Ten Hag will introduce early starts as part of Man United revolution

For the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson ran the show, security guards at Manchester United's Carrington training ground can expect to wave their manager through the gates whilst most people are still eating their breakfast.

Fergie was famed for his dawn starts, getting all his phone calls and paperwork done before the players turned up for training, and United's new boss Erik ten Hag has also built his career on the basis that the early bird catches the worm.

Ten Hag was 42 when he got his first taste of management at the small Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles. Until then, he'd been part of the backroom team at PSV but it didn't take him long to make his mark as a No 1.

'He was knowledgeable, organised and honest and direct with players,' recalls former Liverpool defender Jan Kromkamp, who was the senior Eagles player in Ten Hag's first campaign and thinks United's big stars will be left in no doubt what their new manager will want from them.

'He was the first to arrive at the training ground and last to leave. We'd train twice a day, the first one at 10am, but he would be in at 7.30am to prepare the sessions, make calls and go through everything with his staff.

'I don't think the manager of Go Ahead Eagles would have as many outside jobs as you would in the Premier League but he came in early in any case to make sure everything was absolutely ready.

'We had crowds of about 5,000 then and didn't have the budget so Erik would adapt.

'He wanted the players to be able to rest if they wanted to after lunch before our second training session. At Liverpool, we had proper hotel beds if the players wanted a nap but we didn't have that at Go Ahead.

'So Ten Hag arranged for sofa beds to come into the club so the players would be able