Erik ten Hag is managing his Manchester United squad like Jose Mourinho did

Those in the Old Trafford directors' box have to head out earlier to secure their leather-padded seats.

Any injured or cut Manchester United first-team squad member now occupies a seat in the back rows, now not vacant until full-time after nine players attempted to beat the traffic during the Rayo Vallecano friendly.

Sat adjacent to the press box on Sunday were Matej Kovar, Nathan Bishop, Brandon Williams, Axel Tuanzebe, Zidane Iqbal, Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri and Anthony Martial.

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The United chief executive Richard Arnold caught up with the seldom-seen Tuanzebe, recovering from another injury. Phil Jones was conspicuous by his near-permanent absence.

Kovar and Bishop train with the first-team but cannot be considered senior squad members. Neither have a realistic chance of ever playing for United regularly and loans with League One clubs fell through, despite the questionable addition of Martin Dubravka.

Kovar and Bishop are both 22 and the latter, a seven-figure signing from Southend in January 2020, is one of the most baffling pieces of business by United since Bebe.

Williams and Tuanzebe qualify on first-team experience, Iqbal and Garnacho do on the strength of their involvement under Erik ten Hag in pre-season and this season. Pellistri, another denied a departure by injury, travelled on pre-season but is yet to debut for United almost two years on from his deadline day arrival.

It was dispiriting Ten Hag selected two goalkeepers on the bench for the second game running after Donny van de Beek withdrew through injury. Yes, United Under-21s played out a watchable 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Saturday but what harm was there in having a reserve on