How Erik ten Hag solved Manchester United's dressing room power struggle with brave decisions

Erik ten Hag answered questions from journalists for just the second time as Manchester United's manager on Monday, 11th of July. He was speaking at a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, which came 49 days after he was first unveiled to the media.

Ten Hag had made a strong first impression when he was introduced to journalists, but this press conference was an opportunity to get answers on issues that truly mattered to supporters. After Thai journalists opened the press conference with commercial questions about the friendly against Liverpool, the dedicated correspondents proceeded to ask about the elephant in the room.

Cristiano Ronaldo had expressed it was his desire to leave the club at the start of the month and he had not travelled on the pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to personal reasons. The first three questions after the pleasantries were naturally about Ronaldo's future, and Ten Hag confirmed that the player was not for sale and that he was part of his plans for the season.

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Although the journalists attempted to coax more detail from Ten Hag, it was clear that was not going to happen, and that led to another member of the press asking about the next priority on the agenda: Harry Maguire and the club's captaincy.

"Harry Maguire is the captain. He's an established captain, he's achieved a lot of success, so I don't doubt this issue," Ten Hag responded. Maguire had just endured the worst season of his career and Ten Hag's public backing came as a surprise.

Ten Hag had only answered a few questions and the headlines on Ronaldo and Maguire had already written themselves. Ten Hag had insisted that Ronaldo was not for sale,