- Manchester United To Continue With Erik ten Hag And Also Push Plans To Prioritize Trusting Young Players
- New Contract Talks On The Way For Erik ten Hag
Sky Sports and The Athletic have confirmed that Manchester United have decided to continue with Erik ten Hag as their manager for next season.
INEOS want to continue with the Dutchman, and they have already started negotiations on a new deal. Additionally, according to Fabrizio Romano, the new Manchester United directors will involve Ten Hag in their plans for this summer’s transfer window.
This decision might come as a shock to some United fans, but let’s look at reasons why INEOS might be right to let Erik ten Hag stay.
New Structure, New Possibilities
“New structure, New transfer strategies, and new calm behind the scenes at Old Trafford”
Before joining Manchester United, Erik ten Hag was known as a manager that loves to control the game and attack, as shown by his famous Ajax side. However, he has not shown that so far at Manchester United. Instead, he has set up his side to mostly be a counter-attacking team with little stability.
Why did he change his approach?
One reason could be that in his first transfer window as Manchester United boss, Erik ten Hag tried so hard to bring Frenkie de Jong to Manchester United. He wanted the Dutch midfielder to help implement his footballing identity to England, but he failed, and the club had to horridly sign Casemiro. That showed lack of proper scouting and squad planning at Manchester United.
They also allowed him to pick/sign players he wanted largely based on his past relationship with them, like Antony and Sofyan Amrabat, which should not be the case at a top club.
A club structure with top sporting and football directors that will properly plan the squad and scout players that fit into the club’s project was absent in Ten Hag’s first two years. That contributed to the club’s horrendous transfer failings recently, and has also affected the profile of United’s squad, and the type of football they can play effectively.
Manchester United have that structure now, with the addition of CEO Omar Berrada, and technical director Jason Wilcox. The club wants to trust Erik ten Hag to work with that structure and build a project the club and fans can be proud of.
A Proven Winner
“If they don’t want me any more, I go somewhere else and win trophies, that’s what I’ve done my whole career.”
Like it or not, Erik ten Hag has proven that he can win trophies At Manchester United.
Despite issues surrounding his squad from 2022 to 2024, he has still managed to win 2 major trophies for Manchester United – That is impressive.
He is a coach who prioritizes winning over everything, and that’s the right mentality to have at a big club like Manchester United.
Options
Manchester United were linked with Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Kieran McKenna, and Roberto De Zerbi in the past few months. While some of these names sound like good options for Manchester United, it is filled with uncertainties.
Thomas Tuchel has averaged just over 2 years at clubs he has coached. It’s almost the same story with Roberto De Zerbi. Appointing young and inexperienced Kieran McKenna guarantees nothing, and Mauricio Pochettino was inconsistent in his spells at PSG and Chelsea.
Also, With this decision, INEOS have introduced themselves to Manchester United fans as calm decision makers.
They have shown that they can be patient under the right circumstances. Even if things do not go as planned next season, the club can move on from Erik ten Hag with the backing of almost all Manchester United fans, It’s a Win/Win situation.
They are offering him a contract extension, how does that suggest that they will move away from him next season if it doesn’t work out, this was a poor decision