According to the United coach, even the swanky surrounds of the Gold Coast could not provide the environment required to gel his newly-formed squad together, but the sultry setting of Noumea is doing the job nicely.

Bleiberg says the key to the exercise is having the squad and support staff literally living in each other's pockets making it one huge ‘get to know you' session before United take on the New Caledonian national team on Saturday night.

"Everything is going to plan so far; the flight was very nice the hotel is nice, hospitality and weather are both good so we have excellent conditions to do our work, but we are not here on holiday," he said.

"Being around each other 24 hours a day is one of the best ways to gel a new team and from what I have seen so far it's working very well; we're very pleased.

"We have excellent players but football is not a game for individuals; it's a team game and the whole reason for us coming here, and our next trip to Asia, is to begin to really build that team ethic.

"What we will achieve in terms of team bonding during this few days would've taken at least a month to achieve at home.

"The players get on very well together but naturally they all have their own personal agenda which is to make sure they are in the starting eleven when we take on Brisbane Roar in the first round of the Hyundai A-League in August."

He added: "We are a new club so exercises like this one are especially important to us because we need to be together as a group.

"The players are enjoying this of course, but you can see clearly at training that they are very serious about what we came here to do.

"Everyone wants to play and their competitive nature is very evident at the moment. We will train today like we do at home which means a session in the morning and a session in the afternoon. Come to the game tomorrow, we will be ready to play.

"The side we face tomorrow night is essentially a national team with one or two additions, so we'll be treating the game very seriously because we know it won't be easy for us."

United train at the match venue on Friday afternoon after which Bleiberg will choose his starting side from the 24 players who travelled to Noumea.