Erik ten Hag might have already discovered his first Manchester United undroppable

Although we're only a week into Manchester United's pre-season schedule, there has already been plenty of positives for manager Erik ten Hag to reflect on.

He's seen his side win their opening two games, score eight goals, play with positive energy, show signs that they are listening to what he wants from them and concede just one goal. The positives, without any shadow of a doubt, outweigh the negatives so far.

But while it is also fair to point out that United have beaten a much-changed, out-of-sorts Liverpool team and a Melbourne Victory side that they'd be expected to overcome, you can guarantee that criticism would have been rife had things not gone well. You have to give credit where credit's due.

READ MORE: Erik ten Hag breaks his silence on Lisandro Martinez ahead of joining Manchester United

While United have shown plenty of encouragement collectively, playing with a possession-based style that Ten Hag expects from his players, there have also been plenty of individual performances that have caught the eye. Eric Bailly, Charlie Savage, Zidane Iqbal, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial, arguably, have all been the biggest plus points so far, but other players have also deserved recognition for their starts to pre-season, even if their contributions have gone under the radar somewhat.

Among those that you could say fall into that category is Fred. The Brazilian is embarking on his fifth season as a United player, during which time he has played under five different managers, including in Michael Carrick's three-game stint as caretaker boss between the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure and the start of the Ralf Rangnick era.

All four of United's previous managerial hot-seat occupiers have relied heavily on Fred,