Zidane Iqbal is the latest player to feel the wrath of Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag during the club’s pre-season campaign.
Earlier this week, Ten Hag was caught tearing into David De Gea on the touchline after he booted the ball up the pitch in the closing stages of United’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in Melbourne.
And during United’s open training session in Perth on Thursday, Ten Hag called out Iqbal for his performance in a quick keep-ball exercise.
After seeing the 19-year-old making a mistake during the drill, Ten Hag bellowed at Iqbal: ‘Keep the ball on the floor. Zidane… hey. Keep the ball. F****** rubbish!’
Iqbal has impressed off the bench in all three of United’s pre-season matches so far and reports this month claimed Ten Hag has been ‘surprised’ that the midfielder barely played under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Rangnick last season.
Former United defender Rio Ferdinand also namechecked Iqbal as one of the two youngsters who have made an impact during the club’s pre-season tour this summer.
‘I’ve watched the last two pre-season friendlies and the young lads in midfield there – Charlie Savage has been excellent, Zidane’s been very good as well,’ Ferdinand told Vibe with Five.
‘So I think it’s good food for thought. It’s always that way in pre-season, you get a couple of players who come out of nowhere and you go I didn’t expect that from them.’
Meanwhile, Bruno Fernandes has heaped praises on Ten Hag for improving discipline in the United squad.
‘We missed that for a while and discipline is important,’ said the Portugal international. ‘Discipline is not only the way you play, the position that you have, what you have to do, it’s also off the pitch.
‘Don’t be late for the meetings, don’t be late for the meals. That’s really important because if everyone is on time and someone comes late, he should be punished.
‘That’s really good that he’s doing that and amazing, because I like to be on time, so I won’t have problems with that.’
