MAN UNITED CONFIDENTIAL: Erik ten Hag's putting in the hard graft with the new hierarchy, autograph session makes players late to training and two more stars go to LA... but on holiday!

Manchester United's decision to keep Erik ten Hag as manager is largely dependent on the Dutchman building a good working relationship with the club’s new leadership group.

Speaking in between training sessions on Friday, Ten Hag wanted to banish any lingering issues over the fact that Ineos sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford and United’s new technical director Jason Wilcox spoke to candidates for his job at the end of last season.

‘We are now in new season,’ said Ten Hag. ‘We left everything behind, we are looking forward. It's a great project. We want to work and we want to win. I want to collaborate. I can't do this on my own. Players, staff, leadership, I'm sure we will have even more success. It's a new dynamic. We want to get more trophies and that is what we are aiming for.’

So it was interesting to see Ten Hag deep in conversation with Brailsford, Wilcox and new United’s new sporting director Dan Ashworth for 15 minutes after training at the UCLA university campus on Friday evening. The success of this new dynamic is crucial to the club’s fortunes going forward.

Stars hit the roof in Beverly Hills

The players have been making the most of the rooftop pool at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills for relaxation after training.

The hotel isn’t quite as close to the bright lights and fashion emporiums of Rodeo Drive as the Beverly Wilshire or Montage, which have been the club’s tour bases in the past, but it is still an impressive venue.

Ten Hag gave his players the afternoon off on Thursday, and a British contingent didn’t waste any time going on a shopping trip. Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton made the one-and-a-half mile trip from United’s hotel to Rodeo Drive.

One of the advantages of touring the US for United is the freedom it gives the players to walk around freely in their spare time without being mobbed by fans, which is rarely the case in other parts of the world.

Signing session makes Utd late

United are here to work hard in pre-season but also to meet their fans in the US, and both sections of a double training session on Friday started late because the players were signing autographs for supporters who turned up at UCLA.

It forced Ten Hag to put back his press conference ahead of the Arsenal game at the SoFi Stadium in LA in the early hours of Sunday. Explaining the delay, he said: ‘Sorry we are late. But there a lot of fans outside so we did some signings before the training so we started training late and then we had a good session. We have to work. Sorry!’

United’s first session of the day was a fitness workout at the Drake Stadium which features an outdoor gym. The second session involved more ball work at the Wallis Annenberg Stadium across campus at UCLA.

It was interesting that Ruud van Nistelrooy oversaw a drill which encouraged the players to score from the wings, with double points awarded for any goal scored off a cross from the wide areas which were zoned off by cones.

Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans, new signing Leny Yoro and third-choice keeper Tom Heaton were allowed to sit out the evening session to manage their workloads.

Kobie and Zirkzee keep their distance

Kobbie Mainoo and United’s new £36.5million signing Joshua Zirkzee have both turned up on holiday in LA even though they are not part of the club’s pre-season tour.

Any players who reached the semi-finals or beyond of the Euros and Copa America are having time off after the tournaments, and Mainoo helped England overcome Zirkzee’s Holland to reach the final in Germany.

Staff aren’t expecting either player to drop into camp, however, with Mainoo and Zirkzee more likely to report back at Carrington in the week before the Community Shield against Manchester City on August 10.

Jelle keeps goalies on their toes

New goalkeeper coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar has been helping United’s keepers to pass out from the back by making them more flexible with the ball at their feet.

Ten Rouwelaar, who was brought in from Ajax this summer after working at Burnley, has been training with Andre Onana, Tom Heaton and Radek Vitek (Altay Bayindir is on holiday after the Euros) at Carrington and in the US.

To try and keep the players on their toes and deal with high-pressing opponents, Heaton explained how the Dutchman has been instructing them to do the opposite of what they were expecting.

‘On my first warm-up day, it was a lot of opposites,’ said Heaton. ‘There would be a blue cone and a yellow cone, and it was a case of doing opposite. If he shouts blue, you have to go to yellow. Then he passed me the ball, and if he said right, it would be left. Then the progression would be left, left, but the first one wouldn't be an opposite, and the second one would be an opposite.

‘Teams are very structured in terms of what they do in their press: whether they press with one man, two or three. So you've got to work it out and count their numbers, where are they coming from, who's looking to jump. So, I think it's more based around being more perceptive of what's in front of you as well as making sure you're getting the work right.’

Utd are California dreaming

Don't be surprised if United tour the US and California again next summer for the third year in a row.

United have typically rotated their tours around North America, the Far East, Australia and South Africa to keep supporters and sponsors happy.

But after signing a new £175million, three-year shirt sponsorship deal with Snapdragon to replace Germany-based TeamViewer, United’s commercial commitments are more aligned with America than ever.

Last summer, Ten Hag’s side were based in San Diego and played at the Snapdragon Stadium there, as well as New Jersey, Houston, and Las Vegas.

This year United have set up camp in Los Angeles, where they meet Arsenal, but will play Real Betis at the Snapdragon Stadium again before travelling east to meet Liverpool in Columbia, South Carolina.

Usually, the club would look to new horizons next summer, but it’s understood that a return to the US cannot be ruled out in the circumstances.