MAN UTD TOUR DIARY – DAY 6: Manchester United are back in action and Erik ten Hag WILL be in the dugout when United’s youth team take on Wrexham in San Diego – before the Dutchman flies to Houston to be with his senior stars
The players and Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag are pushing hard on the club’s pre-season tour of the US.
Ten Hag will lead United’s mostly youth team against League Two side Wrexham in the early hours of Wednesday at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium.
Immediately after that match, the United boss will fly to Houston for a friendly the following day, when the first team will take on Spanish giants Real Madrid at the NRG Stadium. The first-team squad will make a 3-hour, 15-minute flight to Houston on Tuesday and will be joined by Ten Hag later that evening.
Ten Hag and his squad then flew back to San Diego – completing a 2,600-mile round trip – to train again, before flying on to Las Vegas for the final leg of the tour, where they faced Borussia Dortmund.
“We’ve been planning this for months, so we’ve known how it will look for a long time,” says Ten Hag. “One team will stay here in San Diego. I will also stay here, but we will also bring in coach and technical director, Darren Fletcher.
“We will also bring in more, also an analyst, some kit men will stay to help the team, the Under-21s. Travis Binnion is the man in charge of the team. I will help him and support him.
“Of course, the Under-21s have always been part of the main squad, always under my tutelage. So there will also be a team that will fly tomorrow afternoon and prepare for the game against Real Madrid.
“I’m going to Houston, but after this game is over, I’m going to fly.”
United’s training camp in San Diego is close to one of the world’s best golf courses, Torrey Pines, which is hosting the 2021 US Open, which was won by current world number three Jon Rahm.
Facing Torrey Pines was tricky, given the huge demand for playing there, but United managed to arrange three tee times for some of their players to play him on Friday.
On Monday, United quartet Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Tom Heaton and Nathan Bishop walked some of the trails, which was a short trip from the team’s hotel in La Jolla.
Wrexham players will be watching the San Diego Padres baseball team on Wednesday, the night after their friendly against United. But Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson will not be going with his players to the game, as he will be out with his wife in San Diego to celebrate his birthday.
“The players are going to a baseball game on Wednesday,” said Parkinson. “I’m not, because it’s my wife’s birthday and she’s here with me.”
Wrexham co-owner, Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, will not be present at the game against United, as he is filming in London. But fellow actor and co-owner, Rob McElhenney, will be in attendance at the game, which sold out 45,000.
