The changes at Manchester United this summer have been fast, often brutal, and always with sporting improvement at the forefront.
The impact of Jason Wilcox, Dan Ashworth, Christopher Vivell and new CEO Omar Berrada have been keenly felt already.
Manchester United would frequently meander out of the blocks during Glazer-led transfer windows but this year had two big-money, first-team signings sealed by mid-June; fighting off AC Milan and Real Madrid to land both Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro.
Further changes to the coaching department, meanwhile, not only freshens things up behind-the-scenes, it also reflects Ineos’ desire to drive higher standards and support Erik ten Hag to the best of their ability.
In Rene Hake, Ineos lured one of Ten Hag’s closest confidantes away from a head coach role at Eredivisie overachievers Go Ahead Eagles.
United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy, meanwhile, could have taken the manager’s job at Burnley but instead turns his attention to honing the Red Devils’ uber-talented but often-wasteful frontline.
Andreas Georgson arrived on Friday too. Leaving Norwegian outfit Lillestrom after only six months in charge, the former Arsenal, Brentford and Southampton coach is expected to play a major role in United’s set-piece set-up going forward.
But, while the appointment of Jelle ten Rouwelaar made relatively few headlines in contrast to the arrivals of Van Nistelrooy and Hake, the 43-year-old Dutchman is also making a good first impression during United’s pre-season preparations.
Read more: Jelle ten Rouwelaar profiled as Manchester United snatch Ajax goalkeeping coach
Jelle ten Rouwelaar making Manchester United impact
Ten Rouwelaar was snapped up from a familiar hunting ground this month. He follows Ten Hag and co from Ajax, replacing the experienced Richard Hartis.
Hartis, who spent 15 years coaching United’s goalkeepers during two spells at Carrington, was viewed as a more old-school operator.
According to the excellent Muppetiers YouTube channel, Hartis was a huge admirer of David de Gea and wanted the Spaniard to stay before Ten Hag opted to bring in Andre Onana in his place.
Ten Rouwelaar, a student of the Dutch game, arrives to put extra emphasis on playing the ball out from the back with Onana an obvious benefactor of his arrival.
And who says you cannot teach old dogs new tricks?
Tom Heaton’s days as a number one may be behind him at the age of 38. But, speaking to The Telegraph, Man United’s third-choice goalkeeper is relishing the chance to deepen his understanding under a new pair of eyes.
“I’ve really enjoyed the sessions. They are different,” Heaton says of Ten Rouwelaar, embracing the former FC Twente keeper’s brand of training ground-based brain training.
“He works more on cognitive basic calls, where it’s making you think quite a bit. So on my first warm-up day, he and I went out for half an hour and it was a lot of opposites.
“So there’d be a blue cone, a yellow cone, and it was a case of doing the opposite — if he shouts blue you have to go to yellow.
“Then he passed me the ball and if he said right, it’d be left, and then the progression would be left, left, but the first one wouldn’t be an opposite and the second one would be an opposite.
“I was like; ‘What?’ But it’s good. It does make you think so you’re not just going through the motions.”
Tom Heaton hails new Red Devils coach
Heaton believes that Man United’s Ajax-esque, play-out-from-the-back approach mirrors the direction in which the modern game is heading.
“I think you can see that games are changing a little bit. It’s less off the cuff now,” adds the ex-Burnley glovesman. “Teams are very structured in terms of what they do in their press, whether they press with one man, two, three.
“So you’ve got to work it out, you’ve got to count their numbers. You’ve got to count the numbers in your back line and ask; ‘Are we going big, are we going short, where are they coming from, who’s looking to jump?’.
“So I think the training is based around being more perceptive of what’s in front of you.”
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