Erik ten Hag's Man United preseason is all about training, and he won't let a world tour get in the way of that

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During Manchester United's tour of Thailand and Australia, there has been little time for other things.

It's traditional for the manager to hold a news conference after a game, but Ten Hag has told the club staff that his time would be better spent planning the next training session. The post match conference usually lasts 10 minutes or so, but for Ten Hag, every second counts and he was already on the team bus.

The 120-strong tour party has been told by Ten Hag that nothing should stop them from training.

Suggestions that players could be made available for media work before sessions have been knocked back by Ten Hag, who has asked to be kept apprised of everything his squad are doing. In the past, players have been taken to local attractions for photo opportunities, but in Thailand and Australia they have been shuttled from the airport to the hotel, to training and to matches. There was a proposal to film players on the set of the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" but Ten Hag turned it down.

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The word being used around the team hotel to describe the new manager is intense, but club staff have seen flashes of the lighter side of him. The sessions have not changed.

Fred was asked how he was when he walked into an interview with the sports network. The Brazilian was tired. Scott McTominay says this tour is the most tiring he has ever been a part of, especially in the hot, humid Thai weather.

Marcus has been with Ten Hag for three weeks and says he is in better shape than he was a year ago. After Ten Hag decided the squad would need to be in shape to play his brand of high-pressing, proactive football, one of the players was called back to Carrington a week earlier than originally scheduled.

Double sessions in the morning and afternoon are the norm for most days on the tour. All training drills have the same purpose.

Seven players are trying to keep the ball away from three other players in a drill. The goal for the larger group is to keep the ball for as long as possible while the smaller group tries to win it back and score into small nets. Three new players are brought in to chase the ball after a goal.

There are consequences for making a mistake.

A goal for the smaller team means the larger group is punished with press-ups. No one wants to be told to do a forfeited match in order to make training more competitive.

Ten Hag stops the session if he doesn't like something.

The cameras at the Rajamangala National Stadium caught the United boss yelling at Jadon Sancho because he failed to make the right run. His simple English can make instructions seem very blunt, but it also means there's no confusion about his message.

It will take time for his new players to get things right, but he demands high standards from his first session. A player was asked about the amount of new information they are being asked to learn, to which they replied, "It's enormous."

Ten Hag wants staff in different departments to wear certain colored team apparel on certain days so he can easily identify who they are and what they do.

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The players are being told to rest.

There is a team room with table tennis, pool, bean bag chairs, and a big TV screen at the WMEL. Bruno Fernandes can be particularly competitive in games because of the fierce competition to replace the pingpong champion.

The players from South America sit in the room with their coffees and laptops while others sit in the room with red lights on. McTominay was so desperate for his laptop that he asked to crawl inside the baggage hold of the team bus to get it. He smiled and waved to the crowd of Thai fans.

In Thailand, the response has been massive. A crowd of thousands welcomed the team when they arrived at the airport in Thailand.

When he got to the restaurant at the team hotel at 10 p.m., he thought he was safe, but when he got to the top of the escalator, he heard his name being shouted. Room service was ordered by him.

Despite the fact that United have not won a trophy in over a decade, the appetite for the club has not waned. Ten Hag isn't wasting any time getting to work.