Manchester United tour diary: watch Anthony Martial impress in training

With Cristiano Ronaldo absent from the tour for personal reasons and facing an uncertain future at Old Trafford amid his desire to leave, Anthony Martial has been making the most of the opportunity afforded him. With three goals in as many games on tour, the France striker has been making a strong impression on Ten Hag and it has been much the same in training, where his touch, movement, awareness and finishing have all caught the eye.

In one instance in training which Telegraph Sport captured on video, Martial nonchalantly plucked a long pass from David De Gea out of the air and laid the ball off for Bruno Fernandes to shoot. In another clip, Martial is seen teeing up Fernandes to score. Fernandes’ quality in training has shone through on tour and it seems the Portugal midfielder has a key role to play under Ten Hag going forward.

There was no let up in training on Thursday morning as around 5,000 fans poured into the Waca, another of Australia’s iconic cricket grounds, to watch Erik ten Hag put Manchester United’s squad through their paces. Marcus Rashford felt the full force of a superb recovery challenge by Eric Bailly at one stage which, as the accompanying video shows, left the England striker hobbling for a moment.

Erik ten Hag’s backroom staff of Mitchell van der Gaag, Steve McClaren and Eric Ramsey plus technical director Darren Fletcher were busy laying out the cones and setting up the pitch for training before the manager eventually appeared. A stickler for detail, Ten Hag was later spotted pacing out the distance between cones to ensure the pitch was exactly the size he wanted it for one drill.

A lot of Ten Hag’s work in training has revolved around intense, cohesive pressing, playing out from the back and short, sharp, incisive passing. In one drill, players were allowed a maximum of three touches, with two teams – the first XI in blue, second stringers in orange - pitted against each other and expected to try to work the ball forward to score amid a sea of pressure in a fairly tight space. Those in yellow bibs were neutral players there to assist whichever team was in possession.

Just by the make-up of the sides in training, there is a good chance United will line-up against Aston Villa at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday as follows: David De Gea; Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw; Donny van de Beek, Fred, Bruno Fernandes; Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford. Scott McTominay was absent from training on Thursday, with the Scotland midfielder working on his fitness back in the hotel gym. McTominay had missed training the day before United’s game against Liverpool but still started ahead of Van de Beek in the match so it will be interesting to see if the Dutchman gets the nod to start against Villa.

Forty-eight hours after being booed by sections of the crowd at the MCG in Melbourne during United’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace, Harry Maguire received a much warmer reception at the Waca. Young fans may have held up placards pleading for autographs and pictures from the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho but a lot of the shouts from the crowd were words of encouragement towards United’s captain, with chants of “Let’s go Harry, let’s go” reverberating at one point.

David De Gea and fellow United players took time out after training to meet fan Danny Hodgson, who suffered life changing injuries after a sickening unprovoked attack in Perth last year.

Hodgson, who played in the same youth team in Carlisle as United goalkeeper Dean Henderson, was left with a serious brain injury after being punched to the ground by a teenager in September last year. His attacker was jailed for three years and eight months.

After being placed in an induced coma and spending six months in hospital, Hodgson remains in a wheelchair but he is making good progress with his rehabilitation and hopes to be able to walk again.

Hodgson was playing for Perth RedStar FC, a semi-professional club in the city, at the time of the attack.

He was a team-mate of Henderson in Carlisle until the pair were 15 although they have not been able to catch up on old times out here given that the England goalkeeper has joined Nottingham Forest on loan and is not United’s tour.

Hodgson was a special guest at United’s training session on Thursday along with his mum, Nicola, and girlfriend, Jessica, and they were warmly greeted after the session by De Gea, who stopped to chat.

The Perth branch of the United supporters’ association were due to hold a fundraiser for Hodgson in the city on Thursday evening. Among the items up for auction are signed shirts by Cristiano Ronaldo and Juan Mata.

Bryan Robson, the former United captain, is expected to attend the fundraising event, which it is hoped will raise A$10,000 (£5,750). All the proceeds will go towards Hodgson.

Stuart Darwell, vice-chairman of United’s supporters association in Perth, said: “We knew Danny was a United supporter and, when we learned the club were coming to Perth, we thought we should try to do something for him.

“In three days, we raised $5,000, all for Danny, and we have lots of signed United merchandise to help us raise even more to help and his family. What happened was terrible. No one should have to deal with what Danny and his family have had to go through.”

The plane carrying Erik ten Hag and his squad was delayed around 45 minutes leaving Melbourne for Perth after rather dramatic scenes at the private terminal United were preparing to take off from.

A military aircraft had to land suddenly, yards from where United’s private Boeing 747 was waiting, because of a serious medical emergency on board.

Travelling around Australia has been as straightforward as any of United’s squad and staff could have hoped for, though, with no hanging around airports or checking through customs. As former United captain, Bryan Robson, who is on the tour as a club ambassador, explained: “It’s been absolutely marvellous. We haven’t had to go through customs or anything – just dropped off by the [tour] bus and get straight on the plane. Can’t get better than that. I love it.

“When you get service like this … I know inland flights in Australia are really good anyway but when you’ve got a private plane like this there’s nothing better than getting off the coach and straight onto the plane.”

After another intense morning session, United’s players were given a rare afternoon off on Thursday and spent it at Perth Zoo, a five minute drive from the city centre Ritz-Carlton hotel where the squad are staying.

United stayed at the luxurious Crown Towers hotel on their previous visit to Perth under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer three years ago. That hotel had an adjoining casino, which is open 24 hours, and the club felt a quieter, more low-key venue without the same distractions would be a better base this time around. It has certainly been a lot stricter under Ten Hag than the more relaxed environment that existed when Solskjaer was in Perth.