“I met him…” Edwin van der Saar slams Erik ten Hag in glowing Rúben Amorim review

Edwin van der Saar has slammed former manager Erik ten Hag within a glowing review of new Manchester United head coach Rúben Amorim.

Rúben Amorim has been appointed as Manchester United’s new head coach, following the departure of Erik ten Hag after a poor run of results.

Ten Hag was dismissed at the end of October after United’s struggles saw them fall to 14th in the Premier League and 21st in their Europa League group, sparking calls for a change in leadership.

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Although Amorim has now officially taken over, complications with his release clause delayed his debut. He has taken charge of five games so far, accumulating two wins, a draw, and two losses.

In the interim before his appointed, Ruud van Nistelrooy led the team, securing three wins and a draw. He then stepped down to allow Amorim’s backroom team to take the reins at Carrington, and has found himself as manager of Leicester City.

Van der Saar’s point of view

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Edwin van der Saar has offered his thoughts on Amorim’s appointment as he replaced fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag, who the ex-goalkeeper knew well.

The pair worked together between 2019-2022 when Ten Hag was manager of Ajax and Van der Saar with the club’s upper management, stepping back from his role as CEO last year.

However, Van der Sar was critical of Ten Hag when asked about his first impressions of Amorim, hinting that he expected more from the former manager.

“A lot of things are required at Manchester United,” the 54-year-old started. “I think what Erik achieved with Ajax, the success in Europe, the way that we played, that he could get the tactics right, I was expecting that also at Manchester United.

“With Ruben, I met him four or five years ago. I think we played Sporting Lisbon, and he was the manager at that time.

“I was watching the U19 Youth League game, and he was there also, so I had a nice conversation with him. I think he’s an open man, I think his humour is open, his English is good.

“I’ve not followed Sporting all the time, and I’m sure the homework has been done by the scouts, by the technical people of the club, to find a successor and hopefully bring success to the club.”

Time is not unlimited

COntinuing, Van der Saar was asked if Amorim will need time to make United a success, to whiich he replied that although time is needed, he also has to prove himself through results.

“Time is always a nice thing to have, but at a certain point, you have to have results. I’m sure those results will come,” he said.

“I think the club has tremendous support through the whole world. They’ve signed enough players and at a certain point, you have to also stop chopping left and right.

“Now they’re going to play a new system. Of course, a manager probably wants to have one or two players coming in January. I think the most important thing is to have the line with the technical director, the football director, that they can know which situation will be needed to replace, to change, to add.

“I’m sure that discussion will be there, but in the meantime, a manager needs to perform and needs to win games because the position where they are now is not great.”

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