Man Utd stars ‘being kept on a leash’ in the US as Erik ten Hag’s impact obvious

Manchester United’s US Tour has taken in some of America’s most celebrated hotspots, not that the players are seeing any of it. The Red Devils have crossed the States from East to West as they play a quartet of pre-season matches to get ready for the new Premier League season. Starting with a 2-0 victory against Arsenal in New York, a team of youth players went down 3-1 to Wrexham in San Diego before the seniors lost 2-0 to Real Madrid the next day.

United’s tour finishes on Monday in Las Vegas where Borussia Dortmund will be the opposition, but if any of the club’s superstar players were looking to enjoy the good life whilst on tour, they are playing under the wrong manager.

Erik ten Hag is reportedly keeping his stars on a tight leash with their focus almost exclusively on football. According to ESPN, club sponsor Marriott decked out a traditional double-decker London bus as an authentic British pub for fans to watch the Arsenal match from, in New York.

The bus was parked up in Times Square, but with the squad not allowed to visit Manhatten, it had to be driven out to the rural surroundings of Basking Ridge in New Jersey, just to get a photo-op with some players at the team hotel.

Sponsors are normally given three days as part of the tour to spend time with players for marketing purposes, but on Ten Hag’s request, that was cut down to two for this excursion. This is reportedly music to the ears of United’s squad, who are reportedly not keen on doing them anyway.

Supporters hoping to grab selfies and the autographs of their heroes at the team hotel were left disappointed with security ramped up and a police escort taking the team in and out of the premises.

There’s no missing the team coach. It has the words ‘United across America’ written across the side, alongside pictures of famous US landmarks, but getting near to the vehicle is another story.

United’s training base at New Jersey’s £39,000-a-year Pingry Prep School is almost completely deserted.

Even the club’s co-owner Avram Glazer only managed to get a quick handshake from Ten Hag when he visited the team at their base before the Dutchman made a bolt straight for the training pitches.

It was a similar story in San Diego, with a deserted University of San Diego providing the venue for United’s second training base. According to ESPN, even one of the campus’ own employees didn’t appear to know that the 20-time English league champions were training there.

But if spotting a Manchester United player enjoying his freedom has been a difficult task, anyone at Torrey Pines golf club on Monday evening would have had the privilege of seeing Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Tom Heaton and Dean Henderson checking out the famous course. It obviously left an impression because several players and staff returned four days later to play a round on their day off.