Louis Saha praises Erik ten Hag’s decision to drop Manchester United star for being late to team meetings

Louis Saha has praised Erik ten Hag for dropping a Manchester United star for being late to team meetings during their pre-season tour.

Having seen United stagnate for a number of years, Ten Hag vowed to change the culture at Old Trafford following his move from Ajax earlier in the summer.

The Dutchman has introduced a number of new rules to the United squad, one of which is that players late for training and meetings will be dropped, regardless of their status in the team.

Ten Hag did not have to wait long to use this particular measure as he dropped an unnamed Manchester United player during the club’s recent tour to Australia after they twice turned up late to team meetings.

The decision appears to epitomise Ten Hag’s strict but fair approach and Saha has praised the Red Devils boss for ‘laying down the law’ to his underperforming squad ahead of the new season.

‘That’s completely fair – when the rules are in place you have to follow them,’ Saha told Metro.co.uk, courtesy of Bet365.

‘Especially at this moment in time where it’s so important to recalibrate the philosophy and attitude of the squad, so it has to be done as a military camp.

‘So if it’s happened twice, it warrants the action so the other players can see this manager doesn’t mess around.

‘You have to set expectations and when opportunities present themselves to set standards, it’s right the manager should use the tools at his disposal to lay down the law.

‘They are ultimately workers, employees. As a manager you do everything to make sure they are in line. You wouldn’t accept anyone else turning up to work late in any other industry so it’s completely fair.’

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Erik ten Hag and Manchester United board