Erik ten Hag won the respect of his Manchester United players when he joined them for their gruelling run in the sun. It helped to unify the Red Devils camp and triggered a huge response in Monday’s thrilling 2-1 win over Liverpool.

Furious Ten Hag cancelled the stars’ day off after their 4-0 loss to Brentford on August 13. He hauled them into Carrington in the heat and ordered them to complete the 13.8 kilometres, which the Bees had outrun them by the previous day.

While many players were angry initially at the punishment they were stunned to learn the manager was running it with them. He showed that nobody was getting any special treatment either when he axed four players for the game including Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo.

And he has told Maguire that he is no longer first choice for United with his captaincy now under threat. Ten Hag handed the armband to Bruno Fernandes who he said thrived with the extra responsibility.

The Dutchman had told 29-year-old Maguire ahead of the game that there will be rotation among the centre-backs during the season and he cannot be assured of his place every week anymore. United still do not want to sell Maguire, with recent interest from both Barcelona and Chelsea.

The player himself also wants to stay to fight for his place. But with Fernandes nailed on to be a regular starter it seems unlikely that the armband will simply pass back to Maguire on the occasion he is named in the same team.

As it is, he will find it difficult to get back in the starting XI if Monday night’s centre-back pairing of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez continue to perform as they did.

Ten Hag said he had made the changes at the back, dropping Maguire and left-back Luke Shaw for Tyrell Malacia, to give the team more ‘mobility’. He made the same case for axing Ronaldo up front. He too is facing a battle to get back in the side as he waits to see if he can get a move out of Old Trafford.

The fourth change saw Scott McTominay returning in place of Fred but new £60 million ($71 million) signing Casemiro is set to take his place.

Meanwhile, out-of-favour centre-back Eric Bailly, who started just three Premier League games last season, is on his way to Marseille in a season-long loan deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, Marseille will be obligated to make the move permanent for a fee of £5.9 million (#7.1 million) if they qualify for the Champions League and he plays a stated number of games.

• The Sun report