Improvement required in Ten Hag's pre-season
- Published
Simon Stone, BBC Sport
If there is a sense of familiarity around the players Erik ten Hag will meet at United's Carrington training complex this week, there is much work ahead of them.
None more so than for Marcus Rashford, whose form - like his club's as a whole - has collapsed.
Videos and pictures have been posted on social media of Rashford doing some pretty intense training during a trip to the Nike Campus in Portland.
This is a positive sign for a player good enough to play over 300 times for United, scoring 93 goals, and earning 46 England caps despite not reaching his 25th birthday yet.
The club view him as part of their plans but, clearly, he must do more, much more, to impress Ten Hag.
Rashford is not on his own. There is a long list of United players who need to produce performances to match their reputations. Neither Jadon Sancho nor Raphael Varane managed it in their debut campaigns.
To a greater or lesser degree, Donny van de Beek, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Scott McTominay and Fred have something to prove.
Anthony Martial is one of those United would probably sell if they received an acceptable offer - but that may not happen. Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have no meaningful role next season and United will not hang on to them for the sake of it.
In his unveiling news conference, Ten Hag said he felt he could get more out of United's players than they showed last season. It is fair to say he will have to.
