6 innovative disciplinary tactics used by Erik ten Hag at Man Utd

Manchester United have been put on the right track by Erik ten Hag, with the Dutch coach demonstrating his creativity in dealing with players when things have not gone as planned this season.

To be a great manager, one must possess a certain personality trait that allows them to switch between different modes as and when needed. Although Ten Hag appears to be a pleasant and affable manager, he undoubtedly possesses that essential ability to turn on the "switch" when necessary.

The Manchester United boss has a wealth of innovative disciplinary tactics at his disposal, ranging from physical to psychological punishments.

We have compiled a list of the six disciplinary measures employed by the team this season.

Pre-season push-ups

Ten Hag established the tone right from the beginning with his team, and he certainly made a lasting impression following their pre-season tour.

Jadon Sancho revealed: “Let’s say we do attack vs defence and the defence score, the attackers have to do five press-ups.

“He is assuring us that some things are not allowed – especially in transition play. We are all taking that in and we are taking it in well.”

According to The Athletic, it has been confirmed that the punishment was regularly administered whenever a team conceded a goal during the session

Dealing with Alejandro Garnacho

Ten Hag has played a huge role in Garnacho's rise this season

If Ten Hag hadn't called out the Argentine winger for his attitude during pre-season, things could have turned out very differently for him, even though he has been a standout player for United this season.

Bruno Fernandes told BT Sport: “On the [pre-season] tour he didn’t have the best attitude that he should have had, and that’s why he didn’t get his chances until now.”

Ten Hag gave Garnacho his first start in October against FC Sheriff in the Europa League, and it appears that the decision to hold him back until then has been effective in addressing any attitude issues, as they were promptly resolved.

The run after losing against Brentford

Brentford humiliated Man Utd 4-0

Following their humiliating 4-0 defeat against Brentford, United found themselves at the bottom of the Premier League standings. However, Ten Hag was able to devise the perfect plan to motivate his players and elicit a response from them.

“It’s quite clear,” he told beIN Sports after the match. “It’s rubbish. It’s poor and we need higher standards than that.”

The Dutch manager made the decision to cancel the scheduled day off for the team and instead called for them to return to training.

They were tasked with running a distance of 13.8km, which was the same distance covered by Brentford players during their 4-0 victory. To everyone's delight, Ten Hag, the manager himself, even participated in the training.

Undoubtedly, this decision had a positive impact on the team as they were able to defeat Liverpool nine days later. As a result, discussions surrounding the crisis were put on hold, and the team was able to win seven of their next nine league matches. All of this was made possible by a simple 13.8km run.

Dropping Cristiano Ronaldo

Ten Hag dealt with Ronaldo's situation pretty well

Early on in his tenure, Ten Hag faced his toughest test as a manager when Ronaldo presented a plethora of difficulties for him. The initial signs of strain in their relationship surfaced when the Portuguese maestro departed a pre-season friendly early, leaving the coach to contend with the aftermath.

In the team's first game against Brighton, Ronaldo was relegated to the bench, but tensions continued to mount between the two from that point on.

The situation reached a critical point when Ronaldo declined to enter the game as a substitute against Tottenham, and Ten Hag had reached his limit at that point. As per Ten Hag's philosophy, no player is greater than the team.

Consequently, Ronaldo faced a fine of approximately £1 million and was not included in the team lineup for their game against Chelsea.

Benching Marcus Rashford

The manager didn't have any doubts over his disciplinary action on Rashford

“If you allow [players] to be undisciplined, if they don’t match the standards, values, rules we set together – that is the staff, players, and in the dressing room – then it will come back and blow in your face,” Ten Hag told reporters after he dropped Rashford to the bench against Wolves.

While the United forward's scoring record is impressive, it's important to prioritize off-pitch conduct. Following Rashford's tardiness to training, Ten Hag opted to bench him for their game against Wolves, which proved to be an effective disciplinary action as Rashford has been consistently scoring ever since.

Locker-room silence after Liverpool humiliation

Ten Hag reacted to United's loss at Anfield by making his players hear Liverpool's celebrations

It's impossible to ignore the fact that conceding seven goals to your arch-rivals is a truly dreadful outcome. However, Ten Hag was determined to prevent any similar incidents from occurring in the future, and he devised an incredibly innovative form of discipline.

While Liverpool laughed, cheered, and danced in the opposing changing room, he made his players sit in silence and endure the exuberant celebrations as if they were a group of misbehaving children being punished.

A United source said: “Ten Hag was obviously furious and told them they were lucky to be getting on the team bus back to Old Trafford and not made to travel back with the fans.

“He warned them all that if anything like that happens again, there won’t be another chance for them and they’ll be put in the Under-21s.”

Time will tell if this punishment does the trick on the Manchester United team.