Upon taking over the Old Trafford hot-seat, Erik ten Hag faces a colossal rebuilding job.
The position of Manchester United manager has not been a friendly one over the past decade. United are preparing for life under Erik ten Hag, and the first-team is desperate for a makeover. As Ralf Rangnick neared the end of his tenure as interim manager the 63-year-old became increasingly brazen with the media, suggesting the team needs ‘open-heart surgery’ and that the club may need to recruit up to 10 new players in the coming months.
In reality a shopping spree even half that size is already a far fetch when considering the club is to provide ten Hag with a definitive budget, and value in the market is increasingly difficult to find nowadays. Moreover in recent years United have not been known to have an aura in the transfer market, and the club’s sales record is of shambolic standards.
ten Hag becomes the fifth United manager have appointed on a long-term contract since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down nine years ago, and the Dutchman takes charge at Old Trafford after almost five years with Ajax. Upon wrapping up a third Eredivisie title with the Amsterdam club, the 52-year-old made a beeline for Manchester to immediately begin tackling the mammoth task at hand.
Joining ten Hag are two individuals, Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag, each with prior experience working with the new United boss. van der Gaag served as one of three assistant managers to ten Hag last season, and the former centre-back also previously managed the Ajax reserves side.
McClaren returns to United after more than two decades away from the club. In 2008/09 ten Hag worked at FC Twente under McClaren, who himself was previously assistant to Ferguson from 1999-2001. Now the roles have reversed and ten Hag is due to play the master with McClaren as his deputy, and the 61-year-old Englishman may yet prove an integral presence within the United dressing room.
ten Hag conducted his maiden interview and gave a first media briefing as United manager, both within 24 hours of the team’s damning defeat to Palace. From his first interaction with United’s social channels one could immediately identify ten Hag to be an ambitious but humble character, not to mention a stern authoritarian, which is precisely what United finds itself crying out for at present.
Insight into Erik's mindset 💯💭 #MUFC || #WelcomeErik pic.twitter.com/uQesAXOiry
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 25, 2022
ten Hag acknowledged the substantial task at hand and admitted he is excited to meet and work with the first-team group, noting that his goal will be to unify the players and to get them to ‘fight for each other’. ten Hag added that he has high expectations from himself and from his squad, and said “They have to give their best every day, and good is not good enough”.
United are on the verge of clearing approximately £800k from the weekly wage bill with the imminent departures of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani and Juan Mata who are all set to become free agents in the coming weeks. Fourth-choice goalkeeper Lee Grant announced he will hang up his gloves when his deal ends next month.
Nemanja Matić is confirmed to be leaving the club while Phil Jones and Eric Bailly both appear to be heading for the exit doors. Dean Henderson is poised to force an exit from the club unless ten Hag opts for the 25-year-old as his starting goalkeeper next season.
Based on the plenty of lifeless and dismal performances on show this past season, the outgoings need to stretch far beyond those whose contracts run out this month. There are countless underperforming and/or perfunctory players whom ten Hag should do away with.
ten Hag will have to succeed where his predecessors failed, and his approach will be everything in determining how his United career pans out. Louis van Gaal failed to produce attacking football, while José Mourinho clashed with the players and the board. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was too lenient with his players and also lacked the tactical know-how.
These are all challenges which ten Hag will have to contend with and keep on top of.
