‘Nonsense’ – Ten Hag’s ‘Five Commandments’ at Man United analysed by Murphy and Jordan

Erik ten Hag has laid down five rules Manchester United players must abide by under his management – but Danny Murphy believes some of them are ‘nonsense’.

The new manager is said to be a strict disciplinarian in a similar mould to legendary Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Mirror are reporting that Ten Hag’s ‘Five Commandments’ include a ban on alcohol, a ban on personal chefs, any players late will be dropped, regular body mass index checks, and direct chats with the manager if players are unhappy, rather than with agents.

And Murphy insists that setting rules is normal for managers to do when joining a new club, but believes some of them just aren’t ‘policeable’.

“It’s like any other manager who comes in and sets some rules and boundaries. His rules. That’s normal,” Murphy told talkSPORT.

“He’s not weird for doing that. He’s not exceptional. That’s what happens 

“The attention to detail of each one we could dissect and say, ‘That’s laughable. That’s good. That’s bad’. 

“Generally, what he’s trying to do is create more discipline by the sounds of it, that’s a good thing.” 

“That’s just about players looking after themselves which at Man United, generally, they will be.  

“It’s just not necessary, you’re preaching to the converted with that rule. You can’t manage that. It’s nonsense. 

“You would say to the players, ‘Look lads, come on, if we want to be successful, you’ve got to take care of yourself’. 

“You educate yourself to know not to drink because it’s going to be detrimental.” 

Jordan, however, was a fan of Ten Hag’s ruling on agents, which essentially means that the Dutch boss wants to speak to his players directly about any problems they may have.

Jordan explained: “What he’s actually saying there is, ‘I’m not going to speak to your agent. You can talk to who you want. You can talk to Uncle Tom Cobley, your father and your agent if you want to.

“But I won’t be taking a phone call from your agent about any issue you’ve got.’

“I think it’s the right thing to do. You can’t stop someone from talking to somebody. But What you can do is tell that person that you won’t be talking to their agent on their behalf. 

“’If you’ve got something to say to me, you be a man, you play for Manchester United, part of the responsibility of playing for Man United is having the ability to be able to overcome adversity. 

“’If adversity is what you’re whining to your agent about then, by definition, you come to me because I will refuse to talk to your agent.’”