Reporter jokingly calls out Erik ten Hag for arriving late to Man United press conference

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag shared a humorous exchange with a reporter during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday morning.

The Dutchman was late for United’s press conference in Carrington on Tuesday and blamed a ‘VISA procedure’ for being late.

One of the reporters in attendance jokingly asked if Ten Hag would ‘fine’ himself for being late after penalizing Marcus Rashford earlier in the season.

Ten Hag couldn’t help but laugh at the reporter’s question and said that he wouldn’t fine himself since it wasn’t his fault.

The exchange began when Ten Hag entered the room. He said: ‘I want to apologize for the delay, I had to do a VISA procedure and there was a technical problem, that’s why.’

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag (above) shared a humorous exchange with a reporter during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday morning.

One of the journalists present jokingly responded to the Manchester United manager by saying: ‘So you’re going to fine yourself?’

Ten Hag couldn’t help but laugh before responding by saying, ‘Not right! I couldn’t do anything about it.

The reporters’ comment came after Rashford was fined and ejected by Ten Hag for oversleeping and missing a team meeting in December.

Speaking about the incident, Rashford said: ‘Obviously it’s the rules. It is an error that can happen. I was disappointed not to start but I understand the decision.

“I was happy that we managed to win the game anyway, so we can draw a line under it.” I was late for a meeting, I fell asleep.

Ten Hag was pleased with Rashford’s response, having confirmed before kick-off that his absence was due to ‘internal disciplinary’ reasons.

“Everyone has to abide by the standards and the rules, so again there have to be consequences,” the United manager said. On the pitch there have to be consequences and I think he gave the right answer.

‘I was not satisfied with the performance in the first half. We had good chances to score a goal. We create them and we have to be more clinical in front of the goal. We know that Rashy can score the goals and he did when he came on.

The reporters’ comment came after Rashford was fined and ejected by Ten Hag for oversleeping and missing a team meeting in December.

Luke Shaw hinted that discipline was not always so strict with Ten Hag’s predecessors Ralf Rangnick and Gunnar Solskjaer, as he backed the manager’s decision to bench Rashford.

Defender Luke Shaw hinted that discipline was not always so strict under Ten Hag’s predecessors Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and backed the manager’s decision to bench Rashford.

“At a top-tier club like this it has to be like this,” said Shaw, who played on the left side of central defense for the second game in a row.

“I think people can’t do whatever they want, and maybe that’s been part of the problem in the past with people getting away with silly little things.

“The manager takes all of that into consideration. As you’ve seen today, if you don’t keep your standards high, then you won’t play.

‘I think he (Rashford) is doing very well at the moment. He is extremely confident, very positive, very happy and it’s good to see him.

Everyone knows the quality it has. He is world class and could be one of the best in the world if he keeps going. Hopefully it does.

Manchester United will return to action on Wednesday when they take on Leeds in their Premier League clash at Old Trafford.