MUFC boss Erik ten Hag sat with the press to talk about the game against Arsenal at the magnificent SoFi Stadium (owned by Gunners owner Stan Kroenke) in LA at the wee hour of 01:00 BST.
The manager spoke about transfers, the medical side of things and what to expect from United in the 24/25 season. He had some pretty interesting things to say.
As usual, he mentioned the process that he and United are going through to try and get back to the top. He said that "the process is nice and we'll go with ups and downs." He continues to say that "we have a good dynamic, good spirit."
ten Hag spoke about having to take over a dressing room that hadn't won a trophy in six years and that one "has to prove themselves" that they can turn fortunes around.
With all of the new appointments at the club this year, ten Hag says that he cannot turn United around on his own and that "we have to collaborate very good with the players, but also the staff, with the leadership."
He ended this comment off by saying that once they do all of this proper collaborations and when they have the right vision, "we will have even more success." The manager also expressed his desire for consistency and how his side are capable of beating the best.
On signings, the Dutchman wants a squad that is as "strong as possible." He is happy with Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro joining the club and believes that when all his players are fit and available, "we have a team who can beat everyone." However, he also feels that improved squad depth is necessary as he said that "in the squad depth, we have to catch up."
He then spoke about the injuries and how that needs to be avoided for next season as United picked up 70+ different injuries and illnesses last campaign.
However, Erik ten Hag does still feel as though his current squad has the quality but would welcome more players as he wants "our squad to be good in its depth." He reiterated the fact that "we have to catch up" (in terms of squad depth and quality) and that this season will be "survival of the fittest."
When asked about the left-back situation, ten Hag said that the club are looking to reinforce in all positions and that a clear plan is needed so that "we are always occupied in that position" as for almost the entirety of last season, United were without a left-back and left-side of defense with the injuries to Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia who missed the whole campaign.
But on why there was such a high volume of injuries, the Dutchman believes that "the amount of games the fixture list had, the load on the players, the pressure on the players is so high." He added that United aren't the only side that had these high volume of injuries.
Erik ten Hag believes that things are "getting even worse because of the new format in Europe."
"It will happen again" [many injuries).
One area that he wants United to cover is in the fitness of the team and that the players have to reach the high standards on a daily basis.
In continuing with the medical side of things, the manager said that the club have already appointed a new club doctor last season (Gary O'Driscoll) as well as a new head physio (Jordan Reece). The club have also made changes in "strategies in medical and performance to improve."
He spoke about the impact Ruud van Nistelrooy has had on the team, playing the Gunners in LA, Marcus Rashford and the appointment of the new set-piece coach Andreas Georgson.
Read the full press conference here.
Final Thoughts
I was most interested in what he said about the squad and injuries.
While Erik ten Hag has always been very praising of his team and quality in the squad, he also always talks about wanting to improve in that aspect.
Saying that he wants as strong a possible squad and that we have to catch up in squad depth is a clear indication that he feels we aren't at the level we need to be truly be competing for the biggest trophies.
This issue of squad depth and squad quality is something that we've struggled with for quite some time. Not being able to call upon players from the bench that can keep the quality high on the pitch and can continue to play the way in which the manager wants has definitely hampered United over the years.
The amount of injuries we had last season was a good example of how poor our numbers and quality in depth is, although 70+ different injuries and illnesses is a bit excessive. We could see that when players were missing, the team was really struggling to play at a competitive level and resulted in the very disappointing season we had.
But as ten Hag also said, and this is something that I think we all completely agree with him on, is that when we do have a fully fit team, we can beat anyone, just as we saw in the last few games of last season which included that deserved FA Cup final win over City.
Could you imagine what we could've done if even half of those players were available last season or if our fitness was better?
Speaking of fitness, I think this is the biggest thing to look at in pre-season, this pre-season more than others.
23/24 was a good indicator of how much football we can play and that wasn't even as much as what we had in Erik ten Hag's first season.
And this is what the manager is pointing to as a reason as to why we've seen so many injuries at not just United, but many other clubs: too much football.
Yes, we all love this game and want to play/watch as much of it as we can but when that's to the detriment of the players and results in regular poor performances, what's the point? We'd rather see a bit less football but with more of a chance for the teams to perform at a high level on the regular.
The Europa League usually has more games than the Champions League with the knockout rounds being played closer together than in Europe's elite club competition and with the new format, the Europa League will be more demanding than ever before, and this for a competition that was already so demanding.
This is why ten Hag is emphasizing that fitness needs to be better from United because the demands of modern-day football is so great.
Fitness was also an area where we needed to improve upon anyway so while it may not be ideal, this increased schedule could cause United to better themselves in an area that which they've appeared to neglect over recent years.
A lot to unpack from Erik ten Hag's first presser of the season.
Background Image: Erik ten Hag during pre-season training in Los Angeles | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)