Erik ten Hag’s to-do list: can he bring the glory days back to Man Utd?

A former player for Dutch clubs FC Twente, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and FC Utrecht, Ten Hag cut his teeth in management at Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich’s second team and FC Utrecht. Appointed as Ajax head coach in December 2017, he led the Amsterdam club to two Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups and the semi-finals of the 2018-19 Champions League.

He has forged a reputation as “one of Europe’s most exciting coaches” and is “very highly thought of” among his fellow managers, said Nathan Egerton on PlanetFootball. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who was head coach of Bayern Munich when Ten Hag was in charge of the German club’s second team, said the Dutchman is “just an incredible person and human being”. In terms of his qualities, “just take a look at his Ajax team in the last years”, Guardiola added. “To define a manager, watch his team for a long time. This is a team, and this manager makes the players play. There is no doubt about that.”

Winning trophies and restoring pride 

United have “churned through managers” since 2013, when Alex Ferguson called time on his glittering career after 26 years in the dugout, said Alex Conrad on Fox Sports. Including interim and caretaker bosses, Ten Hag becomes the eighth man in the past ten years to sit in the Old Trafford hot seat. “For a team that hasn’t won a trophy since 2017 after being spoiled with glory during Ferguson’s era, fans are desperately craving some form of success,” Conrad added. “Quite simply, it should be the bare minimum for a club of United’s stature.”

Before Ten Hag looks at building a team capable of winning trophies again, he has a “big job to get the club back up to minimum standards”, said Gary Neville on Sky Sports. Due to the scale of the rebuild, former United and England defender Neville believes Ten Hag won’t be under pressure to win trophies for “one or two” years. What needs to be dealt with initially is “attitude, work ethic, belief, confidence and then hopefully you start to think about winning trophies”.

‘Unprecedented’ squad overhaul

There are “a number of challenges” for Ten Hag to overcome, said Simon Stone on BBC Sport. “Stepping into an alien world”, Ten Hag has never experienced the “unique demands of English football” and has never managed anyone with “either the history or the ego” of Cristiano Ronaldo. “It is essential he gets this right.”

United’s recruitment is also “a major issue”, Stone added. There is a list of at least ten players who could leave Old Trafford this summer, but “finding the right quality” at United “may not be quite so easy”.

Neville also believes that recruitment is the “key focus” and the “most important job” in a football club. “If you get the players wrong, you’re struggling,” he said on Sky Sports. “There’s a big job to do in many different aspects. The first job is to decide who he wants to keep that’s currently there and then he’s got to decide who he wants to get in with him to make sure that confidence, that belief, that spirit in the dressing room can start to rise.”

With some “already certain to leave” and others “likely to go”, Ten Hag will have to decide on the futures of 11 United players, Luckhurst said in the Manchester Evening News. The club is bracing itself for an “unprecedented” squad overhaul.

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/sport/football/956504/erik-ten-hag-profile-new-man-utd-manager