Michael Carrick sends Man Utd warning over Erik ten Hag as pre-season begins

Michael Carrick has warned the Manchester United hierarchy that Erik ten Hag will need time to implement his style and turn things around at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils kick-off their Premier League campaign at home to Brighton on August 7. It will mark a new era at Old Trafford with Ten Hag keen to get off to the perfect start against a side that finished just three places below them last season. The Seagulls thrashed their opponents back in May - winning 4-0 at the AMEX.

Ten Hag took charge of his first training session on Monday and the players have reportedly been impressed with what they saw from the Dutchman. The squad were ordered to report at 9am on Tuesday, an hour earlier than under previous regimes, while there has been an emphasis on sharp passing in training.

Although United are yet to make a signing in the summer window, the club are trying to back him having made attempts to sign a number of players. The Red Devils have been linked with moves for Frenkie de Jong, Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Tyrell Malacia - all of whom are either Dutch or play in the Eredivisie.

It seems as though Ten Hag is targeting a certain type of player as he tries to get his squad ready for the opening game of the campaign against Brighton. And Carrick, who was the United caretaker manager for 11 days after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's dismissal in November, spoke about the Red Devils' new era.

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"Hopefully they can get a good start to the season and kick on, it'll be interesting to see how it goes," Carrick told Sky Sports. "I think [Ten Hag]'s just got to do what he does, he's proved it at Ajax and in his coaching career he's got strong beliefs and his teams play a certain way. I'm looking forward to seeing that.

"As I say, I hope they get a good start to the season. If you get a good start to the season you can get momentum from there. I think when you're talking top four, you want to be right up there, of course, you do. You want to be challenging.

"At the start of every season for Man United, you want to be trying to win trophies and win the league, so I'm sure they'll be trying to do that."

United are gearing up for their first friendly as they take on Liverpool on July 12th, before facing Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano before the opening weekend.