Erik ten Hag declared himself satisfied with his players and new £55 million signing Mason Mount after Manchester United won their first pre-season game 2-0 against Leeds United in Oslo.
Noam Emeran slid the opener past Leeds goalkeeper Dani van den Heuvel for United's opener on 67 minutes before turning provider for Joe Hugill to seal the win 10 minutes from time.
Mount played the first 45 minutes before Ten Hag made 11 changes for the second half, and the Dutchman said the former Chelsea player can only enhance his midfield options.
“I was happy. Across the whole of the first week, I have seen positive things, and we got confirmation of that in the game,” said the Dutchman.
“We expected him [Mount] to be comfortable. We know his capabilities, and he will absolutely increase the level of our team. It is exciting that we have him, Bruno and Casemiro but don’t forget we also have other options – for example, Christian Eriksen. Definitely one of the options we have is Bruno, Casemiro and Mason and we have to see how that develops and how it progresses in pre-season and going into the season.”
Asked for more detail about the importance of Mount, Ten Hag said: “I think you have already seen today what he can bring. He is ball-secure, has good solutions on the ball, is dynamic, and is good at defending. He is a complete midfield player. Also, he has some areas he has to work on, but in general, he is a very good player who suits Manchester United and can help us achieve our goals.”
The England international has been United’s only signing so far, with more transfers expected.
“You never know in transfers, but we’re working on it,” Ten Hag added. “But in the meantime, we have to work on our way of playing to put progression in place. This is the moment in the season when you have time to train with your team, so I’m looking forward to Saturday and all the internationals coming in, and then you can really add sense to the squad, the team, and the way of playing.”
With the game being in Norway, Ten Hag was asked about young United player Isak Hansen-Aaroen.
“He did well, making a good pass for the first goal,” Ten Hag said. “He’s really comfortable on the ball; he has good vision and good scanning. Of course he’s a young player; he has some deficits he needs to work on, which we will show him and tell him and we will work with him to improve him. I can’t tell you now whether he will play the rest of the pre-season with us. We are one week away [from the US tour], and other young kids are doing very well, so I’m really pleased with our first week of work.”
As for other young players, Ten Hag added: “Some impress me, but I don’t want to single someone out. We are just in the first week, and I expected these levels and these performances. But I will tell them during our sessions what I expect from them. How we judge the levels, the performance today, what they have to work on, but after one week I never make conclusions.”
United’s next game is against Lyon in Edinburgh next Wednesday before a four games US tour in New Jersey, San Diego, Houston and Las Vegas.
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