sharon van Rouwendaal, Carly Telford and Carlo Cudicini in backing the plan to drastically reduce plastic production and end single-use plastic.

The final UN negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty will take place in Busan, South Korea from November 25 to December 1, and are expected to produce a legally binding agreement that will curb the global plastics crisis.

Greenpeace have criticised Ineos in the past, accusing the petrochemical giant of plastic pollution, and fiercely opposed the six-year sponsorship deal signed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company and the All Blacks rugby team in 2021.

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