New Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag says he takes the job knowing there'll be no time off.

The former Ajax man spent his first day at Old Trafford on Monday (23 May), and is keen to get down to work as early as possible as he aims to get the Reds back on track ahead of the 2022/23 season.

“Of course, you need time to relax, to gather energy," he told MUTV.

“But in the end, a manager is 24/7. You live for football and if you want to prepare a season and if you have to prepare a team from game to game, we have to play a game every three days so it's a lot about football.

“You sleep and you live football."

And that approach is not a recent development in Ten Hag's career, either. He admitted that he had already acquired some of the behavioural traits and mannerisms of a coach while he was still in his playing days.

“Honestly, I was, as a player, already half a manager," he smiled.

“I always had the communication with the manager. Many trainers I had a good connection with, and they used me on the field as a communicator and to bring up the vision they had, that they wanted to bring over to the team."