Manchester United are yet to give Erik ten Hag his biggest challenge

One Manchester United staffer tried to describe Erik ten Hag's thought process during the club's pre-season tour and could come up with three words: "football, football, football".

The 52-year-old was a source of fascination in Thailand and Australia but trying to peel back the layers of the inscrutable Dutchman proved a relatively futile task.

Ten Hag is a dominant presence in every room he's in and every setting he occupies but he usually achieves it through body language rather than words. He has become a more open communicator with the media but there can still be moments when the conversation dries up, of his own inclination.

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He fixes his inquisitor with eye contact and has an intense glare. You can see why he commands respect in the dressing room; at the moment, that is what he is getting.

Intense is an apposite word. Every United player who has spoken about Ten Hag's methods so far has used that phrase to describe him.

He can be blunt in dishing out orders and some people close to the squad believe he is challenging players by making them feel uncomfortable with his short conversations. His wrath for David de Gea kicking long was picked up by TV microphones during the game against Crystal Palace and in open training sessions, he has loudly told players when they fall below standards, including some of the youngsters on the tour of Thailand and Australia.

During training watched by 5,000 fans at the WACA in Perth, his name was being shouted by supporters but so involved was he in the session Ten Hag didn't hear them and didn't acknowledge them. He signed autographs at the end, once Steve McClaren had ushered him over, but his focus in four weeks of