SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT

STEVE McCLAREN says he has a “good feeling” about Manchester United’s chances this season after seeing the noise and confidence building in the dressing room. three, four weeks you kind of know and can smell it.

“I’ve got a good feeling about this dressing room.”

“These are great players to work with. They were a little quiet the first week when the training was very demanding.

Players

“But as we got to know the players, as we got more and more into training sessions and they know the demands, the intensity, the competition, the winning and losing, the banter that goes along with it, you can feel the noise and the volume in training, in the dressing room, around the hotel and around Carrington, start to build.

“That’s what I like, that’s why I enjoy coaching, that’s why I enjoy coming back here because these are damn good players. You can see that.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation, with the striker pushing for an exit given the lack of Champions League action, and the and unsuccessful battle to prise Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona have cast shadows over United’s pre-season.

But the signings of Lisandro Martinez, Cristian Eriksen and Tyrell Malacia have given the dressing room a boost.

McLaren accepts

Around half of the abusive messages were targeted at 12 specific players, who received on average 15 abusive tweets every day.

Ronaldo, who has 98.4m followers, topped the list with 12,520 abusive messages. that by their own standards, United are starting from a low base under Ten Hag after underachieving last campaign — a fifth season without silverware.

But the assistant coach maintains that a line has been drawn behind them with the appointment of Ten Hag.

History

“Last season, seasons are gone,” he said.“The history is gone. It’s past. It’s about the future and we’ve got an opportunity to create that in a certain style and Erik wants to see that happen.

“The vibe that I’m getting from the players is that they want it too. They want that discipline, they want to know what their jobs are. They want feedback on it. Because they want to win.

“I’m afraid at Manchester United you have to win.”