Manchester United have recently made a big change in their coaching staff and that is the appointment of Erik Ten Hag as the new official Manager of the club, replacing the interim coach Ralf Ragnick.
He will be the second Dutchman to manage the club after Louis van Gaal and the fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Ajax coach Ten Hag will officially take over at United at the end of the 2021/22 season. United paid Ajax £1.7million to release him from his contract.
Who is Erik Ten Hag?
Netherland-born Erik Ten Hag, a former player who enjoyed 13 years of club football and has proven to be one of the most influential and successful coaches in a span of merely ten years of managing clubs.
He retired from professional football in 2002 after representing FC Twente for nearly 12 seasons. He started coaching under 16 and under 19 Twente clubs before being appointed as assistant manager of the senior side.
He also joined PSV under Rutten and led them to the Dutch cup title. After that, he got a chance to work under Pep Guardiola in Bayern Munich. Till this time, he had evolved and matured as a coach. He returned to the Netherlands to coach FC Utrecht and his last move was to Ajax in 2017.
Major Trophies and honors:
Ten Hag was trophy-less during his first three managerial spells. But as soon as he joined AFC Ajax, his fortunes changed. He has guided the club to the Dutch league title twice, also leading the club to the Dutch Cup in the same season both times.
Ten Hag has won the Dutch league’s Coach of the Year award twice, first in 2016 with FC Utrecht and then in 2019 after Ajax’s stunning season. He also finished fourth in FIFA’s awarding of its worldwide Coach of the Year award that year.
What to expect from him as MU manager?
He is not scared to take on the Manchester United job. But he will want to be in a tracksuit many hours a day. Erik will work as hard as anybody to help the players and club achieve what they haven’t been able to for years. He doesn’t consider himself an office man. He would hate to constantly be on the phone with agents. That’s where he’ll want a sporting director or an assistant with the ability to do that.
He will not want to go in there thinking he has to take on the whole of Manchester United. He will want to focus on giving the club an identity again – and he will do that best by putting on a tracksuit.
Manchester fans should be comfortable because Erik has the ability to adapt himself according to the conditions and achieve success. Loyalty is one of his key characteristics, which will give a major boost to the club.
Conclusion: Erik has had an illustrious career and expectations are high. But fortune favors the brave and Erik has the ability and experience to turn the tables for The Red Devils.
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